Good morning. First let me confirm your suspicions: I am "Tricia's Husband". I point this out to you for two reasons. One that's probably how most of you know me. And two, I'm rather fond of that title!

A couple of weeks ago Tricia was talking about the subject coming up in this study. She asked me, "What could you say about having a contented heart?" Surprisingly, even though my very profound answer was "a lot," she invited me to come speak to you anyway.

This setting is a little bit intimidating for me. Normally my audience is first graders. It would make me feel more at home of some of you would get up every now and then and poke your neighbor.

I know that some of you now have, will have, or have had children in the First Grade Sunday school class here at Los Gatos, and I hope this will give you the opportunity to learn a little about what's in my heart. I want to thank you for entrusting your children to me. I only hope that I am able to teach and encourage your children as much as they teach and encourage me.

Interwoven in the study this week is a very important theme that I want to highlight. God has taught me many lessons in contentment through my life, and all of them seem to keep coming back to the verse that captured my attention as a new babe in Christ. At first reading it may seem to have nothing to do with contentment - but for me it has everything to do with it. The verse, Jesus' words, is

Now what has this to do with contentment?

I asked several co-workers and friends what they thought contentment was. I got some interesting answers.

One of them offered that contentment comes from getting what you deserve.

I don't believe I have ever, not even once, gotten the family I deserve, the friends, the income, the job or the things I deserve. I definitely did not get the wife I deserve - I did much better! Deserve is the devil's word! He'd be delighted to entice you into thinking you "deserve" something. "You deserve more" - sometimes reformulated as "you're worth it" - is the battle cry of those who want to convince you to buy something that they are selling. "I deserve more than I'm getting" is the phrase used to justify fudging on the insurance claim or income taxes." Deserve is not in God's vocabulary. No one deserves salvation, but he offers it anyway.

Just as contentment is not "getting what you deserve" it's also not "getting what you want." The great theologian and philosopher Ann Landers put it pretty well. She wrote, "contentment comes not from getting what you want, but from wanting what you get." I think this is a whole lot closer.

The American Heritage Dictionary gives a very simple definition for "contentment". In fact I was surprised that it was really so easily defined. The definition in the dictionary for "content" is not desiring more than one has. Satisfied. This is the essence of what the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11b-13.

If you know much about Paul, you know that these are astonishing statements. Paul was beaten, oppressed, and humiliated. As he wrote to Timothy, he had been kept locked in his house, and then consigned to a Roman prison where he was deserted by many of those close to him. How could Paul be satisfied? How could he not want more?

It occurs to me that we might want to stop and think a little bit why it even makes sense to be satisfied with conditions like Paul's. Perhaps as we think of what Paul faced, we may begin to see a bigger picture. When we compare our situation with Paul; our "lack", our dissatisfaction begins to seem pale, doesn't it?

Scripture makes it pretty clear that our worth has nothing to do with what we own or the way we look. The world measures us that way, though, doesn't it? When Samuel was told to anoint a new king, he was looking for a strong, handsome man, but the Lord corrected his thinking.

If you'd rather, you can take Jesus' word:

You've probably seen the bumper sticker "He who dies with the most toys wins?" I prefer the Nike Ad: "He who dies with the most toys is still dead."

The comedian Steven Wright observed, "You can't have everything - where would you put it?"

We are so surrounded by material privileges in this society that we have failed to notice that we have fallen prey to a deadly disease that Steve Farrar calls "Affluenza". It was present in Paul's day too.

This valley is full of people who have pierced themselves with grief, isn't it? Perhaps you can say, "but I don't love money, I just love clothes… furniture, toys, big houses, nice cars, computers" - oops just nailed myself with that one. One way that I see to lessen this "desire to acquire" is to remove from before our eyes the things that cause the desire. Those little "lust monsters" arrive almost every day in our mailboxes or on our doorsteps, and also every 15 minutes on that rectangular glowing thing in most of our houses. Jesus' suggested that

Instead of plucking out your eyes - which I think we agree is not a pleasant thing - I suggest that you try canceling your subscription - or turning off the tube. But it's not a complete solution, unfortunately.

The real solution to the problem of covetousness; the real key to satisfaction, to contentment is PERSPECTIVE. We need to seek a God's eye view of our life and condition.

The first thing to notice is that THINGS are ONLY THINGS. To quote Ann Landers again: "The best things in life aren't things." Who would trade their life for a thing? I would rush into a burning building to save my wife, or my children, perhaps even to save a stranger. But not a sofa! Not a picture album! Not a priceless family heirloom! Why? Well, aside from the fact that I don't own any priceless heirlooms, it's that Paul makes it clear to me how unimportant things are.

Solomon wrote a whole book of the bible, Ecclesiastes, that makes this same point.

A certain man decided to verify for himself if you really can't "take it with you". He convinced his friends to place gold bullion in his pockets, the lining of his jacket and even in the lifeless fingers of his hands when he died. Soon he did die and was greeted at the heavenly gates. He was delighted to find that in his hands, his pockets and the lining of his jacket was all the gold that his friends had secreted away. The angels who greeted him were amused when they saw the man's fascination with the gold he managed to smuggle into heaven. One angel whispered to the other "Why would anyone want to bring pavement into heaven anyway?"

The book of Revelation tells us that the streets of heaven are paved in gold. How foolish it is to toil laboriously to smuggle possessions into heaven - especially since we already know it can't be done. I would much rather see the streets of heaven filled with my family, my friends, the children in my Sunday School, and a multitude of people from every tongue and tribe whom I will never have the opportunity to meet in my very brief time on this earth.

Godly perspective must include much more than a right view of things. It must also include our circumstances, our relationships and our goals. Our contentment in the midst of adversity will be proportional to our understanding of who God is and how he works in the world. Consider even Christ about whom the author of Hebrews said:

If Christ was perfected through suffering, why should we expect less? Before Christ was crucified he encouraged his disciples to take up their cross daily and follow him. The Apostle James wrote:

So perhaps our "unpleasant" circumstances are really God working in our life. Refining us, teaching us. Showing us his sufficiency. Boy those are lessons we want to learn the FIRST time. And yes, sometimes - perhaps you might think often - God makes no sense. All the more reason to not lean on our understanding, but on God - who I want to remind you has not dealt with us as we deserve

The most compelling reason why we should have a contented heart is simply this: God has given us HIMSELF!

What could you possibly want in life that would be better than God?

Although I was raised in a Catholic home, it wasn't until I was 27 that I ever thought much about Jesus. God began a series of circumstances in my life that drew me nearer and nearer to trusting in the finished work of Christ. It was only a few weeks after I had knelt before the Lord and confessed my dependence on Christ, that I discovered a lump in my groin. My doctor referred me to an urologist. On Monday the urologist who examined me, and a second urologist at that practice told me that I was very fortunate to have discovered it so early. They could not say with certainty whether it was cancer or not, only that testicular cancer was common in men ages 18 to 35. They advised an immediate biopsy and scheduled me for surgery for that same Friday. If you were a group of men, I'd describe the surgery just to see you squirm.

They handed me a pamphlet. I read it. In the pamphlet it said that the over-all cure rate was almost 70 percent. I know math. That meant that my chances of not surviving were 30%, 3 in ten. The same odds one would have of surviving Russian Roulette with two bullets in the cylinder. I was, I must admit, scared.

But my reaction surprised even me. I was, and still am, deeply grateful to God, because I realized how very gracious and patient God had been with me. Had I faced this same situation months before, my only hope would have been surviving. But he waited until I knew beyond a doubt that he loved me, that Christ died for me, and that my future with him was unshakable. He removed the fear of death, the sting of death. Instead he gave me eternal perspective. He made it clear to me how unimportant "things" really are.

Since I spoke to you, I have been repeatedly asked about my health. I did not intend to leave anyone in anxiety - although it did occur to me that the element of suspense might increase my chance of being asked to speak again! I apologize if you worried about me, and I'm a little flattered, too. Perhaps I should tell you "the rest of the story"…

Two days after the preliminary diagnosis of cancer by the two urologists, I went to Duke University Hospital. An older physician there disagreed with the other two. His words were very comforting to me. He said,

When he referred to me as his son, it sounded very much to me like an assurance from my Heavenly Father and added great peace to my spirit. Then he suggested that I come back in two weeks and "not to worry in the meantime, there's nothing to worry about."

I took his advice. It seemed a lot less painful than the surgical alternative, which not only hurt just to think about, but also required 4 weeks of recovery time. After two weeks of waiting and checking there was no change. A month later the lump was gone! I was VERY content!

Several months after that, a lump reappeared. Now I'm tempted to stop right there, but perhaps you'll become anxious again, even though I spent my time talking about being content…

The new lump was in a different location - an area in which the doctor was able to say confidently was "definitely a cyst." Now ten years distant from that time, I have learned to rejoice in God's loving-kindness. I have stored in my memory each new evidence of God's grace to me. I call it my "faithfulness closet." And when I am anxious about the future or chaffing under God's timing I retreat to that closet. I renew my courage from the many memories of God's faithfulness stored there. And I have found that I can truly say - as Job did - "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." [Job 13:15] Because I do! And that's "the rest of the story."

Job 31:24-25,28.

Proverbs 16:8. Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.

Proverbs 23:4. Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.

Proverbs 31:10. A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.