The Rare Jewel of Contentment

 I don’t know about you, but I need the tenth commandment.  One of my tendencies is toward materialism, so I need to guard against the abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15).  The command not to covet is so entirely against the norms that we see around us every day.  Just take a drive up and down the streets of San Diego, and what do you see?  You see the endless temples to the goddess of our American culture: the strip mall.  Or worse, the mecca where all must pilgrimage at least once per Christmas season – the UTC Mall.  If that’s not enough of a fix, the Mission Valley Mall – or even the Parthenon of shopping, Horton Plaza beckons us.  Inside these temples you find the shrine for our idol of choice - The god called “Gimme.”

In an article for Christianity today titled “Trapped in the Cult of the Next Thing,” Mark Buchanan puts it this way:

 I belong to the Cult of the Next Thing. It's dangerously easy to get enlisted. It happens by default—not by choosing the cult, but by failing to resist it. The Cult of the Next Thing is consumerism cast in religious terms. It has its own litany of sacred words: more, you deserve it, new, faster, cleaner, brighter. It has its own deep-rooted liturgy: charge it, instant credit, no down-payment, deferred payment, no interest for three months. It has its own preachers, evangelists, prophets, and apostles: ad men, pitchmen, celebrity sponsors. It has, of course, its own shrines, chapels, temples, meccas: malls, superstores, club warehouses. It has its own sacraments: credit and debit cards. It has its own ecstatic experiences: the spending spree. The Cult of the Next Thing's central message proclaims, "Crave and spend, for the Kingdom of Stuff is here." 

The tenth commandment cuts at San Diego (and all American) culture like no other:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17)

Our culture feeds on the religion of the next thing. Only in America is something two years old considered a relic.  We are tempted to sinfully desire that which we do not possess on a daily basis in this country, and in the face of this God speaks to us a simple and clear message:  do not covet.  We are naturally beings who desire.  To want something is not wrong in itself, but the danger is found when our desires rule over us and we want that which God has not given to us.  Because of our coveting spirit, we would be hopelessly lost if not for the saving blood of Jesus.  As we’ll see in this command, the antidote is found in fostering deep and true contentment in the sufficiency of Christ.  Over the next couple of Lord’s Days in the preaching of God’s Word we will discuss the way to find true contentment in this life.  Contentment is the calling of every Christian, though it is a mystery because it goes against the grain of our culture and our flesh.  To find true contentment is a “rare jewel.”  The struggle is that we confuse our “wants” with our ONE great need.  The puritan preacher and pastor Jeremiah Burroughs in his book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment speaks of the difference that occurs when conversion takes place in a person:

Before, the soul sought after this and that, but now it says, I see that it is not necessary for me to be rich, but it is necessary for me to make my peace with God; it s not necessary that I should live a pleasurable life in this world, but it is absolutely necessary that I should have pardon of my sin; it is not necessary that I should have honor and preferment, but it is necessary that I should have God as my portion, and have my part in Jesus Christ, it is necessary that my soul should be saved in the day of Jesus Christ. The other things are pretty fine indeed, and I should be glad if God would give me them, a fine house, and income, and clothes, and advancement for my wife and children: these are comfortable things, but they are not the necessary things; I may have these and yet perish for ever, but the other is absolutely necessary. No matter how poor I am, I may have what is absolutely necessary: thus Christ instructs the soul.

This reflects what Jesus said to the rich man who wanted to inherit eternal life, and thought he was justified before God because of his law-keeping:

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. (Mark 10:21-22)

Is it wrong to have possessions, even wealth?  NO!  This is not the point.  Jesus wasn’t condemning him for being wealthy, but rather He went to his heart sin: the man coveted his wealth, and was faced with the great question – what is my TRUE need?  Do I need more and more to be content in this life, or am I content in Christ alone, where my only hope is found?  When we zealously seek the overwhelming riches of God’s mercy given to us at the cross, then the things of this world lose their luster: 

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

As we probe the intricacies of the tenth commandment in the coming weeks, let’s pray that God would show us the way of contentment in Christ alone.

Seeking our true treasure,

Pastor David