April 1, 2012

“The Seven Not So Deadly Alternatives: Contentment”

Mark 11:7-10; John 6:25-37

Introduction

    Palm Sunday is the beginning of what the church has known for centuries as “Holy Week.” This is a real-time re-play of the final week in the life and ministry of Jesus. From the triumphal entry to money changers driven from the Temple to foot-washing and Last Supper to Jesus’ arrest, beatings and execution to the empty tomb and the shocking message of resurrection, we run the gamut of the highest of the highs and lowest of the lows.
    Becoming and being a Christian offers great hope and encouragement for life. But at the same time, following Jesus does not exempt us from the depths of sorrow that this life can throw our way. Those first disciples were crushed when Jesus was taken from them and put to death. The crowds thought and hoped he was the Messiah who would vanquish Roman dominance and restore Israel to its former glory. They had those hopes dashed with the scandal of the cross.
Not much has changed in human nature. As believers today, we, too, can praise God one day for the great news of the Gospel and his almost tangible presence in our lives; but then the next day fall into deep disappointment or doubt about God’s grace, forgiveness or love for us. It’s like when I hear someone else (not me, of course) cursing a blue streak and I want to say out loud, “And you kiss your mother with that mouth?” In James 3 it says: “No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.”
    Yet here we are this morning: comparing again the seven deadly sins with seven not-so-deadly alternatives. Over the past few weeks, our sermons have looked at God’s Word about humility, kindness, patience, diligence, and generosity versus self-centered pride, envy, anger, laziness, and greed. Today’s theme is contentment vs. over-indulgence (gluttony is the classic word).

I. Palm Sunday Disappointment (Mark 11)

    On the first Palm Sunday, the crowd was described like this: “Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ Yet late Thursday night we will hear another crowd yelling, “Crucify him!”
    In the Gospel of Mark alone, the amazing ministry of Jesus is described: “Jesus healed many who had various diseases” (1:34); he told people, “Your sins are forgiven… I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (2:5, 10); “A furious storm came up…he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still.’ Then the wind died down and it was completely still” (4:37, 39); “Jesus took the little girl (12 years old - who had died) by the hand… and said to her, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’ Immediately she stood up and began to walk around” (5:41-42); “Taking the five loaves and two fish… They all ate and were satisfied” – all 5,000 (6:41-42); “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them (10:15-16).
    Now in Mark 11, as we read in the responsive reading this morning, the crowd welcomes him to Jerusalem as Messiah Savior. “Hosanna in the highest.” Most people in our world today still regard Jesus with respect and honor. Historians agree that Jesus existed; that he was a Jewish teacher from Galilee in Judea who was crucified in Jerusalem on the charge of sedition against the Roman Empire. Descriptions of Jesus are varied: a rabbi, a charismatic healer, apocalyptic leader, self-described Messiah, sage and philosopher, social reformer.
    Christians trust in Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Redeemer as the Messiah as prophesied in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New. We profess Jesus to be the only Son of God, the Lord, and the eternal Word of God who became a human being in the incarnation, so that those who believe in him might have eternal life.
    So what happened to make Palm Sunday such a great disappointment for the disciples and crowds who praised him? Throughout his ministry and now in the Holy City, Jesus threatened both political and religious powers. “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” He taught people to put limits on Rome’s control of their lives. “Tear this temple down and I will rebuild it in three days.” He taught people they do not need the Temple and its rites, rituals, ordinances, and ceremonies. In fact, he himself is the Temple. He himself is the perfect sacrifice for our sins and offers a reconciled relationship with God and with one another. Many people began to believe and act in faith. As Jesus’ popularity grew, the Roman authorities and religious leaders sought to eliminate his threat to their power. Several times in the Gospels, it notes how “They went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus” (Matthew 12:14).
    As the Apostles Creed puts it, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell.” That’s not the kind of Messiah Savior most people want.

II. A Disappointed 5,000 (John 6)

    Back in John 6, Jesus gave thanks for 5 small loaves of bread and two small fish, and told his disciples to serve them among some 5,000 (a very large crowd of) people. “They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 baskets full of broken pieces of bread and fish” (turned out to be an abundance of food). But the very next day, the crowd searched for Jesus. “When they found him, Jesus said to them, ‘You are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.’ Another example of misunderstanding and disappointment: the crowd didn’t really want Jesus; they really wanted what he could do for them.
    Jesus tries to straighten them out. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life… The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent… I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.”
    Discontent or even malcontent so easily surfaces in our fallen human experience. Essentially we too often say, “Jesus, what have done for me lately?”
    The apostle Paul encourages the church to consider contentment. “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11-13). And to Timothy he writes: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (I Tim. 6:6-7).
    We live in a world that breeds discontent with sophisticated attack quite extreme. Much in our society is geared to make you unhappy with your current circumstances: your job, your wardrobe, your car, your house, your spouse, place you live, whatever it might be. Everything in the advertising world is designed to make you unhappy with what you have. Make you miserable with what you have with the current circumstance.

Conclusion

As we move through Holy Week, make time to take in the Word of God. With Psalm 36 you and I can say, “How excellent is your loving kindness, O God, therefore we put our trust under the shadow of your wings. We shall be abundantly satisfied.” Now there's a synonym for contentment; satisfaction. Based upon the loving kindness of God, the Lord wants us to be abundantly satisfied." Psalm 63 sins it: “Your loving kindness is better than life; my lips will praise you; thus will I bless you; I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied.” Here, again, the psalmist tells it: because of God’s loving kindness (grace, mercy, love, all that's bound up in God's goodness); “Because of this, my soul is satisfied.”
Contentment is a beautiful word – one of the seven not-so-deadly alternatives.
    As we come to the Lord’s Table this morning, let us pray for one another that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus will probe the depth of our need and that the hope of the resurrection will empower us for the contentment God desires for our lives. “Because of this, my soul is satisfied.”