The Content of Contentment

I Gluttony is a serious problem: a constant temptation in U.S.A.
    A. When was the last time you heard a sermon on Gluttony?
        1. I would be willing to wager that many of us have never heard one
        2. The reason may be that we think it's a silly sin!
            a. We may worry about being over weight
            b. We may be obsessed with dieting
            c. But we hardly begin to list this as a deadly sin (maybe a shame?)
        3. reason may also relate to the waist line on many of our pulpiteers
            a. Why do you think we always wear these huge black robes?
            b. We say it is to make sure the pastor doesn't become the focus
            c. It could also be said that it hides a multitude of sins (or fat cells)
        4. When I was in seminary, I remember this quip: Gluttony is the only one of the seven deadly
            sins that the congregation will accept in it's pastor. (In fact, they often encourage it!)
        5. How could gluttony be so dangerous?
    B. The answer is related to the quote I placed in the bulletin
        1. It is drawn from a little book called Wishful Thinking
        2. Beuchner identifies need and a problem most people share
        3. Everyone has the need of Spiritual Nourishment
            a. Augustine: Our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee.
            b. Josh McDowell said "there's a Christ shaped hole in our hearts"
            c. Part of being human is a need to relate to the divine
        4. But some people try to meet this need with physical food
            a. They may try to satisfy it with beef and cheese and ice cream
            b. They sense a hunger but don't know how to fill it
            c. It may even involve consuming large quantities of alcohol or ingesting of mind altering
                drugs
        5. But, since we are not consuming the right food for our hunger, the (Spiritual food) desire to
            eat doesn't go away...so we keep eating
        6. Hunger won't be satisfied until we choose the right nourishment
    C. The problem of over-consumption isn't restricted to food however
        1. We may become gluttons with almost anything
        2. There are house gluttons who seek homes to satisfy the hunger
        3. There are exercise junkies, who work on their physical bodies
        4. There are car collectors whose passion becomes obsession
        5. I bet there are even church gluttons who have come close to the right mark, but have
            substituted religious activity for spiritual nour.
        6. By replacing a passion desire for anything before God, you are a glutton, over consuming
            physical things and starving spiritually

II the U.S. is the Consumption capital of the world
    A. This sin is serious because we live with it!
        1. By some people's estimates, the U.S. uses far more than it's share of the world's resources.
        2. Our population accounts for apx. 15% of all human beings
        3. Yet we consume 80% of the world's resources
            a. That certainly includes the world's food resources
            b. But it also means energy and other products as well
        4. If we would draw caricatures of nations as people, we would be the grossly overweight
            person standing with starving children!
    B. As part of an exercise, I once put on a world banquet at which people were divided into
        countries and told they would be fed in those groups
        1. 15% of the people were US citizens and got a full steak dinner
            a. they sat at a table with silverware and clothe napkins
            b. Had milk and juice to drink in abundance
            c. There was more food than they could possibly eat
        2. Some were Europeans and had a hearty soup and bread
        3. Another group were Africans: got a baked yam, sat on floor
        4. The vast majority were Asians: got a small bowl of rice/vegs
        5. The U.S. group had food to waste, though they tried to eat it all
        6. When asked why they didn't share, they replied they didn't know that they were allowed to
            cross the boundaries!
    C. Our tendency to over consume becomes a barrier to God as well as a boundary between us
        and others
        1. our immoderate desire for goods supplants our spiritual hunger
        2. The goods we have demand our time as we care for houses and car
        3. God intended us to enjoy the world and its pleasures
            a. Otherwise, God would not have made them pleasurable
            b. But our pursuit of those pleasures must be controlled
            c. We could be guilty of worshipping the creation over the Creator.

III Learning to be content
    A. Paul declares that he has learned the secret of being content
        1. He has figured out what it takes to be satisfied
        2. It is clear that it is not consuming enough
            a. There have been times of plenty for Paul
            b. He has labored in places where all of his needs were supplied and he was treated with
                great respect
            c. But he has also been in situations that have provided him with little and he was forced to
                earn his own living
        3. But in both, he has been content. Why?
    B. Because Paul had satisfied his Spiritual hunger
        1. He kept his mind focused on the higher things in life
        2. Paul "sought first the kingdom of God"
        3. Paul hunger and thirsted for righteousness
        4. He was able to place physical desires at a lower priority
    C. This is clearly a challenge that faces us
        1. Resist media attempts to form our values toward consumption
            a. The messages we hear are that goods can solve our hungers
            b. The hunger for self-worth, for relationships, for meaning
            c. The right product will provide those things we hear
        2. But God says, seek first the kingdom and you won't have to worry
            a. It is in our spiritual home that true meaning resides
            b. My worth as a person comes from God's image inside
            c. The love that truly matters in not the love others have for me, but the love I have for them!
            d. None of the things come from the goods I own.

Do you want to be satisfied with your life? Do you want to cure the hunger that we feel? The true means is found in the living water that Christ offers. It is when we partake of the Bread of life that we are never hungry again. I know two men who exemplify this satisfaction. One is a janitor. He made little money and had a wife and five children. Because he earned little, his larger than
average house was in poor repair and his car was always breaking down. The other man was a senior vice president of JC Penney before he retired. He didn't live in a gigantic house or drive the most expensive cars, but his personal wealth went far beyond what most would call comfortable. He was always generous to the church and other charitable causes. The two men were different in many ways, but they had something in common; they had a sincere faith in Christ and an understanding that their purpose was to follow God and build God's kingdom. And whatever resources that had were enough for the tasks God had Given. What about you? Are you growing in contentment? Has your hunger been satisfied?

And as you go from this place, may you walk in the way of Christ Jesus and May God always find you faithful!