Joy Beyond Circumstances
- Stephen Phelan
- Aug 30, 2009
- Series: Joy
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Philippians 4: 10-13—Joy Beyond Circumstances
Mid-City Aug 30, 2009
A friend of mine recently mentioned this quote that struck him, which is this: “If the grass is always greener for you on the other side, then you have a problem, and it is this—when you get to the other side you will kill the grass.” The problem isn’t the grass—the problem is you and what your carrying inside of you. And all of us have this problem inside of us. We’re prone to discontment. And that discontentment acts like a poison in the soil of our lives that kills the grass around us. And even though our grass is brown, it looks green over there. Until we get there.
Paul didn’t have this problem. Paul, at least toward the end of his spiritual journey, had what JRR Tolkien describes as a “Joy beyond the walls of the world.” Joy beyond jail cell walls; joy beyond circumstances; joy beyond happiness. Joyful contentment. We all want to be joyfully content? The question is how. That is what we’re going to look at this morning. How do you become joyfully content?
Let’s go to the text b/c it is all in there. “v10 “I rejoice (surprise, surprise—Paul is rejoicing) greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.” Paul is saying he has this deep joy that is welling up in him in jail b/c of the Philippians love and concern for him.
V11 “I am not saying this because I am in need (he is in jail, but not in need), for I have learned to be content.” Let me stop right there. Paul says, “I have learned to be content. If you combine v10 to that (and the whole book of Philippians on joy), I think it is better phrased that he has learned to be joyfully content. Now notice Paul uses the word learned. Paul wasn’t naturally content. That isn’t the way he was wired, but over the years he learned to be joyfully content.
Now, let’s think about Paul’s coursework that he did to learn the contentment. Paul studied hard as a young man. He was considered a Pharisee of Pharisees, meaning he was one of the top religious scholars in the land. But painfully discontent, particularly at his religious enemies the Christians. Why were they growing so fast? Why were they so obnoxious? And so he lashed out at them, until Christ himself showed up and, as we looked at earlier in Philippians, took hold of Paul. And once Jesus took hold of Paul, then so did this joyful contentment. He got a download, if you will.
If you are a relatively new follower of Jesus, then listen up. Once you come into relationship with Jesus, a peaceful, joyful contentment comes over you that you can’t understand but you just know it is there. But then what happens. Life. The enemies of Jesus start an all out assault on this new contentment that you have found in Christ. And at first this scares you. You say—what happened to this joyful content I had or felt. You can even begin to doubt—“Am I really a Christian?”
If you have trusted Jesus, then yes you’re a Christian, but now you must learn the skill of joyful contentment in Christ that comes over the course of your lifetime as you begin to exercise faith, particularly in the tough stuff of life. At each moment of suffering, or maybe just each moment of discontentment, (the grass is greener moments), you learn to turn back to Jesus (this is called repentance), as you come back to the one who gave you that initial download when you first came into relationship with him and He gives you further downloads of His presence.
Notice I didn’t say he starts making your life and circumstances happier. If I did, I’d probably have a better shot of getting on TV b/c that really sells, but that isn’t what Paul said. Look at v11 “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 food or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
So Paul says that joyful contentment has absolutely nothing to do with circumstancial happiness. It isn’t about Jesus fixing our circumstances to make us happy. See happiness is a reflex, like being tapped on the knee. It is completely dependent on your circumstances. Paul’s circumstances aren’t creating happiness in him. What movie was it that talked about going to a happy place? Yeah Being chained to the praetorian guard in jail with little food wasn’t Paul’s happy place. But according to v10 & 11, he is joyfully content. Not happy, but joyfully content.
FRAY: This distinction between happiness & joyful contentment is a critical one in your spiritual journey. One of my favorite bands has a new hit single out called Happiness which helps flesh this distinction out. I had the privilege of going to the concert with some friends this summer and, interestingly they opened and closed the concert with this song. These musicians are poets well aware of a literary device called an inclusio—which is where you bookend the really important things at the beginning and end to emphasize the point. So I asked myself, “Why did they perform this musical inclusion with the song happiness?” Part of it, I am sure, was their effort to say, “I hope this is a happy evening for you.” This is our hit single—so here you go. Be happy. But I think there is more. Admittedly, this is pure conjecture on my part, but here is why I think they did this. They were emphasizing the meaning of the song, which is this, “Don’t build your life around happiness.” Let’s listen to the song.
Happiness feels a lot like sorrow
Let it be, you can’t make it come or go
But you are gone- not for good but for now
Gone for now feels a lot like gone for good
Happiness is a firecracker sitting on my headboard
Happiness was never mine to hold
Careful child, light the fuse and get away
‘Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks
See they are saying that you can’t make happiness come or go. Happiness is tied to circumstances, which are beyond your control. And then I love the imagery of the second verse. Happiness is like a firecracker. Firecrackers aren’t meant to hold. If you do, they will blow up in your hands and cause major pain.
Such is it with happiness. It is a great thing. I love being happy. I love laughing. But If I center my life around being happy, ultimately happiness will explode and disappear just like a firework. It isn’t meant to be held onto b/c it is fleeting. To do so it to do so at great peril—the peril of deep discontent.
My 2 Yr old daughter tried to hold onto happiness. We told her that if she read 10 books, then she would get a prize in two weeks when they brought ponies to the park. The key was the “in 2 weeks part,” which she heard, but didn’t hear. So then we started to leave and she started wailing. Feet stomping—you know, the 2 yr old tantrum. To her, delayed happiness was no happiness at all. She had to have happiness right now.
My daughter hasn’t learned the secret of joyful contentment. She is 2. Many of us are 2 spiritually as well, and we act like it. We think we know what will make us happy and if we don’t get it, then we throw a fit and blame it on God. Not Paul--Paul is in jail, chained to the Praetorian guard, career shut down, and he says that he isn’t even in need. He is joyfully content. He has grown up in Jesus, and he has learned the secret of Joyful contentment that has nothing to do with circumstancial happiness.
And in v13 He gives away the source of his joyful contentment to all the world in v13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Now this doesn’t mean that Paul is some sort of Superman that can bend steel bars and stop tanks.
Yet, over and over again, I hear this verse used in this way. People snatch this verse out of its context so badly and simply obliterate it. Here is an example of snatching this right out of context & rubbing the verse like a jeanie hoping God pops out of the bottle. Imagine that I tried out for American Idol. And b/c I was so bad they put me through to Simon and Randy and whoever the new girl is and I began singing. Simon would stop me and say something like, “Did you know this is a singing competition. You can’t sing.” “Yes,” but “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Wouldn’t you just love to hear Simon’s remark to that. See this verse isn’t about Jesus supercharging your abilities so that you can be president of the
This is about Jesus supercharging your character so that you can handle all things. Giving Paul & you a strength to be joyfully content in all things (i.e. even in jail). Did you hear that—this verse isn’t about you or Paul having the ability to accomplish things & be more successful, but it is about you having the supernatural strength from Jesus to be joyfully content in all things and in all moments of life.
If you grow into this sort of joyful contentment, then think about the future. You can stop dreading the future or trying to freeze your happiness when it comes your way. You’ve done both haven’t you. Dreaded the future and tried to freeze the present happiness. Especially in one of those crazy good moments of happiness. I had one recently. We went to Vons and they had this sale on steaks. We never buy steaks b/c they are so expensive. But they had a bone-in ribeye that was $19 for $7. We bought 2. Threw them on the grill and the smell was heavenly. Milly and Ford were belly-laughing, and they have this thing where they both scream with delight and and chase each other, my wife was sitting there with a pregnant glow about her, and I remember thinking, “Jesus, can I stay in this moment right here?” All of you have had those moments. But here is what Paul helped me realize. Here is what Paul helped me realize. The goal isn’t so much to stay freeze the moment of happiness. As the Fray put it, that is like trying to hold onto a firecracker. It will only intensify the pain when it leaves.
So the goal isn’t to stay in the moment of happiness, but rather I think what Paul is getting across here is to realize what you bring to each moment of life as a follower of Jesus. You bring Jesus to each moment, and because of that, you can be joyfully content. Whether well fed with a bone-in ribeye or fasting; whether the paycheck is more than enough or whether there is no paycheck at all; whether at the pinnacle of happiness or in the pit of depression—you bring Jesus to that moment, and he can handle you and the moment.
If this sort of joyful contentment in Jesus gets contagious here at
He walked in and couldn't believe how empty it was. There was no furniture, no rugs, nothing on the walls—only a small kitchen table and one handful of rice. That's it. They were virtually devoid of possessions. The Delgados—60-year-old Perfecta and her granddaughters, Lydia and Jenny—had been burned out of their roach-infested tenement and were now living in a tiny, two-room apartment on the West Side
In fact, 11-year-old
But despite their poverty and the painful arthritis that kept Perfecta from working, she still talked confidently about her faith in Jesus. She was convinced he had not abandoned them. The journalist never sensed despair or self-pity in her home; instead, there was a gentle feeling of hope and peace.
The journalist completed his article, then moved on to more high-profile assignments. But when Christmas Eve arrived, he found his thoughts drifting back to the Delgados and their unflinching belief in God's providence. In his words: "I continued to wrestle with the irony of the situation. Here was a family that had nothing but faith, and yet seemed happy, while I had everything I needed materially, but lacked faith—and inside I felt as empty and barren as their apartment."
In the middle of a slow news day, the journalist decided to pay a visit to the Delgados. When he arrived, he was amazed at what he saw. Readers of his article had responded to the family's need in overwhelming fashion, filling the small apartment with donations. Once inside, the journalist encountered new furniture, appliances, and rugs; a large Christmas tree and stacks of wrapped presents; bags of food; and a large selection of warm winter clothing. Readers had even donated a generous amount of cash.
But it wasn't the gifts that shocked the journalist. It was the family's response to those gifts. In his words:
“As surprised as I was by this outpouring, I was even more astonished by what my visit was interrupting: Perfecta and her granddaughters were getting ready to give away much of their newfound wealth. When I asked Perfecta why, she replied in halting English: "Our neighbors are still in need. We cannot have plenty while they have nothing. This is what Jesus would want us to do."
That blew me away! If I had been in their position at that time in my life, I would have been hoarding everything. I asked Perfecta what she thought about the generosity of the people who had sent all of these goodies, and again her response amazed me. "This is wonderful; this is very good," she said, gesturing toward the largess. "We did nothing to deserve this—it's a gift from God. But," she added, "It is not his greatest gift. No, we celebrate that tomorrow. That is Jesus."
To her, this child in the manger was the undeserved gift that meant everything—more than material possessions, more than comfort, more than security. And at that moment, something inside of me wanted desperately to know this Jesus—because, in a sense, I saw him in Perfecta and her granddaughters.
They had peace despite poverty, while I had anxiety despite plenty; they knew the joy of generosity, while I only knew the loneliness of ambition;… they experienced the wonder of the spiritual, while I was shackled to the shallowness of the material—and something made me long for what they had. Or, more accurately, for the One they knew.
My friends, what if a little community at Harbor Mid-City got so intimately connected with Jesus that when plenty comes our way in the future—we hear his voice graciously reminding us to give back; and when hardship and suffering come our way in the future, the joyful contentment of Jesus rises up in us. I think the watching world would, much like this atheist journalist did, begin to ask, “Where can I get that.” And we say, “Well let me tell you about Jesus.”
