What is the
connection between, “Rejoice in the Lord
always; again I will say, rejoice,”[1]
and, “I have learned in whatever
situation I am to be content”[2]?
Let me
explain it like this: Whatever we consider most valuable in life will be the
thing that gives us joy, and that joy will make us content. As long as we have
the thing that gives us joy, we have constant joy, hence constant contentment.
When people
consider anything of the world or the flesh to be their greatest treasure, they
will look to that thing as the source of their joy. The degree to which people
attain what they treasure will be the degree to which they feel anything
resembling joy, and the determining factor in how content they feel.
Since money is
what the world so often chases after, let me use this example. Let’s say that
someone treasures money above all things. They see it as the way to feel
significant, the way to create security, and the way to win people’s
acceptance. With this worldview, they set out to attain money.
When such a person
is successful in attaining enough money that they feel their significance is
recognized, their security is assured, and their acceptance with the in-crowd
is guaranteed, they then feel something resembling joy. At least they feel as
good as they ever feel. At the same time, in those interludes where they are
not coveting what they do not already own, they may have as close to a feeling
of contentment as a money-lover can ever experience.
However, for
all those people who can never get enough money to feel that they are
significant in their wealth, or secure through all their years of retirement,
or winning acceptance from people with their financial prowess, they are never
able to feel this facsimile of joy, and can never feel content with what they
have because of what they don’t have. And, of course, we all know that there is
so much financial insecurity all around us that even the Haves are rarely more
content than the Have-nots.
Now, consider
the person who knows Jesus Christ as their greatest treasure. Why is it that
this relationship is the source of both their joy and their contentment?
The reason is
that when we receive Jesus Christ as our greatest treasure, his constancy of
value gives us a constant source of joy. He is always more valuable than
anything else in life, so we never lose our joy in him. Because he satisfies us
with joy, we can then be content in every situation we go through since we
still have Christ all the time, in everything, no matter what.
Jesus himself
told us this parable to draw our attention to the joy that is experienced by
those who consider him their greatest treasure. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man
found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and
buys that field.”[3]
Notice this,
that the kingdom of heaven, of which Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords,[4] is
“like treasure hidden in a field.”
How valuable is this treasure compared to anything else we own? It is so
valuable that the one who finds it will do anything to have it.
In the words
of the parable, the man who found this inestimable treasure covers it up so no
one will take it from him, sells all that he already has because it no longer
holds any comparable worth to him, and buys the field so he can have the
treasure.
However, note
the feeling that drove this man to make such a life-changing decision. It says,
“Then IN HIS JOY he goes and sells all
that he has and buys that field.” Just finding the treasure in the field
caused the man such joy that he is filled with joy as he gathers up all that he
had previously valued, sells it, gets rid of it, and buys the field as his own.
When Paul
teaches the church to “rejoice in the
Lord always,” he is speaking of his own life-experience in which he had one
day found that Jesus Christ and his kingdom was the treasure hidden in the
field of life. This was a treasure so well hidden that Jesus had to speak from
heaven in a flash of lightning that blinded Paul to all he had ever held dear,
and forced him to hear the voice of the shepherd who had found him and was
saving him from his sin.[5]
Paul’s testimony
after the fact is that, if anyone had reason to hold on to earthly status or
possessions it was him. He wrote,
If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.[6]
The point
here is that Paul wants us to know that he did not come to Christ as someone thoroughly
disenchanted with life and turning to Christianity as a crutch. Rather, he
found this treasure hidden in a field as a man who had everything he could ever
have hoped to find by his own effort.
However, as
soon as Paul found this treasure hidden in the field, everything changed. He
describes it like this:
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.[7]
This is what
it looks like when someone finds that treasure hidden in the field. What they already
had, whatever we once considered “gain”
in life, that which was of greatest value, suddenly becomes like a loss to us.
It is not that what we have suddenly loses the value it really had, but that it
cannot compare to “the surpassing worth
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
In other
words, when Paul rejoiced in the Lord, it was not an example of some amazing
religious zealot who gave up everything of value to show his great character in
living in abject poverty. Paul’s example was of a man who had personally found
the highest and best things anyone could experience, and then discovered this
other treasure hidden in the field of life. Once he found this treasure of
great value, everything else was a loss. As a self-righteous zealot he did not “count them as rubbish” to act like a
good religious person. But when he found the treasure hidden in the field, he
suddenly knew they were rubbish compared to what he had discovered in Christ.
When Paul
exhorted us to rejoice in the Lord always, and then told us how to be content
in all circumstances, he was modeling what it was like to consider Jesus Christ
our treasure. Because Jesus never decreases in value, and there is never a time
he will stop being with us,[8] if
he is the one in whom we rejoice, we always have him with us as our joy. Since
he is always with us, and we are always rejoicing in him, there is no
circumstance that takes away our source of joy, hence we never lose our source
of contentment. We can be content in all the various experiences of life, good
or bad, because Jesus is our source of joy, and he is with us to the end of the
age.
Anyone who
struggles to feel contentment in the midst of all circumstances because we
struggle to rejoice in the Lord always, is being shown something about our hearts.
Jesus said, “For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.”[9] If
your heart is not able to rejoice in the Lord always, it is because your heart
is somewhere else, rejoicing in something of the world and the flesh, and
feeling the insecurity that comes from trusting in things so transient and
empty.
If you
recognize this, that you suffer recurring periods of discontent because of an
inability to rejoice in Jesus above all other things, turn your heart to God in
prayer, make supplication for yourself as you express your keenly felt need to
know what it is like to rejoice in Jesus, thank God that today is a day he is
inviting you to know Jesus like this for yourself, and present your request to
God that he would lead you into this experience of Jesus Christ for your good,
and for his good pleasure.[10]
God’s word
assures us that he delights to answer such prayers that are so clearly
according to his good, acceptable, and perfect will.[11]
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Philippians 4:4
[2]
Philippians 4:11
[3]
Matthew 13:44
[4]
Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 17:14; 19:16
[5]
Acts 9:1-19
[6]
Philippians 3:4-6
[7]
Philippians 3:7-8
[8]
Matthew 28:20
[9]
Matthew 6:21
[10]
This comes from lessons our home church has been learning from Philippians
2:12-13, and Philippians 4:4-9
[11]
Romans 12:2; I John 5:14
No comments:
Post a Comment