New Monmouth Musings: Content or Covetous?

Dear Friend,

We have heard that “the grass is always greener on the other side of the street,” and that is often true. But as someone once remarked, "so also is the water bill.” You and I have an awful habit of comparing ourselves and what we have with those who have more.  As a result, we often miss the best God has for us because we fail to appreciate the blessings we already have.

This past Sunday, we studied Paul's prescription for contentment, as we closed out our study of Philippians. No matter what, Paul says, “I have learned the secret of contentment” (Philippians 4:12). No matter what my circumstances, whether I live under a bridge or in a penthouse, whether I am rich or poor I have learned to be content.

Unfortunately, in today’s world when we are bombarded by ads of every variety that are always promising comfort and convenience, happiness and contentment, we are tempted to think we will also find that happiness in some product or some service. But these things seldom bring happiness or contentment. Just ask some of the lottery winners whose new found wealth has brought them nothing but misery and discontentment. 

We are too much like the guy described in the following bit of doggerel:

“As a rule, mans a fool

When it cool, he wants it hot.

And when it’s hot, he wants it cool.

Always wanting what is not.”

Happiness comes from within and not without. If there is a vacuum within your heart, Satan will steal in and convince you that happiness is found in a credit card. However, like cotton candy, our purchases may bring temporary pleasure, but soon after the purchase we want something newer and bigger, which almost always means more money. As someone said, “greed has a growling stomach.”

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:10, “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”.

Christ will meet all of our needs, but never all our greed. God wants the best for us, but often we miss that best because we fail to recognize the blessings we already possess.

An ancient Persian legend tells of a wealthy man by the name of Al Haffed, who owned a large farm. One evening a visitor related to him tales of fabulous amounts of diamonds that could be found in other parts of the world, and of the great riches they could bring him. The vision of all this wealth made him feel poor by comparison. So instead of caring for his own prosperous farm, he sold it and went out to find these treasures. But the search proved to be fruitless. Finally, penniless and in despair, he committed suicide by jumping into the sea.

Meanwhile, the man who had purchased his farm noticed one day the glint of an unusual stone in a shallow stream on the property. He reached into the water and, to his amazement, he pulled out a huge diamond. Later when working in his garden, he uncovered many more valuable gems. Poor Al Haffed had spent his life traveling to distant lands seeking jewels, when on the farm he had left behind were all the precious stones his heart could have ever desired.

Security can never be found in a safe deposit box. Jesus has taught us that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15), and He advised his disciples “to lay up treasures for themselves in heaven rather than on earth” (Mt. 6:19f).

Let us never forget that contentment never comes from the accumulation of things, but from the assurance that “God will never leave us or forsake us”, and that’s a promise we can count on.

Yours in faith,

Pastor Tom.

Thanksgiving and Hospitality

Dear Family,

Who’s coming to your Thanksgiving dinner next week? Jesus has some interesting things to say about dinners and hospitality. He spent a good amount of his ministry dining out. He not only spent time meeting in homes with his friends and followers, but he also took time to meet and eat with the Pharisees and who opposed his ministry.  The kind of people with whom he dined caused me to think about one significant lesson Jesus taught about hospitality.

In Luke 14 Jesus taught, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.  Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. (14:12-14)

As I thought about this, I tried to recall the last time I had honored this exhortation.  Quite honestly most of the people whom we have invited to our home have been my friends, neighbors and family, and while on occasion when we lived in Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale, we would invite those we knew had no place to go on special holidays, it was not always on a regular basis. Often they would come from local addiction ministries or were referred to us by the Salvation Army, but I would say these instances weren’t often enough.

As I reflected on how we welcome the outcast, the unlovely, the needy, I thought about something that I recently read that took place in a church service, and it was told by former televangelist Jim Bakker shortly after his release from prison.  I share it with you because it is a beautiful story of what the church is called to be.

“When I was transferred to my last prison, Franklin Graham said he wanted to help me out when I got out with a job, a house to live in, and a car.  It was my fifth Christmas in prison.  I thought it over and said, ‘Franklin, you can’t do this.  It will hurt you.  The Grahams don’t need my baggage’.  He looked at me and he said, ‘Jim, you were my friend in the past, and you are my friend now.  If anyone doesn’t like it, I’m looking for a fight.’”

“So when I got out of prison, the Grahams sponsored me and paid for a house for me to live in and gave me a car to drive.  The first Sunday out, Ruth Graham called the halfway house I was living in at the Salvation Army and asked permission for me to go to the Montreat Presbyterian Church with her that Sunday morning.  When I got there, the pastor welcomed me and sat me with the Graham family.  There were two whole rows of them.   The organ began playing, and the place was full except for a seat next to me.  Then the doors opened and in walked Ruth Graham. She walked down that aisle and sat next to Inmate 67407-059.  I had only been out of prison 48 hours, but she told the world that morning that Jim Bakker was her friend.”

“Afterward, she had me up to their cabin for dinner.  When she asked me for my address, I pulled this envelope out of my pocket.  In prison you’re not allowed to have a wallet, so you must carry an envelope.  She asked, ‘Don’t you have a wallet?’  And I said, ‘Well, yes, this is my wallet.’   She walked into the other room and came back and said, ‘Here’s one of Billy’s wallets.  He doesn’t need it.  You can have it.’”

What a beautiful lesson in hospitality.  As you think about entertaining thisThanksgiving, why not think about inviting someone you would not normally ask to your home, someone, who, like Jim Bakker may need, to know that you are a friend, a person who can be counted on to accept and love them “just as they are”.

I close with a quote of one of my favorite authors, Erwin Lutzer, who writes, “Hospitality is a test of godliness because those who are selfish do not like strangers (especially needy ones) to intrude upon their private lives.  They prefer their own friends who share their lifestyle.  Only the humble have the necessary resource to give of themselves to those who could never give of themselves in return.”

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Tom

P.S. Please let me know if you take my advice this Thanksgiving and let me know about your experience.