17th Sunday after Pentecost (C)

October 1, 1995

Godliness With Contentment

(1 Timothy 6:6-10)

How many truly contented people do you suppose you know: people who are really satisfied with themselves, their marriage, their children, their health, the community in which they live, the house where they live, the job they hold, the degree of their success, the schools which their children attend, the church to which they belong? How many people do you know who would be content to live as they do and where they do from now on?

A farmer had lived on the same small farm all his life. He desperately craved for a change. He decided to sell the old home place and buy another farm -- one larger and more to his liking. He listed the farm with a local realtor.

Several days later, the farmer read an ad in the local newspaper, describing the farm of his dreams. It read: "Beautiful farmhouse, ideal location, excellent barn, good pasture, fertile soil, up-to-date equipment, well-bred stock. Near town, church, and school. Good neighbors."

The farmer called his realtor and said, "I've been looking for a place like that all my life. Could you arrange an appointment for me to see it?"

The realtor responded: "That's the ad for your property. Are you sure you want to sell it?" The farmer was living in paradise and did not even realize it. He took the farm off the market and decided that's exactly where he wanted to be -- from now on.

Each of us can relate to that. We magnify the difficulties, exaggerate the shortcomings, overlook the advantages, and fail to see the good in what we have.

Perhaps that is why the words of the Apostle Paul intrigue us so much. He speaks forthrightly about contentment, as if it is within reach. For instance, in the text, he wrote: "godliness with contentment is great gain" (v.6).

The Greek word which is translated "contentment" in the text is also translated in other ways in other New Testament passages. For instance, in 2 Corinthians 9:8, the word is rendered, in some versions, "all sufficiency." In the New International Version, it reads:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all time, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Also, when God said to Paul, "my grace is sufficient for you (2 Corinthians 12:9), he used the word translated elsewhere as "to be content." (see Luke 3:14; 1 Timothy 6:8; Hebrews 13:5)

The contented person experiences the sufficiency of God's provision for her needs and the sufficiency of God's grace for her circumstances. A contented person believes that God will work in all her circumstances for her good.

Apparently contentment is one of the distinguishing traits of a godly person. Paul certainly believed that there is an advantage for the godly person who is contented and fulfilled. That is why he wrote, "godliness with contentment is great gain."

But Paul stopped short of suggesting that all godly people will always be satisfied with everything about themselves, their circumstances, and condition. So if you are struggling to be more godly but are not yet contented and fulfilled, don't give up! You can learn to be.