St. Paul knows what it is to be content in any circumstance. Contentment is not a virtue praised by our society. The world we live in doesn't want you to be content but to always want more. The latest. The greatest. The newest. The next model. Think about it. Every ad we see on TV is aimed to stir up in us the thought that we don't really have everything we need and so there is more we have to get. Whether its more accessories for the Harley, more boardgames for the collection, more channels of football to watch, more minutes on your phone or just more money in the bank, we all know that all we need is “just a little more” than we have right now. Then we'll be content. But that's not true. We'll never be content. We're restless. We save and scrape or buy on credit to get the things we want and then either regret what we spent or look eagerly for the next version coming out. Even our government measures the strength of the economy on how much money we spend and not save. Bad economy. How do you know? People aren't buying things! No contentment here. Only discontent. Wanting more. Wishing for more. Trying to get more. And then, once a year, take a day off to think about all the stuff we have and act thankful!
So what's the answer? What do we do in a world in which we're overloaded with “stuff?” It's simple, isn't it? You stop buying more and you start getting rid of what you have. You try to live a simpler life. Pare down your material goods. Give your junk away to the poor. Cancel the cable, sell the boat, and skip the new flavor of Starbucks when it comes out. Is that it? Just stop trying to get all this stuff and you'll feel better? The truth is, that's not the answer at all. Doing things like that assumes the problem is the stuff. And it's not. Our discontent isn't because we don't have the latest and greatest whatever. Our discontent, our lack of contentment is just a symptom of our greater problem: our unbelief. It's that we don't believe God's promises for us in Christ. And it's not even really that we don't believe He won't provide, though if we did, we'd never WORRY about things. No, what we really don't believe, what we really don't trust in, is that the greatest gifts the Lord gives us are not things but His Son and the forgiveness of sins. The reason we try to find so much fulfillment in so much stuff is that we forget that Jesus Christ and His salvation is a far more important and lasting treasure than what we have in this life. So the answer isn't to stop buying stuff and live in a tent in the woods. It's to repent of not loving and being thankful for the truly greatest blessings we have in our Lord and His gifts!
The first gift is this: the forgiveness of sins. That forgiveness comes because Jesus, when He lived His earthly life, was content. He never complained about what He didn't have. He never worried about how to get more. He never worried about anything like that. He was content to preach and teach, to be provided for by His disciples and to carry out His Father's will of saving sinners. Think about it. Did you ever read in the Gospels about Jesus complaining that there wasn't enough to eat? Or that He needed to stop off at the tailor for the latest robe and pair of sandals? Our Lord taught from borrowed boats and had no home of His own. The last thing on His mind was collecting any treasure on earth! But here's the thing we need to remember: Jesus' contentment is what counts for you. It's not simply that His being content is and example for you to follow. It's that, in the sight of God the Father, Jesus' living contentedly is put to your account. That is, His being content counts for your and covers your discontent so that God doesn't see it. But more than that, Jesus was content even to suffer death for sinners. So not only does Jesus live wit the contentment you should have, He died for your unbelief which breeds discontent. In other words, the answer to our discontent isn't to become hippies on some “let's all share” commune. The answer to the sin of our unbelief and lack of contentment is the Savior who suffered to take away our sins and forgives us and gives us eternal life.
So we learn that true contentment comes in Christ. How so? By your Baptism. What do I mean? Do I mean that now that you're baptized you're never going to worry about money or try to figure out how to get the latest and greatest? No, I mean that because in Baptism you are clothed with Christ so that when the Lord looks at you He doesn't see your discontent but Christ's contentment. He doesn't see your faithlessness but Christ's faithfulness. True contentment is worked in us by the Holy Spirit who teaches us by His Word and gifts that our real problem, our sinfulness has been overcome by our Savior. It is a cross and struggle and battle that the Holy Spirit fights in us to teach us to love and trust in our heavenly Father above all things. This is a battle and struggle for which we need constant forgiveness in Holy Absolution and the constant strengthening of our faith by Jesus' Body and Blood. It is by those very gifts that the Spirit promises to work in you to peel your fingers away from hanging on to the stuff of this world and instead clinging to Christ and His holy gifts. It is the Holy Spirit who works in us a true thankfulness and gratitude to God our Father for all of His gifts. It is the Holy Spirit who works in us a true love of our neighbor by which we learn to pursue the things of this world for the benefit of others instead of always ourselves. That is the power of the forgiveness of sins which Christ won for us and bestows on us by His Word and preaching and Supper in His church. Brothers and sisters in Christ: You have Christ! Forgiveness of sins! Eternal life! And you have all the rest too! For in Christ God Himself gives you true contentment.
And so now we live in the freedom of Christ! That freedoms means we don't have to combat our covetousness with our own willpower but with Christ's cross. It means on the one hand that you don't have to live in a leaky tent in the woods and convince yourself, “This is the life!” But it also means that if you miss that great item at that awesome price on Black Friday it's not the end of the world either. This Thanksgiving, enjoy the gifts your heavenly Father gives you: all of them. Turkey. Football. The opportunity to serve your neighbor and save on your Christmas shopping. Give thanks most of all that Christ has set you free from the guilt of covetousness and that in Him you have true contentment. For the treasures that Christ gives never run out. Forgiveness. Life. Salvation. There is always more. They always get better. And they are always given for free by your Savior who won them for you on GOOD Friday. Happy Thanksgiving in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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