Managing Stress
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
October 21, 2012
Philippians 4:4-20, Managing Stress
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
Managing Stress from BBC Staff on Vimeo.
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I titled this six week series from Philippians, Joy and Encouragement in Difficult Times because we’re living in difficult times and we can all use a little joy and encouragement. On Friday, Jill and I attended a forum for Human Services Agencies and the Faith Community on the Lower and Outer Cape. It was tough listening to brief presentations from representatives of the Cape Cod Council of Churches, Lower Cape Outreach Council, Cape Cod Children’s Place, and others as well as our State Representative and State Senator about the daunting challenges so many of our citizens are facing just trying to make it on the Cape, not that Jill and I are unaware of that given our jobs. I am very pleased our Holiday Fair will benefit two of these organizations helping our neighbors. Much of what is taking place is a microcosm of the larger issues facing our country as a whole. These are few things from my week; all of you could fill in the blanks from your own week as well.
Paul was in a stressful situation when he wrote to the Philippians. We all respond to stress differently. Some people get excited, agitated, or angry; others get quiet or go for a walk, others pause and pray. Paul’s response was to try and use the time he had in a positive and useful way. So he writes the letter to the Philippians including these words that teach us about stress and contentment.
“10 I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. 11 Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. 13
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 14 In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress. 15 You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. 16 For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your account. 18 I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
The final chapter of Philippians includes a call to rejoice regardless of the challenges both inside and outside the church (verses 4-7); an encouragement to practice the thinking and virtues that Paul has demonstrated in their midst (verses 8-9); and concludes with Paul’s gratitude and thanksgiving for the church’s relationship with him (verses 10-20). I called this sermon Managing Stress because I believe if we can learn like Paul to rejoice always, if we think about the right and best things and put them into practice in our lives, then we can learn to be content and to do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
The more I thought about all this as my week unfolded, the more I was drawn to the idea that the more content we are in whatever circumstances in which we find ourselves, the less stressed out we’re going to feel. The more discontent we are, the more likely we will be susceptible to stress. So I am going to focus on learning to be content this morning.
Paul knew from all he’d experienced that contentment can’t be found in anything external. It’s found in a relationship with God. How many people are looking for contentment in something external, in clothes, cars, or houses where contentment will not be found? Too many people are infected with “if only” syndrome: “If only I had those clothes, that car, that house, that job, that man, that woman, that bank account, then I’d be content, then I’d be satisfied.” The philosopher Immanuel Kant declared, “Give a man everything he wants, and at that moment, everything will not be everything.”
In today’s passage from Philippians, Paul speaks of learning the secret of being content in all circumstances. He knows what it’s like to have a lot or little, to have food and to go hungry, he knows what it is to be free and to be in prison. The secret of Paul’s contentment lies in his relationship with Jesus. It is through the priority and commitment of that relationship that Paul has learned that he can do all things, endure all things, persevere through all things and be content without being stressed out. Contentment doesn’t come from a soft or easy life; no one would describe Paul’s life that way.
Contentment is something commended and commanded by God in the Bible. Paul commends us in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” and we are commanded in Hebrews 13:5, “Be content with what you have.” Contentment, though commended and commanded by God, is disregarded and ignored by most people. “Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., observes that our society is marked by “inextinguishable discontent.” Dr. Richard Swenson writes, “Contentment isn’t denying one’s feelings about unhappiness, but instead a freedom from being controlled by those feelings. It isn’t pretending things are right when they are not, but instead the peace that comes from knowing that God is bigger than any problem and that God can work them out for our good.” We won’t find contentment unless we diligently seek it.
There are a number of steps we can take if we’re serious about pursuing contentment that may help to reduce the stress we feel. First, remember the conflict between contentment and discontent is a struggle that never ends. It requires effort on our part to paddle upstream against all the currents that create discontent. Many people are striving not for contentment but for more. God says, “Be content,” not “Be content IF…” Don’t allow the choices or decisions of others to influence your contentment. Turn off the ads and tune out the lies that want you to believe “You need/deserve this product which will make you sexy, desirable, prominent, powerful, and cool and without it you’re nobody.” Recognizing that no material goods can make us content, we can stop buying as much stuff, and use our money for God’s work, relieving suffering, paying off debt and living within our means.
Secondly, develop “counter-habits.” Instead of getting, try giving. I’m sure there are plenty of people like me who have reached the point that we’re happier when we see stuff leaving our house rather than coming in. Instead of replacing, try preserving. Instead of feeling covetous, try feeling grateful. Instead of feeling inferior before people, try feeling accepted by God. Instead of being ruled by feelings, try enjoying the freedom of contentment. You may find yourself feeling less stressed and more relaxed.
Subtract from your needs. Make a list of the things you think you need and then start crossing things off. 21st century Americans believe they have far more needs than their grandparents did. G.K. Chesterton wrote, “There are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.”
Believe that God comes first and possessions come second. Possessions are to be used, not loved. One Christian preacher and author J. I. Packer wrote, “Discontent will destroy your peace, rob you of joy, make you miserable, spoil your witness. We dishonor God if we proclaim a Savior who satisfies and then go around discontent.”[1] And when it has done its work, discontent abandons us, leaving us no comfort.
Third, remember the many advantages of contentment: freedom, gratitude, rest, and peace. When we’re content we don’t worry about the latest styles or what to wear. We can rejoice in the good fortune of others without being jealous or envious. We don’t worry much about wrinkles or gray hair or no hair because we’ve learned to accept what life brings. If we have wrinkles, gray hair, or no hair it means we should rejoice because it means we have been blessed to live a much longer life than hundreds of millions of people who aren’t as fortunate. When we’re content we have more time for relationships, and gratitude for small things and simple pleasures.
God commanded contentment because we need it to anchor our relationships. “We relate better to God when we are satisfied with what the Lord gives. “The Christian position from the beginning has been that people are satisfied by becoming reconciled with God, not by acquiring wealth.”[2]
We relate better to self when we are contented with our circumstances. If allowed to write a prescription redesigning our body, personality, or station in life, most of us would grab at the chance to be: smarter, funnier, richer, better looking, more artistic or athletic. Yet none of these requests would be an issue if it were not for our comparisons with others. If we were all alone with God (which, in regard to contentment we are), we would have a different set of values than the one society offers.
We relate better to others when our relationship is stabilized by contentment. If every encounter with my neighbor reminds me of something I covet or wish I had, that relationship becomes tenuous. Envy makes it hard to have friends because everyone we know has something we do not – personally, financially, relationally, or spiritually. When we’re content, we’re no longer dependent upon the approval and the opinions of others for our self-worth.
Finally, it’s crucial to live remembering God is what we need; things are what we use. “Contentment lies not in what is yours, but in whose you are.” From his prison cell Paul invites us to the freedom of contentment that comes from knowing our contentment rests in a relationship with God that shapes everything else about us.
A Vietnamese woman whose husband was a pastor in Vietnam had seen her husband taken away to prison, and her home and all their belongings confiscated when their church was closed by the police. Like Paul, she wrote Christian friends, and her letter reflects Paul’s teaching, thinking, and spirit. It almost sounds like a modern day Biblical letter would. In circumstances we would find incredibly stressful, like Paul she is content and can even rejoice. She wrote, “You know around here we are experiencing hardships, but we thank the Lord He is comforting us and caring for us in every way. When we experience misfortune, adversity, distress and hardship, only then do we see the real blessing of the Lord poured down on us in such a way that we cannot contain it.
“We have been obliged recently to leave our modest apartment and for over two months have been living on a balcony. The rain has been beating down and soaking us. Sometimes in the middle of the night we are forced to gather our blankets and run to seek refuge in a stairwell.
“Do you know what I do then? I laugh and I praise the Lord, because we can still take shelter in the stairwell. I think of how many people are experiencing much worse hardships than I am. Then I remember the words of the Lord, “To the poor, O Lord, You are a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat (Isaiah 25:4), and I am greatly comforted. Our Father …is the One who according to the Scriptures does not break the bruised reed nor put out the flickering lamp. He is the One who looks after the orphan and the widow. He is the One who brings blessings and peace to numberless people.
“I do not know what words to use in order to describe the love that the Lord has shown our family. I only can bow my knee and my heart and offer to the Lord words of deepest thanks and praise. Although we have lost our house and our possessions, we have not lost the Lord, and he is enough. With the Lord I have everything. The only thing I would fear losing is his blessing!
Could I ask you and our friends in the churches abroad to continue to pray for me that I will faithfully follow the Lord and serve Him regardless of what the circumstances may be? As far as my husband is concerned, I was able to visit him this past summer. We had a 20-minute conversation that brought us great joy…
I greet you with my love, Mrs. An”
I think that is the kind of letter Paul would write today. She has learned the secret of contentment. She has learned to be content with whatever she has. She knows what it is to have little, and she knows what it is to have plenty.
In any and all circumstances she has learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.
She can do all things through Christ who strengthens her.
And so can we.
Blessing:
“And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God & Father be glory forever & ever. Amen.”