"From Cravings to Contentment"
Sermon Transcript for February 16, 2003Scripture Reading: Numbers 11: 4-34
By Rev. Mike Beck
Today is the third message in a five-part sermon series entitled, "Lord, Change My Attitude…Before It’s Too Late!” In week one, we looked at the contrasting attitudes of complaining and thankfulness with this quote, “Gratitude is the attitude that determines the altitude for living.” I hope you’re memorizing that. It’s not original with me, but it’s a great quote. “Gratitude is the attitude that determines the altitude for living.” Last week we looked at the negative attitude of rebellion and its counterpart, submission. And we ask these questions, “Are you easy to lead or hard to lead? Can you see the big picture or do you major in minors? Are you willing to lay aside some of your own interests and needs for the well being of a bigger cause?”
Today we’re going to look at an attitude to which many persons find themselves in bondage and they may not even be aware of it. We are going to look at the issue of our cravings. As an example of that attitude we’re going to turn again to a story in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, Chapter 11. Take your Bibles there. Turn in the Old Testament, page 142. And again a brief, historical background: God’s people, the Israelites had gone to Egypt because of a famine in their land. They lived there for quite a period of time. They multiplied in number to where they became a large group of people. The Egyptian Pharaoh had them put into slavery. And God, in His time, raised up a man named Moses. He delivered them through a period of plagues from slavery in Egypt. And he’s taking them to the Promised Land. And they stand now actually looking across the Jordan River to Canaan. The Promised Land is in site; but it will end up being forty years before they get there.
So we start at Verse 4. And as I studied for this text this week, I saw something I’ve never seen before--the first three words. As we think about God leading the Israelites, but the Scripture says, “There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: ‘If only we could have some meat!” Before we go any further we need to be reminded that our desires in and of themselves are not necessarily bad. In this case, God has provided manna for His people as they journey there across the desert. They were getting tired of it. What I understand of this manna is that it was kind of like mush. None of us would like a steady diet of mush. There wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with them wanting some meat. Here’s where we get ourselves in to trouble—when our cravings and our desires move toward an attitude of, “I’ve just got to have that” in order to be happy. We end up getting ourselves in big trouble. It was years ago that someone taught me this quote that is very true in this situation. It goes like this, “Whatever gets your attention ultimately gets you.” Now think about that. It’s very true! Nothing wrong with desiring; it’s when it moves to cravings, “I’ve just got to have it”! Hopefully what gets your attention is the positive things so that those get you. But if we focus on the negative, we focus on those things that are sinful, they eventually get us.
Verse 5, “In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had?” Now, Cindy, you know my eating habits. None of those things sound very appealing to me! Look there at verse 5 and I want to say this. Friends, what we often crave, which many times is related to our old sinful nature, almost always looks better than it really is. Those of you of my generation, I don’t remember the lady who sang the song; I think it came out in the 70’s. It was a song that simply went, “Is that all there is my friend?” And I bet all of us have experienced that. Something we just thought that we had to have and then we got it and it was, “Is that all there is? I put all this energy all this desire into this thing. Gosh it’s not nearly as good as what it’s cracked up to be.” In today’s story we’re going to discover the Israelites’ craving for meat is going to mean their wandering in the wilderness 40 years instead of making the short journey across the Jordan River to the Promised Land.
Verse 6, “But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat—nothing but this manna day after day!” I want you to notice the subtle but dangerous shift in their attitudes. Their normal desires now become constant complaining. God is supernaturally providing in the desert stuff for them to eat but now it isn’t good enough. The same story is told in Exodus 16. And if you read that chapter carefully you see that God actually gave the people manna as a test of their obedience and thankfulness. If you go back and read Chapter 16 of Exodus, God prescribed very carefully how the manna was to be harvested. It was as if God is saying, “I know you’ve got to have food; I want to see if you’re thankful people. I want to see if you’ll gather it in an obedient way. Hear this critically important truth--at the heart of our cravings will often be found a rejection of God’s sufficiency. It’s an attitude that says to God, “Lord, what you’ve given me isn’t good enough. I want more.” Friends, here is the sad truth. Too many persons, who call themselves Christians, do not really want God in all of his sufficiency. Here’s what they want. They want a “quarter’s worth of God and ______” Can you fill in the blank. On Wednesday evening this past week we watched a videotape, a short one, of the ministry of a seminary in Africa. The United Methodist Church in Africa in the last 20 years has grown from 40,000 to 200,000 members. Contrast that to what is happening in the United States. But I can almost hear someone say in response to that, “Yeah, but that’s Africa. In Africa, that’s all they’ve got!” To which I thought, “Now wait a minute. What are you saying? My Bible says if you’ve got God that’s all you ultimately need! There’s an old hymn, it’s not in our hymnal any more but I bet many of you have sung it. The first verse, “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold. I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands; I’d rather be led by his nail-pierced hand.” Well the chorus that we often sing at 11:00 a.m. says the same thing, “God and God Alone.” Let me ask you this question, “If all you had was faith in God, would it be enough?” If all you had was faith in God, would it be enough?
In coming back to our story, and there is humor in Scripture, God says in response to His people, “Okay you want meat, I’ll give you meat.” Go down to verse 18. God says to Moses, “Tell the people, ‘Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.” And then go down to Verse 31, “Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction. So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp.” Boy that must have been a sight; it must also have been a smell! “While there was still plenty of meat for them to eat, the Lord became angry with the people and caused an epidemic to break out among them. That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (or “Graves of Craving”), because there they buried the people who had craved meat.”
Let’s get up close and personal; we can really do that this morning. You’re closer to the preacher than maybe you want to be. Having a nice house, if you are single wanting to get married, it you are married and haven’t yet had children wanting to have children, wanting to go on vacation, desiring a good retirement plan—hear me carefully, there is nothing wrong with desiring any of those things unless your desire for those things becomes more important than your relationship with God. Are you willing to allow the Holy Spirit to search your hearts this morning? What are you chasing after that may not be wrong in itself, but it’s become the focus of your attention? Be aware of begging God for non-essentials because in time we may end up hating or becoming slaves to what we thought we just had to have and couldn’t live without it. Let me repeat that. Beware of begging God for non-essentials because you may end up hating if you get it or you may become slaves to it. I have no problem with SUVs. If you drive an SUV today I’m not attacking you. But I wonder how many people who bought an SUV because it was the thing to do, because the neighbor had an SUV, now the gas is $1.75 a gallon wish they were driving a Honda Accord? I just have to have it and then when we get it we become it’s slave.
God can answer our prayers in one of four ways: “Yes”, that’s the one we like. Although, friends, let me ask you to reflect on some of the prayers you’ve offered during your life that you are so glad God answered that prayer, “No”. Oh, you were sure that was God’s will and it didn’t happen and you look back now and say, “Lord, thank you that you said ‘No’!” God sometimes says, “Wait”. God sometimes says to our prayers, “I’ve got a better idea.”
One of the pitfalls of our materialistic society that we live in is that it destroys the capacity to discern sufficiency. And we all watch TV and we all see the ads. And the ads are designed totally to tell you what you’ve got isn’t good enough. And we get to where we don’t know what enough is any more. And unless our fallen human nature is replaced with God’s nature, then the more we get the more we will want and the less satisfied we will become. Now, friends, you need to be aware of this important truth. Please, hear this carefully, “There is not necessarily a correlation between craving and the amount of money we have.” Bring some people to mind now. I’ve known some wealthy, very wealthy persons who didn’t have a materialistic bone in their body. And if they bought a boat they invited everybody and their neighbor to use it. We had some friends like that in Madison, Indiana. They were millionaires. They didn’t have a materialistic bone in their body and they were constantly saying to Mickey and I, “We’re never going to be able to afford a boat. Come down this weekend and go skiing with us on the river.” They were youth group sponsors. If they bought a toy, they bought it for somebody else’s benefit. And I’ve also known some persons of lower incomes whose attitudes were totally materialistic. So I’m not preaching to those today with money. Thank God in the church there are people who have accumulated wealth. There’s nothing wrong with wealth. It’s when our cravings get out of hand. Let me ask you this question, “Do you spend more time thinking about people to impact or things to get?” That’s a good question. Do you spend more time thinking about people to impact or things to get? And have your cravings and materialism, what’s that done to your relationship with God?
Well, let’s turn now to the positive attitude we need to “put on”, an attitude of contentment. We’re going to look at I Timothy in the New Testament and you’re welcome to turn to that in your red Bibles, but I’m going to read from the New International. I Timothy, Chapter 6, Verse 6, “But Godliness with contentment is great gain.” I want everyone here to memorize this equation and take it with you. I promise you it applies to every situation. Say it with me. Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain. Let me give you a definition of contentment. Contentment means to rest comfortably in what you already have. When I was working on the message I could just hear some folks from the church saying, “Well then, that ought to apply to our building. We’ve got a nice building. We don’t need any bigger building; we ought to be content with what we’ve got.” To which I want to say this, “If we are building so that we, who are already here will be more comfortable, God will not bless our building program. If we are adding to our space so we can proudly say, “We have the nicest church in Franklin; God will not bless our building program. But if we are building so that we can serve families and individuals in this community who have not come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and we are building so that we can reach them with the gospel, God will bless what we are doing.”
Versus 7 and 8, “We’ve brought nothing in to the world and we can take nothing out of it; but if you have food and clothing we will be content with that.” Here’s a principle you need to learn about how to be content. It doesn’t come natural. Let me repeat that, “Contentment does not come naturally especially in the world we live in. The Apostle Paul said, “I have learned how to be content.” And I want you to notice he said, “I have learned to be content when I have a lot and I’ve learned to be content when I have little.” The key to contentment is to look beyond the present moment to eternity. We came in to the world with nothing. These roses up on the altar there--those two babies didn’t have a stitch of clothes on when they came in to the world. They did not come in to the world with their Callaway golf clubs in hand. And we will leave the world the same way. I’m quite comforted to know Bill Gates is going out just like me. I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. We came in to the world with nothing; we leave with nothing. That’s an eternal perspective.
And then Verse 9, “People who want to get rich fall in to temptation and trap of many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.” I want you to notice in the first part of that it does not say, “those who are rich”. It says, “those who want to be rich”. In other words, they’ve got a craving—I’ve just got to be wealthy. And I want you to note the result of that attitude. It says they are going to fall. I was in an upstairs of a building in Corydon one night. They were opening this building as a music hall and I went down to see it because Aaron was working there. And I’d gone up to the second floor and I was ready to leave and I was a little disoriented and I saw a sign that said “Exit”. And I opened the door and took a step and it was the exit to the fire escape and the fire escape hadn’t yet been built. Fourteen feet straight down and it wasn’t fun. Thank God it was muddy; the ground wasn’t frozen. And when I finally realized I was “Okay”, I had mud all over me, I walked around to the front of the building and came in the front door. And the lady who was the owner said, “Oh, no, you didn’t!” And I said, “I did.” Three days later, Adam, after he knew I was okay, he says to me, you know because he’s real concerned about his image at school, he says, “Dad, nobody saw you did they?” It’s no fun to fall. And Paul says to Timothy here, “If you are craving being rich, you are going to fall into temptation. It’s going to be a trap. You are going to fall in to harmful desires.” And if you don’t believe that just go to the movies or look at the neighbor down the street. The end result when we fall prey to our cravings—ruin and destruction.
And I want you to contrast that with the blessings of contentment. Three things—contentment brings joy in the present moment. You know some people who never enjoy the present moment because they are always thinking what they want tomorrow. They may get their life long dream of taking a vacation in Hawaii and they are thinking, “Well, maybe next year we can go to Europe.” If you are content you enjoy the present moment. Secondly, you have the capacity to enjoy ordinary pleasures. Some of you folks who don’t know contentment, it’s always out there some place. But you go to the very modest home and you’ll find some people fully enjoying playing checkers or cards with their kids. And contentment produces the true joy of abundant and eternal life that comes from knowing Jesus Christ.
Let me give you three keys to finding the attitude of contentment.
Seek It: Say with the red words that are coming up, “Lord, I want to learn contentment.”
Say It: Repeat with me, “Lord, I have enough.”
Settle It: Lord, I’m going to pursue a treasure that will last.
Psalm 62:10 says, “Though my riches increase, let me not set my heart on them.” And I think what God is saying to us in this verse if this: And right now I’m talking to persons my age and older. Those are the ones I want to especially tune in. Those of you that still have kids in the home and younger than me, you’ll not probably in your prime earning years and you’ve discovered that when you get to be 14, 15, or 16, it’s not $1.00, it’s “Mom, I need $20, I need $30.” So what I’m going to say now applies to my age and older. I think God is saying to us in this verse, we need to settle on a lifestyle that brings honor to God so that as our income goes up our impact for the kingdom of God will also go up. In the equation we learned earlier, I want you to note contentment has a partner. Do you remember what it was? Godliness! Here’s another quote I want you to take with you today, “We are to be content with what we have, but we are never to be content with who we are as individuals or as a church. Catch that important difference. We are to be content with what we have but we’re never to be content with who we are as individuals or as a church. Paul, whose way down the road spiritually from where I am, said, “I forget what is behind and I press on to what God has in store for me.” Why is that true? Because in terms of our own walk with the Lord and in terms of our calling as God’s church to serve a broken world, God always has more for us. Friends, you’ve heard me say this before, the easiest thing in the world for me to have done when I came in here as your pastor was to mind the store. This church is filled with the greatest folks you’d ever want to meet. Just meet their needs, hobnob with them, enjoy a good time, do church on Sunday morning. But do you know why I can’t do that? Because lost people matter to God! Look at where God has placed Grace Church. Look at the growth in the community around us. Look at the blessings we’ve been given. For us to say we don’t have any responsibility for all of these new housing developments, from my perspective, is the ultimate sin.
Friends, every one of these messages, in one way or another, is related to our capital funds campaign. Now that wasn’t by design, and these messages are speaking to me just as I hope they are speaking to you. Some of you are on the campaign team. They are doing such a great job. They met with our consultant the other night. He reminded them no one in the church is asked to do more than one thing related to the campaign. If you are asked to do more than one thing there is a $25,000 fine to which I wanted to raise up my hand and say, “Does that apply to me?” Because, you see, I think it is the second Sunday of March, I have to stand before you and tell you… (changed tape to other side—missing some of message)
I went with Scott Stephens to the 10-Week Education Event out in Nevada a few weeks ago. Scott’s church did a campaign three years ago. He makes $10,000 less than I make despite this network. I asked him, I said, “Scott can I be nosy? What did you and Becky commit to the campaign?” I wish I hadn’t asked because Mickey and I had kind of determined a figure in our mind and when Scott shared his figure, I gulped. I said, “Guess we need to have some more conversation with God.” You’re going to hear this over and over again in the campaign—not equal giving. There are some families with young children, that if they are able to give $500 a year to the campaign, it will be sacrificial. Not equal giving, but equal sacrifice. So Mickey and I are thinking, “What does sacrifice mean for Mike and Mickey? Scott said to me, “Both of their cars have over 100,000 miles. That was our sacrifice; we really need a new car. We decided we could wait; we’ll make these work for the next three years.”
Friends, this is hard stuff. The world will try to lure us astray on every side. We’ll never do it perfectly. In fact, I’ve got a wife at home now. In fact, this is a good thing. It’s been real good since you gave us a housing allowance. We’ve learned now how the real world lives. Our countertops are coming off in the kitchen and I can’t call the trustees anymore. Now we got a quote on new countertops and we’re thinking maybe we’ll go with laminate. But, I love my wife a lot; she’ll probably end up with those new countertops. But we don’t do it perfectly. It’s a tough issue for us to deal with, for all of us to deal with. But, friends, our attitudes make all the difference in life. And with God’s help our attitudes can become more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
So let’s stand, and there is a closing prayer in the bulletin that we’ll read together.
Lord replace a complaining attitude with a thankful attitude,
Replace a rebellious attitude with a submissive attitude.
Replace a covetous attitude with an attitude of contentment.
Replace a critical attitude with an attitude of love.
Replace a doubting attitude with an attitude of faith.
Change my attitude…before it’s too late!
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