Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16 

"...keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have...I will never leave you or forsake you."  Those are the words found in the fifth verse of the 13th chapter of Hebrews.  Be content.  Being content is relative easy when all is going right in one's life.  When one has a job that pays well and is a joy to go to in the morning, when one's spouse and family are doing well and even the grandparents are healthy, when life is "good" and all is right with the world, being content comes easily. 
    But the book of Hebrews was written to a group of Christians who lived with none of this.  They were a persecuted group who had very little in terms of material possessions.  Often persons from their ranks would be arrested and taken to jail, there to be physically tortured and left to die without food or care.  "Be content with what you have" was a far cry from what one might expect a disciple of Christ to suggest to these people.  But that is exactly what the writer of Hebrews did.  He understood well that it is difficult to be content with life on this earth when things are not going well.  But he also understood that there was something bigger and more important than life as we physically know it.  And that something is Jesus the Christ and the promises he made to his people.
    How does one find contentment in life when all hell is breaking lose?  Is it really possible to simply "will" oneself to a state of mind or being that allows this contentment?  How does one really learn to be content with life?  These are good questions and I'll be the first to admit that I certainly do not have all the answers.  However we are able to catch a glimpse of understanding from scripture; there are truths that can help us along life's path.
    What is meaningful to one as a child may or may not be meaningful to an adult.  For example when one is a child, the most meaningful part of life may be a toy that one possesses.  When one becomes an adolescent, it is "looking cool and acting cool" that may hold the most meaning in life.  As an adult, a career or some material possession or possessions may hold the most meaning in life.
    However to a mature Christian, it is relationships with God and God's people that hold the most meaning in life.  So what scripture suggests to us is a reordering of our priorities and commitments in order to be content with what we have.  Rather than commit ourselves to things that do not last, we are to commit ourselves to relationships that last forever.  Time and time again God says it is the proper relationship with the Creator and with creation that is most important.
    Often we have heard the word "stewards" or "stewardship."  Being a steward implies that one does not own something, but rather has been entrusted with its care until the real owner returns.  Think of life, all of life, for a moment.  If we truly are stewards of everything on and in this earth, then our outlook on life should be different than if we were the rightful owners. 
    J. Harry Cotton, a past president of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, one of the ten theological institutions of our denomination, once wrote, "If Christian faith is true, then we are stewards, not owners, of the good gifts of God."  Stewards, not owners, of the good gifts of God.  This implies that our successes in life are because of God-given gifts.  If that is true, then there should be an implicit mandate to share our successes, and the fruits of our successes, with others. 
    Some persons have the gift of making money.  They should be very liberal in sharing their monies with others in the Kingdom.  Some persons are good listeners.  They should be very liberal in sharing their listening ear to others in the Kingdom.  See how that works?  As stewards, not shareholders in the company, we simply are the caretakers of these gifts.  It is incumbent on us to make sure these gifts are used wisely and for the good of all creation.
    When I was a senior in high school, a friend of mine invited me to come with him, and his family, to Lake Arrowhead in the mountains above the Los Angeles area.  It was a beautiful place to visit, with a clear mountain lake, crystal blue skies, and millions of pine trees dotting the landscape. 
    One night after my friend’s younger siblings were in bed, his mother and the two of us sat out on the front porch of this old shack rocking in some chairs.  It was a delightful time, cool crisp air, crickets chirping, and billions of stars to be seen in the night sky.
    The dinner had been meager that evening, and as I discovered during the conversation, this family didn’t have much money on which to live either.  But it was obvious they were happy.  And then I discovered they tithed.  “Why,” I asked?  “Why tithe when you don’t have much money?”  The mother smiled and shared this story with me.
    We have been blessed beyond measure.  We have a wonderful family; all of us are healthy; we care for one another; and we rarely miss a meal.  And look where we are tonight?  Out in the beautiful mountains that God has prepared for us.  Life is wonderful.  God is Great.  We have truly been blessed.  And we want to give back a part of our blessing so that others might understand and have this relationship with God.
    As I sat in the darkness, I remember thinking that this family had something I had not noticed in many families:  A joy for life.  An attitude that permeated their entire day and night.  I remember smiling and wondering, how does one get that joy!
    Over the years, I have come to realize that the joy that family had was in being content; being content with their relationship with God and one another.  Knowing that the priority in their lives were those relationships.  Everything else took a back seat. 
    This may demand that we reorder our priorities and commitments in life.  For example, in this changing world of ours, when we are told values and ethics are only situational, Christians must stand up and say, "Not true!"  Jesus the Christ, and the teachings of Christ, are like a compass in this world in which we live.  Jesus is the perfect being--perfect meaning cannot be changed for the better.  Jesus is the one constant that can be trusted and counted upon to show us the proper way to live in this place at this time and into the future.
    The truths of the teachings of Jesus are applicable in every time.  The love God shows through the death of Jesus on the cross is constant forever.  The promises made by the Christ can be looked upon as eternal truths, which will be honored no matter what.  That is the constant that Christ brings to the lives of humans everywhere.  We may change in our understandings of Jesus, humanity may change in the way it conducts itself, life itself may change, but Jesus is the same today, tomorrow and forever.  And that is what can help us to be content—that Jesus loves you just the same today, as yesterday and as tomorrow.
    Be content with what you have, for you have been given so much in our Lord Jesus, the Christ.  Be good stewards with what has been entrusted to you for the benefit of all society.  And if that means individually or as a church that we must reorder our priorities to reflect what is most important in life--our relationship with God and the rest of creation--then may it be so in your lives and in mine.   

Amen