Hebrews 13:1-19

Last week we looked at contentment from Philippians chapter 4.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

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And then he rung me half an hour later and he said, yes, you gave me that sermon.

And so, I've reworked it a little bit, but some of you might recognize it.

Money.

Money is one of those things, isn't it, that interests us the most and yet we speak about the least.

End of the tax year.

It's last week.

Start of the month.

Payday has just happened, hasn't it?

And as we gather together, I am pretty certain that every single one of us will be fully conscious of what is going on in our private financial world.

And whether this morning you feel you've got enough or not enough, you will know this morning.

Maybe some of you are wondering, how are you going to pay that bill?

How are you going to pull things together to make the holiday happen in the summer?

What is inflation going to do?

And then, of course, it's something, isn't it, that we each individually think about and yet we rarely talk about together.

We abide, don't we, by certain social norms.

No one has ever said to me over coffee after the service, so what are you on?

How much do you earn?

How much did you get with your promotion?

Not that I've ever had promotion.

But people don't ask that, isn't it?

What was your bonus?

And when we bring our deep personal interest in money, but our shared reserve about money to the Bible, we find that God actually only shares one of those attitudes.

God is deeply interested in money.

He's deeply interested in what you do with it.

He is not remotely interested in keeping quiet about money.

And so all over the pages of the Bible, God reveals that money is the very stuff of life.

And money does things.

It's not inanimate.

Money does things.

Money sets you free.

Money makes you a slave.

Money can be what God uses to bring you to the Lord Jesus.

And money can be what keeps you out of his kingdom, too.

It's because of all the things that Jesus talks about in the Gospels, he is not in the least shy about speaking about money.

But here's the thing.

When God speaks about money, he never just says, give.

He never just says, give.

He doesn't just say, give generously.

Because God knows that the money in your pocket and your online bank details on your phone, they are always an x-ray machine of your heart.

Money talks, we say.

And that's true.

The Bible would agree with that.

Money reveals.

Money actually takes the layers off.

And money shows us where our hearts are.

So do you remember what Jesus said?

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It's really interesting.

Where do you want to find out where your heart is?

Let me tell you where you find it is.

You go to your bank statement.

They're like an x-ray machine.

Our treasures show our hearts like nothing else.

And so this morning, I want to look at contentment.

I want to look at that ability, that spiritual discipline to say, I have enough.

I'm fine.

I'm full.

No more required.

One writer has said, we human beings are very odd.

We buy things we don't need.

With money we don't have.

To please people we don't like.

And I don't know who said that, but it can be very true, can't it?

Things we don't need.

With money we don't have.

And God says to us in his words, stop it.

Stop doing that.

So come with me to Romans 13 and verses 1 to 5.

And I want to see three things about contentment.

That will help us to stop doing that.

Number one, contentment.

Being able to say, no, it's okay.

I've had enough.

I don't need it.

Flows from the worship of God.

So I don't know whether you noticed it as I read it.

There are different commands out there.

They're kind of staccato commands that come to us.

All in quick succession.

So, and verse 1, love each other.

Be hospitable, verse 2.

Remember the suffering, verse 3.

Honor marriage, verse 4.

Flee sexual immorality.

Keep your lives free from the love of money.

Be content.

Verse 7, remember your leaders.

And it goes on and on.

The letters of the Hebrews, we're breaking into it in 13.

Of course, there's 12 chapters come before this.

And it is very deliberately argued.

It's a deliberately argued theological point.

It talks about Jesus' work as the eternal son.

Jesus is like a new Moses, Hebrews tells us.

Jesus is like a leader like the new Joshua.

He is a priest.

He is the great high priest.

And now here at the end,

is it that the writer says, oh yes,

and there's these pile of things that I've forgotten about.

Don't forget the usual.

Love, good works, marriage, all of that.

Are these, as one commentator calls it,

the leftovers?

You've done the heavy duty theology, 1 to 12,

and then the end of it is just kind of the fillers.

Well, the answer is no.

Here's the answer why.

Look at chapter 12, verses 28 and 29.

Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom

that cannot be shaken.

The kingdom of God stands and grows forever.

And so, offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe.

For our God is a consuming fire.

Worship God acceptably.

Worship God reverently.

In other words, don't mess about with this God.

Get worship right.

Because there are certain things God hates,

and certain things God cannot tolerate,

and which the burning purity of his holy love will consume.

So, how do you do that?

How do you worship reverently and full of awe?

Chapter 13.

There's your order of service.

Here's the liturgy.

It's not a random collection of loose ends

tagged onto the end of a letter

because the writer had forgotten it somehow.

No, these are the vital elements of Christian worship.

So much so that if you don't have them,

you are facing a God who is a consuming fire.

And so, for us this morning,

the challenge is, look at verse 5.

Keep your life free from the love of money

and be content with what you have.

For he has said,

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

So, remember this is about worship.

And turn the verse with me

into the opposite of what it says.

Can you see the point that the writer is making?

Let's turn it into the opposite of what it says, verse 5.

Fill your life with the love of money.

Harbour a low burn, constant, unhappy discontent

with what you have.

Do that.

If you do that,

you're not worshipping God.

Keep your life free from all of that.

Free from the love of money

and be content.

If you do all that,

you are not worshipping God.

And when we see that this is all about worship,

it's so strong, isn't it?

Worship is

what we're doing here together this morning.

Praise to the Lord,

the Almighty, the King of creation.

He is the only wise God, isn't he?

He is victorious.

His name we praise.

That is worship, isn't it?

Once again, I think upon your sacrifice.

I'm broken inside.

Is that worship?

Yes, it is.

Partly.

And what it's saying to you and I this morning is this.

You can sing all you want.

You can look for a church with the best worship in the world.

You can seek out the best style of worship that you love.

But where there is Sunday words,

but Monday to Saturday discontent,

you're not worshipping God acceptably.

Monday to Saturday greed,

and Sunday worship is not worship.

And God never pulls his punches, does he?

He loves you too much for that.

His holiness and his glory are too great for that.

And so we live easily with facade,

and pretense, and politeness,

and turning a blind eye,

but God never does that.

And so you go to 1 Peter 3,

and you've got this amazing verse in 1 Peter 3,

where Peter tells husbands,

husbands, you live with your wives considerably.

Considerately.

Treat them respectfully,

and as equal heirs.

And then he gives a reason why husbands are to live with their lives

respectfully,

and considerably,

considerably,

and as equal heirs.

He says this,

so that nothing,

nothing will hinder your prayers.

So he says,

do A,

so that B won't happen.

Can you see that?

Bully your wife at home,

but never miss the prayer meeting.

And Peter says,

God is not listening.

He doesn't care about your prayers.

They hit the roof,

and they go no further.

In the book of Isaiah,

we often use this,

don't we?

That these people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me,

God says.

He says,

stop bringing me your meaningless offerings.

And when you spread out your hands in prayer,

I will hide my eyes from you,

and I will not listen.

Take your evil deeds out of my sight.

Stop doing wrong.

Learn to do right.

Seek justice.

Encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless.

Plead the cause of the widow.

That is acceptable worship.

Sounds like Hebrews 13 to me.

With one addition.

Learn to be content.

Learn to be content.

Do you remember last week,

Paul said in Philippians,

I have learned to be content

in whatever circumstances.

So interesting, isn't it?

Do you find contentment hard?

Anyone prepared to be remotely honest,

they will say that they do.

You're not born content.

No one is born content.

It's the very opposite.

We are naturally discontent,

and you have to learn to admit it.

Notice the main verb

in Hebrews 13, verse 5.

Hebrews 13:5

Keep your life free from the love of money.

It's like keeping your garden free of weeds.

You're never done to you with the garden.

Again and again and again,

you've got to keep weeding.

And if you're not active in keeping weeding,

what happens?

The weeds grow.

And if you're not active

in keeping the love of money at bay,

the love of money will keep you.

And so how do we learn it?

Well, we begin here.

We start here with worship.

We learn that loving money more than God

is a form of hating God.

Loving money more than others

is a form of hating others.

Loving money more than being content

with what we have is a profound form

of ingratitude.

And so these are rich words, aren't they?

You want more?

Well, look at what God has already given.

Look at what is already in the bank.

Look at what is already in your home

and on the walls.

And learn to spot when a love of more

is taking over your life.

Because here's a second way to learn it.

Contentment treasures the promises of God.

Contentment treasures the promises of God.

And the passage gives us a reason

for keeping the love of money at bay

and being content.

Look at verse 5.

Keep your life free from the love of money

and be content with what you have.

For he has said,

I will never leave you

nor forsake you.

And what we want most in life

and what you want most

in your life

is relationships.

End of story.

And money goes wrong

when we put money

before relationships.

I think you can see that

on a micro level

and I think you can see that

on a macro level too.

When we put money

before relationships with God

and before we put

and when we put

money before relationships

with others.

One pastor said this.

He said,

I've never yet had a young woman

come into my office

and say,

I'm so messed up

because my dad

used to drop me off to school

in a beat up old Ford

that kept breaking down.

Oh the shame.

I've never recovered.

But he said,

I've met plenty of young women

who are all over the place

because their dad

had enough money

to pay for the whole school

to go on a skiing trip

but never enough time

to spend with them.

And we often use money

to cover our lack

of relationships.

But in fact,

it is relationships

that breed contentment.

when you have someone's attention,

when you have someone's devotion,

when you have someone's love,

contentment grows.

And you and I,

if we have trusted

in the Lord Jesus Christ,

we have the strongest,

most precious,

most long-lasting,

most unbreakable

relationship of all.

It's true, isn't it?

If you live long enough,

you will be forsaken

by those closest to you.

If you live long enough,

you will be forsaken

by those who are closest to you.

Death claims them

and takes them.

Or you will do that to others

and you will forsake them in death.

But you and I have someone

with us now in life

and someone who will be there

with us in death

and someone who will hold us

from life to death

and be with us

on the other side.

The soul that on Jesus

has leaned for repose.

He'll never,

no never forsake to his foes.

That soul,

though all hell,

should endeavor to shake,

I'll never,

no never,

never forsake.

And there's nothing more precious

than that in all the world,

is there?

When Bill Gates dies,

the obituaries will be written

and everyone will want to know,

won't they,

how much did he leave?

How much did he leave?

And there's only one answer,

isn't there?

He left everything.

He will leave everything.

One day,

the richest man in this world,

whoever it is,

his money will leave him.

One day,

the richest person in the world,

their money will forsake them.

And like you and I,

the richest person in the world

and the poorest person in the world

will all face the God of

chapter 12,

verse 29.

And the only thing that counts,

the only thing that matters,

will be having Jesus Christ

at your side or not.

Contentment treasures

the promises of God.

And you are not alone

if you've trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, you don't have X,

whatever it is.

Yes, you'll never have Y.

But you're not alone.

You see, get the promise right.

Notice what it isn't.

Be content with what you have

because I will provide for you.

Well, yes, possibly.

And yet,

those beautiful verses

at the end of Romans 8,

do you remember them?

They teach us

that the life of the Christian

is one of suffering now

and glory later.

But they teach us

that trouble and hardship

and famine

and nakedness

and sword

and cancer

and ill health

and bereavement

may very well

be our lot.

And none of that

can separate us from Him.

Your head

might be separated

from your body,

but you cannot be separated

from Christ.

And I think

constant,

slow,

deliberate

treasuring

the promises of God

will nurture

contentment

in our hearts

and slowly,

bit by bit,

will prise

our fingers

open

around our money

and will leave us

looking at it

with a shrug of the shoulders.

Augustine said this,

He who has Him

to all things belong

has all things.

I've only ever stayed

in the home of somebody

who is fabulously wealthy

maybe for a couple of nights.

because I was

an invited guest,

because I was asked

to stay there,

because I was in a relationship

with them,

all that was theirs

was mine

for that night.

I loved it.

And so Christ

is the King

of the universe

and He is yours.

And what is

His

is yours.

And one day

you will inherit.

What does Jesus say?

You will inherit

the earth.

And so why

be discontent

with what we don't

have of things

that will never last?

I love these words

of John Wesley,

John Wesley,

the founder of Methodism,

the great

18th century preacher.

He says this,

I was in the robe chamber

adjoining

to the house of lords

when the king

put his robes on.

He saw him

getting changed,

he saw him

getting dressed.

His brow,

the king,

was much furrowed

with age

and quite clouded

with care.

I thought,

is this all the world

can give even to a king?

All the grandeur

it can afford.

A blanket of ermine

around his shoulder

so heavy

and cumbersome

he can scarce

move under it.

A huge heap

of borrowed hair

with a few plates

of gold

glittering stone

upon his head.

Alas,

what a bauble

is human greatness.

And even this

will not endure.

Teodrich Bonhoeffer

said,

Christianity

preaches

the infinite

worth

of that

which is

seemingly

worthless

and the

infinite

worthlessness

of that

which is

seemingly

so valued.

Christianity

preaches

the infinite

worth

of that

which is

seemingly

worthless

and the

infinite

worthlessness

of that

which is

seemingly

so valued.

number three contentment thrives among the people of god contentment thrives

among the people of god i don't know whether you noticed it but chapter 13 is all about relationships

it's all about relationships and money itself is described in relational terms notice

we're not told are we keep your life free from money that's that's impossible there's bills to

pay there's mouths to feed there's good things to enjoy and benefit from no keep your life free from

the love of money keep your life free from a certain kind of relationship to money

and here's how you do it you replace it with another kind of love you love something else

more than money and that's what the writer is saying here love the people of god more than money

look at the criss-crossing multi-layered network of relationships

and if you put your life into loving others like this well

the problem isn't going to be not having enough money to spend on yourself

it will be a desire of wanting to give it away to others

and you will find you learn contentment this way that's the straight command in verse one isn't it

look at verse one let brotherly love continue love each other as brothers we are family

i love my human brothers deeply and they know it and they can tell that some of the time

and and god tells me to love you like that

and you should know it and you should feel it from me

and i should know it and feel it from you

i'm not really sure what verse two means are you

do not neglect to show hospitality that's pretty clear

to strangers okay for thereby some have entertained angels unawares

well at the very least it means this if you're interested in the supernatural if you're interested

in the realm of angels it tells you this stop gazing out of the sky

and get out of church get home and open your cupboards

and make someone some beans on toast

get some of the neighbors around who you've never spoken to

or really met what's the worst that could happen

well you might be entertaining angels unawares

what about verse three so beautiful isn't it remember those who are in prison

as though in prison with them

and those who are mistreated since you are also

in the body

we get the weekly prayer emails from barnabas fund like you do

we pray for folks like that now and again

no but what are you actually doing about it

giving to them because you can't actually visit them in prison

as if you were actually in chains with them

taking their suffering into your hearts as you pray for the persecuted

when we read of the church in Ukraine

we don't read it as a distant observer

no you worship God as you remember them

as if you were in prison too

that we are to feel the pain

and enter into their suffering

and the suffering of others

and then the love of money for ourselves

will slowly and surely begin to dissipate

because what is happening there

is as you feel the pain of others

you form an orientation to your life

which is other people centered

and other focused

than from yourself

and I think the danger in verse three

is kind of limiting the application

to thinking right persecuted church

which it is about that

but also it's written isn't it

to a local church family

of those who are struggling

and those who are suffering

it's so striking that verse five

follows right on the heels of verse four

verse four

where for marriage

we're against adultery

but we tolerate greed

no the writer of the Hebrews

is saying to you

and I

it's saying

both are about the love of others

bed hopping is lust not love

and it doesn't put the needs

and hopes and feelings

and dreams of others first

and greed

greed is discontentment

not love

it does not put the needs

of others first

look at verse 16

do not neglect to do good

share what you have

for such sacrifices are pleasing to God

quite simply

love other people

love other people more

and you'll love money less

and so as I finish

Christian people should be

the ad man's nightmare

shouldn't we

I think the Lidl magazine

is one of the most

addictive things

to read each week

isn't it

I love it coming through the door

isn't it

and I do it that you go to Lidl

I quite like going to Lidl

and the middle of Lidl

is sensational

isn't it

I think I've told you before

isn't it

last year I went in

for a red pepper

and came out with

a ear and nose trimmer

for £2.50

I found myself once

looking at a unicycle

thinking I could

I could do with that

I could buy

I could buy a unicycle

and as you read

the Lidl magazine

each week

with the kind of

totally random things

you know

a wetsuit

and an angle grinder

next to each other

and the point

of those magazines

is to get you to buy

isn't it

and you and I

should be a nightmare

for Lidl

you and I

should be an

advertising person's nightmare

the point of advertising

is to sell

how does it work

yes

how does it get you

from A to B

and the ad man

he sells you

discontentment

and so you think

my life is not great

without that

look how clean

and cool

look how neat

and tidy

look how perfect

and polished

and as you look at it

you should smile

and sometimes

it's right to buy

sometimes it's right

to buy

definitely

but here's the test

to never be upset

when we don't

that a love

of our life

is not missing

when we don't

have it

and so

be content

with what you have

and how do you

do that

you do that

by worshipping God

by treasuring

his promises

and loving

his people

do those

and contentment

will grow in your heart

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray

let's pray