What Is the One Truth That Leads to Deep Abundance and Fulfillment, that Frees You From All the Lies?

When I first read this, I could hardly believe it.   But it’s true.  Do you know what the average house size was in 1950?   People lived in houses that were a thousand square feet.  That’s not a lot.   It’s almost IKEA size!    That’s why these people are sitting outside.  They have no room inside!  

And today, do you know what the average size is?   It’s grown to 2500 square feet.  That’s a 150% just.   Wow!   That must mean that people are 150% happier, are 150% more content.   People must be living almost in bliss with that much room.  

And when I was growing up, do you know what we had in our home?  We had a TV that looked kinda like this.   You actually had to get up and turn that dial to go to a new channel.   And for several years, we only had five channels.  When cable came along, we had 12.  We couldn’t go any higher.  Do you know why? That’s all the room that poor little dial had.

Phones had cords on them.  You could only take it as far as the cord could reach.   Usually that meant you had to sit right there at the phone to talk to somebody.  We even had telephone tables (like this one) that you bought for that purpose, to sit and talk on the phone.

But now we have TV with hundreds of channels, mega-huge screens. We don’t have to go anywhere to change anything.  Heck, in a lot of homes all you have to do is say something to Alexa or whoever and she does it for you.   It gets better than that.  We can carry our TVs right in our pockets, and the thing is a phone too!   With all that and big houses, we must be the happiest people ever! 

Is that the case?   Now I could give you research that tells you it’s not.  But do you really need that?   Think about yourself.   Does all that stuff, if you have it, really bring you that much joy or happiness.  Sure, it’s nice.  The phone, the entertainment options, the smart houses, it’s amazing.  But do they bring happiness?   Do they bring you happiness?   So, if none of that stuff brings you happiness, joy, fulfillment, what does?   In these words, God tells you.  Let’s listen and here what God has to say. 

Philippians 4:10-23

We live in a time when we carry televisions in our pockets. We live in luxury that folks even fifty years ago would be stunned by.  Yet, with all those things, are people happier, more fulfilled.   Heck, with all those things, do people even feel rich?   So, if that doesn’t do it, what does?  In these words, God tells you.   True wealth come when you know who you truly are.   That knowledge money can’t buy.  In fact, nothing in this world can give that knowledge to you.  What is that knowledge?   You can maybe hazard a guess.   And you could be right.  But before we can focus on that knowledge, we need to focus first on the lies that get in the way. 

These lies largely drive the world around you, and likely they drive the world within you.  And if you let them continue to drive you, they will drive you away from the fulfillment and joy you yearn to have.   You see. Those lies promise that they can tell you who you really are; where your true value lies.    And what do they tell you?

They tell you, these are what give you your value; how well you do, how much you do, how much you possess, and what others say about you.   Now you might think.  Those things don’t drive me.  But is that really true?   Let’s put these lies another way.   “If I do more, I am more.  If I have more, I am more.   If more people like and recognize me more, I’m more valuable.”   Now you may not say those messages drive you, but is that true? 

Heck, I’m a preacher, and I’d like to say these lies don’t drive me.  But if I don’t meet my productivity targets at work, I can feel lesser about myself.   And I may not need a million-dollar home, but if others provide things for their kids I can’t, exciting vacations, top schools, I can feel like a failure.   And let me tell you, if people dislike me, it can shake me to the core.  It leads me to doubt myself, to doubt who I really am.           

Yet if I let these lies drive me, if you let them drive you, they will wreck your life.   And in many ways, these lies are wrecking the life of our nation already. 

Here is how life today is for a lot of folks today.  Families are smaller, but their houses have gotten bigger.  And how do they pay for them?  They work more hours.  So, folks get bigger houses, but they don’t spend much time in them.  Why? They are working so hard to pay for them.   And even then, they still don’t have enough room for all the stuff.   That’s why we have 30,000 self- storage places where 40 years ago we almost had none.   Our households contain and consume more stuff than every other household in history combined.  In fact, we spend more on our garbage bags, than 90 nations in our world spend on everything.  And parents spend an average of six hours shopping each week.  That doesn’t even count on-line shopping. 

And what has this pattern gotten us?   American couples talk to each other less than ever.  And then because a lot of those talks are conflicts, often over money, they work longer hours to avoid the drama.    And so, the divorce rate has tripled.   And then that often means less time with the kids too.  So, teen suicide has tripled.  And then, tens of millions take pills for anxiety or depression.   And with all these gadgets to save time, folks have less time.   They even sleep less, 20% less than people did a hundred years ago.   And even though people are working harder to make more money, more Americans declare bankruptcy every year than graduate from college.    All of that doesn’t sound too great does it?

So, what is the answer?  How do you stand against these lies that drive you to work harder, to stress out more, and make you more anxious about how you’re doing on the whole “do they like me.” question?    In the words, we read a few minutes ago, God points the way.  God does it by pointing you to the ridiculous actions of these people in Philippi. 

It seems that this community of Christians has sent a generous gift to the writer of this letter, a missionary named Paul, who sits in death row in Rome.   And what makes it ridiculous is that they really couldn’t afford to do this.   Yet they did it, and not only that, Paul tells you that they’ve done it before.

  

Yet even as they share it, while Paul appreciates the gift, he makes a more stunning point, one we looked at last week.  He tells the Philippians that even without these gifts, even sitting in a jail cell in Rome, he is perfectly content.   And then at the end, he makes this bold assertion.  He tells them.  God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Jesus Christ. 

Now you could think that Paul is just throwing out some nice religious words to make them feel better about their gift.   It could be like a joke I heard once. These two waiters are serving some bishops.   When one waiter goes to clear the table, his co-worker, when he comes back, asks him.  “Hey, what about my half of the tip.”   And the other waiter just does a halfway sign of the cross. 

But Paul isn’t spouting a nice religious slogan.  Paul is pointing them to where their true value lies.   Paul is pointing them to the only source of wealth that will free them, that will give them fulfillment.   Paul is giving them the truth that stands against the lies.  And in doing that, Paul is doing the same for you.   All these lies of how much you do or have or how much people like you, drive you to think, your value is conditional.   You can lose it if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain.   But the truth to which Paul points you is that the opposite is true.  Your value is unconditional.   And your value cannot ever be lost.

Does anyone know when a Jewish day begins?   That’s right it begins at sundown.   Have you ever thought about why that is?   It’s a way of reminding you of your unconditional value.  Think about it.  The day begins, and what do you do?  You go to sleep.   You don’t do squat.  But while you sleep, God works.  Then the sun rises, and the day moves on, and you get to enjoy it and join in the work God has already been doing.  But here’s the point.  You wake into a day you didn’t make, but one that God has given to you.    And God prepared that day not because of anything you did (you were sleeping), but simply because of who you are, God’s beloved.  

Yet, even with that, human beings didn’t get it.  They made this relationship with God another lie called religion, another way to secure value by doing things, by getting God to like us.  But, in Jesus, God blew the lie apart.  For in Jesus, God came to earth, and what did human beings do?  They killed God.  Both the religious and the non-religious even teamed up to do the job.   Yet this awful act, God uses to blow apart the lies forever.   As Paul puts it in another letter of his.  While we were yet enemies, while we were yet those who had completely missed the mark, Christ died for us, for us.    In that cross, God is showing you the truth.  Even on your worst day, God loves you and values you infinitely, so much so, that God gave up everything to bring you home.   And you don’t need to do anything to have this value and this worth.  All you need to do is believe it.  And when you do, this love frees you as nothing else can.  It lives within you.  And grows in you a security that will not be shaken no matter how rich or poor you find yourself to be.   And on those days, when the lies come up, when they try to pull you down, you can look at the cross on which God died, and see the love that has determined your value.   You can look at that extravagant, ultimate gift and know who you are, someone for whom God gave everything, not because of anything you did, but because of who God is, and who you are in God’s eyes, his beloved.