*For those who listen: a note of apology for poor sound quality! We'll aim for better tomorrow! I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.  (Philippians 4:13-14)   Paul has learned contentment in all things through his reliance on Christ, but that doesn't mean he's unwilling to receive support. There can be a rather stoic attitude that we carry when it comes to receiving support from someone else.  We say no when someone offers to pay for or give us something.  And, we can feel a certain level of guilt or shame after receiving something from someone—as if our relationship is now out of balance because we owe them or have seemed "in need" to them. This comes, because we feel like the only appropriate way to live is to strive to "make it on our own" and be "self-sufficient."  Our entire culture is organized this way.  The majority of us rent or own our own property where we live detached from other households.  We work jobs to support ourselves and our households.  We own vehicles by which we can drive ourselves to where we need to go.  We build up savings and portfolios to ensure that we will remain independent after retirement.  All of these things are constructed so that we will never need to rely on the hospitality of another.  We implicitly believe that all people should be able to do life in just this way: on their own, without burdening anyone else.  Of course, we also recognize that some people just can't do it that way, so we make sure the government provides services for them through our taxes.  Even so, somewhere deep in our heart of hearts, we may very well suspect this group of people to somehow be weak, lazy, lesser, or at fault for it.  "They did it to themselves," we think: "they deserve what they get."  All of this flows in the same direction.  The cultural assumption is that one should be able to do life on one's own, without the support or intervention of others.  To do less than this is to fail at life somehow.  We hold on, therefore, to the words of Jesus that: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  This is the way things are supposed to be: stand on your own two feet and give to the needy who can't.  And yet: if we can do it all ourselves—what need do we have of a saviour?  Indeed, many in our society have come to the very logical conclusion that we don't.  "We've managed this life just fine on our own, thank you.  We don't need help from anyone else—including God." And if guilt and shame is what we feel when we have to admit need or when we receive something from someone: doesn't that actually work against our receiving the one and only thing we actually do need but can't get on our own: i.e. God's grace in Jesus? The culture of our relatively wealthy, peaceful, and independent society actively works against the logic of the faith.  The contentment in Christ we spoke of yesterday includes the willingness and the ability to receive with gratitude and thanksgiving—recognizing, once again, that our lives are not our own creation and that we are not the ones who hold on.  It is Christ who holds on to us.  Christ who provides for us.  This work of receiving is a necessary spiritual discipline to counteract the spiritual assumptions of our culture.  More on that tomorrow.  :-)  

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