“In this economy” – we hear these words spoken everyday on the news.  “In this economy” – we see them in the headlines and read them in articles detailing current events.  “In this economy” – these words have become a mantra to live by… a rallying cry of fear.  “In this economy….”  The question for today is this: “what does it mean to live as people of faith… as followers of Christ,  in this economy?”

 

            Everywhere we turn, we are bombarded with messages – “If you had a little bit more, you’d be happier.  If you had this thing that you currently do not have, you’d find more satisfaction in life.  If you had a bigger house or a nicer car or more fashionable clothes, you’d be happy – at least happier than you are right now.”*  It is impossible to filter these messages out.  As Christmas music has started playing in the stores and the push is on to get us to spend more this year than we spent last, the bombardment continues.  Even in this economy, we still believe that we need more… we need bigger… we need better… we need the best!

 

But into this mix we hear the words from Luke’s Gospel… ‘Take care!  Protect yourself against the least bit of greed.  Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”   And then we hear the story of the wealthy farmer whose harvest was so huge that he had to tear down his barns and build bigger ones and then he said to himself, “Self, you’ve done well!  You’ve got it made.  Take it easy and have the time of your life.”  But then, according to the parable, God showed up and said, “Fool!  Tonight you will die.  And your bigger barns filled with more than enough… what good are they?” And we shut the Bible with a little more force than usual and find that we are right in the middle of a tug-of-war within our heads… within our hearts.  We want what is more and bigger and better and best but we know in our hearts that we don’t need it and it won’t make us happy and we know the words of Jesus to be right and true.  We don’t really want our lives to be defined by what we have, even when we have a lot.  Or do we?

 

I am aware that despite our belief in the Gospel, “… we still find ourselves devoting a great deal of our time, talents, and resources to the acquisition of more stuff.  We say that our lives do not consist in the abundance of our possessions, but we live as if they do.”*  At least sometimes we do.  At least sometimes I do.

 

            I considered bringing in more of my stuff this morning.  I could have.  I could have brought a lot more stuff that I have accumulated… stuff I think I need but I really don’t… stuff that I think defines me but really doesn’t.  Every time we move I come face-to-face with the way I personally devote my time and energy to the acquisition of stuff.  This morning I have simply brought one example of stuff… one area in my life where I have too much.  I have brought my quilt fabric. 

 

Look at this fabric!  Isn’t it great?  I mean, even if you aren’t into fabric you’ve got to like the colors in this stack and the fun prints in this stack.  Can’t you just picture a quilt made out of this piece?  Wherever I go, I love to stop at quilt stores and, as you can see, I usually walk out the door with some fabric in hand.

 

            You know, I can stand up here and justify my spending habits ‘til the cows come home.  I say to myself, “Self, I make these quilts and give them away so there is nothing wrong with my self-indulgence!  Self, I work hard and this hobby helps me relax and take my mind off things.  Self, I don’t waste money on many extravagances so I deserve to treat myself to this indulgence. Self, I don’t have nearly the amount of fabric as other people I know and besides, it is just one more, two more, three more pieces and if I don’t buy the fabric today, maybe it won’t be there tomorrow!”  But I am beginning to need bigger barns.  When it comes to quilt fabric, my life is being defined by what I have… and I have a lot.  I have too much.

 

            In this economy, what does it mean to live as people of faith… as people who follow Christ?  In preparation of this month’s emphasis on our financial stewardship, I have been reading Adam Hamilton’s book Enough.  Like any other book that I might pick up as a resource for my ministry, it doesn’t have all the answers.  It doesn’t provide a perfect solution to our congregation’s fiscal future.  It is not a quick fix for all things financial.  Some of his suggestions are too shallow for me – there just isn’t enough action in taking only two napkins instead of a whole handful at the fast food restaurant!  And some of the suggestions he makes are too gimmicky for me – I find myself struggling against the idea of handing out a prayer for each of you to put on your key ring.  But the words of the prayer do carry their own power...  “Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don’t need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.”

 

            In this economy, what would it mean for us to cultivate simplicity? What would it mean to foster generosity?  For the next few minutes, let’s look at simplicity.  Next week we will focus on generosity.

 

What if we, as people who believe in the abundance of God’s love and grace and gifts, chose to live below our means?  What if we recognized that because God gives us more than enough, we can and must say “enough already” to wanting all of “the more” that overtakes our lives?  What would it mean for us to cultivate simplicity?

 

In his book Hamilton offers that… “Simplicity says less is more.  Simplicity says we do not need as much clutter in our lives.  In fact, the more we pursue ‘more,’ the more stressed out we become.  After all, more stuff means more maintenance, which involves time, energy, and resources.  The truth may be that more stuff might make us less happy.  There comes a point when we have enough stuff, and everything above and beyond that level only creates stress.”*  In this economy, what if simplicity meant choosing to live below our means? 

                       

            What would that look like? Well, for me, at least when it comes to all this fabric, my simple choice would start by making the commitment to stop purchasing any more fabric until these quilt – all eleven of them – are finished.  You see, I am not living above my means when it comes to quilt fabric.  I can afford to spend money on more.  But I am living above our means as a world community.  God’s world is groaning under my choices about so many things besides quilt fabric.  Choosing simplicity means choosing to live below our means.  We need to discover again that our lives are not defined by what we have.

 

In this economy, as people of faith… a followers of Christ… our lives are better defined by the choices we make to care for and about all of God’s creation… for our immediate families connected by blood and our God-given family connected by our humanity…  for the community right outside our doors and the community on the other side of the globe… for the small pieces of garden we tend at home and the entire earth and all it’s resources.

 

            I am not an economist.  I am the first to admit that I don’t know how to fix all that seems broken in our economic system today.  But I am a person of faith and I think there are some practical things for us to think about that might help us as we try to live more simply. 

What would happen if…

·      with every purchase we make, large or small we asked,  “do I really need this?”  Or “why do I need this?”  How easy it is to use that credit card and justify our spending as we drive home from the store with our purchases in hand!

 

What would happen if…

·      we asked ourselves, “how long will this make me happy?” and “where do I find my true satisfaction?”  If you are anything like me, you too have things that you just had to have for your own sense of happiness and fulfillment that are sitting barely used in a closet somewhere!

   

     What would happen if…

·      we used something up before buying something new.  You known, we had some necessary car repairs this week and when I realized how much it was going to cost, I had to laugh because that at this rate, part by part, the car would cost over $100,000!  It is no wonder that the automobile industry is banking on most people trading in our cars before they are even close to being used up!

 

     What would happen if…

·      with every major financial decisions we make, we tried to determine what changes we might make that would allow us to simplify my lives, by asking ourselves questions like:

·      What are the long-term consequences of this action for myself, my family, my community, God’s world?

·      Is there a higher good or a better outcome if I used this resource of time, money, or energy in another way?

·      How will this decision or this action honor God?

 

I have shared with you before that one of the many transformational experiences I had in Bolivia on the Volunteer-In-Mission trip to the school in Rio Colorado, occurred when we were attending worship at one of the three churches served by the pastor at the school.  With the help of an interpreter, one of the women shared with me that she would be praying for me because she knew how hard it must be for me to be faithful and to honor God with my actions. “You see,” she said, “you have so much… so many things to get in the way of your devotion to God.  I will pray for you to be faithful.”  How did she know?  How could she tell?  In this economy, I hope and pray she is still praying.  I need her prayers.  We all do.