Tuesday, August 30, 2011

1 - sell your stuff. 2 - give to the poor.

I've always found Luke 12 to be a challenging chapter of the gospel, particularly vs 27-34:
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
   32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus was teaching his followers not to fear or worry about their sustenance, but to be radicals who sold their possessions for the benefit of the poor. The reason Jesus provided for this action was that his followers ought to be so concerned about the kingdom of God that their own livelihood paled in comparison; their possessions no longer were to be of great importance.

Andrea and I have recently been promoting an upcoming benefit yard sale and bake sale we are organizing for Renew Hope: Haiti, a non-profit organization friends of our started in order to help plant churches, launch schools, and develop communities in Haiti. We are not only promoting the event, but are trying to contribute a good amount of our stuff as possible. Part of the motivation to get rid of our stuff comes from the fact that our condo is less than 800 sq ft and feels cluttered if we amass to many possessions. The main motivations, however, are (or at least should be) to simplify our lives so that we can live unencumbered before God and to seek God's kingdom on this earth by generously fighting for the needs of the poor.

It's strange that despite the desire to have an uncluttered home/life and the desire to live under the reign of God on this earth, it is still difficult to part with stuff. Even silly stuff that I no longer use can be hard to toss into the give away pile. There was the pool cue I used as a kid in my parent's basement, the ping pong paddle that stayed with me during my college years, and the roller blades I got in order to enjoy the many nice bike paths around me. None of these things are a major part of my life and, except for the roller blades, I don't even really have any way to use them. Yet the memories and the potential for fun made we want to hold onto them.

We're not getting rid of everything we own, but we are trying to part with things we want to keep because we know that we have so many possessions compared to so much of the world. It's easy to just get rid of your junk when doing a yard-sale. Donating something that actually means something is much harder to do, but may perhaps be much more significant to living a simple life and being able to give generously to the poor.

Sell your stuff. Give to the poor. Simple on paper. Hard to do. Necessary for discipleship in our affluent, consumer-based, American-contexts.

A friend once told me that he tries to live by the motto, "If you can't pack up all your stuff and move in one hour, you have too much stuff." We're definitely note there, but hopefully we can get closer to that goal so that their can be a little more justice in the world and so that our lives can be simple, stress-free, and open to the mission and movements of God in the world around us.