July 28/August 1 - Pentecost + 10

Jesus Offers More than Stuff
Luke 12:13-21
July 28/August 1, 2010 – Pentecost + 10

House Hunters TV show
Shows people – a couple, a family, a single person starting out – all looking for a new home
lay out where they're coming from, what they are looking for, then follows them on the hunt
Almost everyone looking for a bigger place – more bedrooms, bigger garage, more closet space, bigger yard – b/c they need more room to hold all of their stuff!
Andy & I watch b/c it's fun to see all the houses & try to guess what they'll pick; but also b/c we can relate
We know the feeling of wanting more space
We have a good-sized house next door – yet we have grown to fill the space – and now we feel like we're running out of room, esp. with a baby on the way
Maybe you know the feeling? Stuff squirreled away in the attic, basement, garage, closets; stuff in boxes from our last move (3 years ago!), stuff we got for our wedding (5 years ago!) that we've never used
Know I'm not alone
self-storage units; shows, books, websites abound about how to declutter, how to organize our lives – it's a multi-million dollar industry
And go look behind the curtain in the Auditorium (Harvest Festival donations)
& just like in Wizard of Oz, you'll see the truth revealed:
we have more stuff than we know what to do with

Not a new problem
Jesus told our story 2 millenia ago in this parable
the story of a rich man who one year had a phenomenal year
a bumper crop
a crop that was beyond anything he'd ever seen (or else his barns would've been big enough already)
a crop so abundant that he didn't know what to do w/ all of it
Surrounded by so much that he says, “what should I do? I don't have space for it all!”
Solution: build bigger barns (the ancient equivalent to renting a storage unit)
Now, he says to himself, I'll have enough room for everything; I'll have plenty for the future – it's early retirement for him! He's set for life
Except something is missing – his whole thought process centers around himself: What should I do? I will do this. I will tear down my barns; I will build bigger ones – I, I, I...
fooled into thinking that life is about his stuff; that his stuff will secure his future

That's really the problem – not that we have so much stuff (although we could certainly stand to get rid of a lot of it – and we'd probably never even notice!)
- but it's what our stuff stands for.
Think our stuff will give meaning to our lives,
will grant us security or status or significance
and we know it isn't true;
We know our stuff won't make or keep us happy.
But stuff is seductive, it's sneaky
- & we keep falling prey to the idea that bigger is better,
that more is better.

And then Jesus comes along & reminds us that it isn't true
Tells us that there is another option
“Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions,” Jesus says.

Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions...

and in this reminder, we hear an echo of something Jesus said somewhere else:
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn 10:10)

He came to give us abundant life
– and then tells us that's not the same as having an abundance of stuff...

Jesus has been teaching about abundant life all along the way,
even as he is headed to Jerusalem and the cross –
you didn't forget that that's where this is all headed, did you?
Abundant life that comes through things like
loving God with heart, mind, soul, strength,
and our neighbor as ourselves;
like putting aside distractions and anxiety and choosing the better part;
like centering our lives in prayer;
learning to come to God with everything we need, big & small,
learning to depend on God as our loving parent
It's these types of things that make for a life rich toward God,
a life that becomes filled – abundantly – with more than just stuff
but with the deeper, simpler stuff of life – God, relationships, time

Jesus came to give us an abundant life; let's not let our stuff get in our way.
Amen.