Unpacking Our BIC CORE VALUES: SHINING LIKE STARS IN THE SKY Living Simply Matthew 6:19-34 Layne Lebo February 4, 2018 The Brethren in Christ value we re exploring today is Living Simply. And like the value I preached on last week Pursuing Peace simple living runs counter to what our culture values. Pay attention to the commercials during tonight s Super Bowl and you ll quickly recognize that simple living isn t held in high regard by our culture. I promise you that unless we re strategic and intentional about pursuing simplicity; our lives will grow increasingly complex. Much of the growing complexity in our lives surrounds technology. Take communication as an example. I can send a text to my daughter who is in school 700 miles away and have a response from her within seconds. I can facetime with Sophie Thiesen who is a missionary in Thailand, viewing her on my computer monitor or phone as we talk. The changes that have occurred in communication during the lifetimes of people my age and older are mindboggling. There are many positives associated with these changes, but the ease with which we can communicate with anyone anywhere increases the complexity in our lives. When we receive information in real time as events are happening, the expectation is that we ll also respond in real time. The boundaries and safeguards that distance used to provide us are gone and now we re perpetually on call. Complexity surrounds us, and if we re not careful, it will consume us. The statement explaining the BIC value Living Simply is, We value uncluttered lives, which free us to love boldly, give generously and serve joyfully. When we hear the phrase living simply, some of us probably think immediately of the Amish, who have a large community just an hour southeast of here in Lancaster County and a smaller one 30 minutes west in the Newville/Shippensburg area. The Amish dress in plain clothes, live off of the land, commute in horses and buggies and use technology in very limited ways. Until the middle of the last century, the lifestyle of many Brethren in Christ weren t all that different from the Amish many lived on farms and dressed in plain clothes and worshipped in simple buildings called meeting houses. Few BIC people carried life or property insurance and they didn t put 1
lightning rods on their homes and barns, because those safeguards which we take naturally were perceived as failing to trust in God s provision. I m not recommending you discard your smart phones, trade in your SUV for a horse and buggy, give away your $100 Nikes and purchase a pair of black boots, or cancel your insurance policies, but I do believe as followers of Jesus we re called to live simply. The question is, How do we define simple living? The Bible has a lot to say about money and possessions. In fact, wealth is one of the topics Jesus spoke about the most. On one occasion a rich, young man approached Jesus and asked what he needed to do to gain eternal life. Jesus told him, Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. (Mark 10:21) When the disciples questioned Jesus about his unreasonable response, He didn t soften his stance. He said, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:25) On another occasion Jesus told a parable about a rich man who kept building larger barns to store his growing wealth. Jesus concluded his story with the words, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? Jesus wasn t optimistic about our ability to manage wealth well while remaining focused on Him and his kingdom. Unfortunately, our attempts at following Jesus teaching on wealth and possessions and attempting to define what living simply looks often lead to unhealthy comparisons and legalism and degenerate into the I live more simply than you comparison game. If you and I were comparing the simplicity of our lifestyles, I d show you my family s small television set to impress you. I d be sure you knew that I didn t have a smart phone until last year and I might tell about how our family doesn t eat at fancy restaurants and rarely spends money on vacations and travel. I could tell you that we grow a lot of our own produce and that the composting I do reduces landfill waste and saves us from having to purchase potting soil. I wouldn t however, want you to look too closely at my expensive sneakers, the 20 or so baseball caps I own or my collection of Nike and Under Armour clothes. I also wouldn t show you my high end road bicycle and its gear and the bills I pay to have it tuned-up each winter. And when it s your turn to impress me, you might hide your BMW or Lexus in the garage and would be 2
sure to keep your new set of golf clubs out of sight. But you might point out that you ve lived in the same modest house for 30 years and that you haven t bought a new pair of blue jeans since the early 1990 s. We could go round and round attempting to validate our simple approach to life, but at its core, living simply is a heart issue that s difficult to measure by anyone but God. Our lifestyles aren t meant to be compared with others. Let s look at the BIC statement on simple living again, We value uncluttered lives, which free us to love boldly, give generously and serve joyfully. There s a lot packed into the words, uncluttered lives which free us to love boldly, give generously and serve joyfully. Living simply impacts how we love others, what we re able to give generously to and our availability to serve. And as I thought about the benefits of living simply this week in preparation for this sermon I think I d add a 4 th element to the statement on simple living: worship undistractedly. Living uncluttered lives not only impacts how we interact with people it has profound implications for our love and worship of God. There are a lot of New Testament passages we could turn to explore this topic of simple living, but I want us to return to Jesus Sermon on Mount, where we focused last week. In Matthew chapter 6 verses 19-34 Jesus spoke some powerful words about where our treasure lies, where our focus is and who ultimately is our provider. Before I read these verses I want to return to a concept I mentioned last week living as a prophetic witness. In the Old Testaments God communicated words to his prophets, who in turn communicated those words to God s people. The prophets messages usually confronted the disparity between God s Word and the way his people were living and challenged the people to align their lives with God s truth. As followers of Jesus you and I are called to live our lives in ways that point people to Jesus love and truth and we do this in part by embracing values that are very different from the lives of people around us. I m convinced that like pursuing peace, living simply is a value that people around us will notice, because it s radically different than how our culture lives and what our culture tells us we should value. Let s look together at Jesus words in Matthew chapter 6. I ll begin reading at verse 19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 3
Jesus highlights several important truths in these verses. He begins by pointing out the temporal nature of many of the things we value. We put a lot of energy into purchasing and caring for our stuff, but none of that stuff lasts. Jesus contrasts earthly stuff, that doesn t last, with heavenly treasure, that isn t destroyed by moths and mice or stolen by thieves, but instead lasts forever. And He concludes with this critical statement: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Our heart follows our treasure. I can t overstate the importance of that truth. If we invest time, energy and money in acquiring and maintaining earthly treasure, it will consume our attention, and when we invest in heavenly treasure, our focus and attention will follow it. Our treasure and our heart are inseparably linked. In verses 22 and 23 Jesus says, The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:22 & 23 Here Jesus builds on the statement, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He refers to the eye as the window of our soul or heart. If our hearts are preoccupied with worldly wealth and possessions, we ll be prone to the darkness of greed and covetousness, and that darkness will pervade our whole body and be evident in our lives. And Jesus closes this section with the words, No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24 Being consumed by wealth and possessions is incompatible with loving, worshiping and serving God. They are competing masters. We can t serve both simultaneously. Reflecting on Jesus words gives us insight into his seeming harsh treatment of the rich, young man He told to sell everything he had to give to the poor, and only then could he follow God. What I think we often miss is Jesus heart of love for this young man. Prior to telling him to sell everything he had, we read, Jesus looked at him and loved him. Jesus saw that the young man s heart was captive to greed. He knew that only the radical step of selling all he had would free him to truly love and serve Jesus and so He gave him the difficult assignment of selling his possessions and 4
giving the money to the poor. Jesus knew that none of us can serve both God and money, and He hoped the rich, young man would take the step he needed to free his heart from greed. In my Bible the section I just read is titled, Treasures in Heaven. And then there s a break and the section I m about to read is under the heading, Do Not Worry. It s important that we understand the connection between these passages. As Jesus spoke them and as they were originally written down, they were connected, not separated. The connecting word therefore indicates that our treasures and what we worry about are connected. I ll begin reading at verse 25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:25-27 The word therefore is important. Since our heart follows our treasure and because we can t serve both God and money and possessions, Jesus instructs us not to worry. I think we can support the claim that worry and anxiety are one of the major crises perhaps even epidemic isn t too strong of our day. In this passage Jesus reminds us that He is our provider. We re responsible to feed and clothe ourselves and to find shelter for us and our family, but we can t lose sight of the fact that God is our ultimate provider and just as He cares for the birds of the air, He ll see that our needs are met as well. And Jesus closes this section with the convicting question, Can any of you add even one hour to your life by worrying? Not only can t we add time to our lives by worrying, we now know that excessive worry and anxiety actually takes time off our life. And Jesus continues with this line of thought as He says, And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Matthew 6:28-32 Jesus closing statement cuts right to the heart of the issue. So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the pagans run 5
after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. As followers of Jesus, who serve a loving Heavenly Father, we shouldn t worry excessively about clothes, food, drink and shelter, because our Heavenly Father knows what we need and He will provide for us. As followers of Jesus, who serve a loving Heavenly Father, our lives and the degree of anxiety and worry we carry should look very different than people who don t believe in God and don t have the assurance that He cares for them and will provide for them. And then we have these closing words in verses 33 & 34: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33 & 34 Jesus says that God will meet our other needs as we focus first on his kingdom and his righteousness. My observation of my life and the lives of others is that we often flip that around. We worry to the point of being consumed with earthly, often unimportant stuff, assuming that God will take care of the important, spiritual things. And Jesus concludes this section with another pithy statement, Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. There is so much that Jesus hits on in that passage that it might be overwhelming to us. So, let me try to make this really practical with an analogy. How many of you have moved at some point in your life? Maybe you moved from a starter home to a larger home as your house began to fill up with kids or perhaps from a house where you lived for decades to a retirement apartment or home? As you prepared to make that move were your surprised by the amount of stuff you had accumulated? All of that stuff good stuff, needed stuff, stuff that s important to you and some of it with sentimental value is what makes moving difficult. You have to lug it down from your attic or up from your basement; pack it; carry it to the moving van; transport it to your new home; carry it into your new place; unpack it; and, then (possibly the most difficult task) find a place to put it. Think about all of that stuff you deal with as you move to a new place as a metaphor for stuff you own and focus on that clutters your life and mind and heart spiritually. The ancient saint, Teresa of Avila, expressed an important truth when she said, Thank God for the things I do not own. Teresa of Avila Being proccupied with material stuff makes it challenging for us to: value uncluttered lives, which free us to love boldly, give 6
generously and serve joyfully. Freely love boldly, give generously, serve joyfully and worship undistractedly. Most of it isn t bad stuff; it s good and important and useful, but it clutters our lives and makes loving God and loving others difficult. The question, How can we as followers of Jesus Christ unclutter our lives while we live in an increasingly wealthy, busy and complex society? is an extremely difficult and complex one and I m under no illusion that we ll solve it today, but I do believe the key to addressing it lies within these statements of Jesus, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You cannot serve both God and money. Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well. As I close the sermon and as our worship team comes to lead us, I want to invite you to assume a posture of prayer and quiet your hearts to listen for the leading of the Holy Spirit. I invite you to reflect on this question, As a follower of Jesus living in an increasingly wealthy, busy and complex society what steps can I take to unclutter my life so I can I can love more boldly, give more generously, serve more joyfully and worship God more fully without distraction? 7