Luke 12

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Posted on by Betsy

I am watching seagulls vie for position on my neighbor’s dock pilings this morning. One barely gets settled when another one flies in aggressively and knocks the first off his pins. I think the writers of the movie Finding Nemo captured the seagull personality perfectly when they showed them selfishly hoarding their fish while yelling, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” These creatures are single minded, self-centered, and the epitome of greed. One might even say that they are bird-brained.

Today’s Scripture is a beautiful parable on greed from the Gospel according to Luke. Jesus tells a story about a greedy farmer that has a wonderful punchline.

Luke 12 (The Message)

13 Someone out of the crowd said, “Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.”

14 He replied, “Mister, what makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?”

15 Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”

16-19 Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’

20 “Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’

21 “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”

How about you? Are you filling your barn with selfishness? Do you have so much stuff that you need extra storage spaces to contain it? When was the last time you wore that coat/used that expensive kitchen appliance/set the table with that fancy china? Do you look at a world in need and think “Mine! Mine! Mine!”?

Don’t be a bird-brain. Treasures stored up on earth spoil and decay. Fill your barn with God and give away all that you can. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot. Life is defined by being as generous to others as God has been to you.

Proverbs 11 (Common English Bible)

Those who give generously receive more,
    but those who are stingy with what is appropriate will grow needy.
25 Generous persons will prosper;
    those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Birds of a Feather

Stuff Stuff

Posted on by Betsy

Yesterday I preached a sermon based on James 3-4. The primary focus was James ‘blunt and almost abrasive call to practice a humble life and stop living in “animal cunning and devilish schemes”. James contends that we are spoiled children, wanting things was can’t have and operating out of our selfish desires to have more and more in our lives that we don’t need. In thinking about that, I did a lot of research about accumulating “stuff.” I learned that in 1960, the first ever self-storage facility was built in Texas. Today there are over 53,000 self-storage facilities, making it a $44.3 billion dollar industry. You read that right, friends. We spend $44.3 billion dollars per year to store all of our extra stuff. As I wade through my own closets full of stuff I don’t need or use, that really hit me hard.

Rev. John Strother, my former DS, posted this caution about gathering up too much stuff on his Facebook page last month. First, we will read Jesus’ parable in Luke 12 in the New International Version: 

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Now let’s read it again from the Cotton Patch Bible. The Cotton Patch Bible is a modern translation written in a southern U.S. dialect:

Luke 12 The Cotton Patch Bible 

Then God said to him, “You NITWIT! On this very night all these things are possessing your soul. You don’t own them. They own YOU! And all this stuff you have piled up, whose is it really?…..So the poor rich farmer was struck with the realization that he would continue for the rest of his life in bondage to the things that had enslaved him all along….. “And that’s the way it is”, said Jesus, “with a man who sets his heart on money….and not on God.”

How much stuff do you really need? Like it said in the Cotton Patch Gospel, don’t be a nitwit! Maybe it’s time to let go of the stuff that has a hold over you.

Maybe we can start by clearing out our self-storage units and closets and giving all that stuff away. I bet there is a thrift store in your area that would be able to turn your unused stuff into money they can use for their ministry. In the Outer Banks, we have a young men’s addiction recovery program called Dare Challenge. They operate a thrift store that supports their important work, and they just opened a new women’s center. Think of what a difference your unused stuff could make to places like this!

Then we could take the money we spent on self-storage rental and donate it to good causes in our community like your local food pantries or homeless shelters. Luke’s parable reminds us that it is okay to settle for less.

May we covenant to seek God’s wisdom so that we might live well, live wisely, and live a humble life together. 

Humble Life by Kathy Schumacher

Solitude

Posted on by Betsy

I really, really dislike solitude. Everybody who knows me gets that. I score extremely high on the “extrovert” scale, which means that being surrounded by people energizes me. I once went on a retreat that had enforced solitude. We could not speak to one another for an entire night and into the next morning. I thought I would die.

But today I read something that blew me away:

“In solitude, we stop believing our own press.”

Whoa. This nugget comes from Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, which my church staff is reading together as we consider our personal leadership style and the challenges of leading others. In her chapter on solitude, Barton asserts that it is only when we are apart from others and quiet in our own souls that we can begin to deal with our false self.

People develop false selves as a way of negotiating past experiences as they deal with current realities. The false self is a set of adaptive behaviors that are often in opposition to the life of love and trust that God offers us and wants from us. False selves come from a need for self-preservation, but can be a strong obstacle when it comes to having an authentic relationship with Christ, who knows our true selves (and loves us anyway.)

Luke 12 (The Message)

2 You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town.

In this passage, Jesus is speaking directly to his disciples and warning them about the habits of the Pharisees. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees acted like a yeast that could easily spread and detract from God’s message. They were a negative witness to the love, compassion, and true mission of God’s people.

Jesus warns us to remain authentic and present ourselves as we truly are. No religious masks, no talking behind our hands out of both sides of our mouths…eventually everyone gets exposed for who they actually are. So stop believing your own press, and OWN UP.

In Christ, there is no need for false selves, blown up egos, over-aggrandized facades, or hiding. It’s a come-as-you-are party with him. He sees you for all that you are, and loves you unconditionally.

Take a quiet moment today to reflect on that. Jesus knows all about you, and grace, mercy, and forgiveness are always his response when you open up and are real with him.

Solitude will reinforce this…if you let it.

All is Quiet