Holding loosely to stuff can revolutionise your life

I was reading this morning about a friend of mine who’s swapped her smart phone for a ‘Nokia brick’. She can catch up with social media and emails on her laptop but when she’s out and about, she relies on texting and calls, just like in the good old days! She’s not saying it’s been easy – far from it -but the one thing she noticed immediately is that the days seem longer, as if she suddenly has a load more time.

My friend is not alone. There’s an awareness out there that there are simply too many distractions in our modern lives – too much choice, too many new releases to yearn for, too many apps to juggle…We’re now being encouraged to build screen free time into our lives to relieve stress. And it’s not just technology, is it? Decluttering has become all the rage. Getting rid of stuff gets rid of stress apparently. Advertising works hard in thousands of subtle ways – and some not so subtle – to keep us dissatisfied and always wanting more. It feeds us the lie that getting more stuff will complete our lives. Yes, buying that beautiful pair of shoes gives a momentary buzz, but how long is it before we’ve identified the next must-have pair?

Jesus talked a lot about possessions. He came from a position of not really having any. He travelled around, relying on God to meet his most basic needs through the hospitality and generosity of others. I’m not suggesting we give up everything and leave our homes to follow Jesus (although that is what he called some to do – and is still calling some to do), but we will consider today how we can hold more loosely to all that we have and how that may revolutionise our lives.

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

You can’t take it with you.

We’ve heard that said plenty of times and yet we live our lives as if our main purpose is to accumulate, to gather as much stuff around us as we can. We live by the belief that what we have defines us and gives us worth. We’re caught up in the trap of comparison: we judge others by what they have and do not have and so live in fear that others will judge us for what we have and do not have too.

None of it lasts though. That handbag soon starts to look a bit worn. A new version of your phone is released, making yours seem immediately less desirable. Your car fails its MOT. Your dog is sick on your sofa. These are all the modern day equivalents of moths and vermin! Things are just things.

I’m not saying we can’t enjoy new things. When a shoe box was delivered to my house yesterday containing these beauties, I could hardly contain my excitement! But it is about recognising that whilst these shoes currently feel to me like a slice of heaven, they are just shoes. They are not the key to my long term happiness.

I don’t want to be enslaved to things. Anything. I assess my life regularly to see what I am becoming too attached to, too dependent on. If there’s anything I feel I couldn’t live without, then that is exactly the thing that I give up. Whether it’s coffee or clothes or alcohol or sugar or TV, I want to feel that I could give any item up at any moment. That’s what I consider ‘holding loosely’ to things. I get loads of pleasure out of them but I could give them up whenever I felt the need/challenge to.

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

Chasing after the things and acquiring the money to get those things can become all-consuming. We can become a slave to our possessions. That verse in Matthew’s account is immediately followed by a section entitled ‘Do not worry’, because being a slave to our possessions makes us worry. Worrying about money keeps us awake at night (however much or little we may have). We get tied into credit agreements so that we can have now, pay later. We take out a loan, we extend the mortgage, we work ridiculous overtime hours at work…all to pay for an extravagant Christmas or that cool phone or that holiday of a lifetime. We’ve lost track of what our basic needs actually are: I simply have to have this. I need it! And we’ve lost track of what it is to rely on God to meet those basic needs. Give us today our daily bread. That’s it. It’s as simple as that.

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?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour 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. 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 6:25-34

This is such a beautiful passage, isn’t it? Beautiful in the simplicity of its message.

Chill. Just look around you. God has it all under control.

Just breathe. There’s enough for everyone. There’s enough to go round.

Don’t worry about life. 

Don’t worry about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear. God’s got it covered.

Don’t worry about tomorrow. 

We live in a world of abundance. There is enough for everyone. It’s greed and people stockpiling more than they need which is causing the problems. It’s that attitude of scarcity and fear of running out that’s causing some people to take more than they need. The discrepancy between the rich and the poor is getting wider and wider. People aren’t willing to pay the taxes that would help provide for those in need. People aren’t prepared to share, even when they have more than they can use in a single lifetime.

Don’t get me wrong. I love food and drink and clothes. I get a lot of pleasure from these things. But less is more. By buying less clothes, I am appreciating each purchase all the more. By drinking alcohol less often, I am enjoying those special occasions when I do. By thinking more carefully about the impact of my food choices on people and planet and not just about my personal taste, my food is giving me even more pleasure.

For me, that’s a part of what storing up treasures in heaven looks like. I’m thinking more about the effect of my consumer choices on others – people, animals, planet – and investing in a better future for all. I’m investing in wellbeing and relationships and connection. I’m exploring compassion in practice. I’m studying Jesus’ kingdom values and looking to put them into practice in my own corner of the world. I’m looking to depend on God to provide exactly what I need in every situation. I’m holding loosely to things and people and plans and dreams and trying to live more fully in the moment.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  Matthew 7:7-8

And all of the above is a work in progress, believe me. I’m not there yet. Far from it. This world and its values are so persuasive and enticing. I get drawn in without even noticing. But I’m committed to living differently. I believe wholeheartedly that Jesus’ way is the best way. That his way is the truth. That his way leads to life.

That ‘Do not worry’ passage appears in Luke’s account too and it’s followed but these very wonderful verses.

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. Luke 12:32-34

God is our Father, our perfect heavenly father who has none of the flaws of an earthly father. He has all the resources of the universe at his fingertips. He loves us and wants the best for us and wants to shower us with good things.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  Matthew 7:9-11

Come on, seriously, with this God on our side, what do we have to worry about?

Let’s be grateful for all that God has given us. Let’s enjoy it.

But let’s also hold loosely to all our possessions.

Let’s relax, let go and trust God.

Let’s learn to share and lend and give generously.

Let’s stop worrying about tomorrow and live today to the full.

That may all seem incredibly difficult right now. I get that. But setting the intention is the first step.

The first step every day for the rest of our lives, I imagine.