Let Go of Stuff

Dustin Alley

Travelling Light • Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

Ecclesiastes 4:6

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Transcript

Handout

Introduction

Introduce self, dismiss children

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving

I hope your Thanksgiving was more full than your black friday shopping list.

I love going into this time of year. While I wait till after Thanksgiving to put the tree up, my Christmas music game is strong from now till the end of the year. I’m gonna be bumping me some mariah carey.

This season is like many others with certain things that symbolize it and are just part of our culture. We all know the dreaded fall back time change…Thanksgiving feasts, black fridaay, cyber monday, and of course christmas. The exchange of gifts and such.

Then we go into the new year and have resolutions. Valentine Day, Spring forward, and then spring cleaning. I”m sure there are other things but let me get to my point real quick.

Don’t oyu find it interesting that at the end of the 4th quarter of the year, we are buying stuff and recieving gifts, then at the end of the 1st quarter or beginning of the 2nd, we are throwing a bunch of stuff out?

Could it be because back in Q4, this time frame, we already have too much stuff and we are just adding to it?

Why is this?

Character-Seeking fulfillment in stuff

Have you ever watched the show hoarders before?

I find that show fascinating. We wattch these people with these homes that are so packed full of things that just seem wild and crazy to us. They are holding onto newspapers and magazines from years ago becuase they might need it.

Keeping food that is WAY past their expiration date.

These are some things that most people could see in their house and happily toss in their dumpster. However for those on the show it takes a therapist to help them and even them some of them don’t make the necessary steps to growth and get rid of it.

Now, while I hope none of your homes look like this, if they don’t please don’t feel judged, we woudl be happy to help you .I’m not as gentle as they are on the show though. I’m more of a chuck it kind of guy.

However, most of us have a little bit of hoarder in us. I bet you can walk into your closet and find a shirt, pair of pants, shoes, somethign that hasn’t been worn in some time. And we can find ourselves unwilling to part with it. Or maybe we have attached sentimental value to some items in our home and well we just can’t part with it.

Why? Why do we attach such value to stuff?

It’s like we find fulfillment in having things around us. Aand this isn’tt a new development. It’s been happening since the human race became less nomadic and started settling.

Problem-Consumption without contentment

American culture specifically, as I’ve not lived in others and can’t speak to it as directly as I can ours, has the “Gotta have mroe attitude with it”

If $1 is good, $2 is better. If 1 car is good, 2 cars are better. If 1 vacation is good, 2 are better.

IF 1 pair of jeans, if 1 shirt, if one of anything is good then two are btter. right?

1 kid is good then…

And it starts young…1 bowl of ice cream, 1 chocolate bar, 1 piece of pie, 1 piece of banana puddding, 1 toy, 2 toys, 3 toys and more...

We consume, consume, and consume, and yett we wonder why we are not content.

Could it be that we have too much of what doesn’t really matter and not enough of what does?

Are we making our lives about how much stuff we can have and accumulate?

Are we making our lives about the things of this world more than we are about the kingdom of God?

Agitated-Never having enough leads to discontentment, discontentment leads to increased stress, anxiety, loss of purpose, immune system issues

If you have to continually pursue after stuff you will never have enough.

IF your life is all about what you have or what you don’t have and believe you need then you are living for this world and not the next.

We often attribute much of this seasons mental health and illness issues to the early darkness, cloudy days, cold weather, etc. And while I do know that has an impact, We also see the statistics increase in sunny areas as well.

So we throw it over to family. Missing family, fights with Family, stress of gathering with family…etc.

I’m curious though, if we couldn’t narrow it down in most situations to discontentment. Discontentment with life situations, discontent becuase we see people around us getting nicer gifts, having bettter fmily gatherings, and in order to fill the void in our own lives we do what Dave Ramsey often says…We spend money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.

In reality it’s ofen an attempt to find contentment or healing. However, when you buy that black friday deal for contentment purposes it’s like throwing the item into a botttomless pit. It wont’ make any impact to fill it whatsoever.

What if the stuff you have in yyour life is robbing you from the life that you want?

And all of this is exasperated in Q4 with social ads, tv ads, and everythign else telling you to buy…buy now..subscrive and save...

How do we fight against this? How do we keep ourselve from succumbing to this plague of discontentment that is leading to mental, physical, and spiritual issues that impact more than just ourselve but those around us?

Solution- We find contentment in faith filled living, not stuff filled living

Living by faith is not always comfortable. Living by faith is contradictory to the world around you.

Living by faith isn’t living with nothing and never owning anything. Living by faith is living with Jesus and recognizing He owns everything.

You don’t have to have what others have in life, becuase even when your neighbors grass looks better than yours, once your on their lawn, you’ll see their dead spots too.

How many of you have ever asked the question “I wonder what it would be like to have a normal family?” Or maybe you’ve asked “What it would it be like to have a normal Christmas? Normal job? Normal income?” Where are you getting your definition of normal from?

Is it from what you percieve as normal based on those around you? Becuase as we just saw, many that we call normal…have problems too.

Discontentment often comes from comparison. Comparison to those around us. We want their clothes, their cars ,their homes, their life.

When God gave you an amazing life to live if you woudl choose to focus on it.

And how do we focus on the life God has given us?

Matthew 6:33 “33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

By seeking after God first we will see things added to us. Will it be all the things we want? Probablyy not. Will it be al the things we need? Yes.

Will you be content with that or will you need to fill your life with stuff still?

Guide- Jesus Luke 12:15

Jesus said

Luke 12:15 “15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

He goes on in that passage to speak of the farmer who had more than he needed so he buitl bigger barns so we can eat, drink, and be merry.

While having stuff, money, and things in this world is not inheriently bad. The heart behind why you are accumilting and keeping it could be.

Have yyou heard the story of the rich young ruler?

This rich young ruler came to Jesus and said hew anted to follow Him. Jesus said “Go, sell all of your posessions and follow me.”

The ruler walked away unable to part with his earthly goods.

His inability to let go of worldly possessions kept him from being able to follow Jesus. His attaachment to the things that he had round him were keeping him from doing what Jesus called him to do.

Jesus calls people to leave their jobs, their family, and all the security they believe they have in this world and faithfully follow Him on thte journey of life He has made hem for.

Don’t raise your hands but how many of you are saying no to something Jesus is putting on your heart becuase your scared of letting go?

Is your pursuit of stuff robbing you of the joy you could have?

Journey- Ecc 4:6

It has been a sickness that mankind has battled for years. And in Ecclesiastes Solomon, the wisest man in the world, a very wealthy man, wrote the antitode to it:

Ecclesiastes 4:6 “6 Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.”

Ecclesiastes 4:6 CSB

6 Better one handful with rest than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.

Better than one hadnufl with quitness or rest than two with travail....

Better to have just 1 rather than 2 if 2 will lead to the vexation…which means frustration, annoyance, and worry.

You say “Pastor, isn’t that all apart of life...” Yes…however, when it is more than you can handle and your not finding relief, and it impacts your relationship with Christ and others…then no that should not be considred a normal part of the Christian life.

You see Jesus also said

Matthew 11:28–30 “28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

What does that look like?

How can we do that? I’ve got three practices that I want to share to helpy ou enjoy one handful of stuff with quitness and get rid of what’s causing you frustration, worry, and annoyancec.

It’s not so much doing these practices, it’s the mindset it takes to live them out.

If you are like me, when I started trying to live this way,you are gonna have to hit reset and make this happen. Then, you are going to fail and have to do it again. Butt each time you do it, yyour further along in tthe journey.

The first one is this:

Release ownership of your stuff

Isn’t that just a fancy way of saying throw stuff away? Kind of, but it’s a little more than that.

De-cluttering is often just organizing a bunch of your stuff but maintaining it.

Remember thte rich young ruler…he owned a bunch of stufff and he couldn’t follow Jesus well.

You do too. What could you sell? Even better, what could you give away? Whatt could you bless someone witth?

Remember, it’s not wrong to own thing, it’s wrong when things own you. What can often happen is that what you have can become a distrction from what reallyy matters.

There are two reasons people keep things around.

Little knicknacks from the 1980s or 60s, VHs ttapes....can we just can we justt be hoenst…it’s time.. It’s time to get rid o the VHS tapes. Junk drawers…O I went through ours last week…it was freeing.

Pants you haven’t worn in forever…give em away.

There are two reasons people keep things around

Fear and Sentiment.

I remember growing up seeing my great grandmother recycle aluminum foil when it could happen.

Opening the fridge to see tons of butter containers…and none of them had butter in them. They all had leftovers.

Why? Fear. Fear of spending money on new containers. Fear of not having money for aluminum foil if it was needed.

Now listen, I’m not advocating a full on spending spree on new stuff for the purpose of new stuff. But hear me out...

We keep things because we MAY need it. Men, we are guilty of this when it comes to those tupid power cords to the printer from 1998. They MAY come in handy one day.

The children migh want sometthing we have…we don’t want to waste things....Are these legitmate reasons to keep something or excuses to hold on to stuff becuase we re afraid of what could happen if we let it go.

I’m afraid they’ll forget me if they don’t have something to remember me by. I’m afriad they’ll get upset, I’m afraid I’ll need it

Fear of getting rid of something shows a dependence upon it.

And the next one is sentiment:

Gift from a loved one, First ribbon your child won…Maybe your childs first diaper all of the glorius doody that they did. It was just something to be proud of and remember.

If I’m honest with you....this is the one that gets me…not the childs diaper..that’s disgusting..It’s sentiment.

I can be sentimental over things. My wife helps me with that and I appreciate it but that’s my personal struggle with stuff.

But I have to get rid of it. I have to release myy ownership of it.

What does that look like? Well, For me I just throw it away while thinking of the memory it reminded me of and thanking God for it and moving on.

Maybe you need to actually speak, God thank you for allowing me to have this, Thank you for allowing it to serve it’s purpose, I’m releasing ownership of this and giving or throwing it away.

We don’t only need to release our ownership, we need to

Relinquish our need for more

Buying things has been found to be theraputic for 62% of people. They feel down and they go shopping.

It becomes an escape. It can be a status thing it could be a good deal but the chances are it’s somthing you don’t need filling a hole that it can’t and will ultimatel cost you more in the long run.

Psalm 119:36–37 “36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, And not to covetousness. 37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; And quicken thou me in thy way.”

David wrote to tune his heart toward God, not the need for more. To not look at things that are vain and to point himself towards the ways of God.

When we are full of God we don’t pursue things to fill a void. Becuase God has filled the void.

Our problem is that we fill our minds and hearts with things that that are temporary fillers and have to continue to go after them rather than finding peace and contentment on what Jesus gives us.

We have to buy less stuff.

One trend I’m thankful for is the purchasing of experiences as gifts. Creating memories instead of creating clutter.

It’s different and can feel wierd the frist time you do it because there isn’t something tangiable in the moment but a couple years ago we got our kids a trip to diseny for Christmas nd we didn’t go until spring break. No clutter!

Nothing they were going to throw away inn a couple weeks when they were bored or frustrate me with alter when they are playing after I’ve asked them to do something.

How many of you have bought something you thought you needed or just had to have? And…how did that turn out?

I know this message is very practical however you nneed to her the spirtual unndertone. If we are seeking stuff to provide us with fulfillment then we are nnot seeking the kingdom of God.

If our fear is overcome by stuff it’s not over come by faith in our Savior.

If our sadness is only comfortedd when we purchase something then we are missing the comfort that only the Holy Spirit can provide.

We are trading a lasting, ultimately fulfilling, experience and opporutnity of leaning on Jesus for a cheap, quick, and often time frivilous substitute.

IF you must buy omething becuase that is how the world turns.

Buy one give one. Use the purchase as an opportunity to bless someone else.

You know, I’ve asked my kids “what ws your favoritte part of summer” or at the end of the year “what wsa your favorite thing about this year?” And can I tell you, tthat if you ask yourself these things I believe you will not find yourself talking about the shoes you bought, the blouse, the new gun, the new game system. You will findd yourself talking about the things you did, the people you were with, and the life that you lived not the stuff you accumulated.

You know why? Mamn was not mde to live alone or with a bunch of stuff…He ws made to live with people.

And when we free our lives of stuff, it’s as muhc a practical exercise as it is a spiritually and menetally freeing one.

Release ownership

Relinquish need for more

Redistribute blessings

1 Timothy 6:17–19 “17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

If I were to ask you if you considered yourself rich, many of you would say no. Some of you that think philisophically would say your rich in love or rich bc o your familyy.

However, speaking praacically most would say your not rich.

Listen to the statistics real quick: Got $2200? In this world, you’re rich. Assets (not cash) of $2200 per adult place a person in the top 50% of the world’s wealthiest.*

· If you made $1500 last year, you’re in the top 20% of the world’s income earners.**

· If you have sufficient food, decent clothes, live in a house or apartment, and have a reasonably reliable means of transportation, you are among the top 15% of the world’s wealthy. **

· Have $61,000 in assets? You’re among the richest 10% of the adults in the world.*

·If you earn $25,000 or more annually, you are in the top 10% of the world’s income-earners.***

· If you have any money saved, a hobby that requires some equipment or supplies, a variety of clothes in your closet, two cars (in any condition), and live in your own home, you are in the top 5% of the world’s wealthy. **

·If you earn more than $50,000 annually, you are in the top 1% of the world’s income earners.***

· If you have more than $500,000 in assets, you’re part of the richest 1% of the world.

In light of this and understanding the Bible isn’ written to an American, it just written to people.

And when we take the perspective of all people into account, we cana understand that this passage in timothy…is written to us.

When we think of giving towards worldwide missions or even here locally to the church to conitue the mission of inviting people innot the family by showing them the love of Jesus

Do you know the old Hymn? This World is Not my home, I’m just a passing through?

If this world is not our home why do we seekt o accumulate as much as we can here instead of using what we hve been given to further the mission of the kingdom of God and reacching more people with the gospel?

We are maakingn our lives about how comfortable we can get in this present world not realzing that the rest comes after the work. And God’ps got you on mission here and your trying to live like your on a lunch break.’

Matthew 6:19–21 “19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

We will often say how bad the world is gettting, how terrible things are, and why is it we are so focusedd on the happenings of this world? Why does it bother so much what is happening here? Becuase here are treasures are there our hearts are also.

Resolution

• Are you accumulating on earth what you cannot keep? Or are you investing in heaven what you cannot lose

As we approacch the holiday, Cyber monday, and a seson where buying is all the rage.

Buy less…throw out stuff…and give more. Give more to the Lord through the church.

Give more to the homeless and less fortnuate.

And allow your treasure to find it’s way to the people who need the gospel. Let your hearts be there and see what it does for your nxiety, worry, and care for all that is happening in this world.

Impact

What would happen if yoyu did nothing with what you have heard today? What would happen if you kept both hands toiling over the things of this world?

What would happen to the people who are lving under the lie of relgiion in your community? What would happen to the people around us if we chose to seek the kingdom, to give towards the kingdom, and to be apartt of what God is doing? End of the year is coming up. Many people make donations towards non-profits or projects they believe in.

Could I encourage you to give towards the work of God here at LBC?

What would happen if you began living a lfie with one hand full and the other open? Could you praise more? Could you give more? Coudl you help more? Could you put a ocus on the things of God and not on the cares of the world?