Proper 12B, July 29, 2018
2 Samuel 11:1-15, Psalm 14
Ephesians 3: 14-21, John 6: 1-21
St Thomas the Apostle
The Rev’d Joy A. Daley
It happens every year. Vacation is coming so I get out my suitcase and I start deciding what I’m going to take for a week’s journey. I vow that this time I will take less, that I’ll easily be able to toss my suitcase into that overhead bin on the plane and I will not have any aching muscles in my arms the next day from the effort. My plan is that when I zip that thing up it will be flat across the top when it is laying on the floor. Then the inner conversation begins. What if it gets really hot? What if it gets cold? What if I decide to go out to someplace really good for dinner and I don’t have something nice enough, And wait those bright pink sneakers. They only match one outfit but I love them and they are so comfy. They definitely have to come with me. By the time I am done preparing for every possible scenario the goal of having a flat top is long gone, the suitcase looks like it has swallowed an elephant and the extra zipper barely gives enough extra space. Luckily this time at the last minute Jet Blue asked for volunteers to check their luggage at no extra cost. At least my arm muscles didn’t get strained this time. We all want to be prepared for every possibility and there is a fear that we will not be, that we will not have enough. What is that all about anyway?
What I discovered this week is that sometimes God starts working me over even before I start formally studying the scriptures. Before I even read the gospel this week someone had told me about a film on Netflix called Minimalism, A Documentary about the Important Things. The main characters of this film are these two young guys that are probably in their 30s now Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn. Ryan starts off by discussing how successful he was in climbing the corporate ladder. At a very young age he was making 6 figures. Materially, he had everything that he wanted but he was always craving for more, filling the void in his life with stuff. He wasn’t happy or fulfilled. He had this good friend Joshua Fields Millburn who had been similarly successful but now seemed really happy and not so compelled to accumulate stuff. Joshua talked to him about having been wrapped up in the hunt that makes people miserable. At age 27 he had been Director of operations for 150 retail stores and then in the same week his marriage ended and his mother died of lung cancer. He then realized how little time he had spent with people who were important to him he was so busy accumulating things. Both he and Ryan had tough childhoods and compulsively worked so they would not be poor but they found that it wasn’t the answer. They were still empty inside. Joshua decided to live more deliberately with less and to have things that served a function or gave him joy and as he did this he started to be happier. Ryan listened to his friend and started on a similar path. They began to pose questions to others like “What if you had less stuff, clutter, discontent and had more – time, meaningful relationships, growth contribution and contentment? Their mantras became “Use things, not people” and “Love people, use things”. The documentary is interspersed with other mostly young adults telling their stories and by research on advertising and statements about the confusion of modern people about what it is that makes us happy. There was a quote shown on the screen by Jim Carrey which said “ I Wish everyone could become rich and famous so they would know that it is not the answer.” One of the people interviewed in the documentary asked the question, “What is the most common communication in America?” Is it “I love you” or “I want that.” One illustrator and designer who has embraced the minimalist lifestyle has said, “There’s something about not being prepared for every moment that helps you engage with your community.” In a world where advertising tells us what we should have to be successful, that we need to have as many material things as we can to have made it, we need to ask ourselves Is this the way we want to live or is there another way? Our beautiful reading from Ephesians calls us to another way. The writer says, “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge so that you may be filled with the fullness of God.” Remembering we are filled with the fullness of God leads us to realize that we have abundant life and that as Christians when we live out of a scarcity mentality we are falling short of our belief in what Christ has said to us, “ I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” If we trust in him we can perhaps relax a little and live as if we believe that Just Enough is Plenty. We don’t have to have everything figured out or a specific item to fulfill every potential need. Jesus shows his friends that in our gospel today. There are thousands of people gathered and Jesus asks Philip how they are going to feed them. Philip in typical disciple fashion, (clueless and confused) automatically says there is no way. But what happens? There’s a little kid there who has something simple to share and just enough is plenty. There are even leftovers. Jesus shows them this lesson and then he withdrew when they wanted to make him king, saying, “No,” to the worldly terms of success also showing that his gift was truly gift and not a show for worldly power. It’s kind of interesting that the gospel doesn’t end there. There’s this other little part at the end. The disciples are in the boat and there is rough water. He’s out there saying “Hey, I’m here don’t be afraid” Jesus shows them he is there to meet both their practical and emotional needs. In Christ there is fullness of life. We’ll have what we need. Just enough is plenty when we live like we believe in the fullness of God. May we trust in him, love people and not things and may all of our suitcases be light.
