The Discipline of Simplicity
Mt 6: 19-21, 25, 31-34 May 11, 08
Today is not a Simple day.
-First, it’s MOTHER’S DAY and we’ve recognized mothers.
- It is also Pentecost Sunday and we’ve sung about the gift of God’s Holy Spirit to us.
-Then today is the Sunday that we’re introducing another
spiritual discipline, the fifth of 12 disciplines.
So far they have been MEDITATION, PRAYER, FASTING, STUDY- SIMPLICITY,
We are getting acquainted with these spiritual disciplines as a concrete way to help us grow deeper in our Christian lives. It also comes out of our desire to be renewed as a church.
The discipline for this month is SIMPLICITY- which is a very appropriate emphasis just before the church sale this coming Saturday. If your life is cluttered with excessive material possessions that you don’t need, consider hauling them here to make your life simplier. You will also be benefiting the fund that sends kids to church camp.
Living the simple life is one of the values of the Church of the Brethren. One congregation asked Church of the Brethren Annual Conference to address the concern in 1993. I want you to look at a brief excerpt of the query and then the Annual conference report 3 years later.
Simple Life
Because there is a need to revive and remember the Brethren heritage of nonconformity, plainness, and simple lifestyles as an alternative to the hurried excesses of modern life, and to educate ourselves, our children, and our new congregation in this basic tradition of our faith and stewardship....
We, First Church of the Brethren, Springfield, Illinois, convened in congregational business meeting April 18, 1993, petition the Annual Conference … to study ways to reemphasize the Brethren tradition of the simple life and to discern its full meaning for our time.
1996 Report
"Simplicity is the Way of Jesus, God’s gift to us. The New Testament and the Holy Spirit’s guidance have led the Brethren to practice this plain way. Simplicity is living not conformed to the world, but transformed by Christ. Jesus’ way of simplicity is at the heart of the gospel. It is central to our faith and practice, not optional. To make it less than central is sinful. To those who embark on this humble journey God provides joy and peace.
With Christ at the center, the Bible at one hand, and the witness of the community at the other, we face temptation with faith and courage. When tempted to accumulate wealth, we will hear the voice of Jesus proclaiming, Seek ye first the Kingdom. When tempted to hurry and be busy, we will hear our fore-bearers calling, Seek ye first the Kingdom. When we covet power, prestige, and possessions, we will join our sisters and brothers in the church singing, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God."
Simple living. Had you not heard this Annual conference response, you probably would be wondering, what in the world is spiritual about simple living? And how could simple living be a discipline to practice?
In your head you may be saying, “I thought simple living is what you have to endure if you don’t have any money.”
Or “Simple living is the unwelcome, restricting, necessary life style some of us have to practice to keep from drowning in debt. There’s nothing meritorious about it!”
There is another kind of simple living that is satisfying. Scripture is our text book for developing a simple life style that has purpose, satisfaction and honors Christ. Scripture will show us how simple living can free us from the bondage of anxiety, and of greed, and of miserliness. Richard Foster says, “Conformity to a sick society is to be sick.”
Jesus does not want us to be sick with debt or anxiety or greed. He calls us to live in a completely different realm of freedom and delight and that comes by centering our lives on the things that are above rather than on things, and things, and more things here on earth.
The master teacher’s words of wisdom to us are “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” And the passage we read from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mt emphasizes two kinds of simplicity- inner simplicity and outward simplicity.
Jesus addresses both with the command “Do not---“ then contrasts it with what we should do.
First, in v. 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.”
Today is Mother’s Day so I’ll address the women. Women, we need to hear Jesus’ speaking directly to us about our priorities. A survey reported that 93% of teenage girls named shopping as their favorite thing to do. (90% of boys like to go to the malls and watch the girls shop.) (from sermon on Sermon Central) Shopping can become an addiction just like other things can. One of you told me about a friend who is a Bargain- Sales shop-aholic and consequently has a house so full of stuff you can hardly walk through it.
When something is marked down, this woman can’t resist buying. You said, “She’s like a kid in a candy store who gets carried away and often old models of things have to be replaced for new ones.”
Collecting things and things and more things for many people becomes a way of trying to fill a deep spiritual emptiness with that which only Christ can fill. That’s why Jesus commands, “Don’t accumulate for yourselves treasures here on earth”. They are here today and gone tomorrow. When you die, a lot of your stuff will probably either be auctioned off or carted away to Goodwill.
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In contrast Jesus commands, “But, store up for yourself treasures in heaven”. Your heavenly treasures won’t depreciate, nor will they be destroyed or stolen. They gain value and go with you into eternity!
Notice the “for yourself” “Store up for yourself,”. . . for your welfare, for your investment, for your own good. Your life will be benefited both in the present world and in the future life. You become a double winner. You don’t have to contend with the anxiety of moths, rust, dust or thieves and you can have perfect confidence that you have retirement insurance is laid away for you in eternity!
That’s the first “Do not.” DO NOT STORE UP FOR YOURSELVES. . . I see this first command as a way for us to practice outward simplicity. Look at the back of your bulletin. I’d like you to check yourself in regard to how you are practicing outward simplicity. READ
Now, let’s look at Jesus second “Do not—“ He speaks it three times v. 25, 31,34. “Do not worry about your life…”
Here, Jesus is addressing our need for inward simplicity. Don’t allow yourself to get all hung up about wearing the latest fashions or eating the best foods, but instead he repeats the same directive as before with a promise this time. V. 33 But. . . (read)
---Do you wonder if Jesus really understood homelessness or real poverty?
---Would you like to talk back to him to say “you really don’t know my desperate situation?”
---Can Jesus really be trusted to mean what he says? Well, the answer is YES.
Jesus is not asking the impossible. He’s not hard-hearted. He invites with a compassionate heart saying, “Come, unto me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest!”—What should you do? “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me—then you will find rest for your souls.!”
Jesus asks us first to realign our priorities and desires so that what matters most to us is wanting to do the Father’s will in every situation. He wants us to make every decision whether it has to do with our finances- such as the loans we take out, the investments we make, or the money we spend be approved by God,
--as well as the pleasures and the recreation we seek
-- as well as how we adorn the body- asking the question “is the item of clothes I want to purchase simple and practical? Does it reflect Christ’s beauty in me or am I choosing this item to call attention to myself and my body and causing the opposite sex to be tempted?"
Jesus’ command “DO NOT WORRY” is contrasted with the command “STRIVE for the Kingdom of God” which has the same idea as “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.” These commands have the idea of engaging in disciplines that help us become the kind of servant God approves of in his Kingdom.
Christ wants us to engage in the disciplines we’ve already presented- Meditation on Scripture, Prayer, fasting, and study of Scripture as well as living simple, contented lives. These are ways we “Strive for the Kingdom” and how we “Take his yoke upon us and learn more of him.”
Jesus does not mean we should sit down and wait until the rent check comes in our mail or food appears magically on our plates or someone drops off clothes at our door. No, Scripture makes clear work is honorable and expected of us.
The emphasis of Jesus’ words is to develop a simple trust in him. He wants us to be free from anxiety so that we can use our energy not for stewing and fretting but for Kingdom work as we go about making a living. Paul is one of the best examples. He made tents in order to survive so that he could do Kingdom work. It is Kingdom work that refreshes us and pays eternal dividends.
Now let’s turn again to the back of the bulletin to check where we stand in regard to practicing inward simplicity.
May God help us live our lives so that we delight in godly simplicity, free from anxiety. For truly “‘tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis the gift to be free,” and above everything else may he help us SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Sing with me “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God”
PRAY
