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The Rich Simple Life
(A sermon preached July 4, 2010 at University United Methodist Church, East
Lansing, Michigan, by John Ross Thompson)
Psalm 30
30:1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes
rejoice over me.
30:2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
30:3 O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among
those gone down to the Pit.
30:4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his
holy name.
30:5 For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may
linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
30:6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."
30:7 By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid
your face; I was dismayed.
30:8 To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:
30:9 "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust
praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?
30:10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!"
30:11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
30:12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will
give thanks to you forever.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him
in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.
10:2 He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
10:3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of
wolves.
10:4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.
10:5 Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!'
10:6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that
person; but if not, it will return to you.
10:7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for
the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.
10:8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set
before you;
10:9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come
near to you.'
10:10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its
streets and say,
10:11 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in
protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'
10:16 "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me,
and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
10:17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons
submit to us!"
10:18 He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of
lightning.
10:19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over
all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.
10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but
rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
How many of you have gone backpacking?
I love a walk in the woods among God’s creation, but I have never ventured out
on a true backpacking experience. My understanding is that a good backpacker
does not carry more than 1/3 of his or her weight in a backpack. Even one-third
seems like a lot to carry on an extended hike.
There is something called extreme backpacking in which practically nothing is
carried. Only a few essentials are packed for the hike. It’s a bit hard to
imagine for many of us, venturing out into nature without the things we feel we
need.
Does the Gospel this morning sound like extreme backpacking? Jesus sends
out seventy of his followers and asks them not even to take a bag or purse. He
also asks them not to wear sandals, although they lived in a desert. Perhaps
he was teaching them to learn to trust in God and others more. Whatever the
reason, they were asked to live and to travel simply.
I believe on this Fourth of July holiday that one of the most patriotic
things we can do is to live a simple life, not dependent on the “stuff” that
many of us accumulate. As a nation, the United States has a small percentage of
the world’s population, but uses between 30 and 40 percent of the world’s
resources. As the rest of the world grows, this is not a sustainable way to
live. We cannot use this much of the world’s resources and expect to continue
long-term as a world power. The tide is clearly turning.
I believe God calls all of us to a rich simple life. Simple living does not
mean poverty.
We can have lives rich in relationships and meaning, but not rich in
“stuff.” Richard Foster has given us one of the best definitions of simplicity
in his book Celebration of Discipline. I commend it to you.
The goal is to live in a way that makes it possible for all of God’s people
to have lives that include what they need. This is called sustainability. We
use only what is essential so that others can, too.
I’ve seen a number of you at estate and garage sales in this area. The
troubled economy is one reason they are so popular. Some of you have even had
such sales of your own, either to provide needed income or rid yourself of items
that you no longer need, or both. I hope the popularity of these sales does not
mean that we all want even more “stuff” for ourselves.
A concern for others and for God’s will helps us all to learn to do more with
less. There is a lasting satisfaction that comes from this. It also helps our
nation to build a more solid foundation for the future.
We who are Christian have a God-given call to live rich lives, rich in
relationships and meaning, but also simple lives, so that others can also live
God’s promise of an abundant life.
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