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So, 

Over the past few weeks, we have talked about ways to grow our spirituality. They are often called spiritual disciplines, but they could be called all kinds of things as long as we understand that they are intended to grow our relationship with Jesus.

Things like fasting, prayer and listening are really important to grow spiritual muscles. But there are lots of others! 

Richard Foster wrote a book entitled Celebration of Discipline, and there he lists: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration, twelve in all!

So many ways to grow your faith that you could pick a discipline to practice for each month, and that doesn’t even include listening, journaling, being part of a small group, giving, and unplugging!

And you may have noticed that it is possible that some spiritual disciples actually could be combined. 

Prayer could be part of so many other disciplines. 

And giving fits really well with simplicity, because when we discover that our accumulation of stuff is using up our time, energy, and resources, and then choose to give away some of that stuff, life gets easier - and get this - simpler.

For example, did you know that there are more storage units in the United States than there are homes! Let that sink in. We have too much stuff!

What if every American gave away enough stuff that every storage unit in American could be made into a tiny home for a homeless person?
 
For the most part, we don’t need the stuff. And it is choking off our energy and damaging us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

You see, it is really hard authentically to ask for God’s provision - for our daily bread - when we already have all the stuff we need crammed into a metal room down at the storage farm.

What we “need” of course is part of the problem. 

And next week when we discuss “unplugging” it’s possible we will talk about that. After all online shopping and our “retail therapy” has exacerbated this problem into something akin to an addiction.

We shop until we end up poorer, feeling no better, and have frittered away the resources God has put in our care to care for others!

You heard that, right? Frittered away the resources God put in our care for the purpose of caring for others.

Because God knows, that caring for others, just as God does, is the best way to have a heart for God, the great provider. And simplicity can take right to the heart of God.

And it strikes right at the heart of our great accumulation of stuff.

You see, we are experts at hunting and gathering. 

But we are terrible at letting go, even when it becomes obvious that our stuff is ruining us. Take one watch of Hoarders on TV and see how bad it can get.

At the center of it all is our insecurity, our need to take God’s place in our own lives and provide our own daily bread. To let go and trust the God of the universe is too hard. Trust only in thy own self.

But Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel suggests a different way. Storing up our treasures is not what God’s people do.

They don’t put their treasure in storage farms, or in mansions, or in banks, or in the stock market, but put God’s treasure in God’s care.

That is not an argument to not be money smart! We need to listen to folks who want us to use our resources wisely! We need to pay off your debts, get insurance, use a budget. 

But keep in mind in the end that what you have is for God’s use!

I remember when Sue and I were up at Acadia National Park and we took trip on a lobster boat so the lobsterman could show us how they catch lobsters.

As we went out of the harbor by a bunch of houses, he pointed out one and said, “that house is owned by the Campbell soup family. They come and stay for two weeks a year. They have three full time gardeners year-round.” God bless those gardeners, because they need jobs. But really!

Simplicity suggests a change in plans where instead of your cash and accumulated wealth stored in a mattress, or in the stock market, or in your storage locker, you intentionally put it into what God values.

And first and foremost, what God values is people. We are to invest in the Kingdom of God, through God’s people, all of them, especially those in need.

And while investing in the faith community, in programs that transform people lives, in individuals and families that just need a hand up, not a hand out, we discover God working in our live!

And the key is letting go; simplicity! 

Clearing out the junk so God and God’s kingdom is first in our lives!
Why? Because as Jesus makes clear, “Your heart will always be where your treasure is.” 
And we want our hearts to be with God. Amen.