Sermon – Preaching in Holes: What We Own that Owns Us
Luke 12:16-21; Acts 2:27-37
8/9/26
Two things to get us going today took place the early 2000s. Anne and I and our family were living in Blackstone, and at that same time something was growing on the internet called eBay. It was a new and different way to buy and sell things, and people were starting to make a living through buying and selling on that burgeoning online marketplace. Many of you have probably purchased something through eBay in these decades since. I certainly have. At the time, however, it was so new and different that I had no account myself to use it, and I did not really know what to do to put something for sale on there. I was not the only person in this situation, and businesses popped up to help people sell things, like the one that I discovered right there in Blackstone.
I had one item, in particular, that I was looking to sell: an early 20th century Pedro Flores Yo-Yo. It was the first yo-yo made in America, the first yo-yo with an ink stamp on its side, and the first yo-yo with the word ”yo-yo” on it. My dear and sweet wife who I always enjoy spending time with found it at an antique mall a few years earlier, and it was worth a little bit. Not being a “serious” collector, I decided to get it into someone else’s hands who could better appreciate it, so I dropped the yo-yo off at that eBay store in Blackstone with the hopes of some improvement on our investment. I never saw the yo-yo, again. Not long after I left it there, the store closed and disappeared with no record. They did call once, but I accidentally deleted the message. Anyway, I lost that rare and special item. I am not the first person to lose something meaningful, and I am sure that you have probably lost something, too, at some point. Sometimes those times of loss are very difficult. What I find truly remarkable is how our notions of loss actually shape us and how we feel about our things.
While I did lose that yo-yo back then and many other things over the course of my life, I have never lost all my things, especially not all at once. I have never lost my things and more (because there is much more that we can lose beyond our possessions), but I do know people who have. It just so happened that the other evening at the NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meeting this same topic was the topic for the reading that guided their discussion. These readings always resonate, and a number of folk began to respond to what it was like to lose what they had had. As we might imagine, a bunch of people in that support group and ones like it know what it is like to lose. They have lost homes and health and stuff and family and money and jobs and freedom – even their very sense of self. Pain and regret were laced in their words, but I also heard something else there that I did not expect: pride and gratitude for what they do have now. And I am not just talking about a new lease on life or relationships that have begun to reconcile or a new understanding and appreciation of God (though all of that is certainly possible), I am talking about pride and gratitude literally for the actual stuff that they own – cars, houses, boats, motorcycles, land, whatever. This shocked me. The way I am wired and how I was brought up was to be grateful for what I had but avoid pride, especially to the point of bragging. Besides being tacky, it could all be lost. A house fire could easily do that. Then, I realized that I had it ALL WRONG. Their pride and gratitude was not that they had earned all of that or that it was THEIR stuff. This ability to have a life and to have opportunities and to have employment and a future and money and THINGS was something God had enabled them to do. I have never tried to build a life from zero, maybe less than zero. I started out way ahead in middle-class suburbia, and most of what I lose today is what I throw away. For people who had NOTHING and then to have much, it is all God’s work. And, in fact, it all belongs to God. Someone in this situation can be deeply pleased and even proud for how they have walked with God into a new life and all that comes with it, but it is not about things. If they lost it all, they would be fine. God was faithful yesterday; God is faithful today; God will be faithful tomorrow. Loss means something different when it is not truly your stuff. Our possessions mean something different to us when we are not afraid of losing them.
That rich farmer in Luke’s Gospel could not conceive of losing his wealth. He could not measure how much was enough for him. Rather than provide something for those around who were hungry, he determined to increase his stores so that he could keep more for himself. Most telling is that there was no plan, no arrangement, for what should happen to all of his wealth if something happened to him. If he died, no one was benefitted. Of course, that is how the story goes. This parable from Jesus was the response to someone asking for Jesus to help in an inheritance dispute. Apparently, God is less interested in listening to how we bicker about money or maybe about how we get more money.
How we understand our possessions gets right to the heart of our faith in and love for God. That is what takes us to one of the most ridiculous passages of the entire Bible.
Apparently, the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and invited people into a new way of life meant that a lot more people would be fed and have their needs met. To get there, however, the followers of Jesus had to give up owning their own things and donate it all to the common cause. EVERYONE would have their needs met, but NO ONE would possess their own things. This is a ridiculous and impossible situation and we all know why. What I have is mine. It is my stuff, my security, my future, and my own. I bought it or I deserve it or I am going to need it one day. No one can have it but whomever I deem appropriate. It is mine. Possession is king.
There is nothing new here. Jesus had been trying to get people to see past their ownership of things for years. A certain rich young man showed up one day and asked Jesus what he needed to do to receive eternal life. He had done it all – the entire checklist but one thing – give it all away. The man chose his stuff, his possessions, his things more than eternal life. It is fairly common today for church figures in some traditions to proclaim that it is fine to have all of your stuff and still love God. In fact, God will give you more and more as you are faithful. Wealth is a spiritual gift. It is the fruit of your faithfulness, the proof that God loves you.
Actually, the problem is not things or wealth or your possessions. The problem is when the things we own actually own us. Rich people generally take a bad rap in the Bible because they like to hoard their stuff, just like the rich farmer in Luke’s story, but there were a good number of wealthy people in the early church, in the Jesus’ movement, but they were giving their wealth to benefit others and supporting the work of the Apostles. They were giving it away. Love, compassion, and giving is king.
What would it look like for Jesus to show up at the door and to ask for it all? Does the thought scare us or excite us? If there was a real need that the Spirit of God was leading you toward, would you be able to go all in?
This is not an easy answer. That fear of loss is real. We have also been brainwashed by our culture to see possessions as a measure of who we are. It is literally the opposite in the kingdom of God where our measure is more how much we are willing to give. It is never about the total value, either. That widow’s mite – just a couple pennies – was worth more than the expensive gift because it was all she had. She gave her heart to God with her gifts. The early followers of Jesus gave their hearts to God with their gifts. We can also give our hearts to God with our gifts.
The other night at the NA meeting, one of the members of the group came up to me and gave me a check for $5000 for roof repairs. God had been good to him, and he wanted to bless others. Wealth then is not for our own comfort, our own pleasure, or our own glory but for God’s. While we might feel that we “own” things, life is not about owning things. That pursuit to own is corrupt and corrupting and consumes us. When it comes to things and what we think we own, we are better off thinking about how what we have can serve God and our neighbor.
To God be the glory. Amen.