On the occasion of my fifth Sunday as the Interim Pastor at Advent Lutheran Church in Arlington, Texas, we continued our exploration of the Jesus Priorities (a sermon series based on a book with the same title by Christopher Maricle). Today’s priority was “treasure in heaven.”
Sermon
My message, “How Much is Enough?” is based on Luke 12:13-21.
Spreading the Word
I preached from this manuscript, but didn’t convey it word for word. You can watch a recording of the livestream here (the Gospel lesson begins at 23::44 and the message at 25:22).
Excerpt
I don’t know much about barns, but I do know a bit about real estate. Houses have always fascinated me. If you want to capture my attention simply start using real estate terms like location, open floor plan, HOA, and cost per square foot.
Let me begin with the story of my real estate experience in my 20s here in the areas around Advent Lutheran Church.
When Susan and I got married, we began our life together in a simple single family brick home 11 miles south in Mansfield. This ideal new construction starter home was around 1300 square feet and had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a 2 car garage.
Our first move took us further east to Cedar Hill to another new construction property. It was roughly twice the size of our first home and was two stories tall. The house came with an additional bedroom and an extra living space and sat on a corner lot.
Our next move brought us to my hometown: Arlington. We found our way to a home about 6 miles north of Advent that was about as old as we were. The house was even larger with 5 bedrooms and a 3 car garage. Somehow we managed to fill nearly 3,000 square feet rather quickly.
Our final move during this stage of life was the shortest; it allowed us to expand with a larger home in the same general neighborhood. It provided even more space, closer to 4,000 square feet. And, notably it had 5 bathrooms for our family of 2, along with 3 living areas and a lovely pool.
While we never once tore down our home to build a bigger one, we grew quite competent in trading up to homes that were larger, pricier, and in more desirable locations.
Our family size remained constant at two, but the number of things we owned and the number of square feet we air conditioned to contain and maintain them continued to grow.
In my young adult years if you had asked me “how much is enough house?” I likely would have answered “I am not sure, but likely just a little bit more.” While we never spoke the words, our lifestyle suggested that bigger really is better. And, sadly, reflecting back, I am all too aware . . .
So What?
Learning to be content with whatever you have is a challenging lesson to learn and leads to a countercultural lifestyle. That way of living, however, opens one to move beyond a scarcity mentality and to exercise the abundance muscle again and again through acts of generosity. It also means learning to enjoy the good things in life knowing that the best things are not things at all.
- When it comes to things like a house or stuff to fill your home, how do you determine how much is enough?
- Share a time in your life when you felt anxious about not having enough or were held captive to a scarcity mindset. How did (or how might) you overcome it?
- In a world of considerable and increasing inequality, building up treasure in heaven can be a both/and exercise in giving generously and acting in ways that help transform unjust systems. How do you contribute in both ways?