When I came back from Puerto Rico a few weeks ago… it was a good trip, but I was ready to be home.
I flew home on my birthday. After getting a ride home from the airport, I walked up the front steps to the house, opened the front door… and for a moment, I thought I had entered the wrong home.
Turns out that, while I was gone, Ginger had binge-watched the entire season of “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” This is a show on Netflix, all about uncluttering your house. Ginger had watched every episode. And it showed.
In each episode, Marie Kondo helps someone clear out the clutter in their home using what she calls the “KonMari” method...
In each episode, Marie Kondo starts by greeting the house or apartment. She sits on the floor and appears to say a little prayer.
Then she helps the people who live there get rid of their clutter. She has them hold each item in their hand, to see if it sparks joy in them. If it does, keep it. If not, get rid of it.
According to an article in Sojourners magazine, the greeting she gives to the house, and the idea that you should keep what sparks joy, are rooted in Shinto spirituality.
In fact, Marie Kondo worked in a Shinto shrine for five years as a priestess, which inspired her to develop her method.
The reason you hold each item to see if it can spark joy in you is because each item has divine life in it. If it doesn’t spark joy in you and you decide to get rid of it, you offer it thanks for serving you in your life.
This is honoring the sacred quality that each item has.
Marie Kondo doesn’t tell you which items you should get rid of and which items you should keep. She makes you figure it out.
Is this item making me happy? Does it spark joy in me?
Or is it adding to the complexity and clutter in life that is actually robbing me of happiness and joy?
At first glance, it appears that Jesus is a bit more ruthless than Marie Kondo. At the end of today’s scripture reading, for example, it says that those who followed Jesus left everything.
And in other parts of the gospel, Jesus commands those who want to follow him to sell all they have.
But Jesus’s disciples didn’t, exactly, get rid of everything. Peter still had his house. Peter’s house was very useful to Jesus and the disciples. It became kind of a home base for them.
And those disciples who were fishermen left their nets and boats to follow Jesus, but after the crucifixion, they went back to them. Those boats and nets were still there, waiting for them. So apparently they didn’t permanently get rid of those things.
But Jesus does call upon all those who follow him to really examine the things they own. Do the things you have help you follow Jesus, or hinder you?
Do the things you have nourish your soul, or deaden it?
Do the things you have help you contribute God’s kingdom of shalom, peace, and wholeness on earth, or do they move you farther away from that?
What good is it, Jesus asks, if you gain a huge fortune, but lose your soul?
All this week, I’ve been substitute teaching sophomore English at Poly High. For whatever reason, I substitute sophomore English a lot, and I’m becoming quite familiar with the curriculum.
And so, for at least the 2nd or 3rd time since I started substitute teaching, I read with students a short story by Guy de Maupassant called “The Necklace.” I read it six times this week, once in each period!
The Necklace is a story about a woman who longs for the elegant banquets and fancy social events that others in her world enjoy; she especially wanted to go to such events so she could show off her elegant clothing and fine jewels.
Except, she didn’t have any elegant clothing and fine jewels. That was part of the problem. To quote the story, she “had no proper wardrobe, no jewels, no nothing. And those were the only things she loved - she felt she was made for them. She would have so loved to charm, to be envied, to be admired and sought after.”
One day, the invitation she longed for finally came - an invitation to a fancy party. But how could she present herself in an acceptable manner when she lacked the proper clothing and jewels?
Her husband had been saving up some money, and he gave it to her so she could buy a dress. And a friend of hers let her borrow a beautiful - and very expensive - diamond necklace.
She went to the party, and it was magnificent.
But when she got home, she realized: she had lost the borrowed necklace.
She and her husband searched and searched, but could not find it. So they went and bought an expensive replacement, one that was appeared to be an exact copy that she could give back to her friend without her friend ever knowing that she had lost the original… she and her husband had to take on a huge debt just to buy it.
It took her and her husband ten years to earn and save up enough money to pay off the debt… working extra jobs, sacrificing so much of their energy, living in poverty so that every penny they earned could go to paying off their debt.
Those ten years of hard work took their toll: her youthful beauty transformed into the appearance of a much older, tired woman who had lost all her energy, and it appeared that she had aged much more than one would expect in the amount of time that had passed. All because of that diamond necklace.
Then, at the end of the story, she discovers the truth: the original necklace, the one she lost, was a fake!
We long for wealth and possessions because they promise us joy, but so often it is a fake promise. These things don’t live up to the promise. The joy is fleeting at best, and possibly non-existent.
God calls us - invites us - to evaluate each item we have, and decide whether we should keep it or leave it behind, based on whether it brings joy to us and joy to the world.
Take automobiles, for example.
We Californians can’t imagine living without our cars. It’s so inconvenient to have to rely on public transportation, or taxis, or Uber or Lyft… It really is! And cars promise us independence and freedom and joy...
But for every car we own there is a huge cost. There’s the cost of the car, the cost of insurance, the cost of gas, the cost of registration, the cost of maintenance.
For some of us, finding a place to park the car, either at home or at work or at school, is difficult and/or expensive.
At some point most drivers experience a fenderbender or crash, and then there is the hassle of phone calls and insurance and repairs and paperwork...
That’s a lot of hassle…
The independence, freedom, and joy promised to us by the automobile industry often fails to materialize.
And yet, how many of us have ever taken all these things into consideration, and thought about just how much joy our cars do or do not bring us?
And what about the negative environmental effects of having a car? The pollution, the acres and acres of land that are paved over for streets, freeways, and parking lots?
With Jesus, remember: the question isn’t just how much joy does it spark in you. With Jesus, the question is: How does this item help you follow the way of Jesus? How does this item help you bring peace and shalom and wholeness and love to your neighbor?
There are times in scripture when Jesus gave straight answers. Jesus did say that if you have two jackets, you should give one to someone in need. And Jesus did command a certain rich man to sell all he owned if he wanted to follow him.
But more often than not, Jesus would answer a question with another question. Usually, Jesus isn’t going to decide for you. You need to decide for yourself.
So let’s imagine that you are going through your closet with Jesus, and you pull out a jacket. You turn to Jesus and ask, “Jesus, should I keep it or get rid of it?”
Maybe Jesus isn’t going to give you a straight answer. Maybe, instead, Jesus will ask:
“Do you need this jacket? Does it serve the same purpose as a jacket you already have? Are you cold? Will keeping this jacket bring you joy? Will getting rid of this jacket make you bitter? Is there someone who needs this jacket more than you?”
So many questions. So much to consider.
To that rich man who was told to sell all he had… Jesus gave him this command because it was obvious he was so caught up in his wealth and his possessions that he could never truly follow Jesus and never find freedom and joy for himself until he freed himself from all that.
Just like St. Francis. St. Francis felt so burdened by the wealth and expectations placed on him by his wealthy family, that he literally stripped off all his clothes and walked away from that life in order to begin a new life following Christ.
But others who followed Jesus appeared to have kept at least some of what they had: their home. Their fishing boats and nets…
What needs to be got rid of? What needs to be kept? It depends on your emotional attachments. It depends on whether or not those items help or hinder you from living the life you want to live. It depends on whether or not those items help or hinder you from living the life God calls you to live.
What needs to be got rid of? What needs to be kept? What will help you follow Jesus?
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