Possessed by possessions

Among local annual yard sales, this one has to be the biggest. The ad, in fact, bragged that it was the family’s 17^th annual sale.  Extended family, obviously. I found a partial bag of quilt batting.  My husband found a fishing pole. But as we pulled away from the piles (much of it soggy from the previous night’s rain), I found myself asking, “Why so much?” That view of foothills in the background reminded me to “look higher” than the motley collection of used stuff below.

Disclaimer: we have our own “piles,” but we’re working at paring them down.  “Stuff” collects via my husband’s hobby of restoring broken bikes and mowers to usefulness, and recycling quality used children’s books to local schools. I turn fabric scraps into baby blankets for the local hospital to give the homeless or impoverished who deliver there. But there comes a point of too much stuff. When I’m in the home of a hoarder (now classified as an obsessive compulsive behavior), I feel so “closed in” that I can hardly wait to get out.

The Bible says a lot about our possessions:

*Stuff breeds greed.  One day a man came to Jesus wanting His help in an inheritance dispute. Jesus declined, saying, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Paul put greed in the same list with sexual immorality and impurity, as “not proper for God’s holy people” (Eph. 5:3).

*Too much “stuff” masks the real “us.” When Paul planned a return ministry trip to Corinth, he said he didn’t want to be a burden to them.  He was a low-maintenance missionary, anyway.  He didn’t require a luxury suite with a hot tub. “What I want,” he said, “is not your possessions but you” (2 Cor. 12:14).

*Having less leads to more that truly lasts. When the writer of Hebrews talked about those who were persecuted, even to having their possessions taken away, he remarked, “You...joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions” (Hebrews 10:34). Sadly, this wasn’t a First Century incident. It still rings true today for believers in lands hostile to Christians. For a powerful fiction treatment of this, get into Randy Alcorn’s novel, Safely Home.

*Abundance enables sharing. The apostle John lived long enough to see a lot of inequity among the rich and poor. To better-off believers he gave this advice: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:17). My husband is part of a ministry that receives still-useful furniture (from upgrading, downsizing, or estates) to distribute to the very needy (like women fleeing domestic abuse). I’ve been given boxes of fabric by people who learn of my “needy-babies” blanket project.

*Sharing gives back. Someone with a giving heart once remarked to me, “I don’t miss what I gave away.” There’s so much truth in this proverb: “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty” (Proverbs 11:24).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go through some things I don’t use...like those white dressy heels I wore for my daughter’s wedding.  My once-broken ankle is too weak for heels any more.  And then....