Stuff

The Rev. Margaret Watson

Ecclesiastes 1:12-14, 2:18-23 | Psalm 49 | Colossians 3:12-17 | Luke 11:13-21

 

When I woke up early this morning the sky was gray. There were huge clouds. You know what - - the clouds, the humidity, and the potential for thunder storms, the potential for ten inches of rain (just kidding) that we may see this afternoon, it is my fault. I will tell you why. For the last two mornings my husband and I got up out of bed early so we could be out working before it got hot. We have torn all the siding off of our garage, right to the bare bones, fixed the header, put in flashing and yesterday at noon we had finally finished hanging the new siding. However, there is no paint and no finish on it; therefore it will rain! Oh, my barn! And why am I building a new garage? Well because we pay $60 a month to store all our books that do not fit in the house. Yea, I was a museum curator before I became a priest, and had to study history, and then I got all those big art books. We have no place to put them so we have to build somewhere to keep them. Is this a shame on us? I think that is the story here in this Gospel. This is the ultimate you can't take it with you story isn't it?

Luke's Gospel is always clearly in favor of the outcast, the poor, the downtrodden, and the sick. They are the righteous. Remember, it is in the Gospel, too, that it will be easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle then it will be for a rich man to get into heaven. How are we to reconcile this Gospel imperative about "stuff" with our lives? Even if we number among the poorest of Americans, we are ten times wealthier than the poor elsewhere. How do we reconcile this gospel story with our homes, our jewelry, our books, our rugs, our collections?

I think this story is about our relationship to that "stuff" and to all "stuff." It is how we relate to that "stuff" as Christians. Given my background as a museum curator you must realize that stuff is very important to me. Very, very important. God speaks to me through stuff. (laughter) As a matter of fact, God speaks to you through stuff too. This very earthy stuff we take out of the field, crush it up and make bread with it. That very stuff becomes the body of our Lord. Stuff is important. I do have a passion for it.

I have a funny story about myself and stuff. When I was training as a curator, I was at a big, posh museum back east called Winterthur. Oh Lord, I loved the six weeks when we studied nothing but glass; and oh Lord the six weeks on metal was better. Textiles, furniture, you name it; it was better then summer camp. One day in the middle of the silver block, I was studying seventeenth century New York silver. Beautiful stuff, 1640's. I was looking at this Porringer. Now mind you, when damage occurs to a museum object you have to go to the chief curator and report it immediately so they can take the proper steps to salvage the piece. I was looking at this porringer and I realized suddenly that I was drooling on this thing. Imagine my embarrassment when I went to the chief curator and said, "I drooled on the VanEcht." So much for important "stuff!" But stuff is important because not only does God speak to us through stuff but stuff is the way we begin to know and comprehend who God is. Stuff is not only what we bring to the altar as an offering in all shapes and fashion, but look back in our own heritage, the art that the church has supported. This art is incredible stuff. It speaks to us of God. The stained glass windows throughout the cathedrals in the world tell people of the stories of God. This was especially important when 99 percent of the human population could not read or write. Stuff is very important. The stuff that we have in our daily lives speaks to us of God. Those rugs, those books, the objects we inherit from our parents or grandparents they tell our family stories and they are treated with special care. A child may make a comment about them and what comes forth? The story of our lives.

This church here on the hill is filled with stories through objects. If you do not think so, look around for the little brass plaques and ask yourself, what is this story about? These stories, made manifest in the stuff around us, are the things of God.

So what do we do with this stuff that exhibits God to us, that speaks to us of God? Let me propose to you that this Gospel story is very important because what it highlights is that our relationship with stuff is the mirror image of our relationship with God. It could be the image of our relationship with God. Do we not care? Do we put them aside? A few people are called to that. One that looms large in my imagination is St. Francis. He needed very little to tell the story of salvation, to tell the stories that were embedded in his heart. I am not like St. Francis, I have lots of stuff. But if I can learn to mediate my relationship with you and the world, if I could learn to mediate my relationship with the stuff, I become a good steward of the stories I have inherited. Because that is all we are. We are stewards. We can't take it with us. We take care of it for someone else.

Earlier this week as I thought of how I could approach this story. I was looking out my office window at the church and into the valley. It occurred to me, how can I even own and drive a car when it pollutes? What am I doing for future generations and how am I being a good steward of the resources of the earth? And how can I drive a car when I know there is a family out there who needs a car more then I do? How can I justify this to myself? But if I did as St. Francis did and divest myself of my stuff, give away my house and car and clothes, then all I have done is turned the story into a reversal of what it already was. Nothing really changed. The balance of these relationships, between the stuff, is still not Godly. What this story is calling us to is a new way to mediate our relationships, a new way to find God in the world around us. It is a radical mutuality not a mere reversals of roles so the have's are now the have not's and have not's are now the have's. But we discover a new way, God's way of sharing. The mutuality of knowing that we do not own it, of knowing that we can work our whole lives to possess it and take care of it, but what of our relationship with the world around us? What about the stuff? If we treat our stuff as a sign of our relationship with God that would be a good beginning. This radical mutuality may be hard to grasp when we think of those things that crown our lives, that are dear to us. But there is nothing more dear then air and water, and yet we do not claim to posses these things. The air and the water combined in God's creation to give us life. All stuff gives us life and we, from the beginning of our conscious understanding of our relationship with God, have been called to be stewards of all this good stuff. The way we are stewards of the stuff and the way we share the stuff is a sure sign of our relationship with the Creator. So when we begin to complain, "Lord, make my brother give me my rightful inheritance," remember the stories, remember the righteousness that makes those things important; and gather that and make it an offering to God. Our one true example of stewardship is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ who was willing to give all. And in his giving all, we received an unexpected redemption, a resurrection, a sharing of new life in Christ.

So with your stuff, God bless you, God speak to you through your stuff and may your life be so filled with the love of God that your stewardship of the things given to you lead you also in the example of our Lord. AMEN