Pastor Mark Hopper

By Pastor Mark Hopper

In my last article, I shared about cleaning up the garage at our house. It was like “Spring Cleaning” in November. It felt good to throw things away and get the garage organized.

But as I thought more about this experience, I wondered how did we get so much of that stuff in the first place? Part of the problem is that we tend to keep things we really don’t need any more. The other part of the equation is that we keep buying and adding to the stuff we already have.

We live in a consumer economy. Advertisements entice us to buy more things. They also sow a sense of discontentment that motivates us to buy newer, bigger and better things than we already have.

There is an interesting story that Jesus told in the Bible in Luke chapter 12. Jesus warns his listeners about always wanting more and more things. He says in verse 15, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”.

Jesus goes on to tell a parable about a farmer who was so successful that he did not have room to store all of his crops. He faces a dilemma. His barns are filled to capacity. He doesn’t have any more room to store all his stuff.

Instead of sharing some of his abundance with others, he decides that he will tear down his barns, build bigger ones so he can keep everything for himself. It is like the person whose garage is so full that he can’t even get his cars in. Instead of cleaning out his garage and giving some things to others, he decides to rent a storage unit so he can keep it all for himself.

At the end of the parable, the man dies suddenly and all of his earthly possessions that he saved and hoarded are left to others. Jesus calls this man a fool.

Someone said that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly message. Jesus told this story to remind us that there is more to life than our material possessions. He warns about the danger of greed and the importance of sharing what we have with others.

I wonder what Jesus would say about our homes, closets, attics and garages that are full of stuff? I wonder what He would say about the thousands of self-storage units that people rent to keep the things that they can’t fit into their own homes and garages?

Let me encourage you to look around your house this month and see if there are things that you no longer need or use. Why not have a garage sale and use the proceeds to help others. Why not give some extra books to your local library and some clothes that you no longer wear to Goodwill? Why not buy a little less this holiday season and put a little more in the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle?

Don’t be a fool and cling to all your material possessions. Be wise and be generous and share some of what you have with others.

Pastor Mark Hopper is from the Evangelical Free Church of Diamond Bar, 3255 South Diamond Bar Ave. Sunday services are 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. For more information, call (909) 594-7604 or visit http://www.efreedb.org.