God, every time the powerful meet together, you take a seat at their table.

Though unseen, you see.

Though unaddressed, you address.

And you say to them, ”Strengthen the weak.  Stand up for the orphans.  Rescue the needy.  Pursue the wicked.”

But the powerful ignore your words.  They fail to consider your call.

Therefore, God, take charge.  Take over.

Do what they will not.

Strengthen the weak.  Stand up for the orphans.  Rescue the needy.  Pursue the wicked.

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 A life without you God

is like a tree without roots.

Trusting in possessions and power

is like trusting in a dry and dusty creek.

 But a life with you God

is like a tree with deep roots.

Trusting in your constant and steady love

is like trusting in a cold and steady stream.

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Richard Foster in his book Freedom of Simplicity writes that many of us try to live beyond our financial means and beyond our emotional means.[i]  When it comes to our financial means, we spend too much, want too much, and waste too much.  When it comes to our emotional means, we work too hard, say yes too often, and fill our schedule too full.  Why do we do this?  This is a result of our desire to have the exceptional life.  We want to have it all—but it comes at too high a cost.

Simplicity is a discipline which helps us to living within our means—financially and emotionally.  Simplicity is a habit through which we abandon the pursuit of the exceptional life and instead reach for the life Jesus envisions for us in the Sermon on the Mount.

Foster writes that simplicity is made possible by three attitudes.[ii]  First, we learn to view things we have received as gifts from God.  All our material possessions are gifts from God.  Second, we view what we have received as things to be cared for by God.  God is able to protect what we possess.  We can trust him.  Finally, we understand these things to be available to others.  We do all we can to supply the needs of others through what God has given to us.  These three attitudes enable simplicity. 

The opposite three attitudes lead instead to anxiety over possessions.  If we view things we have received as the fruits of our own labor, and if we view them as truly belonging to us, and if we do not make them available for others, eventually we are led into anxiety and worry regarding possessions.

Here are some “Simple Suggestions.”[iii]  Pick one to focus on and pray about today:

#45) Serve sacrificially.

#46) Learn to enjoy things without owning them

#47) Receive what you have as a gift, not an entitlement

#48) Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.

#49) Develop a habit of giving things away

#50) Look with healthy skepticism on all “buy now, pay later” schemes

#51) Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.

#52) Shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God

#53) Ruthlessly eliminate hurry

#54) Deliberately drive in the slow lane.

#55) Declare a fast from honking

#56) For a week, eat your food slowly

#57) Get in the longest check-out line.

#58) Go one day without wearing a watch

#59) If you haven’t worn it in a season, get rid of it

#60) If you have to do complicated logarithms to justify something, don’t buy it.

#61) Resolve relationship conflict

#62) Spend some time in solitude

#63) Focus just on loving God and loving people.

#64) Keep the main thing the main thing

 #65) Don’t schedule or attend meetings back to back

#66) Make a budget.

[ii] Richard Foster The Celebration of Discipline Revised and Expanded (Harper & Row, 1978), 88-89.

[iii] Simple suggestions are compiled from the following sources: Richard Foster Freedom of Simplicity (HarperOne, 2005); Elaine St. James Simplify Your Life (Hyperion, 1994); H. Norman Wright Simplify Your Life And Get More Out of It! (Tyndale, 1998); Richard Foster, “The Discipline of Simplicity,” Simpler Living, Compassionate Life edited by Michael Schut (Living the Good News, 1999), 180-189; John Ortberg The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Zondervan, 1997); Kim Thomas Simplicity (Broadman & Holman, 1999).

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Author Michael Schut writes that most of us have chosen to pursue the “good life” and are missing the “abundant life.”[i]  The “good life” is the American dream.  It’s the two-story house, two-car garage, two-children, two-pets and two-incomes.  It’s vacations out of town.  The lake house.  The gym membership.  The golf clubs and cruises.  Many of us are pursuing the “good life.”  But the “good life” winds down and must be constantly propped up.  It leads to chaos and fatigue and busyness.  But there is another life—the “abundant life.”  It’s a life of simplicity and generosity.  It’s the life of having little and loving a lot.  The “abundant life” is deep and vibrant and constant.

The Good Life:

1. Promoted by TV, billboards, newspapers, magazines, and cultural leaders.
2. Based on the belief that money & possessions leads to fulfillment.
3. Productivity and activity are applauded.
4. Values self and human desires above all else.

The Abundant Life:

1. Life of love and rich relationships
2. Freedom to define self in terms of relationship with God rather than stuff.
3. Freedom to live a theology of enough—I already have more than I need and don’t need more.
4. Leads to a life of compassion

Which life are you pursuing?  The key to the abundant life is simplicity.  Simplicity is a discipline which moves us away from the good life and closer toward the abundant life.

Here are some more “Simple Suggestions.”[ii]  Choose one to focus on and pray about today.

#23) Stop trying to change people

#24) Don’t multi-task.

#25) Say “No”

#26) Resign from any organizations whose meetings you dread

#27) Welcome delays as an opportunity to relax.

#28) Do nothing from time to time

#29) Ask others for help

#30) Take time for lunch.

#31) Q: If my life were simplified, I would feel…

#32) Q: To me a simple life means…

#33) Q: What keeps me from simplifying my life is…

#34) Q: If I were to simplify my life, I would…

#35) Stress the quality of your life above the quantity of your life

#36) Make recreation healthy, happy, and gadget-free.

#37) Eat out less

#38) When you do eat out, make it a celebration

#39) Become as acquainted with people as with places.

#40) Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status

#41) Buy only what you need

#42) Wear your clothes until they are worn out.

#43) Impress people with your life, not your clothes

#44) Give generously

[ii] Simple suggestions are compiled from the following sources: Richard Foster Freedom of Simplicity (HarperOne, 2005); Elaine St. James Simplify Your Life (Hyperion, 1994); H. Norman Wright Simplify Your Life And Get More Out of It! (Tyndale, 1998); Richard Foster, “The Discipline of Simplicity,” Simpler Living, Compassionate Life edited by Michael Schut (Living the Good News, 1999), 180-189; John Ortberg The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Zondervan, 1997); Kim Thomas Simplicity (Broadman & Holman, 1999).

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Poverty, Industry, Simplicity

Richard Foster suggests that during the course of Christian history, there have been three “vows” that demonstrate the various approaches Christians have taken towards money and possessions:[i] 

• First, some have responded with a vow of poverty.  They have done what the rich man who came to Jesus did not do: they sold all they had and gave it to the poor.  They renounced all possessions.  Jesus may ask some of us to do that same thing.  There may be some of us who need to renounce our possessions.  There may be a few called by God to sell all they have and give it to the poor.  But not all in Scripture were called to make that vow of poverty.  Many godly people in Scripture did not renounce all their possessions and give all they had to the poor.
• Second, Foster says that some Christians have responded with a vow of industry.  Where the vow of poverty might be most closely associated with the monks, the vow of industry might be most closely associated with the Puritans.  Being industrious became highly valued by Christians.  A godly person was one who labored hard and reaped the fruit of his labor.  A strong work ethic was important in following God.  Unfortunately, this vow of industry ultimately equated to serving money because the more industrious and hard working one became, the more wealth one earned, and the more wealth one wanted.
• Foster suggests that Scripture points toward a third vow which Christians can and should take.  It is a vow that enables us to possess without mis-using and mis-trusting possessions.  It is a vow that ensures God’s will is done with the goods over which he’s made us stewards.  It is a vow which avoids the problems of the vow of poverty and the vow of industry.  He calls it the vow of simplicity. 

Simplicity is something many of us long for.  In 2009 results were released from a significant study on simplicity.[ii]  Father and son Thom and Art Rainer asked more than one thousand Americans about their pace, their schedules, and their quality of life.  The Rainer’s found that a vast majority of us are longing for simpler lives.  We long for more balance and less busyness, for increased flexibility and decreased complexity.  We yearn for time to just enjoy life.  We long for simplicity.  Specifically, the Rainer’s found that we seek simplicity in four areas:

• Schedules.  We want a better balance in our schedules so that we have time for areas of life that really matter to us.
• Relationships.  We long for better and closer relationships and friendship.
• Finances.  We dream of a life free from past-due bills, diminishing income, or increasing debt.
• Spirituality.  We are too busy for God and need a simpler life in order to get closer to him.

The authors write: “Busyness has consumed us. In our survey we were amazed to see that approximately 44 percent of respondents agreed that if their daily life continued at the current pace, they would probably have health problems…Of course, not just our physical health is suffering. Our families are also impacted…Some 57 percent of married survey respondents admitted that they rarely are able to go on a date with their spouses…We asked if their family members were able to relax and enjoy one another. Only 13 percent agreed strongly that they could…In our survey more than 45 percent of the respondents admitted that they did not have enough income for their lifestyles. For many of us, money is a ball and chain attached around the ankle, limiting our life’s movement. Nearly seven out of ten…said that they needed to spend more time on spiritual matters.

A more simple life is one key towards living into Jesus’ vision for our lives when it comes to material possessions.  Like Practicing the Presence, simplicity is a discipline which does not require much time at all.  It is a different mindset.  It is a different approach to life.

Here are some “Simple Suggestions” for simplifying your life.[iii]  Read through them.  Choose one to focus on and pray about today.

 #1) If you haven’t used it in a year or more, get rid of it

#2) Move to a smaller house

#3) Drive a simple car.

#4) Sell the boat

#5) Build a simple wardrobe

#6) Reduce your entertainment expenses.

#7 Simplify meals when you have others over

#8) Turn off the television

#9) Cancel most magazine subscriptions.

#10) Don’t answer the phone just because it’s ringing

#11) Simplify gift-giving

#12) Take a vacation at home.

#13) Live on half of what you earn

#14) Allow purchases on only 1 day per week

#15) Delay major purchases for two weeks.

#16) Get rid of all but one or two credit cards

#17) Work where you live or live where you work

#18) Always split a restaurant meal.

#19) Make water your drink of choice

#20) Pack your lunch

#21) Drive the speed limit.

#22) If it’s not working, stop doing it

[ii] Thom S. Rainer & Art Rainer, Simple Life (B & H Publishing, 2009).

[iii] Simple suggestions are compiled from the following sources: Richard Foster Freedom of Simplicity (HarperOne, 2005); Elaine St. James Simplify Your Life (Hyperion, 1994); H. Norman Wright Simplify Your Life And Get More Out of It! (Tyndale, 1998); Richard Foster, “The Discipline of Simplicity,” Simpler Living, Compassionate Life edited by Michael Schut (Living the Good News, 1999), 180-189; John Ortberg The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Zondervan, 1997); Kim Thomas Simplicity (Broadman & Holman, 1999).

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/bies/55539544/

It’s hard to understand why you care so much, Lord.

You are immortal, we are not.  You are everlasting, we are not. 

You are everything, we are nothing.

Yet you care.  You care more than we can fathom. 

And you offer this rich life for any who would follow you:

a life in which our families can be strong and happy;

a life in which our pantries and accounts can have more than we need;

a life in which the police and armed forces can just retire–they have no more crime to fight, no more enemies to thwart.

You offer the possibility of such an abudant life.

Thank you Lord for caring so much.

LORD, you reward all who revere you. 

You help all who hallow you.

You bring meaning and success to their work. 

You bring fruitfulness and abundance to their family.

May you continue to bless all who believe in you.

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• Place a 1 next to any activity that was absolutely essential.  There was no way you could not do that activity.
• Place a 2 next to any activity that was important but not essential.  It would have cost you, but you could conceivably have said “no” to that activity.
• Place a 3 next to activities that were helpful but not necessary.  Nothing significant would have happened if you had not done them.
• Finally, place a 4 next to any activity that was purely trivial.

Foster then makes this radical recommendation: eliminate every activity with a 3 or 4.  Then cut 20% of the activities with a 1 or 2.  Do that, Foster says, and you’ll take a step toward simplicity.

Do you think you could do that?  For October, could you completely eliminate some activities you did in September?  And could you cut 20% of the other activities?  If you had a list of all your activities for last month, what could you cut for this month?

We’ve been talking on Sunday mornings about cutting.  Part of the genesis of this series was a recent study on simplicity.[ii] Father and son Thom and Art Rainer asked more than one thousand Americans how busy their month has been.  They found that our months are too full and that we long for simplicity.  The research shows we’re trying to cut in four areas.  We want to cut things from our schedules so we have time for what really matters, cut things from our relationships so they are less complex, cut things from our spending so we can spend on things that make a difference, and cut from all of life so we can pursue a truly spiritual life.

But the question is, what could you cut?

To answer that question and similar questions, we’ve been immersing ourselves in the temptations of Jesus.  In Matt. 4 we watch Jesus and the devil square off in the sand of the wilderness, on the equivalent of the steeple at the temple, and on the summit of a mountain.  This morning we spend time with Jesus and the devil on the summit: 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”  11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (Matt. 4:7-11ESV)

Just as the devil has previously taken Jesus to the holy city and placed him at the pinnacle of the temple, so the devil now takes Jesus to the top of a very high mountain.  From this mountain, the devil shows Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.”

Have you ever stood in a high place like this and seen the kingdoms below? Lookout Mountain is located near Chattanooga, TN. From here it is said that seven U.S. states can be seen. In reality, you can’t actually see seven states.  But on a clear day you can see the land and cities for about 100 miles.  My family and I have stood at this very spot and marveled at the kingdoms below us.

Cristo Redentor is a statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  It stands atop the 2,300 foot Corcovado Mountain overlooking the city.  The millions of people and their offices and homes spread gloriously beneath that summit.

The crew of the International Space Station has a unique perspective on the kingdoms of the world.  As the station circles the earth, the crew is able to see large portions of cities and lands.  This photo, taken earlier this year, shows the metropolitan areas of Italy and France at night.

Imagine something like these scenes, only larger.  The devil’s taken Jesus to the top of the tallest mountain and from there they view all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And the devil says, “All these I will give you…” (Matt. 4:9 ESV).  Some Christians have argued that the devil cannot deliver on this promise.  These kingdoms and their glory are not the devil’s to give.  But if that is the case, there is no temptation here.  This is only a temptation if the devil can deliver on this promise.  And to a certain degree, he can.  Elsewhere the devil is called “the prince of this world” and “the ruler of this age”(Jn. 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2).  The devil does have authority, rule and power.  The only way this scene can be a temptation is if the devil can use his authority, rule and power to hand the kingdoms of the world over to Jesus.

Consider the devil’s offer in light of what may be the most well-known verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  (Jn. 3:16 ESV).  God so loved the world.  Jesus so loved the world.  The Holy Spirit so loved the world.  They so loved the world that Jesus left Father, Spirit and heaven for earth in order to win that world from the devil.  And now the devil provides a way for that chore to be completed.  What the devil offers to give is exactly what Jesus came to get.  What the devil proposes is the very project at the top of Jesus’ to-do list.  Gaining all the kingdoms of the world is the most important activity Jesus intends to do.

The devil tempts Jesus not with something bad, but with something good. There could be no greater goal than gaining possession of the kingdoms of the world.  There could be no greater goal than rescuing the human race from the destructive agenda of the devil.  The crime and corruption induced by the devil would conclude.  The plagues and pestilence sent by the devil would cease.  The infidelity and abuse inspired by the devil would end.  What the devil offers to give is exactly what Jesus came to get.  Jesus came for all the kingdoms of the world.  He came to rescue us all from the terror of the tempter.  Gaining the kingdoms of the world is the most important activity on Jesus’ schedule.  The devil tempts him not with something bad but with something good.

Let’s stop and return to that exercise suggested by Richard Foster.  Foster asked us to write down all our activities from September.  Put a 1 next to any activity that was absolutely essential.  Place a 2 next to any activity that was important but not essential.  Place a 3 next to activities that were helpful but not necessary.  Place a 4 next to any activity that was purely trivial.  Finally, Foster urged us to eliminate anything with a 3 or 4, and to cut 20% of our 1 and 2 activities.  But what could you cut?

We could start with cutting bad things.  But how many bad things are on your list?  How many of you have “Run over 10 squirrels in my car today” on your list?  How many of you have “Steal $120 from McAlister’s today” on your list?  None of us have items like these on our lists.  For most of us, our month was filled mostly with good things.  We were running our kids to soccer, baseball, voice, piano, tutoring, and church events.  We were volunteering at Agape or HopeWorks or MUM.  We were watching a pet for our neighbor.  We were taking a meal to someone whose father just passed away.  We might consider cutting bad activities in an attempt to simplify our lives.  But the truth is that for the most part our lives are filled with good activities, not bad.

Yet it is the very abundance of those good activities which makes our lives so complex.  The complexity in our lives is often caused by an overabundance of good goals.  Our lives are rarely chaotic because we are busy pursuing bad things.  They are frequently chaotic because we are busy pursuing good things.

How then do we do cut activities when so many of our activities seem so good?

Let’s return to this scene in which Jesus reacts to an activity which appears to be the ultimate good:  10Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”  11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (Matt. 4:10-11ESV)  Jesus says “No” to this opportunity.  Jesus refuses to pursue the number one goal on his list—at least in this way.  Why?  Because Jesus realizes that any goal, no matter how good, cannot be grasped if it does not serve God.  Actually, gaining all the kingdoms of the world was not the number one item on Jesus’ list.  There was one goal, there was one activity which trumped everything else on the list, no matter how good everything else on the list was.  What was that goal, that activity?  It was this: worshiping and serving God.  That is Jesus’ ultimate obsession.  That is Jesus’ ultimate mission.  Jesus’ ultimate obsession and mission is not to save the kingdoms of the world.  His ultimate obsession and mission is to worship and serve God.  And any goal, no matter how good, which interferes with that, Jesus will abandon.  Any activity which threatens that activity he will cross off the list.

Listen to these words from scholar Frederick Dale Bruner: “The third temptation is the temptation to make our work God.  This is the most powerful and subtle of all temptations.  Jesus’ work as Messiah was to win the world.  His work can now be successfully accomplished if he will just bow one knee…It is very difficult for serious Christians to distinguish between (1) their work for God and (2) God.  We are constantly tempted to think that if one succeeds the other succeeds as well; and if one is defeated the other is defeated.  Therefore we will sometimes do absolutely anything to keep our work for God from failing.  But the moment we do absolutely anything to keep our work for God from failing we have made our work God and, perhaps without realizing it, we have worshiped Satan.”[iii]

It would have been tempting for Jesus to blur the distinction between saving the world for God and worshiping and serving God.  It would have been tempting for Jesus to do absolutely anything to keep that work for God from failing.  But the moment Jesus did absolutely anything to succeed in saving the kingdoms of the world he would have failed in worshiping and serving God.  In what must have been an excruciating spiritual decision, Jesus did not engage in the one activity we might believe was the greatest good—saving the kingdoms of the world.  He did this because there was one activity greater—worshiping and serving God.  Jesus realized that any goal, no matter how good, cannot be grasped if it does not serve God. 

Let’s return to our list of activities from September.  It’s filled with a lot of very good activities.  But here’s what we learn on this summit: all of those good goals which so busied and complicated our September are not our final and full purpose.  Our primary purpose in life is to worship and serve God.  And if any goal, no matter how good, interferes with that goal, we must cut it from our list.

• A father may work 80 hours a week so that his children and wife can have a nice house and a good education.  But if that worthy goal keeps him from nurturing his own soul and causes him to become an absent father, it must be abandoned.
• A woman may volunteer at the local school, the local hospital, and the local prison.  But if she ends up burnt out and then loses her faith in God, she’s missed what life is really about.

While we are involved in a lot of good things, some of those good things do not serve God.  They inflate our sense of value and esteem.  They serve our own desire to be applauded.  They serve our own wish to be needed.  But they do not serve God.

Imagine going through that long list of September’s activities.  Imagine asking of each activity: Am I involved in this out of a desire to worship and serve God?  Does this goal allow me to reach my ultimate goal?  Is there anything about this activity which interferes with my service to and worship of God?  I suspect our lists would get much shorter much faster with those questions in mind.  And I suspect the answers to those questions would lead us to simpler lives.

Richard Foster writes that before we can experience outward simplicity, we must experience inward simplicity.  If our minds and hearts can just focus on one thing, that will then express itself in an outward life that is similarly focused—a simple life.  That is what Jesus demonstrates here.  Jesus demonstrates the ultimate inward simplicity.  There are not many good things vying for Jesus’ affections or energy.  There is only one thing: worshiping and serving God.  And because that is Jesus’ only inward focus, he is able to respond appropriately to everything in his outward life—even the very good things.

Though not necessarily spiritually driven, I’ll close with the story of a man who struggled through a similar process—abandoning something very good for one thing even better.  For seventeen years, Jim Lo Scalzo was a photojournalist for U.S. News and World Report.[iv] He covered assignments in 60 countries, winning many awards and accolades from his peers. But he writes in his memoir that his award-winning journalism came with a price.  His frequent travels abroad left his wife a stranger to him. While he was in Baghdad covering the U.S. invasion of Iraq, his wife was heading to the hospital with her second miscarriage. Lo Scalzo hated himself for what he felt was desertion.  Eventually, he decided, it was time for a change.  Thus when he was given the opportunity in 2004 to cover John Kerry’s presidential campaign, he declined. He writes in his memoir: [T]his time, for the first time, it was so easy to back out—not a guilty concession but what I truly wanted …. [H]ow silly this effort. This stress. Seventeen years of it. Not time wasted but time overplayed, trying to inflate a finite ability through sheer force of will. He could say “No” to this very good activity.  Not out of guilt.  But because it’s what he truly wanted.  He later writes of the inward change that led to his ability to say “No”: It was about accepting a simple truth: In the world of photojournalism I would always be a man of minor accomplishments. But in the field of fatherhood—to one little boy, at least—I had a chance to become legend.

It begins with inward simplicity.  A decision that only one thing will be the one true focus of your heart.  That one thing?  Serving and worshiping God.  We then apply that one focus to everything else in our life.

Ask yourself: What does it mean to worship and serve God?  And if I started with an empty sheet and a new month in front of me, what would that look like in my life?

[ii] Thom S. Rainer & Art Rainer, Simple Life (B & H Publishing, 2009).

[iii] Frederick Dale Bruner Matthew Volume 1 The Christbook (Word, 1987), 112.

[iv] Jim Lo Scalzo, Evidence of My Existence (Ohio University Press, 2007), 317.

The movie “Daddy Day Camp” tells of two dads named Charlie and Phil who take over a summer day-camp for young children. Armed with no knowledge of the outdoors and a dilapidated day-camp facility, the dads soon realize they’ve taken on more than they can handle.  Just the beginning moments of camp are chaotic:

Has life ever felt like that—out of control, chaotic, messy, overwhelming, and enough to make you want to quit?

John Ortberg writes about a chaotic time in his life:[i] Not long after moving to Chicago, I called a wise friend to ask for some spiritual direction. I described the pace of life in my current ministry. The church where I serve tends to move at a fast clip. I also told him about our rhythms of family life: we are in the van-driving, soccer-league, piano-lesson, school-orientation-night years. I told him about the present condition of my heart, as best I could discern it. What did I need to do, I asked him, to be spiritually healthy?  Long pause.  “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life,” he said at last.  Another long pause.  “Okay, I’ve written that one down,” I told him, a little impatiently. “That’s a good one. Now, what else is there?” I had many things to do, and this was a long-distance call, so I was anxious to cram as many units of spiritual wisdom into the least amount of time possible.  Another long pause.  “There is nothing else,” he said. “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”  I’ve concluded that my life and the well-being of the people I serve depends on following his prescription, for hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. Hurry destroys souls.

Does your life feel hurried?  Raise your hand if one of the best things you could do is ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.

Last Sunday I mentioned a recent study that touched on this issue of hurried and chaotic lives.[ii] Father and son Thom and Art Rainer asked more than one thousand Americans about their pace of life.  They found that a vast majority of us long for simplicity.  We long for less insanity and more serenity.  Specifically the Rainers found that we long for simplicity in four areas:

• Schedules.  We want a better balance of our schedules so that we have time for things that really matter.
• Relationships.  We long for better and closer relationships with others.
• Finances.  We long for a life free from past-due bills, limited income, and increasing debt.
• Spirituality.  We are too busy for God.

We long for less hurry and less chaos in our in our schedules, relationships, finances, and spirituality.

To explore this need, we are meditating upon a unique time in the life of Jesus.  The Holy Spirit nudges Jesus away from the crowds and the towns into a barren and deserted wilderness.  There, three scenes play out.  First, there is an encounter between Jesus and the devil on the sand in the wilderness.  Second, there is an encounter between Jesus and the devil on the equivalent of a steeple, at the pinnacle of the temple.  Finally, there is an encounter between Jesus and the devil at a summit, on the top of a very high mountain.

Last Sunday morning we spent time with Jesus in the sand.  This morning we spend time with Jesus on the steeple: 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”  7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matt. 4:5-7 ESV)

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the hot sand.  Now he’s taken by the devil into the “holy city”—that is, Jerusalem.  Jerusalem was considered the political, social, and religious center of Israel.  In Jewish traditions, it was also considered to be the center of the world.[iii] There was no more important city to the Jews than Jerusalem.  And there was no more important place in Jerusalem than the temple.  If Jerusalem was the center of the world, the temple was the center of Jerusalem.

The devil takes Jesus to the “pinnacle” of this temple.  The word “pinnacle” means something that juts out.[iv] This may have been a place in the temple where the structure jutted out over the ground.  Some scholars believe this scene takes place on the southeast corner of the temple which overlooked the Kidron Valley.[v] There the wall stepped right off into the valley.  Thus the devil may have been urging Jesus not simply to jump off a high place, but to jump off a spot where the fall would send Jesus flying into a deep gorge.

And to persuade Jesus to take this leap of faith, the devil quotes Scripture.  The devil brings Jesus to the holy temple in the holy city.  And now he quotes Holy Scripture.  The devil quotes from Psalm 91.  Here is the Psalm in its entirety: 1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  2I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  3For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  4He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.  5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.  7A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.  8You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.  9Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.  11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.  12On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.  13You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.  14″Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.  15When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.  16With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Ps. 91 ESV)

The devil urges Jesus to put these words to the test.  He urges Jesus to demand a Psalm 91-Life.  In so doing, he tempts Jesus with two myths.  The first myth is this: God wants my life to be easy. The devil is saying to Jesus, “You’re the Son of God.  You deserve a Psalm 91-Life of ease.  Protection from pestilence.  Nothing to fear at night.  No arrows that can cut into your flesh.  No plagues near your tent.  Not even a stone on the path to strike your foot against.  Jesus, you deserve a Psalm 91-Life of ease.”

This myth, I believe, lies behind some of the chaos of our lives.  It is a myth that directly affects our wallets.  Sometimes we act as if we believe that God wants our lives to be easy.  God does not expect us to put up with any kind of poverty in our lives.  God does not expect us to experience discomfort.  We should have Psalm 91-Lives of ease.

And thus we busy ourselves, using our wallets to bring about that life of ease.  We devote our resources to eliminating poverty and discomfort in our lives.

PBS produced a documentary about the harmful effects of this pursuit.  It’s called “Affluenza.”[vi] In one scene, the narrator is visiting Virginia’s Potomac Mills Mall, one of the largest shopping centers in America.  He states, “Potomac Mills attracts more visitors than any other site in Virginia.”  More scenes are shown. The narrator says, “Seventy percent of us visit malls each week—more than attend churches or synagogues. On average we shop 6 hours a week and spend only 40 minutes playing with our children.”  The narrator shows a Potomac Mills TV commercial, and an announcer says, “Shopping is therapy. Listen to that little voice in your head. Shop. Shop. Shop. Shop. You can buy happiness. Just don’t pay retail for it.”  A 1950’s car commercial is briefly shown as the narrator continues: “In fact, the percentage of Americans calling themselves ‘very happy’ reached its highest point back in 1957.” New York psychologist Paul Wachtel comments: “[People's] entire orientation to how [they] are doing is based on comparison. That’s why as an entire society grows, people don’t feel any better, because they’re still in the same relative position. There’s a sense of being on an endless treadmill and of never getting to where you thought you were going to get.”  The point is that a Psalm 91-Life of ease is impossible.  What is easy and comfortable constantly changes as new products and goods are released promising more ease and more comfort.  And like running on a treadmill, the pursuit of a Psalm-91 Life of ease gets us nowhere.

But here on the steeple with Jesus we learn that simplicity comes when we give up the myth that God wants my life to be easy. Jesus, in essence, says, “I will not demand this Psalm 91-Life for myself.  I will not require God to grant me this Ps. 91-Life.  If God graciously gives it to me, that’s his choice.  But I will not demand it.  To do so would be to test God.”  True simplicity comes when we give up this myth and stop busying ourselves with eliminating poverty and discomfort from our lives.

In the book All Is Calm, Donna Schaper writes:[vii] There we were, two twenty-eight-year-olds in love, on the rim of the Grand Canyon on New Year’s Eve. As we watched the sun go down, we remembered the hotel was full and we needed a place to stay.  My husband had a brainstorm. “I’ll bet the ranger in the bottom of the canyon is lonely, especially tonight. Let’s call him and see how he would feel about having some guests.”  The ranger’s telephone number was in the book. We dialed, explained our situation, and offered to bring groceries down.  Gary, the ranger, said he and his wife, Gina, would love company.  A half hour after dusk we were on our way down. After an uneventful passage down the curving canyon, we arrived at the bottom. We were invited into their large cabin and they served us a nice dinner. Then they showed us their “sports room.” It was full of abandoned sports equipment—high-class hiking boots, expensive back packs, fancy hats, and even fancier walking sticks. “People can walk in easily enough with all of this stuff,” he said, “they just can’t walk out.”

Sometimes we’re just like those hikers.  We want and expect a life of ease.  So we accumulate the kinds of thing designed to make our journey comfortable—high-class hiking boots, expensive backpacks, fancy hats, walking sticks, newer cars, larger homes, better wardrobes, faster computers, more advanced telephones, and bigger televisions.  And for awhile, we experience just what we had hoped: ease and comfort.  But the longer life’s trail gets, the less ease and comfort those things bring.  In fact, they eventually make the hike harder.  And the only way back to the top is through simplicity.  The only way forward is to abandon the idea that God wants our lives to be easy and to abandon that stuff that so clutters our lives.

I believe this is also what makes it so difficult for many of us to be as generous as we’d like to be when it comes to giving to charity or to Highland’s weekly contribution.  In the name of trying to have as comfortable a life possible, we spend what we have on all kinds of things.  But that leaves us little or nothing to give in the plate on Sunday or to the plea from a charity.  The more we abandon this myth of an easy life, the less we’ll spend on making our life comfortable, and the more we’ll have to bring comfort to others.

But there is more from the steeple.  The devil also raises the myth that God wants my life to be exceptional. The devil suggests that Psalm 91 is not merely about an easy life.  It’s also about an exceptional life.  Scholar Frederick Dale Bruner calls this the temptation of “spectacularism.”[viii] The devil is telling Jesus, “You deserve a spectacular Psalm 91-Life.  You deserve an exceptional Psalm 91-Life.  You should demand the kind of life where, anytime you want, you could walk off this ledge and you’d never hit the ground because God’s angels would protect you.  You should expect the kind of life where you could face an army and that army would fall before you.  You should request the kind of life where you could walk among lions and never be scratched or bit.  You deserve the exceptional Psalm 91-Life.”

This is another myth which fuels the chaos of our lives.  It is the myth that directly affects our schedules. We believe we can and should have it all.  We don’t want an ordinary life.  We want an extraordinary life.  And thus we fill our schedules with attempts to do it all, experience it all, and have it all.

A few years ago a friend of mine sort of fell apart as the result of this myth.  He is a popular teacher at his school, a much read author, and a well-loved speaker around the world.  He was constantly receiving invitations to teach at other schools, write additional books, and speak in churches, universities, and other locations.  But the more he filled his schedule with these very good things, the more hectic and chaotic his life became.  Eventually, his train fell off the tracks.  He had to take an entire year off to recover emotionally.  And now he has a very tight control on his schedule so that this never happens again.  We want to have an exceptional life.  And we fill our schedules full to overflowing in order to achieve it.  But in the end it burns us out.

Richard Foster in his book Freedom of Simplicity writes that while many of us try to live beyond our financial means, many of us also try to live beyond our emotional means.[ix] We work too hard, say yes too often, and fill our schedule too full.  We want the exceptional life.  But it comes at too high a cost.

Thus, Jesus rejects this lifestyle.  He will not demand a spectacular Psalm 91-Life.  If God grants it, he will accept it.  But he will not demand it.  Jesus shows that simplicity comes when we give up the myth that God wants my life to be exceptional. The text Jesus quotes to the devil comes from Deuteronomy.  There Moses is remembering the time the Israelites were in the wilderness and they were fed up with the way God and Moses were providing for the people.  They demanded more than Moses and God had given.  But Jesus tells the devil that he will not do this.  God is certainly capable of providing a life of more.  But Jesus will not demand it.

For many of us, the road back to sanity is to abandon this myth.  We do not have to do it all.  It’s only by leaving space in our budgets and our schedules that we have room to move as God bids.

It was, in fact, simplicity, that led to the most exceptional lives ever recorded.  Richard Foster surveys Christian history.  He finds that it was those who lived simply, leaving space in their wallets and schedules, who ended up living the most remarkable lives.  Simplicity, Foster writes, made possible “exuberant caring and sharing.”[x] By A. D. 250 Christians in Rome were caring for some 1,500 needy people.  Tertullian catalogued groups being cared for by Christian believers: they supported and buried the poor, supplied the needs of the boys and girls destitute of means, cared for the elderly that were confined to the house, provided for those who had suffered shipwreck, and gave to those who had been banished to islands or mines for their fidelity to Christ’s cause.  Christians provided for those who lost their jobs because of their faith in Christ. Chrysostom wrote, “Every day the Church here feeds 3,000 people.  Besides this, the church daily helps provide food and clothes for prisoners, the hospitalized, pilgrims, cripples, church-men, and others.”

Simplicity is what makes possible the truly exceptional life.  If we spend all our resources creating an easy life for ourselves and all our time forming an exceptional life for ourselves, we lose the freedom to truly make a difference in this world.  Simplicity comes as we abandon these myths.

How does all this play out in practical ways?  I’ve spent the last few weeks scouring through several resources about simplifying life.  I’ve compiled a list of the practical steps these authors recommend you take to simplify your life.  There are several ways you can receive these and pray about them: 1) follow me on Twitter or befriend me on Facebook and I’ll tweet and post several of these tips each day for the next three weeks; 2) visit the church website for the entire list; 3) I’ll provide a paper copy of all of these tips on the final Sunday of this series.

[ii] Thom S. Rainer & Art Rainer, Simple Life (B & H Publishing, 2009).

[iii] Warren Carter Matthew and the Margins (Orbis 2000), 109.

[iv] Ben Witherington III Matthew Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary (Smyth & Helwys 2006), 92.

[v] Craig S. Keener A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Eerdmans, 1999), 141.

[vi] Affluenza (Bullfrog Films, 1997), produced by John de Graaf and Vivia Boe.

[vii] Donna Schaper, All Is Calm (St. Mary’s Press, 1999).

[viii] Frederick Dale Bruner Matthew Volume 1 The Christbook Matthew 1-12 (Word, 1987), 108.

[ix] Richard Foster Freedom of Simplicity Revised and Updated (HarperOne, 2005), 108-109.

[x] Ibid., 62-64.

Fast Company reports: 

“Brand expert Martin Lindstrom conducted a 3 year, 7 million dollar study comparing brain scans of the religious to those with high brand loyalty. Lindstrom discovered that the scans of people loyal to Apple matched the scans of devoted Christians…’Brands are a signal of self-worth,’ said Gavan Fitzsimons, professor of marketing and psychology at Duke. ‘We’re signaling to others that we care about ourselves and that we feel good about ourselves and that we matter in this world. It’s more than ‘I’m hip or cool’…I’m a worthwhile person, and I matter, and you should respect me and think that I’m a good person, because I’ve got the D&G on my glasses.’

Rather than look for meaning, purpose, and self-worth in religion, many today find it in the brands they use, wear, and consume.  For many, their brand is their religion.

Why?  How have you seen this?

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