December 17th - ownership

What do you own?                                                                                                                                                                                 If you had to write a list would it be a long one?   I'm talking about listing every single thing that you own.  Where would you start?  I suppose most of us would start with the big things..... a house..... a car.... the things in the house..... perhaps next would come a pet,  clothes, jewellery.  What about the plants in your garden.  What about your children ..... you might not use the word ' own' about them, but nevertheless you do consider them to be ' yours'.

Of course I'm asking this for a reason.  And it has something to do with the freedom God has bought for us....  stick with me, Im still trying to articulate this thought as I write.

I can say quite easily that I know that everything that I have comes from God.  I say it regularly in the context of being thankful for stuff., and I really do mean it.  Except that today I realised in a flash of revelation that I don't mean it.  Because if I really meant it I would answer the opening question of this blog with the answer  NOTHING.   If I genuinely truly believed that all that I possess  is God's and that He has allowed me the use of it for a time then I believe my life would be a whole lot less stressful.  I would own nothing - have no possessions of my own.     I think back to the old testament and the year of Jubilee, when every 50 years anything that had been borrowed or bought was to revert back to its original owner.   How outrageously radical is that??   It was so radical, in fact, that God's people never actually managed to do it.  Because we all like stuff.  We like to own things.  We like to feel proprietorial and we love consuming.  We use ' stuff' as badges of status. We fight over stuff.  We get jealous about other peoples stuff.  We rank ourselves and others by comparing stuff.  If we had no stuff who would we be?   And God knows what we are like and has a plan to combat that very essence of greed and entitlement.  But we won't/don/t/can't follow His plan.  And look where that has got us.


God, who owns everything including the stars and the spaces in between atoms, gave up all his ' God stuff' to come to earth with nothing at all and become a totally dependent baby in a womb.    Jesus, who had lived eternally in the presence of angels, took off His royal robes and walked the earth with nothing but a cloak and a stick and a few carpenters tools.  Jesus truly knew that God sustained Him.  He was able to walk into a town and know that if He needed a donkey that day God would provide it.  He didn't need to own a donkey.  He only needed a donkey for a couple of hours one afternoon and God provided it right at the moment He needed it.    When Jesus needed a place to stay, food to eat, a boat to distance himself from the crowds, God provided.  Jesus owned nothing at all as far as we know.  What He did have were friends.   He had people who loved Him, washed His feet, gave Him a bed for the night, invited Him to their parties.   He had women who cooked for Him and men who shared their fish suppers with Him.   He didn't need to own anything but He highly valued the relationships around Him.    I wonder if today we haven't got the whole thing the wrong way round?

Last night I was in Dromore Cathedral singing in the choir in the community carol service.  It was really lovely to see the catholic primary school join with the protestant one in a kids choir.  It was great to see the church packed with people from all walks of life and it was brilliant to sing Hark the Herald with a couple of hundred people all giving it 100% accompanied by the pipe organ.  Nothing quite like singing at the top of your lungs to a church organ.   Nothing quite like singing with a crowd of people with one voice.   As we sang I realised that there are very rare times in my life now when I get together with a diverse mass of people to do some common activity.   I've occasionally been to a football match.   I go to church.   But mostly I do things by myself, or with one or two other people. At work, as a family, with friends.  Just a few people .  And lots and lots of  'stuff'    The exact opposite from the way Jesus did it.
                                      

Lord Jesus, this Christmas as I give ' stuff' to people who probably don't need it and get 'stuff' that I probably don't need either, please forgive me for my wrong priorities.  Free me from enslavement to ' getting and spending' and show me how to live like You lived when You were here, totally trusting in the Father to meet each and every daily need.  Help me to love people more than things.  May I be thankful for every single thing I ' own' and hold it all lightly, ready to lay it down or give it up if You require me to.    For in this is freedom.  Thank you.   Amen