Sunday, September 21, 2025

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon Title: Practicing Simplicity

If you’ve been with us these last few weeks, we’ve been talking about spiritual practices to slow down our busy lives and connect with God. First, we talked about the practice of silence and solitude. Remember I challenged you all to take 10 minutes or so each day and spend with God? Just know I’m challenging myself just as much as all of you. The other day when I went to pick up Ellie from an activity, I was there early, so I sat in silence in my van, turned the radio off, and didn’t look at my phone. And I’m thankful I took those 10 minutes because I was feeling stuck on my sermon, and in those 10 minutes of silence, the Holy Spirit helped me with the ending of my sermon.

So, I hope you are experiencing these same moments with God as well as you slow down and spend more time with God.

Then last week we talked about the practice of Sabbath. Sabbath is this whole idea of taking a whole day for rest and worship to delight in God and the things of God.How did you all do at practicing Sabbath last week? And please, don’t just put these practices in place for one week, but try to create a life of these spiritual practices in your life.

Today we’re talking about the practice of simplicity.

This week our theme for Dinner Church was Cuba. Again, a big thank you to everyone who helped make this a wonderful event. We had rice and beans, pork, empanadas, salad, Tres Leches Cake, and flan. We even sang some songs in Spanish.

But we didn’t just eat great food, we learned about our sister church in Cuba. And truly, thinking about Cuba is perfect for talking about simplicity this week. We learned how Cuba has struggles with electricity. Electricity comes and goes, and you don’t really know how long you’re going to have it. When Linda was explaining this, I heard my daughter Ellie say, “you so you can only watch tv for one minute?” Ginny also shared with us how where our sister church is located, they’ve had a drought for over a year. They’ve had to dig a well to get to water.

Things like electricity and running water are modern conveniences that most of us Americans take for granted. Except in the aftermath of a hurricane we’re reminded how much we rely on electricity. Last year, after Hurricane Milton, we were out of power for a few days, so we ended up borrowing a generator from someone, and then even shared our generator with our neighbor so they could at least plug their fridge in. I remember cheering in our backyard when the linesmen showed up to restore power.

So yes, we know how this can be sometimes. But we truly do not know what it is to live like this most of the time, not knowing how reliable electricity will be, how reliable running water will be, if bread will be available on the shelves at the grocery stores.

One of the phrases I often hear from people who have been to Cuba is, “They have so little, but they are so Spirit filled.”

It’s a reminder that money doesn’t buy happiness. But I want us to dig a little deeper into this idea.

Here are some statistics on money and happiness.

This is from John Mark Comer in his book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” Comer writes, “More money does make you happier – if you’re poor. I hate the way some idealistic Christians (who aren’t poor) glamorize poverty. It’s horrible. Lifting people out of poverty will make them happier, but only up to a point. And we now know what that point is: $75,000.”

And he’s specifically talking about what that number would be here in the US. I’m sure for the Cuban people, that dollar amount would be a lot less.

We need to be careful, especially when ministering to the poor, thinking money doesn’t buy happiness. It’s hard to be happy when you don’t know how you’re going to put food on the table for your family. It’s hard to be happy when you don’t know if you’re going to be able to pay your rent. It’s hard to be happy when you don’t know if insurance is going to cover your medication.

However, there is a point that you reach where making more and more money does not bring more and more happiness.

John Mark Comer writes, “Turns out: once you reach what most Westerners classify as a middle-class life, money and stuff just can’t deliver what they promise – happiness.”

“But wherever you fall in the socioeconomic stratum, the most important things in life aren’t things at all; they are relationships with family, friends, and, above all, God.” – John Mark Comer.

Jesus our Savior tells us this himself. In today’s scripture Jesus tells us about treasure. If you’ve ever listened to a stewardship series, you’ve probably heard this scripture read. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to get your money today. Our stewardship series will be in November. But today, I want us to all be reminded that the way we spend our money, and the things we choose to spend our money on is a spiritual practice just as much as reading scripture and praying is. The way we choose to spend our money reveals what we truly value in life.

Today’s scripture comes from the famous chapters of Matthew known as the Sermon on the Mount. In today’s chapter of Matthew Jesus covers a few different topics: giving to the needy, how to pray, this is where Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tells us not to worry, and he tells us not to store up treasures on earth.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll share it again. I love when the Holy Spirit works and plans things better than I could. This week as I was preparing to preach on simplicity, first I had Dinner Church on Monday where we learned about Cuba. And then, I went to the Wednesday Morning Women’s Bible Study. We’re reading a book on the Beatitudes. And the Beatitudes is what begins Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.

This is that section of scripture that says, “Blesses are so and so, for they will…” You know what I’m talking about? And our lesson this week was “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”

In our Wednesday Morning we discussion we talked about how you can’t take it with you. And we were even asked to share what stuff we need to get rid of in our lives. And this could be actual physical stuff, or emotional, and spiritual baggage as well.

I’ve been reminded of simplicity all week by the Holy Spirit.

In today’s scripture Jesus talks to us about treasure. As a parent with little kids in school I’ve learned that “Treasure Box” is a new thing I don’t remember having at school when I was a kid. Ellie and Isla have both brought home “Treasure Box” Items that they’ve picked out at school, little treats for behaving well and doing good.

As adults we have our own version of “Treasure Box.” Maybe it’s our savings account or our 401 K. Maybe it’s our sports car or motorcycle. Maybe it’s our vacation we’ve got coming up. Maybe it’s our home. What is your “Treasure Box?”

But Jesus tells us in today’s scripture not to store up treasures on earth, because earthly treasures can be destroyed. But instead, we are to store up treasures in heaven.

Jesus tells us “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

What things do you value in life? I’m guessing if we had to say the most important things to us, we would say our faith, our family and friends, our health. And yet sadly, the way we so often spend our money, and our time in our fast-paced busy lives does not point to those things being the things we most value.

Comer summarizes Jesus’s teaching this way, “put your life into things that matter, like your relationship with God and life in his kingdom. Because where you put your resources is where you put your heart.”

Jesus ends today’s scriptures with some words that are pretty convicting. And when I say this, believe me I am preaching as much to myself as to all of you.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

You cannot serve both God and money. Ouch. That’s tough to hear, isn’t it?

Now I want to be clear, I recognize that we all need money to live. But money is to be a tool, its to be a resource. And money can be a tool or resource that is used for good, or it can be a tool or resource that is used for evil.

When our money becomes something we worship instead of something we can use for good as a resource to glorify God, then there is a problem. Money is not worthy of our worship. God is. And we have a choice everyday to make. Will we worship God? Or will we worship money, stuff, and materialism?

I hope we choose to worship God. And I hope we choose to use our money for good, to glorify God.

John Mark Comer gives some tips for living out simplicity. Here are some of his tips:

1. Never impulse buy – before you make a purchase, think do I really need this item? Is there a better use of my money?

2. When you can, share – I can’t tell you how spoiled I am that most of my girls’ clothes are hand me downs from my niece. We have only one niece and 7 nephews, so we get all my niece’s hand-me-downs.

3. Get into the habit of giving things away – go through your closets, we support lots of missions that could use your stuff.

4. Live by a budget

5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them. – I love to read, and I am the library queen. I even ran into Robbie Zarske at the library one day.

6. Cultivate a deep appreciation for creation

7. Cultivate a deep appreciation for the simple pleasures in life.

I’ve given you some challenges the last couple of weeks. This week I want to give you another challenge.

I want to challenge you to practice simplicity. How can you simplify your life so that you can spend more time with God and the things that are important to God?

Maybe it’s spending less on eating out and Starbucks Coffee, and then using the money you saved to give to the church, or a mission or ministry that is important to you.

Maybe it’s going through your clothes, your home goods, in my case, maybe my children’s toys and giving them to people who are in need. And no, that doesn’t mean giving our worst stuff away but giving away things that would truly be a gift to others.

Maybe it’s simply spending less time on social media, on your phone, and watching the 24/7 constant news. Maybe it’s getting rid of not just physical stuff in your life, but spiritual and emotional baggage that’s weighing you down.

Pray about it and invite the Holy Spirit to show you what the practice of simplicity would look like for you. What would it look like if you cared less about storing up treasures on earth, and instead care more about storing up treasures in heaven?

A new trend I have noticed in recent years with grandparents and Christmas Gifts or even Birthday Gift ideas for kids is spending money on experiences you can do together, instead of spending money on stuff that kids will probably not play too much with and forget about.

I know we’ve got a lot of grandparents in the congregation, maybe pray about that. Would it be a better use of your money to spend it on an experience you could do with your children and grandchildren instead of just stuff that they don’t really need?

Remember I said in my quiet time in my van the Holy Spirit helped me finish my sermon? This is what the Holy Spirit revealed to me.

Simplicity isn’t just about saving money so we have more money to spend on the things of God. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be people who are becoming more and more like our Savior. And the truth is, when we look at the life of Jesus, he had a very simple life.

Yes, I know much of it is the time period in which he lived. But Jesus lived a very simple life. The Savior of the World wasn’t born in a royal palace, but instead was born to poor parents in a cave because there was no room for them. Jesus was placed not in some fancy crib, but in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. And then in his life and ministry, for all we know Jesus was essentially homeless, moving from place to place, staying in the homes of his disciples and friends. Even in death he was buried in a borrowed tomb.

Such a simple life for our Savior. Such a humble life.

So, simplicity is about more than saving money. It’s about connecting with the very heart of our Savior. It’s about realizing what treasures are truly important in life, and treasuring the things of Jesus, not the things of this world.

So may we practice simplicity, and in our simplicity, may we encounter the very heart of God.

Amen