Calvary United Methodist Church

January 22, 2017

THE ART OF TIDYING UP

Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks

Children’s Sermon: Jeremiah 31:33-34

The Grace of God is poured out upon us and it is available to us no

matter what our age or station in life may be. We welcome the chil-

dren to the front of this worship space to celebrate the gifts that God

has bestowed upon all of us. Wow! Subdued!

Let’s see if we can’t turn up the enthusiasm a little bit.

There is a holiday coming very shortly and it has a lot to do with

hearts. Do you know what it is? (Valentine’s Day!) It’s Valentine’s

Day, exactly right!

So, in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, and in order to get the best se-

lection, I went to the Hallmark store already this week.

And you walk into the store and everything is red and heart shaped.

All the displays: they have stuffed animals; they have all kinds of cool

things.

And they have row after row of Valentine’s cards.

All the good stuff of every possible configuration of relationship that

you can imagine.

So, as I stood there, I thought to myself, “Hmmm... I wonder who it is

that I should buy cards for.” Because you know some people get kind

of offended if you forget them at Valentine’s Day.

But that really begs the question: how big is the love that lives in my

heart? So I decided I’m going to have to make a distinction between

the love in my heart and the amount of money in my wallet, because as

you know, Valentine’s cards cost money.

So, the first people I thought about, the first person I thought about, is

my family of marriage, right? The person that I am the closest to,

what we call “my significant other.”

And if you go to the wife section of the Hallmark store for Valentine’s

Day cards there are religious cards and there are humorous cards and

there are sexy cards. And then there are just general cards.

I thought I might go with the big card, you know what I’m saying?

That’s kind of what I want to say in a big way, “I love my spouse.”

But then I thought about my family of origin, because I think it’s im-

portant that we recognize, even though we don’t want to be romanti-

cally connected to perhaps our brother and sister or parents or children,

the family of our origin is really important.

So I found a couple of humorous cards to send to my brother and sis-

ter.

Then I thought about the family of procreation. This is the family that

starts with my wife and me and goes forward in time. This would in-

clude our children and grandchildren and daughter-in-law.

And the brand new guy who showed up just a couple of weeks ago.

So, I went and picked out a card in the daughter-in-law section and the

son section and the grandson section. All kinds of cool stuff.

And even though that’s where I stopped with the buying of Valentine’s

cards,

I want you to know that the love living in my heart doesn’t stop there,

because the love living in my heart is God’s love.

So if God’s love is living in heart, it doesn’t stop when the money runs

out at the Hallmark store.

And there is a particular piece of scripture that goes way way back to

the prophesies of the Old Testament that talks about why it’s important

for us to recognize that as people of faith it’s not our love that lives in

our heart, it’s God’s love. And this is what Jeremiah had to say: He

said God said: I am making a new covenant with my people. I will

write the law of love on their hearts. It will live inside of them. And

they will live inside of it. No one will wonder how to live or what

they’re supposed to do. They won’t need scholars or lawyers or priests

or pastors to explain it to them. Every one of every age and ability and

status will know me. I will be their God. They will be my children. I

will wipe the slate clean. Their new heart will see a new vision. And

it will mark a new beginning.

If God’s love is living in my heart,

Then the love I share goes past the people that I buy Valentine’s cards

for. And I have to say to you, I didn’t get you guys any. (Ah…) I

guess I’ll be going back to the store later today.

So the love I share, however, is big enough for more family members:

the family of my vocation. This is the only existing picture of every-

one who works at Calvary and it’s already obsolete, because if you no-

tice George, who is in the front row on the left hand side has retired.

This is the family of Christ’s incarnation, the church. My love extends

to the people I work with, but it also extends to the people we work for

and that’s you.

And the love that I have extends all the way to God’s family of love,

which includes who? Everybody!

If God’s love is living in my heart,

Then the love I share is big enough for anybody, for everybody and for

every challenge that I face.

I happened to come across a little, quick, children’s book that I thought

I might share with you. It’s called God’s Love lives in my Heart, inter-

estingly enough, so watch the pictures on the screen while I read the

story to you.

Big and Boo were resting after bouncing in the forest all day. They

were a long way from home. Boo was very tired. “I don’t think I can

make it all the way back to the burrow. My paws are just too sore!”

Big smiled and took Boo’s hand. “Well, I KNOW you can,” said Big.

“And do you know why? Because God’s love lives n our hearts. That

makes us strong!”

As they walked, Big began to explain…God’s love is so sweet. It can

scent every flower.

God’s love is so calm. It turns storms into showers.

God’s love is so big. It soars up past the trees.

It’s mighty enough to push streams towards the seas.

God’s love is so bright. It can light up the night…

And softly cap mountains with black of white.

God’s love is so happy. Gray skies turn to blue. His love paints each

rainbow with colorful hues.

His love is so endless. It goes on and on and carpets your pathway, no

matter how long.

God’s love is so big. It’s amazing. It’s huge! Wait, can you feel it? It

lives inside you! With God’s love in our hearts, we can be really

strong and do kind and thoughtful things all the day long!

Before they knew it, Big and Boo were home, snuggles up in the cozy

burrow. “Isn’t God’s love amazing?” Big whispered to Boo. But Boo

was sound asleep dreaming of living in God’s big love.

That’s what we’re here to celebrate this morning: that you and I live in

God’s big love. And if God’s love is living in our hearts,

Then God’s love is enough to share for everyone that we meet,

Including these guys.

Now, at this time every year we typically invite the congregation to

help with what we call the campership program.

We have in our conference four church camps that are scattered

throughout the geographic area.

They are camps that perhaps these names are familiar to you and each

year, this is what we do for families that have kids and adults who

want to go to camp.

We pay 50% for kids who are 18 years of age and under. If they are

first timers, we pay 75% of their camp fees and 25% for adults.

Now, last year, in 2016, Calvary sponsored 26 youth to attend camp

and that’s because we collected $3550 for the campership fund.

So, this year we would like to raise at least $3000 and we want to give

us the next two months, let’s say, between now perhaps and Easter, to

try to make that happen.

So as you came in the sanctuary this morning, the ushers handed you

an envelope along with your bulletin.

And there is a really fancy receptacle, an offering plate, in the back as

you exit. This is a camping toilet. So, if you have money with you

that you want to put in that envelope today and drop it in that offering

plate, you are welcome to do so, if you would rather take the envelope

home and think about it and write something on a check and turn it in,

we would be glad to have that too.

Because if God’s love is living in your heart and my heart,

Then that love, the love that we have to share, is big enough to even

kids that aren’t ours. Thank you for sharing in our time this morning.

Message: Ezekiel 36:24-28

(VIDEO – Marie Kondo and the KonMari Method)

Give it a week. About two years ago, Marie Kondo exploded on the

New York Times Bestseller list. She has two books currently there that

have sold over 6 million copies.

The one that started it all is called The Life-changing Magic of Tidying

Up, the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing.

And that was followed by a more intensive look at the whole method-

ology of cleaning up called Spark Joy. And as you learned in the par-

ticular video, the reason, the way that you make the decision as to how

to get rid of stuff is to ask yourself as you are handling it, as you are

holding that particular item, “Does it spark joy in my heart?”

Now, you probably have some place like this in your house. It might

be in the attic, might be in the basement. You may have rented some

kind of an off-site storage thing in order to put this stuff. Because we

as Americans have been trained and taught that someday you might

need this stuff, right? Here’s the thing: Marie Kondo points out some-

day never comes.

Let me give you an example of how that works. This is a copy of Tom

Swift and the Galaxy Ghosts. It is book number 33 of the Tom Swift

Junior Series. I read these books as a kid religiously. I would find out

from the local book vendor when the next one would be published and

I would be there the day that it was hitting the shelves so I could buy

my copy. I would immediately run home, now this is in the early 60s

where there is no video games or internet or television, so this was like

my best friend. And I had all 32 of the books, but the person who al-

ways called me to let me know that the new book was coming in on

the day this book arrived was sick and I never found out that it was

published and I never got a copy until four years ago when I happened

to mention this to my grandmother and she through my brother and

sister got on line and found me a copy of Tom Swift and the Galaxy

Ghosts and they paid several hundred dollars for it, because I’m worth

it. Now, I immediately put this book up with the other 32 volumes of

the Tom Swift Junior Series, intending of course to read it someday. I

have yet to read it; that’s four years ago.

But I have fallen into the trap that all of us fall into which is the trap

called storage. It is on a bookshelf. It’s up high. It’s not in the way.

And every time I walk by it, I kind of glance up at it and think, “I’m

going to read that someday,”

And Marie Kondo says, “No, you are not.” And this is how she

knows, from her book, her words: The clutter and disorganization evi-

dent in our homes and living space is a reflection of the chaos in our

living and in our perspective. In fact, she even goes on to say that we

like keeping messes around our house because it distracts us from the

mess that lives inside our hearts. Hmmm… Interesting!

To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must discard

those thigs that have outlived their purpose. Now, I know what you

are saying: there have been things that you have spent a lot of money

on, an impulse buy, for example, that at the time when you bought it it

brought you joy. But if it was a piece of clothing, you might have

worn it once and realized, it’s not really me or I don’t like the style, or

maybe I have lost so much weight it no longer fits me. That’s always

my problem. But here’s the thing she says: It’s okay to get rid of that

stuff even though you feel foolish for having bought it because in the

moment that you bought it it brought you joy or you wouldn’t have

bought it. So even though you wore it only once, get rid of it. It’s out-

lived its purpose. It gave you joy in the moment, now it should be

gone.

How do you decide, she says? You take each item in your hand and

you ask yourself, “Does this spark joy?” Now, I have to think about

that for a minute, because when I hold this in my hand, it reminds me

of my childhood; it reminds me of sitting on the back porch on a sum-

mer day reading until I finish the book, in one sitting. It reminds me

of my grandmother, who knew nothing about the internet except to call

my brother and sister. It reminds me of the times that we had together.

So, does it spark joy? Yeah, it kind of does. So, then I have a little bit

of an issue. I have to figure out whether it sparks enough joy to take it

with me for the rest of my life. If it does, keep it; no problem. No

need for an explanation. But if not, dispose of it.

And this is what she says: When we really delve into the reasons why

we can’t let something go, there are only two reasons: an attachment

to the past or a fear for the future. That’s an attachment to the past:

holding on to the other things, it’s often a fear of what might happen or

what we may need. Now, Marie Kondo is not a psychologist, but it

just so happens that her decluttering and tidying method directly

speaks to what psychologists call in all of us, “attachment theory.”

Attachment Theory is a very complex thing and I am not going to try

to impart it to you because, frankly I don’t understand all of it myself.

But there’s the basic idea:

From the second that we achieve consciousness, from the time of our

birth, there is an emotional connection that develops between you and

me and everything that we come in contact with, especially the things

that we learn to trust or mistrust. So it might be the person who is our

care-giver as we grow up or the family that gives us care. It might be

the place that we grew up in. It might be the house that we grow up in.

It may be the idea or our sentimental remembrance of what it was like

to grow up there. But you see how all of these things that are part of

our history, the people, the places, the things, the ideas. We in one

form or another, we attach ourselves to them and they attach them-

selves to us.

And what that means is that attachments, as psychologists tell us, they

are unavoidable. It’s going to happen. You are going to make them.

And the inability to make attachments is a reflection of the fact that

you don’t trust and that you are afraid. You know people who can’t

seem to like let their guard down, they always seem to be at a dis-

tance? It’s because they don’t trust. They have been taught not to

trust. Somebody or something or a whole series of things has con-

vinced them that they can’t depend on you for anything good.

These things are unavoidable and they are fundamental. When you

think about the ideas that govern every decision, your actions, and you

think about where they come from, you recognize that the attachments

that we made to the people, places, things and ideas in our lives, they

have in effect defined us. They are the foundation of who we believe

ourselves to be.

And because of that, they are really influential. If you think about the

idea of prejudice for example, the idea that people who are different

from us are somehow suspicious or inferior, that is extraordinarily in-

fluential when you meet one of them or when you have to work next to

them. There is currently a movie in the theater called “Hidden Fig-

ures” about three African-American women who worked at NASA.

And it is a poignant and glorious story of how they refused to let the

prejudice of all the white people that they worked with hold them

down and how they achieved greatness and guaranteed the safety of

John Glenn on his three orbit trip into space many years ago. That’s

how influential these attachments are.

But attachments can be terminal. If you are taught that the world can’t

be trusted, if you are taught to be suspicious and fearful, then the po-

tential of your life is extraordinarily bounded and locked it. It can end

the possibilities for any joy in your life. And from the point of view of

joy, you may already be dead.

That’s how powerful these things are, this emotional connection that

develops between an individual and a person, a place, an idea or thing.

Said another way, attachments are the people, the places, the ideas and/

or that things that have found their place in our hearts, whether we’ve

invited them in, whether we have held on to them tightly, or whether

they have found their way in and they will not leave.

And that’s why God is calling us this day to tidy up, to discard every-

thing that has finished serving its purpose.

Ezekiel, the prophet, suggests this way of thinking about this call of

God to exchange the cluttered heart that we have for the empty heart of

potential: This is God’s promise, he says. Even though you are scat-

tered all over creation, think about that storage area in your house or

what your bed would look like if you took everything out of the closet,

right, you are scattered all over creation. God promises that “I will

bring you home.” And when you arrive, we’ll clear away all the chaos

and clutter of your former life. You will have a new heart, and all of

us will share one heart, My heart. I will put a new spirit within you.

My Spirit. The heart of stone within you that is silent and cold will be

removed. In its place, there’ll beat a vital living and empty heart. This

heart will know my will and will obey it.

The new heart God offers to us is an invitation for us to take the time

to tidy up our lives

By examining our attachments and asking ourselves, “Does this per-

son, does this place, does this idea, does this thing bring me joy?”

And that’s why we have to remember exactly what attachments are.

Attachments are a gift. Everything that you have, everything that

you’ve ever experienced, every person, place, idea or thing that you’ve

ever known has been a product of the hand of God.

Every good and perfect gift comes from above.

So the first step in clearing out the clutter of our hearts is to say to

God, “Thank you.” Remember how Marie insisted that the Vogue edi-

tor says “Thank you” to every piece of clothing she’s about to discard?

It’s because it recognizes that at one point in your life, in my life, this

thing, this person, this idea, this place, was very much a part of me. It

served a purpose. It has shaped me as I am. And that’s a reason for

gratitude.

So our attachments, they are all gifts, but attachments then require the

choice: you are going to keep them, you are not going to keep them.

They bring you joy, they bring you pain. God has no interest in you or

me living a life of pain. Zero. None. God has created us for joy and

if there are things in our lives that are causing us pain, we should take

the time to understand how and why that happens and we should act in

accordance.

You must choose whom you will serve. Right now. As for me, I will

serve the Lord. I will decide for joy.

I have set death and life before you, a life of blessings and a life of

curses. Choose life and fully live it. Choose joy. Stop suffering. Let

it go. Throw it out. Thank it for serving you, for making you the per-

son that you are, but then let the weight of it go. Take it away.

And when we do that, ask God to guide us in our decision making.

This is hard stuff. There are things that you were taught from this big

that have caused you pain to this day. There are memories that contin-

ue to push you into a quagmire of sadness and suffering and grief.

Guide me, Lord, but for God’s sake, don’t keep holding on to that

stuff, because the attachments that we have, they are a challenge to us.

They require thoughtful deliberation. It’s more than just the stuff of

our lives.

“Think you’ve got life all planned out?” Paul says. Listen to yourself:

“Today, we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to

start a business. We’re going to make a lot of money.”

You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You and I are nothing

but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing.

Instead, make room in your heart for what God will provide by saying,

“If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”

Remember who gives you the ability to accomplish good and great

things! If you know the right thing to do and you don’t do it, by defi-

nition that is evil.

Strengthen me, Lord, to do the right thing, to take those things in my

life which give me burden, which give me pain, which cause me re-

gret, which shame me, which make me sorrowful, take them and give

me the strength to discard them and to walk away, that my heart may

be emptied of all the things that are not of you, that are not blessing

me, that are not lifting me up.

Because my attachments are an opportunity to sort through my life. It

is an opportunity for you and for me in this time of worship. Where

better to do this than in the house of God’s peace.

This is an opportunity to remember that God has called you and me to

a free life. But don’t use the freedom as an excuse to do whatever you

want and then to destroy your freedom.

Use your freedom to create opportunities to serve others in love. Emp-

ty yourselves of the things that prevent you from being generous and

gracious and watch both your freedom and God’s love grow.

Everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sen-

tence: Love others as you love yourself.

Inspire me, Lord. Inspire me, not only empty out my heart but to then

choose to attach myself to the things that will bring me joy in service.

I mentioned the egg project this coming Saturday. Four hours, you got

four hours on a Saturday morning? Come and have some fun. These

people really do have fun when they get together. It is because they

enjoy one another. You don’t have to come every time they do it, but

try it one time and remember that they reason that you would give over

four hours of sleep on a Saturday morning, I know some of you sleep

in to 1 o’clock, you don’t have to kid me, the reason that you would do

that is because maybe, maybe it is okay to let me not be the most im-

portant thing in my life today. Inspire me, Lord, to attach myself to the

possibility that by giving of myself, I’ll really enjoy the day.

And attachments, they are our identity. What you are willing to take

with you through your life, the things that you are willing to give your-

self over to, the investments that you make, time, talent and treasure,

they define you. Those are the things that develop in effect the word

that is the resume of your joy.

Has attaching yourself to Christ made any difference in your life? This

is obvious a paraphrase. Do the attachments you have in the fellow-

ship of the Spirit, do they matter to you? Does it make a difference

that you call Christ your Lord? Does it make a difference that you

choose to be here on this lovely Sunday morning? Is it making any joy

in your life?

Here’s how to make your joy complete: listen to and respect each oth-

er. Love each other. Be authentic friends. Don’t push your agenda.

Don’t be obsessed with taking advantage of others and getting your

own way. Forget yourself long enough to lend a helping hand.

Humble me, O Lord, and give me enough space in my heart to be able

to give myself room for You and for those around me.

Attachments: these are the people, the places, the ideas and things,

they occupy this place in our hearts.

And they are full, they are full of stuff, they are full of worries and

fears and regrets and disappointments. They are full of judgement.

They are full of shame. They are full of guilt. They are full of every

miserable thing that you can think of. Yes, there is some good stuff in

there, but why are you keeping all of it?

Take a moment for God’s sake and do something because there is only

one attachment that sparks true joy. And you and I, we are here be-

cause of it.

And that’s the love of Christ. Thanks be to God that He has attached

himself to us and given us a clean and empty heart for us to do what

sparks joy. Amen.

Benediction:

The only attachment that sparks true joy:

The love of Christ!

May we make room for him and each other. Thanks be to God for the

gift of this new day! Amen.