Having recently packed and moved down the road I marvel at all our stuff. There is no better way to describe it then a collection of things that I am grateful for, but to be honest I sometimes forget I have. Such a realization stirs up a sense of guilt, be it a small one, for having without using. Once I begin that kind of thinking I am lead to wonder why we in this culture consume so much.

I wonder what is it that we hope to achieve through ownership of things. Is it something that can be traced back to that childish desire to say “That’s mine!” or is it driven by our efforts to escape the stresses of life (consider the amount of money we drop on entertainment, even “Christian” forms).

Instead of attempting to find the answer inside myself, I was drawn to seek the Lord’s understanding of these matters through prayer. What was brought to my attention was not what I expected. It became clear to me that although God is not all that thrilled about over consumption and waste there was something deeper still that troubled God’s Holy Spirit.

The problem is that we, God’s creation, Christ’s body, have been given an endless number of gifts to be used for God’s glory, but our response has been “We didn’t know we had that inside us”. Jesus was not crucified, buried, and raised from the grave just so that we could sit back and say that we don’t have to worry about damnation any longer. God’s gift through Jesus is a freedom, our holy permission, our commissioning to be agents of the kingdom by bearing fruit of patience, renewal, and hope for tomorrow. Yet, when you interact with folks from church what do you hear? Is it any of these things?

This is my prayer and I invite you to join me in lifting it up to our Lord:

Father, forgive our forgetfulness about the way in which you set us free to live in the hope that you have provided. Stir up in us an awareness of the powerful gifts that you have lavished upon your the Church, the body of your Son, to carry out your message of renewal for this world. Seal this by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.