The Story of Stuff -- FPC sermon excerpt
“A house is just a pile of stuff.”
That’s what comedian George Carlin said in a classic routine called “Stuff.”
“You can see that when you’re taking off in an airplane,” he explains. “You look down, you see everybody’s got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn’t want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff.”
Especially the shiny stuff.
“That’s what your house is,” he concludes, “a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get … more stuff!”
We’ve all got stuff — in closets, on bookshelves, in cabinets, in garages, on counters, in cupboards, in attics, and in basements. Carlin is right: Our houses are just piles of stuff, with covers on them. And when we fill up our houses we go out and rent storage lockers. For our stuff. I cannot believe that I still have boxes of stuff that I have not unpacked since I moved into my house — nine years ago!
I really don’t think I need that stuff.
The upcoming holiday season is a spiritual time, but also a celebration of stuff. It starts this Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when over 100 million Americans participate in the shopping rush called “Black Friday.”
It accelerates through the Advent Season, as people max out their credit cards buying presents for family members and friends. It reaches a crescendo on Christmas Eve, as people check off the last items on their shopping lists, and then it continues the next week as people snatch up even more stuff at after-Christmas sales. Retailers are dependent on the holiday season for their financial health, since this quarter of the year produces most — or all — of their profits.
Christmas is an important chapter in the story of stuff.
This seems odd, given that the people closest to Jesus had little interest in material things. In her song of praise in the first chapter of Luke, Mary sings, “Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (vv. 48-49).
Mary is not saying that she is blessed because she has a nice house filled with valuable stuff. She is not talking about the blessings of life in Northern Virginia, which tend to include prosperity, security, education, and good health. No, she says that she is blessed because God — the Mighty One — has scattered the proud, brought down the powerful, lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry, and sent the rich away empty (vv. 51-53).
The good stuff that God gives is not really stuff.
That’s what comedian George Carlin said in a classic routine called “Stuff.”
“You can see that when you’re taking off in an airplane,” he explains. “You look down, you see everybody’s got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn’t want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff.”
Especially the shiny stuff.
“That’s what your house is,” he concludes, “a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get … more stuff!”
We’ve all got stuff — in closets, on bookshelves, in cabinets, in garages, on counters, in cupboards, in attics, and in basements. Carlin is right: Our houses are just piles of stuff, with covers on them. And when we fill up our houses we go out and rent storage lockers. For our stuff. I cannot believe that I still have boxes of stuff that I have not unpacked since I moved into my house — nine years ago!
I really don’t think I need that stuff.
The upcoming holiday season is a spiritual time, but also a celebration of stuff. It starts this Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when over 100 million Americans participate in the shopping rush called “Black Friday.”
It accelerates through the Advent Season, as people max out their credit cards buying presents for family members and friends. It reaches a crescendo on Christmas Eve, as people check off the last items on their shopping lists, and then it continues the next week as people snatch up even more stuff at after-Christmas sales. Retailers are dependent on the holiday season for their financial health, since this quarter of the year produces most — or all — of their profits.
Christmas is an important chapter in the story of stuff.
This seems odd, given that the people closest to Jesus had little interest in material things. In her song of praise in the first chapter of Luke, Mary sings, “Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (vv. 48-49).
Mary is not saying that she is blessed because she has a nice house filled with valuable stuff. She is not talking about the blessings of life in Northern Virginia, which tend to include prosperity, security, education, and good health. No, she says that she is blessed because God — the Mighty One — has scattered the proud, brought down the powerful, lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry, and sent the rich away empty (vv. 51-53).
The good stuff that God gives is not really stuff.
posted by Henry Brinton | 10:51 AM
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