Jubilee for a Weekend: Yard Sale Theology

Well, this weekend marks the annual "Women of SOTH" Yard Sale at the church.

We're busy right now piling in our "junk." Or maybe I should say "stuff." A famous comedian once said that your own "stuff" is "stuff," but other people's "stuff" is "junk."

Ok, he didn't say "junk." He was a little coarser than can be permitted here on the ol' blog.

But we do tend to see it that way sometimes. Our "stuff" has value, we think.

But the truth of American culture is that we're way, way too tied to stuff. And, our stuff doesn't isn't nearly as valuable as we like to think.

We own houses full of depreciating assets (and even the houses themselves have depreciated of late).

This is why I think yard sale may just be one of the most theologically correct things any church could do.

Here's what I mean:

1 - All the proceeds from this weekend's sale, I mean 100%, will go directly to help the Women of SOTH help other women in need in our community.

2 - All of us need to get rid of a lot of stuff. It has a way of piling up, all the time. Cleaning out that garage, and those closets, and those drawers...it's all a good spiritual exercise in letting go and getting free.

3 - A Yard Sale is recycling at its most basic...something that gets used again by somebody else doesn't wind up in a landfill. That's great stewardship.

4 - Community. You don't know somebody until you've sorted "stuff" with them for several hours. Come work, and get to know those folks you worship with in a whole new way.

5 - It's in line with a really cool Bible idea. Times are hard, and this sale will help somebody. Somebody out there will be able to get some items that they can really use, that they couldn't have otherwise afforded. It's a sharing of abundance.

Look what's in Leviticus 25:

In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee, you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth or pick the grapes from the untrimmed vines. Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred for you, you may not eat of its produce, except as taken directly from the field.”

Every 50 years, ancient Israel did an amazing thing.

Land reverted back to its original owners. A big "reset" button was pushed on society...and the edges of the fields and vines were allowed to produced, and they were not harvested. They were left in place to be freely gleaned by those who were in need.

There's a lot we could learn. Come get a lesson in what matters most this weekend....The Women of SOTH yard sale --- Friday night from 4-8 pm and Saturday (rain or shine) 8 am - 4 pm.