Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Just Stuff - #5319

Thursday, May 31, 2007

If it's spring in America, someone is going to get hit with floods. In April of 1997, it was North Dakota that got hit hard - especially the area around Grand Forks, North Dakota. One woman who had to flee her home was interviewed by a Newsweek reporter as she ate her lunch in at a school shelter where hundreds of victims were bivouacked. She must have surprised that reporter when she said, "I feel very fortunate." I mean, after all, what had been her home only a day before was now awash in sewage and fuel oil. Then she gave her reasons for feeling fortunate. She said, "My children are all safe. The rest is just stuff."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Just Stuff."

Now, that's a woman who, in the midst of losing a lot, had sorted out some of life's really core values. That's what God is calling us to do in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 2:15 . "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him ... The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

If God were teaching us this in a classroom setting, He might draw a line down the center of the chalkboard and put these headings at the top of each column: "Stuff that doesn't last" and "Stuff that does last." And He says to not get too attached to earth-stuff because it "passes away." Our great love, our great passion, and our great pursuit should be for the "will of God" things that we cannot lose. The rest is "just stuff." It's all part of Jesus' command to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33 ), even though we're surrounded by people who are totally consumed with getting possessions, getting promotions, getting prosperity, or getting prominence.

Actually, we have found that two of the most liberating words in the English language are these: "Earth stuff." Over and over, my wife and I have found ourselves saying those two words to regain our perspective in tough financial times, when something breaks or gets lost, or when we're trying to make some difficult choices. It just helps to stand back, look at what's really at stake, and be able to sort out what is "just earth stuff." It frees you from so much worry and anxiety and misplaced effort.

My life was profoundly affected by something that happened when I was becoming a teenager. Five American missionaries were martyred in their attempt to reach a tribe in the jungles of Ecuador; a tribe who had never heard the name of Jesus. Later, the widow of one and the sister of another went to that tribe to tell them about Jesus. Today, much of the Auca or Waodani Tribe knows Christ, and the murderers of the missionaries are the leaders of the Waodani church. Thousands of people are in God's work today, including me, because of the challenge of their example.

Jim Elliot, one of those martyred missionaries, sorted out the ultimate values in life in a powerful statement he wrote once. Here's what he said: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Well, that's it right there. Either you live for the things you cannot ultimately keep, or you live for the things you can never lose. So which ones are you pursuing?