Less is More: A Word on Debt

This is the final "Less is More" sermon.

Where in your life have you been able to effect change?

Where in your life do you still struggle with trying to do it all?

Living out your faith in the belief that "Less is More" is going to put you in opposition to how the world lives. Everyone around you is going to tell you that you’re missing out, getting behind ... losing. My prayer is that the passage today can be an ongoing encouragement to live with less (less "stuff", less busyness, less money) and yet be living with more (more freedom, more openness, more grace).

Romans 13:8-14

Commentary

Romans is frequently considered to be a very deep theological book, but the last third of the book is filled with exhortations for how to live in the world. Consider:

Rom. 12:1-8 The quality of your worship is determined by how you live with others, not by how you feel.
Rom. 12:9-21 Sincere love: repay evil with good.
Rom. 13:1-7 Submit to worldly authorities.
Rom. 13:8-14 Love, for the end is near.
Rom. 14:1-15:13 Accept those whose faith is weak.

v8 The word for debt (or being in debt) is key here. Examples of how the word is used include:

Matt. 6:12 forgive us our debts[/sins], as we forgive our debtors[those who sin against us] (The Lord’s Prayer)
Luke 13:4 were they more guilty[/sinful]?
Rom. 1:14 I’m in debt to Greeks & Gentiles
Rom. 8:12 we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it
Rom. 15:27 [other churches] owe it to the church in Jerusalem to help them
Gal. 5:3 the one circumcised is obligated to obey the whole law

v9 Paul doesn’t quote Jesus much, but he quotes him (Mark 12:31) and the OT (Lev. 19:18) here!

v11 The word translated here as "slumber" is the Greek word hypnos. What English word comes from this? Hypnos is a dreamlike state where one is detached from the real world and not quite in control. Consider where else the word is used in the NT and what happens when one is raised from slumber: Matt. 1:24; Luke 9:32; John 11:13; Acts 20:9.

What do you do when you get up in the morning? You get dressed! Re-read v12-14 as a description of what we are to do as we wake up spiritually!

Application

As a nation, we are in sinking debt. I’m not talking about our balance of trade or the national debt. Rather, I’m talking about our individual households and how we as families and individuals spend money. According to a U.S. Department of Commerce article, in 2005 and 2006, our personal savings rate was negative—on average, we spent more money than we earned. We either borrowed money or took money out of savings to make ends meet. Statistics for 2007 are not available, but the forecast is not good.

How does this happen? Many of us go into debt even as we are working. Tennessee Ernie Ford sang:

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store... (Sixteen Tons)

We might not owe money to the company store, but we may feel beholden to our employer all the same. Many people work jobs due to the benefits, the cost of private health insurance, or the time remaining before they’re vested in the employer’s retirement plan. We might not owe money to the company, but we’re in bondage to the company all the same.

For many of us, the company may be the only entity we don’t owe money to! Statistics compiled by Motley Fool claim that the average family has $8,562 in credit card debt. According to Dr. Phil, 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and 62% do not save regularly. We have no margin for error; one trip to the doctor, one automobile mishap, one broken appliance, and we are having to juggle bills, put off creditors, or skip payments. Let no debt remain outstanding? Fat chance of that! We don’t love our neighbors, because we have no money.

We have been "hypnotized" by American consumerism. In 2006, Americans were the target of $155 billion worth of advertising, meaning businesses were willing to spend $500 on you this year to try to get you to change your habits. Would businesses really commit that kind of money if they were not confident of getting results? The world is ready to help you make poor choices!

We have other debts as well. Just as we have budgeted every nickel of our paychecks, we have budgeted every minute of our day. We run from work, to school, to a 2nd job, to the store, to home, out again for something we forgot, etc., etc., etc. Again, we have no margin for error; we have no time for the unscheduled or unexpected. We don’t love our neighbors, because we have no time.

Even as Christians we have been "hypnotized" by American culture. Our culture says work, school, dating, church, clubs, etc. are services competing in the marketplace for our time and attention; i.e. they exist to serve us. We try to fill up our time with the services that give us what we need. This is a pernicious lie! First of all, it drives us to try to cram more into our schedules than we should. More importantly, this lie serves to depersonalize the activities in which we are involved, and makes us the center of our universe.

Being too broke to help or busy to help is sin; specifically, these are sins of omission. When we know the good that we are supposed to do, and don’t do it because of poor choices on our part that limit our capacity to do what is right, those poor choices are sin.

What if there was a different way?

If we read today’s verses and think they don’t apply to us because we’re not engaged in any of the vices listed in v13, we’re missing the point. Any self-centered orientation that leads us to unbalanced lives—in debt & guided by worldly voices and incapable of spontaneous acts of love—is sin.

What we need is to reorder our lives, listening to the one voice that we can trust. This voice will show us where to reprioritize our lives—to cut back, to do less. However, until we are ready to make that voice our guide, we will be easy prey for "hynoptists"—those worldly voices putting us to sleep spiritually and leaving us detached from the world.

Reprioritize! (Matt. 6:31-34)
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Points to Ponder

If you had bigger margins for error in your life, what could you do differently?

What if you lived on, say, 80% of your income instead of %100—how would that change your life? (The goal is not to reshuffle spending, but to get to a place where you can truly give God control of your money.)

What if you gave up trying to do it all—how would that change your life? (The goal is not to reshuffle your calendar, but to get to a place where you can truly give God control of your time.)

What do you need to change today?

End Notes

1 - If you guessed hypnotize or hypnosis, give yourself a gold star!