Good morning, Friends! Thank you all for coming to worship this morning!
We’ve been talking for weeks now about what Quakers believe. And I guess I’d like to take a step backwards for just a moment, and say that it’s not about what Quakers believe, but about what Quakers practice.
You’ve all heard the old saying, “Practice what you preach.” And that’s the big challenge of this series. It’s not just what we say. It’s really what we do that matters, isn’t it?
Quakers always used to refer to all the things we’ve been talking about – truth, peace, equality, light, and so forth – Quakers said all these things are testimonies or witnesses.
What we do is a witness to the world and to ourselves, that these are things which God wants. They’re things which Jesus himself did. They represent a change of life, which the Holy Spirit gives us strength to live out each day.
I have always been attracted to living more simply. I remember, when I was 17 years old, I went off to college, and everything I owned could fit easily into the back of a car.
I had a trunk, and a toolbox, and a typewriter. I had a bicycle, some bedding, and some books. My dulcimer fit neatly into a corner. And that was it! That’s all I owned, and it was more than enough.
I bought my first tool box when I was 12 years old, and I still have it. I still have nearly all the tools, too. Someone told me when I was very young, always buy the best quality tools I could afford, and take care of them. That’s what I’ve always done.
I don’t wear dress shoes very often. I still wear the same pair I bought 40 years ago. I have neck ties that are even older. Buy something good, take care of it, and it can last a lifetime.
That was even before I became a Quaker. You might say that I joined the Quakers, because the Quakers were doing what I believed in. I was a Quaker already. And living simply was a big part of the reason that I joined the Quaker meeting.
Today’s Scripture is a familiar one, from the Sermon on the Mount in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus talks about a lot of things in the Sermon on the Mount, but this is one of the most famous and best-known of Jesus’ teachings.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith?
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.
Matthew 6:25-33
Quakers have a simple faith, with a minimum of complicated beliefs.
Our church is a simple organization, without any priests, bishops or other hierarchy. Each Quaker group has its own business meeting, where we decide things which are important to our life together.
Our architecture is plain and simple. Every time people come to visit Springfield, they all say how beautiful our place of worship is. We don’t go in for stained glass or carvings or decorations. Our worship room is plain but filled with light.
Back in the early days, when Quakers first got started, we used what was called plain speech. We refused to use titles, to bow or curtsey or take off our hats. We called people by their first name.
We used thee and thou in speaking, because back then, those were the words which ordinary people used in their families. We got in trouble for speaking to everyone as an equal.
Quakers in the early days always dressed simply. Quakers wore plain grey or brown clothing. Because back then, many of the colors used to dye brightly-colored clothing were actually harmful.
The greens and reds and purples were often poisonous to the workers, and sometimes even to the people who wore them. Blue dye was made from indigo, which was made by slave labor, so Quakers wouldn’t wear that, either.
Clothing was all hand-made back then, and the fancy clothes you see rich people and nobles wearing in old paintings were fantastically expensive.
William Penn once said, “Excess in Apparel is a costly Folly. The very Trimming of the vain World would cloath all the naked one.” (Fruits of Solitude)
So, for our first two hundred years, Quaker men all wore clothes like the guy on the front of the Quaker Oats box. If you look closely at the old pictures, Quaker coats had no collars or lapels, no cuffs, plain buttons, and were always grey, or brown, or black.
Quaker women wore plain dresses in the same colors, and Quaker women always wore bonnets. You could spot a Quaker all the way down the street. It was almost a uniform.
We let go of that clothing style back in the 1880’s. We realized it was really hanging on to an old fashion for it’s own sake.
But Quakers have always leaned towards a simpler life style, a rejection of fashion, and a desire to live more with less.
Living simply doesn’t mean we hate to be comfortable, or that we want to live in an old-fashioned way. It’s more about trying to live the way we think Jesus would have us live, today.
In today’s scripture, over and over again, Jesus says, “Don’t worry!”
“Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Your life is more than food, and your body is more than your clothing. Look at the birds! Look at the flowers! They’re more beautiful than what any king wears!”
And then Jesus says, “Don’t worry! Don’t keep saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans go chasing after all these things. 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.”
Living more simply isn’t supposed to make us anxious. It’s about freedom.
One of the most popular religious books of the early 1980’s was a book by Richard Foster, a Quaker. The book was called, Freedom of Simplicity.
He said that the early Christians were known for what he called exuberant sharing. They gladly gave things away, because they felt joyful in Christ. They knew how much God gave them.
He said that many of the early Christians chose to live simply. They left society and went to live in the desert, in order to spend time with God, and to learn to depend on God.
And Richard Foster talked about the joy of living simply, as many of the saints did, especially St. Francis of Assisi. He said that it was voluntary, not mandatory. Christians chose to live more simply. And he said it wasn’t a poor life, but a rich life. It was the opposite of a life that was rich in things, but poor in soul.
Now, anyone who has tried to live a simpler life will tell you, that sometimes living simply can be complicated.
You always have to make choices. And those choices aren’t always easy.
I grew up in a one-car family. It wasn’t unusual. Most of the other families in our neighborhood were the same.
Our city had excellent public bus service. During the day, busses ran every 10 minutes. You could get anywhere in the city for ten cents, or maybe with a five-cent transfer. My dad walked to work most of the time. I always walked to school, even though school was two miles away. We didn’t think anything of it.
My brothers and I wore hand-me-down clothes which we got from each other or from friends who had older children. We had a black-and-white TV, with a choice of only 3 channels.
Living more simply was easier then. I remember grown-ups talking about the rat race, about the pressure to keep up with the expectations of society.
I wonder what they’d say now. I think instead of calling it a rat race, they’d call it a lemming race – society all seems to be heading over a cliff together.
We don’t own things any more – we are possessed by our possessions. We feel we absolutely have to have things that people never even dreamed about, fifty years ago.
There are some good things we have today. We’re glad to have vaccines against horrible diseases that used to kill men, women and children.
We’re glad to have medicines for heart trouble and high blood pressure and cancer. Most people live longer today, and can stay healthy into their 70’s and 80’s. But we eat too much, and we eat a lot of unhealthy foods. So many of the things on the supermarket shelf aren’t just expensive – they’re an unhealthy waste at any price.
We’d be better off, if we all walked more, grew our own potatoes, and spent less time on our cell phones and computers.
It’s a lot easier to tell other people to live more simply. It’s a lot more challenging, to try and find ways to live more simply ourselves.
I grew up in a city where you could buy everything you needed within walking distance. There were two good grocery stores, a drug store, two delicatessens, and a bakery. The whole city was set up for pedestrians. The streets weren’t full of malls and expressways. The streets had sidewalks and trees. Our neighborhood had a tailor shop, a dry cleaner, a public library, two public schools, a gas station, a bank, and six churches, all just two blocks away.
Everybody went to church on Sunday! You all came to worship this morning, so you’re the wrong group for me to be saying this to. But if you’re too busy to take time to worship God, then you’re too busy, period.
“Remember the Sabbath” is one of the Ten Commandments. In order of importance, it actually comes before “You shall not kill” and “You shall not commit adultery”.
And the Sabbath isn’t just for worship. It’s for rest. It’s to remember the God who made us. It’s to enjoy the world, and rest from the rat race. You aren’t a slave to anyone on the Sabbath. You’re part of God’s creation.
In the summer time, we spent the whole summer with my grandparents in the country. We had a lot of chores, but we went swimming every day.
I spent a lot of hours, weeding and hoeing, but we had fresh vegetables all summer long. I spent hours, shelling peas with my grandmother, and those memories have lasted a lifetime. We picked wild blueberries and raspberries, and my mom made jam and pies and pancakes with them. We canned and froze food for the rest of the year.
My point today isn’t about nostalgia. Those were good days. It was a good life. And we don’t have to live the way we do today.
You remember how Jesus said, “Don’t worry!” And worry and hurry are almost required by the lifestyle we have now.
Henry David Thoreau, another of my heroes, once said, “The mass of people live lives of quiet desperation. . .” (Walden, Economy)
With all of our technology, with all of our possessions, with all of our cars and roads, with all our stuff – are we really happier now? Are we as happy as we could be?
Thoreau also wrote: “If you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams, and try to live the life you imagine, you will meet with unexpected success. You will put some things behind, you will pass an invisible boundary. . .In proportion as you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will seem less complex. . .If you build castles in the air, your work isn’t lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” (Walden, Conclusion)
Living more simply isn’t just something the old-time Quakers did. Living more with less isn’t just a dream.
It’s a challenge to ourselves, and it’s a witness to the world. We all have to find our own way, to live more simply in a complicated world.
And as Jesus said, “Don’t worry! God knows what you need. Seek first God’s kingdom, and righteousness, and all these other things will be yours as well.”