Rishani Sittampalam Semasinghe
Decluttering the spaces we occupy has become an ongoing and popular trend in our present world. The term is called a minimalist lifestyle or living simply. You can hire companies to come to your home and help you get rid of your ‘things’ – not just by organising it better, but by giving things away.
If you are a hoarder looking to make space in your home, this may sound like the perfect solution. There are many benefits to living simply. For instance, having less things in your home means, having less things to clean. It would mean having fewer things to organise. It means you will spend less and save more. Doesn’t that sound promising especially in this time and age when everything is so expensive?
Jesus taught the same thing during his time on earth. Jesus told his followers to give to everyone who asks (Luke 6:30), to give to those who can’t repay (Luke 14:13 – 14) and to freely give what we have freely received (Matthew 10:8). John the Baptist said, if you have two of something, give it away. He said, if you have a surplus, give it to someone who has none (Luke 3:1).
What is interesting is that Jesus didn’t have many possessions while He walked this earth. In fact, He was born into a lower-income family. Jesus knew poverty firsthand. He did not even have a bed to lay His weary head after a long tiresome day. Being God, He could have lived a more than comfortable life, but He chose the life He lived. He did not pile up treasures for Himself on this earth, like most of us believers do.
If we go through our cabinets, refrigerators and closets, we will find so much of surplus to give away. Yet we don’t get rid of the stuff, thinking we might use it on a future date – only to bin it on a later date. Since the economic crisis, so many people are finding it hard to make ends meet. Lower-income earners have lost their jobs, the street cleaners who come to our doorstep to take away our garbage can’t feed their families with the income they earn. The prices of basic commodities are unreachable and people are reduced to purchasing sub-par food with no nutritional value; this affects children and the elderly people’s health. So what is the solution? How can believers help those who are struggling?
The answer is, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Jesus teaching on giving has been around for longer than the present day’s trendsetters’ talk of decluttering. He has been telling us to share what we have by giving what we have in our households away to those who have nothing.
This is simple justice. It is simple consideration – looking into the needs of others. We do not need to spend extravagantly to help solve the bigger issues in the world we live in or reach deep into our pockets to help the needy. We simply can give our extras to the next underprivileged person who shows up at our door.
But what does that look like in real life?
‘Do you have two tunics’ can translate into:
Do you have two packets of noodles?
Do you have two shirts?
Do you have two packets of rice?
Do you have two pairs of trousers?
Do you have cups or plates you no longer use?
Do you have packets of tea or milk?
Whatever ‘it’ is, we certainly do have more of something in our households that we no longer use in our daily lives.
Declutter.
Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
Psalm 41:1
If we go through our cabinets, refrigerators and closets, we will find so much of surplus to give away. Yet we don’t get rid of the stuff, thinking we might use it on a future date – only to bin it on a later date.
The answer is, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Jesus teaching on giving has been around for longer than the present day’s trendsetters’ talk of decluttering.
Rishani Sittampalam Semasinghe is the founder of the hospitality ministry, The Soup Bowl which serves underprivileged communities in both Kandy and Colombo.