Thomas J Parlette
“All the Things We Do Not Need”
Phil. 3: 4b-14
10/4/26, World Communion
If you’re looking for a business that is recession proof, look no further than self-storage units.
You see them everywhere, long rows of metal boxes with roll-up doors, stuffed with boxes and furniture, tools and toys – all kinds of stuff that people don’t have a place for anymore but are convinced that they will need again someday.
Did you know that the average American household contains 300,000 items? (1) Personally, I don’t find that so hard to believe. I have a good bit of the pack-rat DNA in my genes. Books, board games, chess sets, guitars, nativity sets, models of famous golf holes, castles and cathedrals are just a few of the things I collect. So I am no stranger to the accumulation of stuff.
And I’m not the only one. Just look at the TV shows that have grown out of the habit of collecting stuff. “Hoarders”, for one – the show that takes on the hardest cases of people who have become captives of their stuff and helps them get out from under the burden of more and more things. In the end, they are confronted with the realization that “I didn’t own these things – they owned me.”
And then there is “Storage Wars.” This show follows people who go to auctions and buy abandoned storage lockers in the hopes of finding some valuable treasures. Then they sell off what they buy and whoever earns the most money at the end of the show wins. The question that confronts us at the end of this show is “Maybe this stuff isn’t worth what I thought.”
In addition to the reality TV shows, there is an entire industry that has grown up around this issue. A few years ago, Margareta Magnusson published a little book called “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.” Not the most catchy title, but an interesting book non-the-less. Her basic premise was – “Don’t leave your clutter for your family to clean-up. It’s an unnecessary burden on them.” Instead, do your cleaning before you die and make it into a chance to find meaning and memory in your things. (2)
Perhaps you’ve heard of a de-cluttering expert named Marie Kondo. She is an author and TV personality who developed the KonMari Method of tidying up your life. She asks a simple question – “Does this thing, this object, spark joy.” If it does – great. But if not – perhaps you could get rid of it. Too much stuff interferes with the life we want to live. (3)
Perhaps Socrates was right when he said – “The secret of happiness is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” (4) Decluttering is about clearing away things that distract from the life you actually want to live.
That’s what Paul is getting at here this morning. He is advising the Philippians to declutter their spiritual lives and get rid of all the things they do not need. He invites the Philippians, and us as well, to undertake a holy de-cluttering, as it were.
The members of the church in Phillipi were struggling with the question of how much of their Jewish heritage do they need to hang onto to be Christian. What do they need to save from their past – the rituals, the dietary laws, the traditions, the things that made them Jewish - to remain in God’s good graces. Remember, at the time, Christianity was seen as a sect within Judaism. People who believed in Jesus’ resurrection still considered themselves Jewish – but they knew something was different. They were looking to Paul to clarify things. What do we need to keep in our spiritual storage locker, and what can we discard?
Paul starts by using himself as an example. He lists all his accomplishments and distinctions as a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews, a zealous Pharisee, blameless under the law.
But now, after dedicating his life to Christ, he regards all those distinctions as garbage, as rubbish, or as the theologian Karl Barth put it – “dung”, because for him, nothing compares to the surpassing value of knowing Christ. That is what he wants to center his life on now. The other stuff doesn’t matter. If Paul were to ask himself – “does my past spark joy?,” he would answer – “No. My joy comes from knowing Christ. And so I press on toward what lies ahead. That’s the only path that matters – the prize of the heavenly call of God in Jesus Christ.”
Karen Salmansohn tells the story of an interesting meeting she once set-up. She writes: “Recently, I arranged to meet my 90-year-old self for coffee.
I had questions about life I couldn’t answer on my own. The hard ones. The ones people in their 40’s, like me wonder about constantly.
I figured if anyone had perspective on life, it would be my 90-year-old self.
She showed up at my apartment early – 7 am. She walked right in. Turns out, she had a key – I mean, of course she did. She’s me.
She headed straight to the kitchen like she owned the place – because she sorta did.
“Where are those pretty purple mugs?” She opened the cabinet on the right and found them on her first try.
“Wait,” I said, “You’re using the good mugs?”
“Of course. They were tired of sitting on the shelf – unused – being saved for a special occasion.” Then she winked at me in a way that said – “Gotcha.”
That’s when I realized something important about what it’s like to be in the presence of someone who is you – but has 50 more years of data…
After all, they have a full inventory on you, including the parts you’ve been editing out on social media. It’s like being in a room with someone who has read your diary. Every entry, including the things you scribbled in the margins because you were trying to be extra honest.”
“But then, and this was the part I wasn’t expecting, I relaxed. Because I realized that this older version of me had miraculously decided to love me anyway. 90-year-old me hummed a little as she poured two mugs of coffee.”
“Tell me,” I said, “What do you wish you had stopped doing sooner?”
“Asking permission.”
She blurted it out so quickly I was a little taken aback. Like the answer ad been sitting in her mouth for 50 years and she’d just been waiting for someone to ask.
“Permission for what?”
“Everything. Permission to take up space. Have an opinion. Say No. Change my mind. I spent decades running every decision through a Permission Committee, mostly in my rain… mostly made up of people who didn’t even like me much.”
“What does life look like when you stop asking permission?”
“Faster. Quieter. You just do the thing. You want to leave the party – you leave. Don’t want to go in the first place – don’t go. And you don’t need to manufacture a stomachache or a “something came up.” You just say “No – I’m not going to do that.” And you don’t. And nothing happens. The world continues to turn. And you’re at home in pajamas watching something terrible on TV – and you’re at peace.”
“Hmmm. That brings me to my next question. What do you wish you had worried about less in life.?”
“What people think of me after I leave a room.”
“Wow – that’s a big one!”
“One of the biggest. I spent far too many years replaying conversations in my head. Did I say the wrong thing? Was that joke too much? Did she seem weird when I said that? Should I call – should I text? Should I text… and then call to apologize for texting? I was running a full-time post-production department in my head for social interactions – the other people forgot about it eleven seconds after it happened.”
“How do you know they forgot about it?”
“Because I forgot theirs. That’s the whole scam. Everyone is so busy worrying about how THEY come across… that nobody is actually analyzing how YOU come across. We are all the anxious, neurotic star of a movie that nobody else is watching.”
“Hmmmm – that’s either very comforting or deeply lonely.”
“It’s both – welcome to being alive.”
Suddenly I heard a “Beep, beep, beep. “What’s that?”
“It’s my Apple Alarm ring – comes out in 2051. You’ll be obsessed.” She stood up to leave. “I set it to remind me to leave for brunch. Gotta go.”
“When will I see you again?
“Every morning, dear – in the mirror. It’s getting closer. Try not to be too startled.”
She put the mugs away and I walked her to the door.
“Where are you headed?”
“Forward dear. Only direction available. To either of us.” (5)
As we approach the table this morning, with Christians throughout the world, perhaps we can all engage in a little “holy de-cluttering” – clearing away all the things we do not need, so we can focus on the only thing that does matter – knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Homileticsonline, retrieved 9/20/26.
2. John P. Weiss, This Is What Swedish Death Cleaning Taught Me About Life.” BecomingMinimalist.com/death-cleaning/.
3. Homileticsonline, retrieved 9/20/26.
4. Weiss…
5. Karen Salmansohn, “My 90-Year-Old Self Stopped By with Life Advice. She Did Not Sugarcoat It. A conversation between who I am now and who I am becoming.” The Stand Up Philosopher: Weighty Musings, Lightly Served, Feb. 18, 2026.
