Advent Conspiracy ~ God is with us

I don’t know about you but sometimes the whole Christmas season leaves me feeling a little bit like Charlie Brown, who said, I just don’t understand Christmas. Instead of feeling happy, I feel sort of let down. Sometimes this entire season leaves me feeling just a little let down. It’s not the music, decorations or food – I love all that. It’s not the times we gather together for worship or fellowship – I love that. It’s not the message of God coming to be with us in Jesus because there is simply no greater story to tell. For me, I think it’s that when January comes and all the decorations are put away, nothing has really changed, and there is a part of me that wants our celebration of Christ’s birth to literally change the world.

The first Christmas changed the world, it changed everything, but can our celebration of Christ’s birth change the world in which we live? I have to hold out hope that it can, but our celebration of Christmas will only change the world if our celebration of Christ first changes us. Today I want to invite you to join me on a journey that can not only change how we celebrate the gift of Jesus; it can change us and if it can change us, it can church the world around us. The journey really only has three steps, but they are not simple because they challenge our very idea about what Christmas is all about, those 3 steps are to spend less, give more and love all. While we will explore these steps in more detail in the weeks to come, we need to know what they are today so they can shape our priorities and our decisions making in the days to come.

So are we willing to spend less in this holiday season? Now before you get too concerned, I am not saying spend nothing. Giving gifts is fun and important for many reason, but can we make the decision today to simply spend less. Can we buy one less gift this season, and then maybe take that money to help someone in need. Spending less can do three important things. #1, it will keep us out of deeper debt which is important for many of us, #2, it will remind us that Christmas really is not about what we find under the tree, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, it’s about God coming to live with us and with us, and it’s about living life the way Jesus taught us and showed us, and #3, spending less frees resources that we can then share with those who are in need and it is that simple act of sharing that can change lives.

You see, spending less leads right into the second step which is to give more. Now we are not talking about giving more gifts we are talking about giving more of ourselves. Can we give more of our time, love, prayers, talents, energy and resources to the work that matters most to God. This fall we learned that relationships are the most important thing to God. The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The most important thing to God is relationship, so are we willing to give more of ourselves to God and to others to build and strengthen those relationships. Can we get involved in the ministry of Faith Church and get to know one another right here, and can we get involved in the work of the church in our community to get to know those around us? Can we give more to make sure Faith Church has an effective ministry today and a vital future tomorrow? As you have heard, today we have the opportunity to give to the Christmas dinner which will help feed families all across our community. Can we give our time, or money, or maybe our talents at baking pies and desserts, to help make this dinner an event that will people’s lives?

In the weeks to come we will also learn about opportunities to give ourselves to the work we do with Children and Youth. There will be opportunities for us to give our time as well as our money to our next generation. The real hope is that the gift of ourselves t our children and youth will help build stronger relationships one another and that together we will grow closer to God. We will also be able to give more of ourselves to the mission work we do through Faith Church. We will learn about opportunities to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide homes for the homeless, justice for the oppressed and comfort for those who are lonely and afflicted. If we will give more of ourselves to outreach and missions we will not just change the lives of others, but our lives will change. So in this season can we give more?
The third step is to love all. Think of the people who first worshipped Jesus. A poor peasant girl, a carpenter and some dirty shepherd were the first people gathered at the manger to worship Jesus. A while later some well educated foreign dignitaries, the Wisemen, arrived to worship the one who had born King of the Jews. The birth of Jesus screams out one message loud and clear – God loves all, from the weak and poor, to the rich and powerful. Jew and Gentile, black and white, all people, and so the call for us as followers of Jesus is to love all, not just a few, not just those we like or those who look like us, but all people in all places at all times.

So that’s it: spend less, give more,and love all. Three steps that can change the world, but only if we will first let these six words change us, and these words will only change us if we understand that as we spend less, give more and love all – God is with us. What really changes us and the world around us isn’t that we buy one less gift, or volunteer our time at the Faith Centre and reach out in love to others, what changes us is that we do these things with the power and grace of God working in us and through us.

God desperately wants to change the world around us, but God’s plan is to do this through us. Again, think back to that first Christmas. God changed the world through the birth of Jesus, but Jesus only entered into this world because two people allowed God to first work in their lives. If we will allow God to work in our lives, like Mary and Joseph, then through us, God can, and I believe God will, change our world. So let’s look at how God worked in Mary and Joseph and see how we can enter into this ancient story of God’s power and presence and love.

Luke 1:26-38

For Mary to say yes to God, it took incredible courage because she had no idea how Joseph might respond. She didn’t know if Joseph would understand what God was doing; she didn’t know if Joseph would stand by her side, or if he would cast her aside. It took real courage for Mary to say Yes to God’s plan and it was through that courage that God was able to accomplish his will and come to live with us.

So it is our courage in saying Yes to God that can change the world. Every time we have the courage to not think about what is good for us but focus on God’s will and say yes to God’s plan, God has the opportunity to not only shape our lives, but the world around us. But it takes courage to say Yes because we don’t know how the people around us might respond. Just making the decision to buy fewer gifts this season may not be understood by our family, friends and neighbors. People may accuse us of being a scrooge, or simply not caring. It takes courage to stand firm in what we hear God asking us to do, but if we will say yes, not only will our lives change, but through us God as the opportunity to change the lives of others and that’s what changes the world.

It was a quiet moment, in a small town, when a young girl said yes, and that courageous decision changed her life and changed our world forever. Can we enter into that same story today? It’s a quiet moment, this is a small town and if we will say yes to Gods will and if we will agree with God’s plan, this might be the very moment when our lives will change. This might be the very moment when God will start working through us to change the world around us. In this moment of quiet worship, will we say yes to God and begin a journey of walking in the light of God’s love and power?

Saying yes to God will most likely cause us to change our plans, so are we willing to make those changes? When Joseph was called by God to change his plans, he did. When Joseph heard that Mary was pregnant, he wanted to end the relationship quietly, but God had other plans. Matthew 1:19-24. Joseph’s original decision to dismiss Mary quietly was a very gracious thing to do. Joseph could have made Mary’s pregnancy a public issue, he could have disgraced Mary, or even have her put to death, but he didn’t. Once God explained what was going on and that the child to be born was indeed from God, Joseph was willing to change his plans. The call of God literally changed Joseph’s life, and because Joseph was willing to make those changes, the world changed.

My hope is that when we hear the call of God in this Advent season, we will also change our plans. If we are going to spend less, give more and love all, some things are going to have to change. Spending less will require us to make some fundament changes about how we live not just in these next four weeks, but through the rest of our lies. We need to look at and evaluate our priorities. Giving more will also call us to change our priorities so that our lives can reflect the life and heart of Jesus. Not thinking of ourselves first but finding ways to help others and love others each and every day is a new of thinking and living and it will require us to change direction.

Will we be open to God changing our plans, priorities and passions this season? Can we begin some new traditions with our families where together we work to make a difference in our community, or in a community in Sierra Leone, the Sudan or South Dakota? If every family connected to Faith Church made some changes so that we spent less and gave more and loved all, I am convinced that Bellefonte would look different, Centre County would look different and our world would look different, but we have to be willing to make some changes, and those changes need to start today.

God can change the world by changing us, and we are changed when we enter into this ancient story and find the courage to say Yes to God and change our plans, but there is one more place where we can enter into this story and experience the presence and power of God, and that is through the shepherds of Bethlehem. After the shepherds heard that a savior had been born, they went to find the child, and after they found him, they celebrated. Luke 2:17-20.

After the Shepherds found Jesus they celebrated his birth and it was their celebration, their worship, that changed people’s hearts and lives. Our celebration of Jesus can still change the hearts and lives of others so we need to celebrate the coming of Emmanuel – God with us – and we have lots of opportunities to do that in the weeks to come. There is the Christmas musical in a few short weeks, there is a worship celebration we are hosting at the Marion Walker Middle School in Zion, and of course there are our candlelight services on Christmas Eve. Each celebration gives us the opportunity to not only celebrate the gift of Jesus, but it gives us the opportunity to invite others to celebrate the gift of Jesus as well and maybe it will be that celebration which will change their lives.

This Advent and Christmas season can be different if we will enter the story and have the courage to spend less, be willing to change our plans so we can give more, and celebrate the birth of Jesus by loving and inviting everyone to celebrate with us. We can not let this season pass us by in whirlwind of activity, we can’t arrive in January wondering what it was all about and feeling a little bit let down, we need to accept the light of Christ into our lives and allow God to dwell deep within us. So let’s enter into this ancient story and together take this advent journey and allow the presence of the living God to change us and through us to change the world.