Sunday, December 27, 2009

Simeon and Anna

I love the story of Simeon and Anna, and while they encounter the infant Jesus just 8 days after his birth, for some reason we don’t put them in our nativity scenes. We put in the Wisemen who could have arrived up to three years after Jesus was born, but we don’t put in Simeon and Anna who worshipped Jesus in the temple about a week after his birth, but maybe we should because their story has a powerful message for us today. As we look ahead to the new year, Simeon and Anna share with us two valuable lessons that we should carry in to 2010.

The first lesson is that if we want to really see Jesus and experience all that God has for us, we have to remain faithful in the little things and follow through on all routine practices of our faith. Both Simeon and Anna were waiting for the Messiah to come – the both wanted to seek the fullness of God. In Luke 2:25-26 it says… Simeon had been told that he was not going to die until he saw the consolation of Israel – he wasn’t going to die without seeing the Messiah, and yet he is not out searching for the Christ to come in some remote area and he’s not sitting on the mountain top waiting for the God to come down riding in on the clouds, he’s right where he always is – he’s in the temple - worship God. Simeon was looking for God to come, but he was looking for God to come in the midst of the everyday routines and practices of his faith.

Too many times we think that we will only experience the presence and the power of God when we are sitting on the mountain top, or on some far away mission trip, and while those times can open us up to God’s presence in new and unexpected way, what Simeon shows us is that God comes to us in all the normal practices of our faith. In fact, the reason Simeon was able to see Jesus at all and the reason he got to hold Jesus in his arms was because he was in church that day! Simeon didn’t miss out on Jesus was because he was in church every day. Simeon was simply being faithful in his worship of God so it was just a normal day when he looked up and saw Mary and Joseph brining in the son of God.

It is in the daily routines of life and faith that we find Jesus, which is why we are told to not stop meeting together. In Hebrews 10:25 it says, let us not neglect meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as we see the Day of God approaching. It is important for us to keep worshipping together and we need to make sure we continue to pray together, study God’ word together and serve together in the new year. It’s important for us to develop healthy habits of faith development and as we make new year’s resolutions, this is a great week to start.

If you don’t have a daily devotion, think about starting one. Use the upper room, use a daily devotional focused on something that interests you, commit yourself to developing the practice because it will be in our daily devotions and our weekly worship and our persistent periods of prayer and our seasonal small groups that we will find Jesus. It is important for us to remain faithful in all these routine practices of our faith, because it will be during these times of worship that God will show up.

This is Anna’s story as well. Anna was even more devout than Simeon because it says she never left the Temple, she worshipped and fasted and prayed night and day. She was not about to miss out on what God was going to do, she was faithful and persistent and her faithfulness paid off because she was there when the Messiah arrived. Now I’m not suggesting that we drop everything and move into the church to live, but I am suggesting that we develop lives where we intentionally and consistently live in Christ. In Acts 17:28 it says that in Christ we live and move and have our being. What would it look like for us to live moment by moment in Christ? What would it look like if day by day we moved in Jesus? What would a life of constant worship and prayer be like for us? We are told to pray continuously and that worship is to be a lifestyle – so how can we commit ourselves to this way of life in the year ahead?

Part of developing this lifestyle is intentionally spending time with God. Back in the fall of 2008 many of us tried the 60/60 experiment where we tried to just think about God once an hour. Some of us set an alarm to go off every hour to remind us to ask God to direct our thoughts and hearts and actions in that moment. Many of us did that for 60 days to try and develop the habit of consistently turning to God and being aware of his presence and leading in our lives.

Let me suggest that the new year might be a great time to commit ourselves anew to the 60/60 experiment, or try what some people call 10 + 10. 10 + 10 is just making the commitment to spend 10 minutes a day reading God’s word and 10 minutes a day in pray. You see, our devotional life doesn’t have to start out big, it’s ok to start small and build. Can we make the commitment to just 20 minutes a day and start living in the presence of God? We can start anywhere in the Bible, but if it’s been a while since you have seriously read or studied the Bible, let me suggest starting with the gospel of Mark. If we will commit ourselves to daily devotions and week times of worship something wonderful will happen because in the midst of this discipline and practice, God will show up. That’s the message of Simeon and Anna; God will show up when we are faithful and commit ourselves to a lifestyle of faithful worship, devotion and prayer.

Now this doesn’t mean that God will show up in profound and life changing moments everyday, think of all the days Simeon and Anna went to the Temple and Jesus wasn’t there. There were many days, literally hundreds if not thousands of days that Jesus was not there, but that doesn’t mean God wasn’t there in quiet ways to love them and give them hope to keep going. We will also experience days of silence and days of questions and days of doubts and fears, but God will be there. God will be there it the silence and questions to love us and give us hope and strength to keep going, but there will also be those days when unexpectedly God will show up in a word, a thought, a feeling or in some situation where we see God’s glory and purpose for our lives.
Simeon and Anna remind us that we need to be faithful in our worship of God, but they also teach us that we need to be open to God doing something new in our lives and we have to be accepting when God comes to us in a new way. I’m not sure that either Simeon or Anna expected the Messiah to be carried into the Temple in the arms of a poor unknown couple. They were looking the king who was going to take the throne of his father David and establish a kingdom that would last forever. You would have thought there would have been more fanfare, an entourage of servants meeting this new kings needs and the needs of his parents, but there was none of that. Mary and Joseph were poor and unknown and most people didn’t even notice them that day.

It’s amazing if you think about it. God first entered His Temple as a human being carried in the arms of a couple so poor that they couldn’t even bring the full offering that was required in the law. God first entered his Temple unannounced and in anonymity, and it was only Simeon and Anna who could see that this child was the Messiah, and the reason they could see God moving in this situation was because their hearts were in tune with God’s and they were open to God working in some new and different way. I wonder if Simeon and Anna could see God coming in this new and unexpected way because their lives of faithful devotion and worship had led them to the words of the Prophet Isaiah who said, I am doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:19)

In Jesus, God certainly was doing a new thing. God was coming in flesh and blood, God was blessing the poor. God did a new thing when Jesus chose fishermen as his disciples and not Pharisees. God did a new thing when he reached out to love sinners and not just saints, and God did a new thing when he rejected a throne and took up a cross. In Jesus God was always doing something new and so as we enter into a new year we have to be willing to not only see God come to us in new and unexpected ways, but we have to be willing to move with God in new and unexpected ways.

Are we willing to be part of something new in 2010? God always wants to move in new ways because our world is always changing and so to reach people with God’s love we have to be always changing. Our message doesn’t change, God’s message in Jesus didn’t change – God was still saying I love you and I want you to love me – the message didn’t change, but the way the message was proclaimed did, and the places where the message was proclaimed and the people to whom it was proclaimed did. God shared his message with the poor and uneducated not the rich and well bred. God spoke on hillsides and lakeshore, not in the Temple and royal city. In Jesus God moved in new ways and in the coming year we have to be willing to move with God in some new ways.

I’m excited to see where God will lead us in this new year. Many people are thinking about what it will mean to spend less, give more and love all and this new way of living has the potential of taking us and the love of Jesus into new places and into new ventures and new adventures of faith. Following Jesus this year will lead us to new places to proclaim God’s love and following Jesus this year will open new doors of mission and ministry for us and our families and our church

Like Simeon and Anna, I’m excited because this morning we are here, we are doing exactly what they did the day Jesus showed up, we are faithfully following the traditions and routines of our faith. We gather to worship and sing and prayer and read and share and give ourselves to God like we do every week, but I hope that as we gather to worship today and every Sunday in the new year, that we will do so ready and waiting to see Jesus in our midst. As we look to the new year, let’s not just look for the Messiah through worship, devotions and prayer, but let us be ready to follow him in new ways and to new places.

Friday, December 25, 2009

What If? Christmas Eve

Have you ever thought what those first few moments must have been like after the angels went back up to heaven? What must it have been like when everything became dark and still and quiet? I wonder which shepherd was the first one to have enough courage to speak up and I wonder what he said? I don’t think the shepherds heard the message of the angels and just got up and ran to Bethlehem. I think it took them some time to just get up. A heavenly host of angels would shake anyone to the core, so after they regained some composure, I think they got together and began to talk about what they had heard and seen and what they were going to do about it. These were not men who were going to be easily swayed. Being a shepherd was a hard job and these were hardened men. They had faced down lions and wolves to protect their sheep. As terrified as they were by the heavenly host, I think they first gathered together and talked about all that had just happened, and I think one of those shepherds must have asked the question – What If?

What if what the angels said is true? What if the Messiah has been born? What if he is right down there in the little town of Bethlehem? What if there is a child lying in a manger? I think it was those question that led the shepherds to go with haste to see if they could find this child wrapped in strips of cloth, and when they found him they not only knew that everything that the angels had said was true, but they also learned that they were the first ones, maybe the only ones to hear about this because when they arrived at the manger, there was no one else there. There were no religious leaders gathered at the stable, there were no priests or scribes or teachers of the law, there were no kings or leaders of nations, it was just them. They suddenly realized that God had come to them above all people and that could only mean one thing – God really did love them and God accepted them as his people and as his children. The Savior was born for them, not for some person far away, not for some holy and righteous person worshipping in the Temple, but for them.

Tonight I want us to enter into this Christmas story and ask ourselves that same question: What if. What if it really was God lying in the manger that night? What if God really did come to us in flesh and blood? What if it really was God in human frailty and humility reaching out to the world with that little gentle hand? What if? What does it mean for us 2000 years later?
Well it means the same thing tonight that it did on that first night; it means that God has come to be with us for one reason and only one reason – because God loves us. God comes to make himself available to us so that we can come to him. The little hand reaching of the manger is an invitation for us to come and enter into a relationship with the living and loving God.

That’s really what Jesus is all about. Jesus is God coming to us in human form so that through Him we can not only learn what it means to live for God, but so that we can also make our way back to God. The bible says that our sin has separated us from God and that on our own there is nothing we can do about it. We can’t live that perfect and holy life that would make us acceptable to God, the bible says no one is perfect, no not one, but we can approach God because 33 years after Jesus was laid in a manger he was laid out on the cross and that little hand that reached out of the manger was nailed to that cross. It is the death of Jesus that takes away our sin. God comes in flesh and blood to take on our sin and to die our death so that we might be forgiven and so that we can live with God forever. It is only through Jesus Christ that a way has been opened up for us to enter into a relationship with God, and that is the gift of love and grace that God offers us this night. God offers to us through Jesus a relationship that can change our lives. Will we reach out and take hold of that hand? Will we allow the love of God to forgive us and fill us with all the hope and the joy and the power that our lives need?

What if? What if there really is forgiveness and grace in that little child who was laid in a manger? What if the cross of Jesus really does take away our sin? Have we accepted this gift and have we allowed God’s grace to heal us. The forgiveness that God offers means that we don’t have to walk around in guilt and shame for what we have done or what we have not done. God does not hold our sin against us. Psalm 103:12 says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our sin from us. So in God’s eyes and in God’s heart our sin simply isn’t there – it’s been wiped away, and if that’s true then our sin and failures have no power over us. We can rise above it all and experience the fullness of life God wants for us. The grace of God means that we can forgive ourselves and experience a freedom that brings peace and joy. One of the carols we sing this season of the year goes, God rest ye merry gentleman, let nothing you dismay, remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day to save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray, o tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, o tidings of comfort and joy. It is comfort and joy that God offers us because there is new life that is waiting for us in the hand of our savior. What if there really is forgiveness and grace in Jesus Christ?

We will never know unless like the shepherds we are willing to check it out. At some point those shepherds got themselves up and went to find the baby, tonight we don’t need to go to Bethlehem to find Jesus because he is right here, all we have to do is reach out to him in the silence of our hearts and ask him to forgive us and to set us free and to help us live that new life. If you have never asked Jesus to forgive you and bring you this new and abundant life, then do it now and experience the best gift you could ever receive, the gift of freedom, love and life.

If you have never asked Jesus to forgive you, or if you need to do it again, simply do it now: "Lord God, thank you for coming into this world in the person of Jesus, and thank for the forgiveness and grace you offer. Forgive me of my sin, and help me to receive the gift of love and life that you offer, for I ask this in Jesus name. AMEN"

Now here’s the thing, God coming to us in flesh and blood doesn’t just mean that we have a savior who forgives us, it also means that we have to follow the example of Jesus and bring his transforming light and love into our world. So let’s ask this question What if one more time. What if we could come together as one body and follow the example of Jesus? What if we lived the way God called us to live and what if we loved the way God called us to love? What if tonight and in the days to come, we were the hands of Jesus in the world? What if?

If we trust in God and do this, I’ll tell you what would happen; our world would change. There would be more hunger or thirst because there would not be a needy person among us. In Acts 2 we get a picture of what life in the early church was all about when people came together as one and followed Jesus. These were people passionately committed to following the example of Christ and they gave all they had to God and to anyone who was in need and because they gave more and loved all – there was no one who was hungry or thirsty. Everyone had shelter and clothes. Everyone was taken care of and loved.

What if we came together as the body of Christ and followed the example of Jesus? How would our lives and family and community change? For the past month we have been asking ourselves this very question and we have been talking about making three basic changes that would not only change our lives but would change our world. We have been talking about Spending Less, Giving More and Loving all. What if we really did this? What if every day we really did spend less on ourselves and were better stewards of all that God has giving us. What if we really did spend our money in ways that helped people? What if we gave more of our selves and our time and resources to the things that mattered most in life, and what if we loved everyone in the process? What would change? I’ll tell you what would change – we would! If we lived this way, not just for a day, or for a month, but everyday of every month for the rest of our lives – our lives would change. I am convinced that we would experience more peace and purpose and power, and because we would be changed – our community and world would change.

I’m excited to say tonight that these changes have already started to take place. God has started something here at Faith Church. I know many of you have made changes this Christmas season and it hasn’t been easy, but it has been worthwhile. Look at the Christmas trees in the lobby – every ornament you see is a gift of time or money given to the Christmas Dinner, or to our ministry with children and youth, or to the work we do to help others in our community or world. These gifts are not only going to change the lives of others, but they are changing us.

It’s not too late to change your life. It’s not too late to give a gift that can change you and the world around you. Tomorrow, come and give some time and help serve at the Christmas Dinner. If you are still in need of a gift to give to someone (and I know some of you are and you are thinking, OK, what is still open now?), think about making an online donation to a charity in that person’s name and give a gift that can change the lives of those in need.

What if we were willing to give more of gifts of our time? What if we gave all we had to God and to those in need? That’s the gift God offers tonight. The gift of Jesus is the gift of God’s very self and it is a gift of love that meets our need for forgiveness and new life. God offers us a gift tonight that can change us. What if we accept that gift? What if we share that gift? What if?

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Advent Conspiracy ~ Love All

After telling the terrified shepherds to fear not, the message of the angels was, I bring you good news of great that will be for all the people. All the people. The gift that God was giving to the world wasn’t just for the chosen people of Israel; it was for everyone. God’s loves all. In John 3:16 it says, for God so loved the world (not a few but all), God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, and in giving Jesus to Mary and Joseph on that night in Bethlehem and then surrounding Jesus with the shepherds and then later on with the Magi, God was making a statement to the world. God not only says but God shows us in the Nativity that he really does love all. God loves the world and everyone in it from the least to the greatest, from the north to the south, God loves all, and that’s the messages we see clearly see in every manger scene there is because in every one of them we see gathered at the feet of Jesus – the world.

It all starts with Mary and Joseph. Mary and Joseph are two faithful children of Israel, they each come from the line of David and they are called righteous and holy, and it is because they are righteous that God chose them to be the parents of Jesus, but Mary and Joseph are also poor and that tells us that the love of God wasn’t just for some it was for everyone. You see, at the time Jesus was born, the understanding was that if you were rich you were blessed and loved by God, and if you were poor, then there was something wrong with you - you were not as highly favored. But when the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and says, Greetings favored one, the Lord is with you, we begin to see that God really does love all. Mary and Joseph were highly favored by God and by choosing this poor couple God was making a statement that his love and grace were for all people, but God’s statement doesn’t end with Mary and Joseph because gathered at the manger were also some shepherds.

Of all the people that the angels could have gone to that night to proclaimed that the Messiah had come and God’s love had entered into the world in some new way – God chose shepherds. This time God didn’t choose the righteous but the unrighteous, the outcast. At this time in history, shepherds did not have a good reputation among the people of Israel. Their job working with the sheep made the ceremonial unclean, which meant that they could not worship in the Temple. Living on the hillsides of Bethlehem meant they were separated from the community for long periods of time so there were often seen as social outcasts, and they were known for not always telling the truth. In fact, in a court of law, shepherds were not allowed to give testimony because it was believed that they just could not be counted on to tell the truth.

I am always struck by the irony of this situation. The first people to hear and then tell the news of God coming to this world in human form, the first people to see and share the good news of the Savior’s birth were not the religious leaders that people would have trusted and believed, but shepherds, notorious liars that no one trusted and no one believed. This tells us something about God – it tells us that God not only has a wonderful sense of humor, but more importantly that God loves everyone. God loves the outcast and the poor as much as God loves the leaders and teachers and the rich. God’s love is deep and wide, and God’s love reaches all people.

Now if the story ended there we might think that God only loved his chosen people, the people of Israel. Mary and Joseph were Jewish, the shepherds were most likely Jewish; so we might read this and think that God only came to love and save His chosen people, but the story of the Nativity doesn’t end there. In the gospel of Matthew we hear about the Magi or the Wisemen who journey from the East. These were not Jewish men, they were foreigners living in a land far away, and yet through the star God placed in the sky, God revealed to them that the King of the Jews – His Son the Savior, had been born. The Magi were not only foreigners, but they were also wealthy; we know they had riches because they gave expensive gifts to Jesus, but we also know they had some resources because it would have taken some financial resources to make their long journey.

So what we see here is that God didn’t just come for the poor, God didn’t just come for the righteous people of Israel, and God didn’t just come for those on the outside of society – the Nativity, the birth of Jesus and the people who first worshipped and welcomed him are rich and poor, old and young, those on the inside of society and those on the outside, Jew and Gentile. This says something to us; it says that God’s love is for all people and the people of all nations. God didn’t just come to his own, God didn’t just come to those who were faithful and already members of a church – God came for all. God loves all.

God loves every person around the world, rich, poor, black white, Muslim, Jew, oppressed and free, atheist and alienated – God loves everyone with a depth of love that we can not begin to understand, but for a moment let’s not think about all the people around the world that God loves, let’s just think about one person, ourselves. When we say that God loves all it also means that God loves us. It means that God loves me and you. No matter who we are today, or what we have done or where we are in life – God loves us with more power and grace than we can possibly imagine. Too many of us go through life thinking that we are not worthy of God’s love and grace, or we think that there is no possible way God could care about me or want to be part of my life and yet nothing - nothing - could be further from the truth. God loves all and so the first thing this means is that God loves us.

Even the message of the angels makes that clear. After they angels say they have good news of great joy for all the people, their next message is, for unto YOU is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. God came to love and save you and me. God’s love for us not only means that God came to save us, it means that God has a purpose and plan for our lives. It means that God cares about what we are going through and that God will give us the strength and the patience and the power to go through all that we have to in life. God’s love doesn’t mean that everything will be perfect and we will have no problems, but it does mean that God is always with us to offer help and support, and if we will open ourselves up – it also means the people of God will always be with us to offer love and support.

So if there is only message you hear this season, let it be this, God loves you. Jesus came as a child in Bethlehem for you. He came to walk with you, and talk with you in life. He came to offer you grace and peace and power for your life. So allow the child of Bethlehem to reach out and touch your heart and life and bring you the healing, the peace or the purpose you are looking for.

When we say God loves all – it does mean first and foremost that God loves you and me, but it also means that God loves the entire world and every single person in this world. There is simply no person beyond the reach of God’s love and grace. God loves and cares for all and so the call for us as followers of Jesus is to also love all. Do we love all people: rich, poor, black, white, Muslim, Jew, democrat, republican, oppressed, free, atheist, alienated, lost or rebellious? Do we love them all? And what does it mean to love them all? Does it just mean we think nice thoughts about them and wish them well? In James 2:16 it says, If one of you says to a brother or sister in need, “Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? What good is it indeed? That is not love. Love is not a feeling or well meaning words, love is action. While John 3:16 says, God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life, 1 John 3:17 says, How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Love has to be put into action. Love has to reach out and help someone, it can’t just be something we say or think about – it has to be something we do and the first thing we need to do is reach out to those who are lost and lonely around us and offer them friendship and support. Isn’t that what God did? God put his love into action by sending us Jesus who reached out to build a relationship with those around him and that relationship brought grace and peace. Jesus came and reached out to build a relationship with us and that relationship brings us life and so we have to love people in such a way that relationships are established and strengthened. This means our love for others needs to be seen in how we forgive one another, and how we place the needs and hopes and dreams of others before our own. That’s the first step in loving all, but it is not the last step.

Loving all also means helping those in need around the world. Loving those who are cold and hungry isn’t saying, Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed,” and then doing nothing to help them, Many times love calls for us to offer food and clothing and medicine and clean water. As followers of Jesus, we are called to give our resources to those who are physically in need and that call comes from Jesus who said, we are go feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those who are sick and oppressed. All through his life Jesus made it clear that we are to care for the needs of those around us.

Look at Mark 6:35-37

Everyone could see the need of the people – they were hungry, so Jesus said – you feed them. The disciples wanted to send the people away so they could take care of themselves. They said to Jesus, look we simply can’t feed them all and Jesus said, Yes you can – you feed them. I think God is still telling us that we can meet the needs of people around us and around the world. I think God is still telling us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide homes for the homeless, water for the thirsty and to care for those who are sick and hurting and lonely.

Now the good news is that we will feed the hungry here on Christmas Day and we won’t just offer them food, we will also offer them relationship. Some people say that the people who deliver our Christmas dinners are the only people they will see on Christmas Day, if that doesn’t move you to sign up to help deliver meals, nothing will. Some people will spend the day alone without even a phone from family or friends, so we are clearly offering more than food, we are offering the love of God, but the question that has returned to my mind this week is this; while we are feeding the hungry here, what about those who are hungry all across Africa who won’t have churches to go to share in a Christmas dinner, who will feed them?. There will be several church dinners in our community on Christmas Day, but who will be feeding the children of Uganda and the orphans of the Sudan? Who will feed the families who have no place to go on Christmas Day and every other day of the year because they are refugees fleeing from famine or disease or war? How is God calling us to feed them or provide them with water, or medicine, or safety and love? You see, the question is not if God is calling us to love them in practical ways that how will help them, Jesus said pretty clearly – you feed them – you take care of them, so the question is how will we - love all?

What can we do? The answer is a lot, we can do a lot to help those in need both here and around the world, we have so many resources to offer. We have time, money, faith, prayers, and physical labor, we have a lot to offer, so the deeper question, the question that cuts to our heart is this, what will we chose to do? This Christmas, how will we love all? What choices will we make today and in the year ahead to spend less and give more and love all. If we are going to enter into this Christmas story, then like God who sent Jesus to Mary, Joseph, shepherds and Wisemen, then we need to figure out how today and everyday how to love all.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Advent Conspiracy ~ Give More

There are not a lot of gifts that I remember getting as a child, it’s not that I didn’t get a lot, it’s just I don’t remember any of them. I didn’t get a red rider BB gun or a bicycle when I was young, and I never got that new car with the big red bow when I was 16. While there is no gift I remember receiving as a child, there is one gift I remember giving and that was little pewter turtle pin that I gave my Mom. I was maybe 8 or 9 years old and my Mom left me in a gift shop to buy her a gift while she went to the grocery store (this was back in the days when in a small town you could leave your child in a store while you went down the street to shop). All the money I had was in a little black change purse that had the zipper along the top. The gift I picked out was that little pewter turtle pin and the woman got it out of the cabinet and to an 8 year old boy – it was the best gift you could give your mom because it was jewelry but it was also a turtle. So she told how much it was and I opened my little change purse and emptied it out. We counted out the money together and I didn’t have enough. I was a few dollars short and I was devastated. The woman behind the counter could tell I was heartbroken so she said, don’t worry about it, I’ll make up the difference.

Obviously to this day I remember that gift. I can picture the pin, the store, the woman behind the counter, the little black change purse, everything. I can’t tell you what I got for Christmas that year, but I know what I gave because what I gave required me to give everything I had. It’s the only gift I ever gave that cost me everything and then some and isn’t that what this Christmas story is all about – giving more than we ever thought we could, giving all we have and then still needing more? Think about all the characters in this Christmas story: Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Magi even the baby Jesus – they all gave more than they ever thought they could, and yet everything they gave still wasn’t enough – each one needed more. Mary and Joseph gave all they had to give and yet they needed the help of God to bring their child into the world and they needed God to help them make the long journey to Bethlehem and then find them a place to deliver their child.

The shepherds gave their time and even jeopardized their jobs by leaving sheep in the fields to go and find the child that the angels told them about, but they also needed more. They first needed those heaven sent angels to tell them about the child, and how to find him. They needed the spirit of God to give them boldness and courage to share the good news about what they found. And the Magi gave more then they had ever planned on giving. They gave their time to make a long journey. They had to finance that journey with their own resources and the trip took longer than they planned because once they arrived in Jerusalem they were told they now had to travel to Bethlehem, and then after their visit with Mary, Joseph and Jesus, they were told to return home by another way. So they gave their all, their time, energy, resources, they gave up their safety and security to travel through dangers deserted areas, they went longer and farther then they planned. They gave more than they thought they ever could, but they also needed the help of God. They needed a star to guide them, they needed religious leaders to tell them where the child was to be born, and they needed an angel to tell them to return home by another road so that both they and Jesus would be safe. They gave their all – but still needed help.

So one of the things we see in common among all these characters is that they gave. They each gave more then they ever thought they could, they gave everything they had, but they also needed the help of God. But God himself also gives. God gave his all in Jesus, but even God needed the help of others. God needed Mary and Joseph to say yes. God needed Mary and Joseph to follow through on their commitment to the very end. So the real spirit of Christmas isn’t in getting gifts – it’s in giving and giving more than we ever thought we could. Christmas is about giving more, but not more gifts bought at Wal-Mart or Target, more gifts of our selves.

The real spirit of Christmas is about giving more of our time, energy, love and help. We need to give more of ourselves to God in worship, we need to give more of ourselves to our family so we can strengthen those all important bonds of love, we need to give more of ourselves to our friends who enrich our lives and offer us support, and we need to give more of ourselves to the people of God and to God’s people around the world. We need to give more of ourselves to our neighbors and those in need all around us. Simply put, we need to give more.

Giving more is the next step in the Advent conspiracy and while on the surface it may seem like a contradiction to last weeks step of spending less, it really isn’t. When we say we need to spend less, it’s spending less money on those gifts that a month from now, a year from now or 10 years from now we will have forgotten and giving more of those gifts of time, energy and resources that will make a lasting difference in the lives of our family, friends and world. If you think about it, the very best we can give is the gift of ourselves. Beyond any gift you can wrap up in a box, the gift we all want from others is their time, attention and love, and that was the gift given in Bethlehem so long ago.

God didn’t send us a gift that needed to be unwrapped. God didn’t send a gift you could put in a box, God gave a gift wrapped in flesh and blood – God gave the gift of his time, attention and love in the person of Jesus. Look at John 1:1-4, 14. So God and the word are one and that word – God – became flesh in the person of Jesus. We call this the incarnation – God coming to us in human form. God gave the gift of himself in Jesus. But Jesus wasn’t just the gift of God in human form, through Jesus God gave us the gift of forgiveness which not only restored our relationship with God, but opened the door for restoration and healing in all relationships. Through Jesus, God gave the gift of joy and laughter that lifted people’s hearts and lives. Jesus was always being criticized for having too much fun, and I am convinced that one of the reasons such large crowds followed him was because people wanted to be around Jesus, not because of what he could do for them, or what he would give them, but because Jesus love and joy just lifted people up.

By coming to us in the person of Jesus, God shows us that the greatest gift we can give to anyone in this season is the gift of our selves, our time, our energy, our joy and our love. In fact, if we want to give a true Christmas gift, a gift that reflects the original Christmas gift given in Bethlehem and laid in a manger, we need to give of ourselves, so let’s give more of that gift, let’s give more of ourselves.

So how do we give the gift of our presence? In the bulletin there are some wonderfully creative ideas on how to give the gift of relationship. How about the gift of a movie night with your family or friends once a month for the entire year? A box of popcorn doesn’t cost much and if you buy it from the scouts you are supporting our own youth, and Dick Snyder reminded me that you can check out movies from the library for free, so it’s one way we can spend less and yet give more. What about giving a coupon to spend the day with your child or spouse or a friend doing what they want to do. What about giving our time to the children and youth of the church in prayer or service? We could be a prayer partner for a youth, or read stories to our children. We can also give more of ourselves in missions and help people in our community who are in need, or help a service agency like Habitat or Paws that meet the needs we have right here in Centre County. And of course there are still ways to give our time to the Christmas Dinner and build relationships with those we will serve and those we will serve with.

In the Advent Conspiracy book there is a wonderful story of a young man who gave his father a pound of coffee with the stipulation that he had to drink that coffee while they were together talking and sharing. In the days it took to drink that coffee, the father and son got reacquainted and a relationship was healed. How can we give ourselves in ways that relationships can be healed and strengthened? How could this kind of gift save a marriage or transform a family. The one thing it will require from us is time, our most valuable commodity, are we willing to give more of that gift?

Giving more may also mean giving more or even giving all of our money to those who are in real need. You can give these gifts through the church and help our children, youth and missions, or you can give these gifts through different missions and ministries that provide resources for those in need around the world. When you give more than you ever thought you could – you enter into the Christmas story. When you spend all you have in giving yourself to others – you will remember those gifts for a lifetime.

As we give more of ourselves in relationship and in gifts that make a real difference, we also need to remember that no matter how much we give, those gifts won’t accomplish anything alone – they need the spirit and presence of God to go with them. Even Jesus needed the spirit and presence of God to go with him. Jesus was God in the flesh, but it says that at the baptism of Jesus the spirit of God descended on him like a dove. The spirit of God was with Jesus daily and it was the constant indwelling of God that gave Jesus the strength and power to do all that God asked him to do.

No matter how much we give, we still need the strength of God’s spirit to help make our gifts transformational. We need God going with us as we give ourselves to others. We need God using our gift of time and energy in mission and ministry to make a difference in the lives of others. On our own, we will just serve a meal on Christmas Day, but with the spirit of God working in us and through us, we will offer hope and peace and a love that will change the lives of others. On our own, we will just read a story to kids, but with God working in us and through us we become those shepherds who share the life changing message a Savior’s love and grace.

Giving more is good, giving more of ourselves is good, giving all we have is good, but the message of this nativity story is that giving all we have is still not enough, we still need God giving through us. So as we give more, let us ask God to give more of himself through us so that together we can change peoples hearts and lives and transform the world around us.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Advent Conspiracy ~ Spend Less

The circumstances around the birth of Jesus did not come about by chance. God worked through the Emperor Augustus to call a census so that Joseph and Mary would have to make a journey to Bethlehem. You see, Jesus needed to be born in Bethlehem because according to the prophet Micah, Bethlehem was where the Messiah was to be born (Micah 5:2-5). There are no coincidences here. Did you notice that this passage also talks about the Messiah in terms of a Shepherd, and to whom did the angels first go to proclaim the good news of great joy that the Savior had been born? Shepherds. So again we see that nothing came about by chance. The location, the first worshippers, it was all according to God’s plan. God had this moment planned out for centuries, some think God planned this moment from before the beginning of time. So nothing took God by surprise, which means God planned to have Jesus born in a stable and laid in a manger. God knew that there would be no room in the inn and that was the way God wanted it.

Since it is God making the arraignments here, Jesus could have been into the opulence of a palace. God could have chosen for Jesus to be born in the finest Inn surrounded by servants, washed with purist of water and wrapped in the most expensive of linens. And then after the child was born, Mary and Joseph could have dined on the richest of foods surrounded by the leaders and rulers of the day, but that was not what God chose. God chose simplicity. God chose poverty. So why do we choose to celebrate this event with all the elaborate excess of today? Why do we chose to celebrate the birth of Jesus by giving more than we can afford, eating more than what is good for us, and giving in to all the excess that we see in the world around us. God turned away from the world to come in simplicity so why do we worship God in this season by turning away from simplicity toward the greed and excess of the world? In so many ways it doesn’t make sense.

Of all the steps in the Advent Conspiracy journey, this is by far the hardest one because it directly confronts what the world tells us this season is all about. If we listen to the world around us, if we listen to the advertisers and the retailers, they tells us that Christmas is all about getting what we want. For the past few years I have watched my niece and nephew sit down on Thanksgiving day and go through all the Christmas Ads. They go through the stack and make their lists of what they want. They already have more clothes, games, books and toys then they could ever need, but that’s not the point, this season isn’t about what we need, it’s about what we want. How many times are we asked, what do you want for Christmas? Even if we don’t want or need a thing, people still want to know what they can give us. There is a part of me that wants to shout – nothing. I don’t need anything and I don’t want anything because that is not what this season is all about. Jesus was born in a stable – God chose poverty and simplicity so why don’t we? No really, why don’t we? This Christmas why don’t we choose to honor Jesus and worship God by making the same choices God did? Let’s choose simplicity and this Christmas let’s spend less.

Now again, please understand that spending less doesn’t mean spending nothing. It is good to give gifts to one another. While God chose to come in simplicity and poverty, the gift he gave, the gift of Jesus was generous. So spending less doesn’t’ mean we spend nothing, it means we spend less. But even spending less is open to interpretation. What does it mean to spend less? Less than what? Less than last year? Less then what we planned to spend? Less than what the average American will spend on Christmas, which is $1,000? What does it mean for us to spend less?

The truth is that it will mean different things to different people. What I want to propose is this, can we ask ourselves what it will mean for us to spend less, and then can we take some time to listen to what God says? Spending less might be a journey of just one less gift a year for many years until our celebration and worship really honors Jesus. Spending less might mean giving nothing to those people who have everything because, well, they have everything. Spending less may mean not giving a gift to someone who has everything but instead giving a gift in their name to someone who has nothing.
When I was thinking about the Advent Conspiracy as a message for us as a church during this season, I had to ask myself how I was going to implement these steps in my own life. What was it going to mean for me to spend less and give more? When I asked myself that question, there was one thing that came to me over and over again. For me to spend less meant that what I give to my parents this year was going to have to change. I can say this now because my parents aren’t here today, and don’t tell them this because it will ruin the surprise, but for many years now my sister and I have given my parents the fruit of the month. When we asked ourselves a number of years ago what to get someone who had everything and really didn’t need anything, we came up with the idea of fruit of the month because we know that they love fruit and so they would eat it and enjoy it. So for many years now we have done this, but when I started asking God what it was going to mean for me to spend less and give more, God said pretty clearly I needed to buy one less gift and that gift was the fruit of the month for my parents.

So my sister and talked about this and my sister had wanted to make this change a few years ago, but I was the one who dragged my feet. I didn’t want my parents to be disappointed. I didn’t want my parents to feel unappreciated, but my sister finally said, Andy, think about it, we are having a pineapple or 6 pears delivered to their house once a month – how does that honor Jesus? They can buy fruit anytime they want and it would be so much cheaper, so let’s take that money and buy an animal for a village through the Heifer project. They will appreciate that gift even more.

So this year, again don’t tell my parents, but this year we are not sending them fruit every month, instead we are sending a water buffalo to a needy village in their name, and the truth is that this will mean more to my parents than a pineapple in March or pears in February and the water-buffalo will change the life of a community. That’s what it means for me to spend less, I don’t know what it will mean for you, but I do know this, if you ask God how you are to honor Jesus by choosing simplicity and poverty over greed and excess, He will tell you, and then he will show you how to do it.
Spending less might simply be buying one less gift this year. Spending less might mean making sure that what we do buy is responsible and ethical. Do the gifts we buy honor Jesus? Do the movies and games and music we give to our children honor the values of God’s kingdom? Do the clothes we give reflect the values we want to promote? Are the gifts we give made in ways that are just or do they use child labor? Does our spending help people or simply line the pockets of multinational corporations? There are ways we can give gifts that promote economic justice. For example the Lutheran Church sells Equal Exchange coffee, tea, nuts and chocolate. The money from these products goes directly to the people who produce them and so our money makes a greater impact in the lives of people and communities that are struggling. So spending less might not mean giving fewer gifts, maybe it means making sure the gifts we give honor God and change lives.

Spending less might mean supporting local businesses and local families? I have to say that since I have moved to Bellefonte one of the greatest blessings to me has been Mussers Dairy. I was visiting with Joan Musser in the hospital after her fall a year ago and I learned that her family had a dairy farm and they had a farm store, so I went to just see what it was all about and to be supportive, but that visit changed my life, or least my milk buying habits. I no longer buy milk anywhere other than Musser’s dairy (and no I am not being paid for this advertisement). It not only is great milk, but I am happy to support a local family. We are fortunate to live in an area where we can support local merchants and farmers. You want fresh eggs, see the Groves whose free range chickens are producing more than they can handle.

Spending less might mean buying recycled gifts so that our spending is helping the environment. Or maybe it’s buying second hand gifts. Can we shop at the Faith Centre first and not only save some money and help the environment but also help people? Shopping at the Faith Center supports their mission and ministry in our community, which mean the hungry are fed, people are helped, and those who are lonely have a place to go. Spending less doesn’t have to mean fewer gifts; it can also mean spending our money in ways that honor Jesus.

As you ask yourself what it will mean for you and your family to spend less, I hope you will also share your ideas with one another because we can learn from one another how to spend in ways that truly honor God. I heard someone last week say they only give three gifts to one another because Jesus received three gifts from the Wiseman. For many people that might be a radical change, and it may be a goal to work towards with our children, but how exciting that people are trying to enter into the gospel story in ways that honor God.

Whatever choices we make this season, however God may call us to spend less, my hope is that we will take seriously the choice that God made when he entered this world and turn away from the excess and greed that we see all around us this time of year and choose simplicity. Can we enter into this ancient story and live in ways that reflect the heart of God and the values of God’s kingdom?