This Christmas or Advent season, we’re working together as a church to go through some thoughts about conspiring against our culture’s view of Christmas. We are taking themes from the Advent Conspiracy website and are looking at ways we can:
Worship Fully
Spend Less
Give More
Love All
Here is a video clip from Rick McKinley, one of the founders of Advent Conspiracy. I think it gives us some serious food to think about over the next couple of weeks.
Wow…that makes me really think about this whole thing we call Christmas.
Last week we started the process of turning our focus from Thanksgiving to the coming (or advent) of our Lord. We looked at our need to spend time this (and every Christmas) worshipping Jesus our Savior. The wise men/magi/kings showed us our need to worship by:
1. Investing our time, energy, and money to worship Jesus
2. Demonstrating diligence in our worship of Jesus
3. Showing humility as we worship Jesus
I’m in the process of wrapping up the college classes that I teach for the semester, so as we get started this week, I thought it would be a great time for a pop quiz. This is the part of the service where you can interact officially with me (instead of writing notes to someone else or muttering under your breath about something I said).
How many of you have seen or heard Christmas ads this year?
Do any stand out for you?
Where do we see ads? Paper, TV, billboard, computer, and now even my cell phone?
What information are the ads telling us?
EXCELLENT! The ad agencies are earning their salaries…they have all of us paying attention to what they’re trying to sell us…whether we need it or not!
This week, we’re moving on to the second topic, “Spend Less”. As I’ve been wrestling with this topic all week, I’ve been really trying to figure out how to present it to a hostile audience. J You have all demonstrated that you are paying attention to the “Spend MORE!!!” voices in our society. Obviously, Goodfield Baptist’s advertising budget doesn’t compare to the money that Wal-Mart or Best Buy are spending to tell us the meaning of Christmas.
This is Christmas, the season of giving! It’s the season of getting!
As Americans, it seems like our economic culture is driven by the sales that are made at Christmas time. The news has been filled this week with reports of how much money exchanged hands on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We have also been given estimates of how this year’s sales compare with other years. Other reports have focused on how many jobs this year’s ongoing economic decline will either give or take away from seasonal retail employees. And the evaluation of all of these details could go on and on!
In the midst of all of that cultural pressure, how in the world can I come up here to say, “Our topic today is “Spend Less”? That is just plain un-American! I’m afraid, that the Church in America is not living a much different lifestyle. As I talk to my Christian friends, they too are talking about the latest, coolest, “impossible to live without” toys for their kids or even for themselves. As members of a very vocal culture, it becomes so easy for us to conform to the world around us. Our goal during this Advent season is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
A few years ago, Veggie Tales came out with a video called, “The Toy that Saved Christmas”. This little video clip gives such a great satirical perspective that I thought you’d love to see it.
I know that was overkill, but it’s a pretty realistic portrayal of what we hear…isn’t it?
Just so we can refocus our lives for this minute…what is Christmas supposed to celebrate?
Christmas is about JESUS:
I know it is a VERY familiar story! I know it’s the foundation of our faith! I know it forms the basis for the season, but I thought today would be a great day to re-familiarize ourselves with the incredible story of God Himself becoming flesh. Last week, we looked at Matthew 2 with the story of the Magi. This week, I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Luke 2.
Luke 2:1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Luke 2:8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Luke 2:15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
While of course, the Christmas story really starts before time and then back in Genesis when God foretells about the coming of One Who will crush the serpent’s head and then in a multitude of prophecies throughout the Old Testament, this passage tells us how we get to the celebration of Christ’s birth and what happens that day.
One of my little pet peeves during this time of year is when school gets canceled for a snow like we got yesterday, but then it seems like everyone can still make it to the mall or Wal-Mart. We’re able to make journeys for things that we’re highly motivated to get to.
As we enter this story in Luke 2, we find out that Joseph and Mary have become highly motivated to go on a journey…even though Mary is quite pregnant at this point and time. The distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem is about 80 miles.
Now I was born over in Western Illinois in a town called Avon, and that’s where my father was born too. My grandfather and great-grandfather were born south of there in Summum. Either way, these towns of my fathers are about 80 miles from my home in Normal. Thanks to modern roads and vehicles, I can get there in about an hour and a half. However, scholars believe that it would have minimally taken four or five days to travel that far, and maybe longer with a pregnant wife.
So, the requirement of the Israeli IRS that everyone had to go back to the home of their fathers was a huge motivator to get Joseph, Mary, and the soon to be born baby to Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy in Micah that we saw last week as the Magi talked with Herod.
Just so we’re clear, the original Advent season did NOT start with Mary getting on her donkey & going to Bed, Bath, & Beyond or Macy’s or even Target to go shopping for a cool gift for someone else! She was on her way to have a baby.
Now, I have a lot of questions that come to mind as I read this passage. Again, much of our Christmas celebrations and our traditions come from places outside of the Scriptures. However, most of my questions aren’t clearly answered in the text.
· Were Mary and Joseph waiting until the last minute hoping Jesus would come before they went to Bethlehem?
· Was the sonogram off a month?
· How early did they get to Bethlehem (the text says “while they were there”…NOT “that night”)?
· If they knew they had to go to Bethlehem for the census, why didn’t they have a room reserved? Remember, this would be all of Joseph’s brothers, cousins, uncles, etc…didn’t they get a block of rooms to stay in for the family reunion that would also take place?
· Were they so poor that they ended up in the barn because they couldn’t afford to rent a room?
There are so many questions, but again, nowhere in the Scriptural Texts do we see people giving other people gifts like we do in our culture today.
Instead, this couple gets to Bethlehem and has their baby…God’s Baby. The story is so simple. It doesn’t sound like they got gift cards to buy the newest fashions for their little boy. It doesn’t sound like they had all kinds of house warming gifts. It doesn’t sound like the focus the day that Jesus was born was on external things at all.
The focus…very simply…was JESUS!
Then BOOM! God sent an angel to a group of shepherds who were out working second or third shift. He announced to them that Jesus, the Christ, the Savior was born in Bethlehem! And then, BOOM, again, and a group of angels joined the first angel! No wonder the poor shepherds were afraid…I’m sure I would be too!
All together, this group of angels started saying (not necessarily singing), “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
As soon as the angels left, the shepherds hurried into town to see in person the new Baby that the Lord told them about. Again, strangely silent, the Scriptures don’t tell us that they stopped at a 24 hour Meijer or even the corner Freedom gas station in order to get a gift to take to the new King of kings. And, it’s doubly sure they didn’t stop and get gifts for all of their friends before stopping to worship the Holy Child in the manger.
What we do see here is that the shepherds evidently didn’t go into town quietly! In verses 17 and 18, we are told that they must have texted or Facebooked their friends and others. We are told here that the shepherds made it known and that all who heard about what the shepherds told them were filled with wonder.
The birth of the Savior of the world caused this group of shepherds to become evangelists…ones that told the story of what God was doing! They also become worshipers. In verse 20, we see that they were glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen on that special night.
That’s it in a nutshell…verse 11 sums it up…Jesus…the Savior…the Christ has been born, and we need to share that with others as we joyously praise and worship God!
BUT…back to our theme…how do we reconcile this clear message of the birth of the Savior with a culture that tells us that Christmas is all about giving and getting?
Christmas can be great…even if you spend less!
Just to be clear…I AM buying presents for my children (at least the little ones), I AM participating in the Secret Santa tradition at my work, and we DO have presents under our Christmas tree.
So, I’m NOT saying that we need to spend NOTHING, but how can we be wise stewards of our finances?
The research shows that collectively, Americans spend around 450 BILLLON on Christmas presents, decorations, parties, etc… EACH and EVERY year! That is a LOT of money that is spent!
The “average” American spends somewhere between $750 & $1000 on Christmas EACH year. If a couple were to spend $1500 on Christmas this year and then put that on their credit card and pay a little more than the minimum, it will still likely take almost 2.5 years to get it paid off! That’s a problem!
As we hear people argue about budgets, this would sure seem to be one area where Christians could cut back!
According to the US Constitution, who are we REQUIRED to give Christmas presents to? NOBODY
However, I would guess that all of us feel the cultural and guilt driven need to purchase presents for all kinds of people. I heard a commercial this past week about our need to give lottery tickets as Christmas presents to everybody in our lives…even if we don’t know their name or exactly how we know them. That’s one example of the kind of spending less that we’re talking about.
Why do we feel compelled to give presents to others on the day we celebrate Christ’s birthday? Why should we feel compelled to give Christmas gifts to people we don’t even really know?
The folks at Advent Conspiracy encourage several simple ways for us to evaluate our gift giving. We’ve heard a few of them in the video clips, and I want to add some to that list:
· Can you get by purchasing less expensive gifts?
o Maybe by shopping the sales better?
o Maybe by buying someone 2 presents instead of 3?
o Maybe by reducing your self-imposed price guidelines?
o Maybe by starting now or right after Christmas to look for great deals for next year’s presents
· Can you get by purchasing gifts for fewer people?
o Do you really have to purchase a gift for your third cousin’s daughter’s boyfriend? OK…that’s a little bit of hyperbole, but seriously, are there some people that you don’t NEED to be spending more money on?
o Do you have the option of purchasing one larger gift for a family instead of purchasing several smaller individual gifts that add up to a larger price tag?
o Do you have the option of maybe “drawing names” for a particular group instead of purchasing something for everyone?
o Do you have the ability to make something special for someone instead of purchasing a gift (for instance, could you work with your child to make some home made bread instead of purchasing another coffee cup that says, “World’s Best Teacher”? Can you do some kind of craft project to keep costs low?)
· Can you become more creative in your gift giving?
o Could you make a coupon book giving your time or talents to help your child, your parents, your neighbor, your cousin?
o Could you give the gift of time by volunteering in honor of someone else…give them a gift certificate saying you will volunteer at the school, the hospital, here at church, etc…in their honor?
o Could you give the use of something of value that you have…a free use of your convertible for a date night; chauffeuring your grand-daughter around for a special event; inviting people out to ride four-wheelers or snowmobiles; serving a fancy meal for Valentine’s Day; loaning a video projector for a special birthday video party; etc…?
These are three categories where I think we can look at cutting back our spending during the Christmas season. I realize they are FAR from being all inclusive or exhaustive, but I hope I’ve whetted your appetite to think of additional ways that you could improve on cutting back on your spending.
Just so we’re clear as we wrap up, the reason for “Spending Less” is NOT to undermine the American Economy. Rather, it’s based firmly on our desire in this Advent season to “Worship Fully” the Christ Who came as a baby in a manger so that He could ultimately give His life as the ransom for our sins.
It’s also so that we can look at ways to invest more into eternal things…which we’ll look at more closely next week as we investigate ways we can actually “Give More” during this season. Then in two weeks, we’ll look at how we can Love All!
Pray
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