Last week we began our Advent journey toward Christmas, along with thousands of
other churches, by checking and making sure we knew where we were going—toward
the celebration of God come in the flesh as Jesus Christ—toward worshiping fully.
This week, as we go along on this holy road trip, it’s time to stop and make
sure we’re not over-packed.
Yes, over-packed.
I think of my surprise when I picked my mom up when she came back to the United
States from two weeks in Tanzania and Kenya—she had a small rolling bag and a
backpack
—just
to repeat for two week.
The
bulkiest thing she carried was her camera. She definitely didn’t over-pack.
But she did tell me about a fellow traveler she met while in Tanzania. This
woman brought three giant trunks with her, which a guide had to lug around
after her
—three
trunks filled with clothing and make up.
Imagine
that, gussying up to watch lions and track wildebeests!
And, during Advent, this time leading up to Christmas, we as a society
over-pack as well.
We as a society could do with Spending Less.
Let
us pray
As we get going down this Advent Road toward Christmas, it’s worth noticing the
tires on our car are looking a little low to the ground—and its not because
we’ve got a flat. It’s because we’ve loaded the car up with too much stuff.
One of the most treasured pieces of Christmas is the giving of presents. In
doing this we remind ourselves of the precious gift God gave to the world, his
son Jesus. We also remember the presents presented to Jesus by the three wise
men, as well as St. Nicolas of Myra’s gift giving to children.
But, somewhere along the way we seem to have went a little overboard… a lot
overboard actually.
Americans spend 450 billion dollars on Christmas. That’s 10 zeros, just
to be clear.
To put that number into perspective:
NASA says with 450 billion dollars they could send a man to Mars.
It’s the same amount of money as the US government spent on Medicare last year.
It’s more than twice as much as American Individuals give to charity.
It’s four times what it would cost to bring every American above the poverty
line.
We spend like crazy at Christmas—loading up this Advent Van to the point of
absurdity.
We spend like it’s our Job… and not just any job, but a deadly Seal Team Six
kind of job. It’s like we’re training to become Shopping Assassins or Consumer
Hit Men.
… and if you think that’s an exaggeration it’s worth looking at our record.
On this last Black Friday—9 days ago, the official start
of Christmas Shopping season—there was one shopping related death and 15
injuries—including two fights that involved people using tasers on one
another, as well as people shooting at each other over parking spaces.
If you look at the last 8 Black Fridays there have been 7 deaths and 90
injuries.
All that for good deals, and in order to get loved ones the perfect gift—all
this, to chase after a perfect Christmas.
But ultimately, this quest to buy more, is sinking the ship, squishing down our
car to the point at which we’re endangering our Advent Journey. This chasing
after Christmas through consumption is ultimately running the wrong way
—in
fact running away from that star there ahead of us in the East.
But it’s not enough to say “my goodness, buying things is bad.”
There
is a deeper question—a deeper yearning—going on in a society that will kill
for deals and wound for parking spots.
We’re
trying to honor those we love, and we’re trying to make sure we’re worth
something.
And the good news today is that our worth doesn’t come from how much we
spend.
Advent is, in some ways, a Winter version of Lent
—in
fact in some countries, churches are decked out in Blue for both Seasons.
And
just as Lent challenges us to give things up in order to focus on Easter, it is
appropriate to be willing to do the same for Advent—to Spend Less at a
time when our culture is telling us to
spend
more!/spend more! /spend more!
Spend less in order to lighten our load on this Advent Journey.
Two quick examples to look at:
1.
Look at John the Baptist, this fuzzy wild man wearing simple and strangely
austere clothing and eating food from the earth, not bought in the market.
This John who humbles himself before Jesus for the sake of exulting him. He
points to Jesus’ greatness by making himself less.
And
yet, this man, who clearly humbles himself and lives without the trappings of
wealth or things, is called the greatest by Jesus.
Greatest, not because of the things he has, but because of the one to whom
he points
—to
make it plain, he is not great because of the presents he gives, but because of
the present to the world Jesus Christ.
2.
Look at Mark’s Christmas story…
there
isn’t’ one.
No, there are a lot of things missing in Mark’s Gospel, including at times good
grammar—because that’s not his focus, that’s not where he’s headed.
In
his writing of his gospel he is headed to one thing and one thing only “The
Good News of God, that Jesus the Son of God has come near.” Mark jettisons
a lot, to focus on that one thing—the Son of God come near in the
person of Jesus Christ.
So too, it is worth re-focusing our Advent, from presents to the
presence of Jesus that we are preparing to celebrate.
It’s worth it, because that ultimate gift, that baby in the manger, that Savior
for Us, is of ultimate worth.
In summary, on this second stop of our Advent Journey we ought to assess what’s
really important, because an excessive focus on gifts can make us lose sight of
that fact that this amazing gift, Jesus Christ, has been given to us, and that we
are of insurmountable worth to God and to one another,
not
because of our possessions or our ability to get good deals or spend on friends
and family,
but
because we are Beloved Children of God. A+A
