Everything That's On My Mind

Well, 6+" of snow overnight with more still coming down coupled with high winds led to canceling service this morning. That's Michigan for you. It does, however, give me a unique opportunity to post a summarized version of what I was going to preach as a blog entry. I don't generally write my sermons as some preachers do. I preach from a simple outline and rely on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to take it from there. So that makes this an interesting exercise, at least for me.

Why do we give gifts at Christmas? Most Christians would answer "To remember the gift of Jesus that God gave us." That's not a bad answer, but I wonder if that's really true. Do we really give gifts to remember or honor the gift of Jesus, or do we do it for other reasons?

How do we honor a person or an event? For example, if I truly wanted to honor my grandfather and the time he spent with me as a child, I'd need to do something that connected to him and what he did for me. I could say, "I'm playing this round of golf in honor of my grandfather" but it really wouldn't mean anything. My grandfather never played a round of golf in his life. Now, if I were to go bowling in his honor, that would be better. My grandfather took me bowling at least once a week my entire childhood. If our Christmas gifts are to remember and honor the gift of Jesus, then our gifts should somehow reflect that. To that end, I want to highlight one important characteristic of the gift of Jesus that I think we've forgotten. As the angels announce the shepherd in Luke 2:8-14, the gift was "good news of great joy that will be for all people" (emphasis mine, of course). So why then do we primarily (or perhaps solely) give gifts to those we know and love, or perhaps more accurately, to those who already love us?

We've been taking some cues this Christmas from Charles Dickens' classic book "A Christmas Carol". One of Dickens' main themes within the book is a call to a return to charity and brotherly love, especially at Christmas. When asked for a donation for the poor, Scrooge responds that public welfare services should take care of the poor, he shouldn't be bothered. The Ghost of Christmas Present rebukes Scrooge for his cold-hearted attitude, and perhaps we should hearken to his rebuke as well. Care for our fellow man has always been part of God's call to His people. Time and again in the Old Testament, the Israelites are commanded to care for "the alien, the fatherless, and the widow." Deuteronomy 24:17 is just one example. In Jeremiah 22, God rebukes Shallum (King Jehoahaz) for not following his father's example:

"Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 22:15-16 (NIV)

The Apostle John brings this same thought into the New Testament canon in 1 John 3:16-18 where he boldly states that if we don't care for those in need, the love of God is not in us.

In "A Christmas Carol" the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge "the children of men", a boy and a girl named Ignorance and Want. These children still exist today. Those involved in foreign missions have always recognized this. That is why overseas missionary endeavors are so often tied to schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Missionaries understand that the gospel of Jesus is not just a message of forgiveness, but a holistic message of restoration. Scot McNight highlights this very effectively in his new book "A Community Called Atonement". Jesus' miracles of healing were not just a way to prove His identity, they were an expression of God's love for mankind and His desire to see mankind restored from all the effects of the Fall. They were an integral part of the mission of the Messiah and the meaning of the Gospel. The forgiveness and salvation we have received is not just for our benefit, but "so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

I'm certainly not advocating an end to gift-giving at Christmas. I think it is a fine way to remember and honor the gift of Jesus. To truly honor the gift of Jesus, however, I think we need to look at how we're giving and to whom we're giving them. Jesus was given not just to the righteous but to all mankind. He was given to those who loved God and to those who were opposed to God. To truly honor the gift of Jesus, perhaps we need to broaden our gift list. Our "Giving Tree" project is certainly a step in the right direction for our church, but I think it's only the beginning. I think the folks at the Advent Conspiracy have some pretty good ideas about spending less and giving more, to cut back on what we're spending on those who love us so that we can give more to those in need. To truly honor the gift of Jesus, our giving should more closely reflect the love of the Giver and the universality of the Gift.

I'll close with another passage from "A Christmas Carol", where Dickens subtly rebukes the church for offering judgement and condemnation without offering mercy and justice:

`Spirit,' said Scrooge, after a moment's thought, `I wonder you, of all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desire to cramp these people's opportunities of innocent enjoyment.'

`I?' cried the Spirit.

`You would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day, often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all,' said Scrooge. `Wouldn't you?'

`I?' cried the Spirit.

`You seek to close these places on the Seventh Day,' said Scrooge. `And it comes to the same thing!'

`I seek?' exclaimed the Spirit.

`Forgive me if I am wrong. It has been done in your name, or at least in that of your family,' said Scrooge.

`There are some upon this earth of yours,' returned the Spirit, `who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.'

...or better yet, with Jesus' own words:

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

Matthew 25:41-45 (NIV)

P.S. Don't miss Keith Schooley's excellent blog post on Christmas gifts.