Today begins the season of Advent—Advent 2010. Can you believe it’s here? Well, let me ask you this, as we begin this season together today: Do you remember how the Christmas story goes in the Gospel of Matthew? For most of us, we’re very familiar with the Gospel of Luke and the Christmas story there—reading Luke, Chapter 2 just about every Christmas Eve since the beginning of time … but, how does the story of Christmas go … according to the Apostle Matthew?
Well, it was all about a dream—the dream of a young man who was engaged to be married to a young virgin. And, he found out that she was pregnant. Not good. Whoa! How does he handle this? What is everyone going to think? Well, long story short, God spoke to Joseph—the young man—and expanded his horizons just a bit. Perhaps God needs to expand our horizons just a bit this Christmas season, too! But first, let’s begin with the dream … from the Gospel according to Matthew:
“This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately. 20 While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. 21 She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus—because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this happened in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, 23 “A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel” (which means, “God is with us”). 24 So when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to. 25 But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son. And Joseph named him Jesus. – Matthew 1:18-25 (TEV)
He was hurt, wasn’t he? Joseph’s heart was broken. He just didn’t understand how someone could do this to him. He didn’t understand how ‘his Mary’ could do this to him! It just wasn’t like her. But, something had to be done, didn’t it?
Well, Joseph soon found out that ‘it wasn’t really about him.’ Something was going on here that was much bigger than him—much bigger than anything he could have ever dreamt up on his own … and, here, God was letting Joseph in on his plan. He & Mary were to be at the center of God’s plan—God’s plan to reconcile all of creation with himself. It was a dream—a God-size dream. It was a dream like no other! And, that’s how the Christmas story begins in Matthew…
…Again, today is the beginning of the season of Advent—that time of preparation leading up to Christmas each year. It’s the time when the first advent took place—when God entered into our history … and changed our world forever. So, as we begin this time of preparation for Christmas this year, how will our time begin? Let me suggest that, this year, we begin with a dream—a dream worth dreaming…
Several years ago now, the original ‘Conspiracy Church’ began to become a bit disillusioned about Christmas as they were experiencing it personally. Something was seriously wrong! After all, wasn’t Christmas supposed to be about the birth of Jesus? Wasn’t it his birthday party? Yet, year after year, the reality of Jesus was increasingly diminished … and other things were taking his place. It was disheartening to those who loved him.
So, this pastor and church took a very brave step. They decided that they would start an Advent Conspiracy. Now, it was not an illegal act of any sort (if that’s what you’re thinking), but rather an agreement between people in that church to take back Christmas. It was a plan to put Christ back in the center of their lives at Christmastime … and here was there general thinking on the subject:
Over 2,000 years ago, God entered into our history … as a child. It’s obvious by how our calendars are set up in this world just how important that event really was—the pivotal point in our world’s history. But, the modern-day Christmas many were experiencing wasn’t recognizing that pivotal point any longer. So, what happened to Christmas? What was it all about now? What had taken its place?
- Shopping…
- Spending time with the relatives, because it’s the right thing to do…
- Shopping…
- Getting out all of those Christmas cards (hopefully before someone else in the family who always gets theirs out first does)…
- Shopping…
- Making sure there’re enough treats in the house to feed the entire neighborhood (just in case)…
- Shopping…
- Getting all of those Christmas lights up in the yard—adding just one or two more new items this year, so that we can at least reasonably keep up with those neighbors who always seem to outdo themselves with their display each year…
- Shopping…
- Making sure that we carefully craft our Christmas gift list, purchasing them & delivering them promptly, so those who receive them will know just how much we love & care about them…
- Shopping…
So, where is Jesus in all of this? Isn’t it his birthday? And, if it’s his birthday that we’re celebrating, shouldn’t our Christmas reflect his heart … and not just the heart of the world we live in? Many good things are done at Christmas time, but not all in the name of Jesus … and that’s the point (or it’s supposed to be). Philanthropy is a wonderful thing … but what we’re talking about here is something bigger than just doing something out of the goodness of your heart. What we’re talking about here is a relationship with the God of the universe … and inviting others to be a part of that relationship—that they might know the joy of God NOW … and the company of God forever. That is why the Church is here—to let people know about a God who loves them, who wants to be in relationship with them, and desires his very best for them! As good as good deeds can be, without keeping Christ in the center of Christmas … everything we do sooner or later really ends up being about us. We don’t always mean for that to happen, but that’s human nature … without Christ. There’s the danger!
We need to discover, as Joseph did in the midst of his dream, that what God came to do that first Christmas (and what we are supposed to be celebrating—in his name—each and every year during Advent) is not about us at all; it’s all about the reconciliation of humanity to a God who made them … and loves them more than anyone could ever imagine. The only way they will experience this incredible love of God that they need in their lives … is for the Church—the people of God, Christ’s Body here on earth—to show them that love … tangibly. (Don’t tell me about Jesus; show me Jesus!)
That’s why Advent Conspiracy began; its objective was to put Christ back in the center of Christmas … and to show the world Christ’s love … tangibly. It was to take Christmas back from the world of consumerism … and move Christmas to be something that could actually change this world again—for the Kingdom of God, just like Christmas did over 2,000 years ago…
What about our Christmas this year? Do you think that Christmas in our lives … in our area … in our church … could change the world this year? Could we be a part of a Christmas that could actually save lives? Could we be Christ’s representatives in this world in such a way that others will know without a doubt that God has loved them … through us? Look what happened when that first Advent Conspiracy church … began to take on the water crisis in the world [many places in the world have hundreds of people dying because they don’t have clean water to drink], beginning with a place called Liberia. If there’s anything that you and I take for granted, it’s water. We turn on our faucets and … presto; there it is. But, it’s not like that everywhere…
It’s been said that ‘GOD IS LOVE.’ Yes, God is … but many in this world won’t know it, if they don’t see it … in us! And, folks, I’m just crazy enough to believe that we here at the [D/R] UMCs can help change the world too! I’m just crazy enough—and have enough faith—to believe that God can use us … so that several in this next year will not die just because they don’t have any clean water to drink, but in fact they will live—in every way—because they will know both clean drinking water, as well as the Living Water who provided it for them. Folks, how do we get to that? How do we become a church like that? How do we go about ‘taking Christmas back’ from the ‘god of consumerism?’ Here’s how: For the next 4 weeks, we’re going to learn these very important steps: First…
SPEND LESS. We’ve got to the point where the ‘god of consumerism’ says that it takes money to love. If you spend more on people, they will know that you love them … but, it is that right? The truth is that it doesn’t take money to love; but, if that is the case, a recalculation is needed. If love is to be the driving force behind our gift-giving, then money cannot be … but is that how we always act? We need to talk about that; we’re going to learn to spend less so we can…
GIVE MORE. If we can learn to spend less out of the wrong motivations, then maybe we can learn to give more out of the right ones. Spending less actually frees us up to give more … to what matters to God! One of the original Advent Conspiracy churches explained it this way: “Spending less gave us the resources to make a huge difference—and the greatest resource was the presence of Christ within us.” With that in mind, the next step we’ll talk about should make sense: once we get the money thing recalculated, then we’ll be free to…
WORSHIP FULLY. Once we get the ‘junk’ in our lives out of the way, we can then concentrate not on guilt or greed or what’s on sale at the mall … but on the Christ of Christmas. And, once our eyes are back on the Christ child, it will then be easier for us to—as God desires us to…
LOVE ALL. And, that’s what Christmas Eve is going to be all about—with a challenge to be a representative of Christ in this world we live in … in a tangible way!
As we progress through this season of Advent, you’re going to be challenged to do some things this Christmas that you’ve maybe never been challenged to do before. For some, it may simply be a stretching of what we believe to be right when it comes to our giving. How far do we go? Shouldn’t we take care of ourselves first? Well, you can think what you want to think, but let me tell you clearly what Jesus said in Acts 1: 8 (NLT),
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem (at home), throughout Judea (State of Wisconsin), in Samaria (Midwest), and to the ends of the earth (throughout ALL the world!).”
God’s love is usually bigger than what we think… Folks,
- Today, we enter into the story of Christmas, maybe as never before…
- Today, we begin to get back to the stable … and the manger…
- Today, we begin to move all the junk that stands between us and the stable out of the way, so that we can truly worship the Christ child once again…
Our knees need to be in the dirt beside that manger by Christmas Eve. Can we do that? That’s what Christmas is really all about. It’s not about us. It’s about him—Christ. It’s about his purposes for coming into this world. That’s what we need to get back to … that others might live! Now, folks, that’s a dream … worth dreaming!