When the original Advent Conspiracy churches got together to change Christmas in a very tangible way—to really live out their faith through the story of Christmas, they journeyed to Africa with a team from Living Water International—the non-profit organization who digs freshwater wells in places around the world that most of us don’t even know exist. The villages they work with are so far off the beaten path, some of that original team of Advent Conspiracy folks didn’t even know if they could reach these folks to see what was really going on in their lives. But, they eventually did…
When they finally got to one of the villages they’d be working with, they were greeted with open arms and beautiful smiles, which is typical from what I hear. They were led through the tall grasses to what they referred to as their ‘well.’ It sat next to a swamp that drained untold disease into the well water from which families from that village drew their water every day—water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, etc. They described it as a ‘stagnant, gray-green pool infested with insects.’ And they watched the women of the village come to get water and brush away the film that clung to the top of the water. You get the picture…
They knew what they wanted to do—to use their Christmas offerings that year to help dig them a safe well. And when that message of hope was delivered to the ‘elder’ of that village, his weathered face remained passive. He simply stared at them. (They wondered if their translator had mistakenly said the wrong thing!) But, when he asked the chief if he understood what this would mean for his people, his answer was unforgettable:
“Others have made promises in the name of this Jesus,
but they were never kept!”
In other words, he’d heard it all before … and to no avail. Here was a man whose hope had dried up and blown away because others had made promises in the name of Jesus that they’d never bothered to keep…
Somewhere along the line, this man and his village were probably ‘told the right things’ about Jesus—how God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, and so forth. Apparently, they’d been told by well-meaning Christians along the way that someone had noticed their struggle. But no one showed up. Nothing changed. Kids were still dying in their villages … and the name of Jesus ‘had been dragged through the mud.’
You know, it’s one thing to tell people that God loves them; it’s entirely another to be an active agent of God’s love. Sometimes we’re so focused on what happens to people after they die that we forget to pay attention to the life they’re now living. Jesus did both.
Folks, we’ve just been through a celebration of the first Advent (Coming of Jesus), but we—as believers in Christ—have a Second Advent to look forward to as well. And the reality of that Second Advent is spoken of in tonight’s scripture; please listen carefully…
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ 37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?
39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ 41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” – Matthew 25:31-46 (NLT)
In other words, it’s not enough just to tell the world that God loves them; we also need to be active agents of God’s love, too! WHAT WE DO WITH OUR LIVES—ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO CLAIM TO BE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST—REALLY DOES MATTER… Here’s the truth we all need to hear tonight: First…
JESUS IS THE HEART OF THE CHRISTMAS STORY… And, there’s no way around it: Jesus calls us to love & care for the poor! On that first Christmas over 2,000 years ago, God came to the poor. In other words, God came to each one of us. The Apostle Paul reminds us in this way (2 Cor. 8:9, MSG):
“You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.”
So, what does this mean exactly? Well, Jesus gave up the glory of heaven … to be born into a sin-scarred world! That glorious day in Bethlehem, every day of his earthly life, and even through the deadly pain that he experienced on the cross, Jesus became poor for our sake! He entered our poverty so that we would no longer be poor! He entered our pitiful existence so that this wouldn’t be all there was; because he gave up his status and all that went with heaven—even for 33 years of his earthly life, he did this so that we too could know what eternity was all about! Isn’t that something?
And, folks, please know that this was God’s doing; God loved us first … and sent the very best he had—his own Son—so that we might have his very best forever. That’s the gift of Christmas. For those of us who are poor (spiritually speaking—all of us), this is very good news. And, Jesus is the heart of this story…
Here’s a question for you tonight though: IS THIS STORY STILL RELEVANT IN OUR WORLD TODAY? Can Christmas still change the world, as it did over 2,000 yrs ago? If so, how can Christmas and the way we choose to celebrate it still make that kind of a difference?
As poor people who have met with the righteous wealth of God (the Christ of Christmas), it’s now our turn to model his generosity by sharing our wealth with those in need…
- Christmas is our chance to move closer to those in crisis, not further away…
- Christmas is our time to notice those who are normally ignored.
In short, it’s our turn to love as we have been loved! Folks, Jesus is the heart of the Christmas story! But…
NOW, IT’S OUR TURN TO KEEP THE CHRISTMAS STORY ALIVE (IN JESUS’ NAME)! We cannot allow the broken & vulnerable to become invisible! At Christmas time, one of the particular distinctions of a ‘Christ-follower’ is a love that reaches out to…
- The hungry…
- The thirsty…
- The sick…
- The imprisoned…
Such giving is a true act of worship! There’s a close connection between how we treat each other and how we treat God. Did you know that? As our scripture reminded us tonight, Jesus said that whatever we do for the least of his brothers & sisters, we do for him! God takes these acts of love (or the opposite) very personally… So, we cannot allow the broken & vulnerable to become invisible in this world!
And, here’s something else we need to keep in mind: When we show up & love in the name of Jesus, Jesus himself still shows up! That’s part of the mystery of partnering with Jesus in the work he is still doing in this ol’ world…
There was a morning news show that I was watching this week, where a Jesuit priest wrote a book claiming that ‘the war for Christmas’ has been lost. Folks, I beg to differ! Just imagine what would happen if thousands of churches joined together in telling the world about Jesus’ birth and actually lived out the story of his sacrificial love. By the way, these two things have to go hand-in-hand: telling the Good News … and living it out as Jesus’ disciples, loving others the way he loved us!
One way we can do this is to give out of our resources to help dig wells around the world. As I’ve mentioned throughout the season, there are people in this world who do not have clean drinking water … and people are dying, many of them children. They need clean water—YES! But, they also need to know the Living Water—the Christ of Christmas. We need to be concerned with both their life here & now, as well as their eternal life. And, both of these things can happen if we’ll partner with other churches in this effort…
Once again, our Christmas Eve offering this year will be going to Living Water International (LWI) to help dig wells around the world—to help supply clean water to those who have none … and save lives in the process. And, all of this will be done … in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who was born in Bethlehem many, many years ago. It’s all about … LOVING ALL—all whom God has called us to love: ‘the least of these’ … and ‘to the ends of the earth!’
Folks, as we close this time tonight, I just want to remind you of 2 ways that we can do our part and help keep the story of Christmas alive:
- We can give out of our resources to organizations like Living Water International who are committed to causes like solving the water crisis in 3rd world countries in particular…It’s all about how we LOVE ALL this Christmas—to make a real difference in this world for Christ…
- And, on the back of the sermon outline (insert), you have the Christmas Story from the Gospel of Luke in a very readable version of scripture. Take this home with you and use it with your family in creative ways. This is the Christmas Story … and Jesus truly is at the center… Let’s keep the story going in this way, too!
We are the ones who have been given this lavish gift of life with God, and now we are called to enter this broken world and love differently. And when we do folks, Christmas can still change the world…
LOVE ALL!
The Advent Conspiracy