Good morning saints of Sunrise! It is good to be here today
on this third Sunday of Advent. I am excited about this season, not just
because we are getting close to celebrating the birth of Jesus, but because of
the excitement that I am sensing from you! Your excitement about The Advent
Conspiracy is infectious and I thank you for that.
Now, before we get into this time of learning, let's go to
God in prayer. Pray with me.
[Prayer]
As you have heard, we are now in the third week of The
Advent Conspiracy. In this conspiracy, we are not only turning our
understanding of Christmas back onto its feet, but we are conspiring to change
the world in the name of Jesus.
But what about that word "conspire." It sounds not
only a bit edgy, but actually it just sounds wrong. Our English language has
deemed it to be primarily nefarious, but in our context for Advent, here is
what we are working to accomplish:
to work or act together towards the same result or
goal.
So,
over the course of this Advent season, we are conspiring, or working together
towards the same goal; that being to make this Christmas even more special as
it changes the world.
We conspire to do this
as we:
- Worship fully
- Spend Less
- Give More
- Love All
Now, last week, our focus was on spend less, of which we
considered the motives behind our gift-giving practices.
During this time, we engaged in some deep introspection as
to some possible reasons like
- being the social convention of what is "right and
proper"
- out of the sense of reciprocity
- the implication that the number of gifts and the amount we
spend somehow correlates to the depth of our love.
Of course, none of us want to think that any of these are
the primary factors in our giving gifts. But, when we stop and really look into
our motives, they may actually wield some influence on us.
Today, we are going to look into the next conspiracy step:
Give More. Now, that just doesn't seem possible does it? How can I spend less but then, give more? This seems to be oxymoronic.
Well, to get a better understanding of this dilemma, just like last week, we
need to look at the motive behind the giving.
Let me ask you, what are some of the gifts you have received
that were...less than impressive?
[Allow responses]
We all have received some of those kinds of gifts. For me,
one that stands out was this
Now,
friends, I tried my best to act pleasantly surprised. My mind began to race
with what was the intent of this gift. Was it out of reciprocity? No, I had not
given anything, yet. Was it an expression of the depth of her feeling for me? I
hope not! Was it out of social convention of being the right and proper thing
to do? Well, probably so, at least I hope so.
Now, what are some of the gifts that you have received that
are priceless to you (and I am not referring to monetary value)?
[Allow responses]
What made these gifts so valuable to you? Was it the actual
value? No. It was because you knew that the gift was a token, or a visible sign
of that giver's love.
Let's look how this sentiment is played out in the Bible. We
will be looking at a portion of how the evangelist John told his rendition of
the birth narrative of Jesus.
John 1.1-4, 14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. 2 He
was in the beginning with God. 3
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into
being. What has come into being 4 in
him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and
we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full
of grace and truth.
Now these are just six verses out of the larger section of
eighteen verses. The first thirteen verses sets out to establish who God is and
who Jesus (known here as the Word) is in relation to God. As wee see, John does
not show that there is any real distinction, that Jesus and God are one in the
same. It also solidifies for us that God is the Giver of all things - nothing
has come into being except through the gracious hands of God. So, once again,
we see that God is the Giver.
But once we get to verse 14, something amazing happens with
this concept of God being the Giver. In this verse, we see that the Giver becomes the Gift! That which is now becomes!
Now think about the ramifications that would come about if
we followed this model of gift-giving. What would happen if we became so
intentional about our gifts that we became
the gifts? It would definitely transform our understanding of why we give...and
for the recipient, it would alter their attitude in their receiving of the
gift.
So, the question that immediately comes to mind for many
would probably be,
"How can I become my gift?"
Well, to be honest, I can't tell you that. There is no
cookie-cutter answer that will fit each situation. To become the gift means you
will need to recognize the needs of each recipient...and everybody's needs are
different.
Now, I know that you can think of someone and say,
"That person has everything. They don't really need anything."
Friends, let me tell you the honest truth here - everybody has needs; everybody
needs something. The real gift that we can give is to find out what they need
and then be the gift to fill that need.
Everybody has a need. Sometimes it's to be listened to or
understood.
You see, we don't have to spend a lot of money or buy a lot
of presents to show our love. We just need to be intentional and put our heart
in the gifts. That's how we can give more and make this Christmas even more
special as it changes the world.
While the band comes up, let's take a few moments to share
with each other, some thoughts that you might be having about how you can give
more by becoming your gift.
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