John 1:1-10
Consumerism. This is the time of year for hyped up
Consumerism. Christmas, culturally divorced
from its origins as a Holy celebration of the incarnation, of God Emmanuel, God
with us, sharing with us, giving Gods very self to us to be with us, to live
with us, walk with us, and give to us the most valuable gift ever given; this
celebration of giving which our culture has not embraced, complete separated
from its sacred roots is nothing more than a great give-fest, a gift fest, a
purchasing frenzy. It is a celebration
of heightened consumerism wrapped in a pretty the wrapping, we call gifting,
and tied with the bow of altruism. It is a bent twisted, through the looking
glass imitation of what we, as adherents Christ’s faith.
In an
attempt to make our celebration of the incarnation, we are bucking the system,
we are pulling away from bent twisted version of what we feel is the heart of this
season. This is a season of giving, a
celebration of giving but a giving which reflects the greatest giver and the greatest
gift and not that which seems to be the consumeristic giving which is the
waters in which we must swim at this time of year.
Now
don’t get me wrong. Christianity is not
about NOT giving. We are challenging
each other this year to spend less, to think about what we are spending, and
why we are spending it. We are in out
attempt to break out of the consumerism which surrounds us to free ourselves
from the need to spend so much at this time of the year, to stop purchasing gifs
simple to purchase gifts, to not feel that the heart of the season is grounded
in our ability to spend.
But we are not calling for us all to stop giving. Giving is at the heart of we are as
Christians. We believe in giving and
calling for our people to be giving people. Give, give, give, after all, that
is what our world believes is all Churches care about. And in many ways that IS all we care
about. Christianity is a religion which
calls for its adherents to live lives of
giving, giving of all they are, over to God; giving to one another to help and
support, to encourage and love, to give back to the world around us, give to
the world out of the love which God has given to us. We are a religion of giving. In fact giving is one of the many ways in
which we express what it means to love God and love neighbor as we are called
to.
This month we have been exploring the different
themes of the Advent conspiracy. Thus far
we have explored what it means to Worship Fully, and Spend Less. This week we are exploring what it means to
Give More. God IS as giving God,
a God who gives Big, gives Personally and gives Valuably.
This is a short passage, it says a lot without
saying much at all.
What does this passage tell us about God?
In what ways is God giving in this passage?
What is God giving? How is God giving?
What or who is the light? What does it mean for a light to shine in the
darkness?
What does it mean for the darkness to overcome
light? What does it mean for light to
not be overcome by darkness?
What does this passage tell us about Christ?
Give Big – God gave of Godself, God gave the Son, God
gave Christ. Emmanuel!!! God with us
This is not about not giving, or just giving a
little bit. God gave big, if we truly believe
that the giving we give at this time of the year is a reflection of the giving
God who gave us Christ
Give Personally – God gave of Godself! This is not impersonal giving, this is not
purchasing a gift and then figuring out who to give it to, come on we have all
done it. This is thinking giving of ones’
very self. God gave that which was most
personal. Our giving should reflect
that. Our gifts should be personal, they
should cost US something, and often times, money is easily giving, easily spent
but giving a gift which costs US something of ourselves, of our time, is often
more valuable than anything on which we could spend money.
Give Valuably – Although Christ cost God much to give to
us. The giving of the Son changed the God
head forever it changed he nature of God in ways that we will perhaps never
know or truly understand. But what God
gave to us is valuable. Christ is worth much.
God thought about the gift given
to humanity, God did not just give us something, but God gave us exactly what
we needed, exactly that which would be most valuable to us. The gift of Christ holds value in the very
nature of what is given.
Our gifts, if they are truly a celebration and
reflection of the gift given to us should likewise be valuable. What we give should be valuable. They can cost us much without really costing
us anything. The very act of giving should
be thought out. What are we giving? Is
it valuable to me? Is it valuable to the
one receiving it? Where does it come
from? How did it get from where it began
to me? Do I care about who or how it was
made? Does that change its value? Think about your gifts, where they come from,
their value to you, their value to the receiver. A valuable gift takes all these things into
account and are given accordingly.
