Jesus Followers,
Sometimes I feel like the joy of Christmas for
too many is getting through the rush to the manger, to see the baby. Like the shepherds, who’d been invited by the
angels, before going with all possible haste to find the baby wrapped in
swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
RUSH through the season to get to the end! …There should be more than this to Christmas,
don’t you think?
A few years ago, at the stewardship conference
I serve on the planning team for, one of the speakers presented a radical “new”
idea …have the stewardship campaign starting in January, rather than September
or October. The original idea came from
someone who recognized that the natural conclusion to the Christmas story is
gift-bearing. People still groaned.
When it was pointed out that most people
experience a “come to Jesus moment” when the Christmas euphoria wears off, and
it’s time to pay the credit card bills—someone saw an opportunity for the
Church to talk about another relationship to money that can be life-giving,
rather than life-sucking. Many still
doubted.
When it was suggested that most of us are
pre-conditioned to naturally consider our money in relation to our “contributions”
because of tax season, some thought a stewardship campaign before “tax day”
could be timely and helpful, and useful toward more “contributions.” And still, some saw only unwelcome
change.
When it was demonstrated that the church had
good things to say about money, and our relationship to money, and that money
empowers mission and ministry …it seemed a whole lot better to who a whole lot
more folks to start talking about money in the new year, rather than the old
year. But….
I don’t know that this presenter with bold
stewardship ideas actually got very far, even though the presentation was
compelling. Old habits are hard to break;
but this isn’t about giving money.
Instead, the “end” of Christmas isn’t simply that a baby was born, or
even THE baby was born. Rather,
Christmas should remind us all that there’s work to do now. Christmas joy and the incarnation should
invite us to live in bold, new, reimagined ways.
Jesus has arrived …in us. WE can now be God’s gift to the world, in the
form of Kingdom values and Kingdom living.
…Now that the baby is born (like when most other babies have been born) …the
real work begins! How are you doing,
Church?
If the reason for the season was Jesus—now’s
the time to get to work. Here’s how the
prophet Isaiah describes us:
" The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. "
We may be used to doing it another way. Christmas means …dare I say—“a new way.”
It is my privilege to remind you that Jesus
loves you. So do I. God wants the best
for us and is inviting us to fulfill our calling. Jesus is born, now he’s in us.
