We have come to the end of our Advent Conspiracy. Our first week we conspired to Worship Fully. Then we focused on Spend Less. And last week it was Give More. And now we finish with Love All.
At Christmas, one of the things that should distinguish a Christ-follower is a love that reaches out to the marginalized and forgotten. Such giving is an act of true worship. For Jesus this is personal. Read the Christmas story and remember that the Son of God chose to be born into a family that was struggling with poverty. Nobody expected the Messiah to be born in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem.
When God’s people serve in humble, generous ways, the story of Jesus is told again and again. The poor in our world will be touched by God through how we choose to celebrate Christmas. It all comes down to this. How can we love all this year?
Join us for Advent Conspiracy: Love All.
DYK?
In a matter of only six weeks, a ghost story was written that changed the world as we know it from that time on…On Dec 19, 1845, A Christmas Carol literally changed the fabric of society and Charles Dickens became the Father of Christmas. It was Dickens’ moral of “goodwill to all men” that became something of a blueprint for how Christmas is still celebrated over 170 years.
Mary said, “With all my heart I glorify the Lord! In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
Luke 1:46-47
PJ Pondering
The first week, we saw how for the people involved in the events of the first Christmas, it was all about worship fully, and expressing that worship by being obedient, expressing gratitude and adoration, and ultimately by giving Him the best that they had – not of their stuff but of themselves.
- How have you done?
- Have you used your Advent calendar or read the devotional?
- Have you found deeper ways to worship Christ more fully during this time of preparation?
- Have you savored each day of opportunities to prepare room in the manger of your lives?
PJ Pondering
The second week we saw how we have turned Christmas into a time of spending, to the tune of half a trillion dollars. And we talked about how it’s so easy for us to be pulled into this vortex of holiday shopping. We equate the cost of our gift, our debt, with the love we have for someone. But we discovered that our love is not measured by the monetary value of our gift. And so we considered spending less.
- Have you bought one less gift or gave some percentage of what you spend on yourself to those in need?
- Or tried drawing names in your family and buying gifts for that person?
- Or visited our Alternative Gift Table and gave donations in honor of family and friends to buy a chicken or cow or bees or a meal for the homeless or their favorite charity?
PJ Pondering
And that led us into what we talked about last week, giving more. And our goal is not becoming the Ebenezer Scrooge of our day. I do want you to give and receive gifts. I just want you to do it in an intentional and balanced way. To give what you can afford, to give gifts that are meaningful, and not just monetary. To give less presents but more presence.
Have you spent more time making and giving memories? And ultimately, we talked about how by spending less on meaningless gifts, we can spend more to meet real needs in our world of the poor, the marginalized, the needy. What is your plan to give more?
Visit adventconspiracy.org for ideas.
PJ Point
And that brings us right up to today… love all. Loving the people in our lives, loving the disadvantaged in our society, and loving the poor around the world. The business that Marley was talking about.
Let it Be Christmas
The church’s annual “Let It Be Christmas: The Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, George, and Ringo“ With Mary and Joseph singing The Beatles John Lennon’s song “Beautiful Boy” to baby Jesus.
This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:16
PJ Pondering
So what Does It Mean to Love Others?
First My love for others means I give of myself This is really what we’ve been talking about over the past couple weeks. Instead of giving meaningless gifts at Christmas time or any time of the year, how about giving of yourself?
But if a person has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need and that person doesn’t care—how can the love of God remain in him? Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth.
1 John 3:17-18
Santa gives out the first gift of Christmas and says This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas… …as am I. Just remember… …the true spirit of Christmas… …lies in your heart.
The Polar Express
PJ Point
Second, my love for others compels me to give sacrificially
The love that God had for us led Him to make the ultimate sacrifice…The love that God has for us cost God personally. God started by giving up the comforts of Heaven to be born as a Baby. And His sacrifice culminated when He died a very painful death on a cross, executed as a common criminal. That’s what it meant for Him to give sacrificially. And if God was willing to give so sacrificially because of God’s love for you and for me,can’t we give sacrificially for one another, too?
This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.
1 John 4:10
PJ Point
Third my love for others follows the example of Jesus
Those of us who consider ourselves to be Christ-followers…who look at the way that Jesus lived and who try to apply His teachings to our lives… well, love has to be part of the equation. Jesus loved others purely and freely,and if we’re going to follow Him, then we need to love, too. We need to do good and give of ourselves because that’s precisely what Jesus did.
PJ Point
Last my love for others is the evidence of the work of God in my life
Can you love others without the presence of God in your life? Sure you can. All people, even devout atheists, have the ability to express love and compassion toward others. But for the Christ-follower, our ability to love grows exponentially as our relationship with Him grows.
Dear friends, if God loved us this way, we also ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us.
1 John 4:11-12
Florida man pays 36 electric bills due to be turned off
What are you going to do this Christmas to make a difference in this world? How are you going to love all? Even beyond the circle of your own family and friends, how can you love all?
Electric bills like the man in Florida
or RIP Medical Debt where for every 100 dollars 10,000 is erased
or go to Walmart and pay off layaway
Final Point
One of my favorite poems at Christmas is “The Work of Christmas” composed by Howard Thurman, an African-American theologian, educator, and civil rights leader.
When the song of the angels is stilled,
Howard Thurman
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
As Marley said to Scrooge it is not too late. Worship Fully. Spend Less. Give More. Love All.Turn your Christmas upside down.
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