Sermon Title: Spend Less 12.6.15

Spend Less (12.6.15) 1

First reading Luke 1:46-49

46And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49for the Mighty One has done great thingsfor me—
holy is his name.

Second reading: Luke 2:1-20

In those days Caesar Augustusissued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.2(This was the first census that took place while[a]Quirinius was governor of Syria.)3And everyone went to their own town to register.

4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehemthe town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to himand was expecting a child.6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.9An angelof the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.11Today in the town of David a Saviorhas been born to you; he is the Messiah,the Lord.12This will be a signto you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peaceto those on whom his favor rests.”

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising Godfor all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

When I think about over the top Christmas celebrations, I automatically think Griswold Christmas. Who's with me?
Starting with the ridiculously large tree, that reminds me a lot of the trees we got growing up, to the 25,000 Italian imported twinkle lights, to cramming the whole extended family into their home, the main character Clark, does everything he can to make this a good old fashion family Christmas. As the movie goes on, everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. The lights do not work causing him to go into a rage against the plastic Santa reindeer display in his yard. After they finally start working, his tree goes up in flames. Being resourceful, he cuts one out of his yard, on Christmas Eve. Only to discover a squirrel in it causing a dog verses squirrel chase that ruins his house. To top it all off, the cash Clark was counting on in his Christmas bonus turns out to be a subscription to the jelly of the month club. The gift, as cousin Eddie says, that keeps on giving all year!It seems the more Clark puts in to this good old fashion family Christmas the less he and his family to get out of it.
After his rant over the 'bonus' the family starts leaving. Ellen, Clark's wife, says it might be best if everyone leaves, before things get worse. Clark'sresponse, "how could it get any worse, look around you Ellen, we are at the threshold of hell!" All in an attempt to get that Norman Rockwell old fashioned family Christmas so many crave, but few experience. While we may not rant as famously as Clark W. Griswold, how often do we put more into the celebration of Christmas just to get less out of it?! This morning we are continuing our series entitled Advent Conspiracy. Last week we talked about jumping into this conspiracy movement by worshiping Christ fully. We are continuing by recognizing that, often, the more time, money and energy we put into our Christmas the less we to get out of it.
Rather than take the culture's solution to this problem of just spending more, we are going to search for an answer in light of the first Christmas. Mary and the shepherds, who had so much less than us,got so much more out of that first Christmas. So how can we get more out of Christmas by spending less? The answers this morning all begin with the letter 't' to help with memory. First how can we spend less to get more of our treasures? Next, how can we spend less to get more out of our time? Finally, how can we spend less to get more out of the talents we have?
When considering the use of our treasures and spending less there are at least two very important questions. First, what is it that we truly treasure? Second how do we use the finical treasures we have?
Toward the end of chapter 1 and the very beginning of chapter two, Luke sets forth a contrast between the powerful Caesar Augustusissuing a decree that a census be taken and the seemingly powerless Mary and the shepherds. It is almost as if Luke is showing us what Cesar treasures, how big is my kingdom, how much stuff and people do I have under my control. I think our modern culture encourages this kind of thinking through consumerism. Think about the typical commercial. We are no longer being sold things, but an experience, an emotion, happiness and control over our lives. If you are not happy just spend more, add more to your kingdom! Then when you get the biggest plasma TV, the highest tech gadgets around it, and the nicest furniture around it, then you will be fulfilled in your little kingdom!
To know what we treasure think about what we consider blessings. For Cesar it was counting the greatness of his kingdom. Then, go and look at Mary. Her now famous song begins with her exclaiming "My soul magnifies the Lord." Cesar was a miser, counting all of his stuff, whereas Mary magnifies. The impotent gods of this world encourage us to be miserly, never having enough always wanting more, whereas the God who humbled Himself by taking on humanity encourages us to magnify His love and glory.
This miserly attitude pushes us toward a scarcity mindset, never having enough. Magnifying the Lord, on the other hand, drives us to an attitude of abundance, realizing that God will abundantly bless us if we would just realize what true blessings are. In terms of worldly treasures who looked more blessed, Cesar, counting the riches of his kingdom, or the unwed, poor teen mom, Mary? From the outside, Cesar looked more blessed, but Mary is absolutely correct when singing "From now on all generations will call me blessed" because she received, not material blessings that constantly demand more but give less, but the blessing of being used by God, that is what Mary truly treasured. That blessing will compel us to spend less on material things so that we can be used by Him more!
So what does it look like for us to treasure material things less in order to treasure being used by God more?
For one thing, it does not mean not getting gifts for people. Instead, it means being more intentional and relational in our giving. Instead of getting a mountain of shiny plastic games and trinkets that will not last,seek out those things that the recipient will truly treasure.
Second, it really helps us to recognize, in our hearts, the difference between wants and needs. If we listen to advertisers we would be led to believe that wearing clothes that are 'so six months ago' will kill us just as surely as starving to death! That we will wither up and die if we do not have the newest vehicle with all the gismos that one could imagine, and the list could go on. The way they can do this is by not selling us products but emotions, experiences, and status. In a way, these things become transcendent because they are promising us a transcendent good. If you think I'm crazy the next time you watch an advertisement ask the question, what transcendent good are they promising me if I buy their product. The reality is that all material things will disappoint if we look for a transcendent or even magical experience from them!
In spending less of our finical and emotional energy on material treasures we will have more to be used by God so He may be magnified through us. The question naturally comes up, how much. How much less should we spend on materialistic things so that we can give more to those in need? That's a hard question for a lot of reasons. One is that we all have different circumstances. Different incomes, different amounts of dependants, the list could go on. C.S. Lewis was hesitant to give a rigid formula for this reason. However, he gives us good guiding principles in this quote:
“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”
So are we spending enough less on material treasures for ourselves to give away more to make it pinch? Part of the struggle of spending less on material treasures is a trust issue. Do we really trust that it is more blessed to be used by God than to chase after the emotional dividends that material treasures promise? When I word it like that it seems so obvious doesn't it? The reason it is so hard for us, for me anyway, to hold on to this truth is that once we leave these walls everything around us will tell us the opposite. Don't spend less spend more! We have to be willing to look like Mary. She had to look a little odd to the rest of the world. Saying I'm so blessed when it looked like she, Joseph, and the new born Jesus were in a tough spot. Instead of magnifying the difficulties that lay ahead of them she magnified the Lord, and His plan for their lives.
In that magnification, how do we spend less time on things that are unimportant so that more time can be made for treasure that will truly last?
Time is a funny thing. I am, by nature, an early person, who's with me? I agreed with my football coach who said that if you are five minutes early you are on time, if you are on time you are late, and if you are five minutes late you are left behind. I agreed with that until, I had children! Through having children, the Lord is teaching me to have patience with folks who are not typically on time. The amazing thing about God is that He is never early, nor is He ever late, He is always right on time! In Galatians, Paul reminds us that Jesus came into the world in the fullness of time, not before or after, at the perfect time to fulfill God's purpose. God will give us the time we need to fulfill His calling on our lives.
With that in mind, we come into Luke chapter 2. In the fullness of time, God calls us to be patient, and to act when He calls us. In terms of patience, it was 400 years from the writing of the last book of the Old Testament until the birth of Christ. I get impatient when a webpage doesn't load in 30 seconds, talk about patience! What are those things that God is calling us to spend less time on, perhaps things like 25,000Italian twinkle lights. Spending less time on that so that we can spend more time building relationships that matter, and being attentive to God's purposes for our lives.
So after 400 years God acts, by appearing to who, the rich and famous, no! Instead He sends His angels to deliver this amazing message to despised, homeless, shepherds. When we spend less time worrying about those things that are not of eternal significance, we have more time to realize that when God acts it is among what seems like the most unlikely people at the most unlikely times. Here the angle gives the shepherds historic world changing news "that will cause great joy for all the people.Today in the town of David a Saviorhas been born to you; he is the Messiah,the Lord." In other words, the wait is over, the One who is going to ransom us from sin, and death is finally here.
So what do they do with this news? Do they form a committee, to discuss their possible responses? No, Luke tells us that they hurried off to find Mary, Joseph and the baby. In the same way, God does not want us to spend less time on those things that are unimportant, so that we can just sit around. Instead we spend less time those things that are not of eternal significance so that we can be ready and responsive to God's call on our lives. This Advent season and beyond, what is God calling you and I to do? What are those opportunities in our personal lives and in the life of the church that God is calling us to proclaim the good news to all people? The good news that God has come to earth to save us, that we do not have to live in sin, pain, and death any more. Instead, one has been Born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth!
When considering the majesty and importance of this message, it can be intimidating. Perhaps we are willing to spend less on material treasures, and less time on those things that are not eternally significant. But we think I don't have the talent, the ability, to carry such an important and eternal message.
We need to spend less time worrying about our own talents and abilities and more in opening ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit's work within us. When looking at fact that, uneducated, poor, homeless, and, by the world's standards, despised shepherds are the first ones to announce Christ's birth we are reminded of an often repeated truth. God does not call the equipped but He equips the called!
These shepherds had nothing but their mouths to communicate this great news. God accepted their offering because they were willing to give what they had to the glory of God! So what treasure, time, and talent is God calling us to give over to Him so that it may be used for His glory and the redemption of the world?
The reason more Griswold-esk efforts to attain that impossible Christmas ideal we see in Rockwell paintings gives us less, is because our focus is wrong, less is more!
We need to spend less of our monetary treasures on things that will not satisfy so that more can be used to help others. We need to spend less time on chasing after the 'perfect Christmas' so more time can be spent waiting on the Lord and acting when He shows up. Finally, we need worry less about our own talents and abilities so the work of the Holy Spirit can be more evident in our lives. The Holy Spirit enabling us to be as those shepherds who proclaimed the good news that to us a Son has been given. An offspring of a virgin's womb has come into this world who is fully God and fully human. He has come to reconcile God and sinners, give the dead new birth, in short, He has come for the redemption of the world!
Let us pray: Lord help us to spend less on that which distracts us so that more of you may be evident in our lives.
Receive this blessing and benediction: Let us go forth spending less on all those things that will not satisfy. Less on those things so that more of Christ's life may be known to us and through us!