Advent Sunday #2
“Spend Less – The Story Our Money Tells”
Last week we opened our hearts to the idea that we could go deeper in our worship, not only at Christmas but hopefully throughout the year. We talked about putting Jesus back into the reason for the season, and back into our lives every day. Christ came to earth to provide us with a tangible way to get closer to Him and the season of Advent offers us an opportunity to focus on placing Christ in our lives more each day, than the day before.
Today we are going to focus on an aspect of Christmas which America has created with its focus on consumerism,
which has turned Christmas into a season of excess.
Let’s face it, wherever you go, you are faced with the, “get this, buy that, can’t live without one of these, life will be better if you have this,” culture.
The cultural norm, in America, is to make others, and yourself, happy, by purchasing the newest and the greatest “whatever.” Unfortunately, this concept has been around since Jesus’ day. During Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount He said, (Matthew 6:19-24)
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
“You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.
This statement makes me think that money
and the ability to be ruled by it
has been around a long time.
So the battle we have today of making sure we keep money in its proper place in our lives is real.
We need to recognize this battle, all year long, not just during the Christmas holidays when it tends to rear its ugly head higher so we can recognize it.
An answer I hear to this dilemma is, “to spend less.”
That suggestion seems ambiguous to me.
“Spend less.”
Compared to what?
Last year?
My neighbor?
Spend less than the average American, who according to ABC News, will spend between $700-$1000, this year on Christmas.
What I think we need to do, is to be willing to ask ourselves important questions and then be ready to engage in the emerging tension that will occur.
Such as,
How much is too much?
How can you tell when you have too much?
Who determines what you “need”?
Where is the line between excessive wealth and simplicity?
Realistically, it is all relative. There are those who have more than you do and those who have less.
Nearly all of us in this room, has too much.
Now that we have established that we have more than we need, the next area we need to consider is how we balance our desires, with the needs of our community and the rest of the world. We are going to make purchases, but do we research our purchases to make sure we are supporting businesses that treat their employees well or advocate for causes that we believe in?
How about the way in which the product is advertised?
Is sex appeal being used to sell the product?
Example of Mariah Carey promoting Christmas tunes on YouTube.
Spending less does not mean spending nothing.
Actually, at times, it may mean, spending more.
For example, a while back a friend of mine’s sister made a trip to Calcutta, India and met up with a woman who was establishing a new industry geared especially towards helping women who needed a way to get out of the sex trade industry. Their focus was to empower women to live in freedom from sex-slavery through safe, sustainable living-wage employment. They created a company that made “Punjammies.” That Christmas I bought every woman in my family a pair of “Punjammies” for Christmas. Did they need another pair of pajamas? I don’t know, I doubt it.
But the women who were making the pajamas needed someone to buy them. You see, there are times when we may be called to spend more.
Please don’t hear me state that “capitalism” is the problem. Regardless of the type of economic system we live under, we are called to spend compassionately and responsibly. Although, I do believe that today, in America, we have created a unique problem.
Capitalism has bonded with Western individualism, and we have a catastrophe.
Here’s what it looks like:
every person becomes a society of one So much for the idea of a nation of liberty and freedom Personal profit and convenience is placed above all else We live in a culture where, “As long as it is “good” for me, I choose not to consider the effect of my choices on others.”
The irony of this statement is that rarely will it be “good for me,” as we unwittingly contribute to the problems. And some of these choices are definitely not “good” for others.
The result of this irony is sadness, which reaches its pinnacle on the very morning we should be celebrating the birth of Jesus – the Savior who came to liberate us from bondage – we are trapped in our debt and consumerism. When we give gifts without the regard to “the least of these,” it reflects a brand of capitalism gone wrong. Which then results in all of us losing.
Julie and Emily read to us the way God wants us to approach life and finances, let me read that same passage from The Message, 2 Corinthians 8:10-15
So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale.
Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it.
Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t.
The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out.
No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even. As it is written,
Nothing left over to the one with the most,
Nothing lacking to the one with the least.
That is the epitome of the Christmas story.
Christ himself had nothing left over,
although He had the most.
We, who had nothing,
after the birth of Christ,
lack nothing.
May this be our example.
Let’s pray.
Advent #2: Spend Less
“Spending less does not mean spending nothing. Rather, we strive to thoughtfully evaluate what we support with our spending, and we allow our spending to support products, people, and causes that are worthy of being supported.” Based on Chapter 4 – “Advent Conspiracy”
1. The authors suggest that the fastest growing religion in the world is consumerism. In what ways do you get caught up in the distraction of “needing more”?
2. Consider all the holiday advertisements you’re exposed to. How can you become more aware and less susceptible to messages that say our lives are lacking something?
3. Read Matthew 6:19-24. What does it mean to store treasures in heaven?
4. How is spending during the Christmas season a reflection of our heart?
5. What are some ways that you can use Advent Conspiracy as an opportunity to teach your family and friends about contentment?
This is the heart of the Advent Conspiracy. More than just an invitation to say no to overspending, it’s an invitation to a new way of celebrating Christmas.
