ADVENT CONSPIRACY: SPEND LESS
Philippians 4:10-19
Big Idea: Spending less means spending differently; it lets us focus on gifts that meet needs, and are meaningful, and memorable.
Supporting Scripture:
• Reading from the Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-4
• Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 126:1-6
• Reading from the Epistles: Philippians 4:10-19
• Reading from the Gospels: Luke 3:1-6
INTRO:
SPENDING MORE AND GIVING LESS
OR
SPENDING LESS AND GIVING MORE
Do you know what the nation’s fastest growing religion is? It’s not Islam or Christianity. The symbol of this rising faith is not the crescent or the cross, but a dollar sign. You see, there is an expanding belief system in radical consumerism. It promises transcendence, power, pleasure, and fulfillment. It promises to solve the problems in our society and national economic dilemma even as it demands complete devotion. I’m afraid that many American Christians have incorporated this devotion to consumerism into their Christian faith. The consumer culture we live in claims that the material things we want will elevate us above our current circumstances.
The headlines that scream at us are crazy. The luxury cars with big bows, the newest smart phones and tablets, the exotic trips … they all have one thing in common … they promise you happiness … AT A PRICE!
Here’s the deal. At the very heart of consumerism is dissatisfaction and discontentment. Check out this quote: “We are constantly searching for the one thing that will satisfy us. Yet each time we trust the promises of our possessions, more barriers are raised between our true selves and God’s plain command to love [Him] above all things. It’s not that we necessarily want more – it’s that what we want is something we can’t buy.” (From “Advent Conspiracy,” page 24).
It’s like we are searching for God and have settled for stuff instead.
• CNN Money reports that Black Friday spending was at a record high this year. It was up 13% from the previous record. Not only were more shoppers out but individual shoppers spent more this year than any other year as well (http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/25/pf/black-friday-sales/index.html).
• Reuters wire said: “Consumer spending rose solidly in September, putting the economy on a firmer footing heading into the fourth quarter even though households had to pull back on saving to fund purchases” (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/29/us-usa-economy-spending-idUSBRE89S0K420121029).
We have looked to the immediate as our basis for happiness and well-being. Consumerism has become a god in America. In the midst of our consumer culture, the words of Christ from Luke 12:15 should cause us to pause: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Seriously, if you’re not happy without something; you won’t be happy with it either. Eric Hoffer said, “You can never get enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.”
In Isaiah 55:2 God wonders why we don’t come to Him … why we persist in pursuing those things that were never designed to satisfy: “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”
In the midst of all the clamoring for you to buy more, we need a fresh look at the Christmas story to see both the simplicity of the Savior’s birth and the extravagance of the Almighty who gave His Son as the ultimate gift of all. Listen to these familiar words found in Luke 2:7: “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Rick McKinley urges us to take a fresh look at the original Christmas story because “the story has been bought and sold and marketed and commercialized for hundreds of years. Yet the story remains deeper and more meaningful than most of us often realize…Why would God do that? The answer can help us go from life-absorbing shopping lists this Christmas to life-altering significance. When Jesus came to us, He came in simplicity to a humble couple who had very little money. So the true meaning of Christmas has never been about stuff; it has always been about Him. … How strange and sad it is that debt and consumerism reach their pinnacle on the morning we celebrate the birth of Jesus – the Savior who came to liberate us from these things.”
Maybe you are ready to join the ranks of many Christians and say “Enough!” That’s a healthy start. The Advent season needs the Gospel simply proclaimed and the work of Jesus simply done…our return to the simplicity of the Gospel is a necessity…the Gospel never needed tinsel to look good anyway.
How we approach the Gospel during this season will go far in influencing how we practice the holiday. Instead of looking at the hollow promises of consumerism why not seek a fresh look (and visitation) from God? It will alter the whole season and transform it from a holiday into a Holy Day.
The Advent Conspiracy theme today is “spending less” and next week we look at “giving more.” These two go together. Both this week and next I will be blurring the lines between them and addressing both issues.
The Apostle Paul can help us with this. He seems to have found the right balance between giving and receiving gifts within a framework of faith. Listen to Philippians 4:10-19.
PHILIPPIANS 4:10-19
10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
I think Paul’s testimony highlights three important principles for spending and giving gifts. Vickie and I are trying to apply these to our gift giving and, so far, they have worked. We have discovered that by doing so both the receiver and the giver find the experience to be more satisfying. These three tips for gift giving are helping us turn the holiday into a Holy Day.
TIP #1: LET THE GIFTS YOU GIVE MEET A NEED (V. 16).
Paul said, “For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.”
You can sense the gratitude in Paul’s words can’t you? He was in prison and dependent on others. The gifts they brought him were just the right thing. The gifts were tailor made for him and his situation.
Maybe you have sensed the satisfaction that comes with giving (or receiving) a gift that actually solved a problem and met a need. The sense of joy and gratefulness in the eye of the receiver is obvious and you leave knowing you have genuinely blessed someone … and God has blessed you in the process (19).
TIP #2: LET THE GIFTS YOU GIVE BE MEMORABLE (V. 16).
Paul said, “For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.”
I would be less than honest of I did not say that I want the gifts I give to be not only meet a need but to also be memorable. Paul remembered the gifts of the Philippians – they made an imprint on him. I want mine to do the same to those I give them to.
I suspect that every one of us can think back to a handful of gifts that we have received that really impacted us. I suspect that many of those gifts were not high end price wise either. There was something personal – there was an emotional investment by the giver that made the memory. It is impossible to accomplish that with every gift we give but I do think that seeking to do so enriches the gift giving for everyone involved.
Do you remember the story I told you last year about the missionary teacher?
A little boy at a missionary school gave his teacher a Christmas gift. The school and village were located miles and miles from the coast yet the boy’s gift was a sea shell. The teacher knew he had to travel many hours by foot to get this particular shell.
The teacher’s initial response to the gift was “OH! You shouldn’t have gotten me this beautiful shell. You had to walk too far to get it!”
The little boy’s response was, “The long walk was part of the gift.”
Gifts that are memorable are gifts that come from the heart not just some object checked off of a shopping list. They need not be expensive – just sincere.
And that leads me to my final point …
TIP #3: LET THE GIFTS YOU GIVE BE MEANINGFUL (V. 18).
Paul said, “I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.”
Paul knew that the gift’s given him were given with love not from obligation. They were given sacrificially too.
Sacrificial gifts show:
• You are invested
• You are giving yourself
• You are taking a demotion and blessing the recipient
Stop with the obligatory gift giving that consumerism has imposed on you. They have successfully made us feel guilty if we do not give extravagantly and universally. Rather, seek to give gifts that are from the heart – that are meaningful. Give gifts that show the receiver that the person means something to you, the giver. And give gifts to which at the receiver can readily assign meaning.
Let me share with you how NOT to do it. I have a friend who actually gave his wife a wiring harness for their Dodge Durango as a gift. That way they could pull the boat to the lake on weekends during the summer. Well, the gift was certainly one that was meaningful to him … but it failed the second part … it had no sense of meaning whatsoever to her.
I have another friend who did it right. He gave his wife an airline ticket to go see her aging mother. She was scheduled to go see her in late spring anyway but now she could see her mom twice within a few months. This was a gift that was sure to create memories; it showed the husband understood his wife’s (and mother-in-law’s) needs, and it could not have been more meaningful to a daughter who longed to see her mom in the sunset of her life.
WRAP-UP
Vickie and I went on a quest this year for the “perfect” Christmas gift for each of our kids and parents. This started while we were travelling on Sabbatical in July and August. For some it was easier than for others; but the objective was to not just give everyone something of equivalent monetary value – it was to give everyone something of equivalent worth. We looked for gifts that said “That’s X!” And we made a list and when the time came to purchase gifts those are where we started. Some of those gifts were very simple –others were a bit more involved. But we think they will all be meaningful and appreciated. They are all designed to show the loved one in question that we understand who they are; that they are important to us, and that we want to bless them.
For the most part we feel successful. We think the gifts we have given this year will:
• Meet a Need
• Be Memorable
• Be Meaningful.
Gift giving is an ideal way to show someone they are valuable to you. It’s a holy thing to do … God Himself is a perfect example of One who gives gifts that (i) Meet Needs, (ii) are Memorable and (iii) are Meaningful.
Turning the holiday into a Holy Day does not require you to be a sour puss and spending less does not require you to be stingy. In fact if the holiday is to be a Holy Day you cannot be either. What it does do it give you an opportunity to spend and give differently.
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Special note: The idea for this series and some content comes from a book by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, and Greg Holder called, “Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?”
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
