Repost from Facebook Message to Legacy Student Ministry Group:
I have a few thoughts I'd like to share. I hope they are clear; I feel passionate about this, and when that is the case, and will sometimes leave things out or know what I'm trying to say but not express it properly.
I'm convinced more and more that the spirit of Christmas is really in loving and serving people. Jesus was born into an ordinary, perhaps relatively poor, family. Jesus was born in a feeding trough. In a barn. With his birth came a new law, where the greatest commandment is love in place of rules and regulations. At the height of his ministry, he was eating and hanging out with people who soaked up his love like a sponge. Often poor or otherwise unloved people. It is baffling, then, to think that the celebration of his arrival into our world is marked by gifts and largely, materialism.
Yuck.
I can think of at least a few better things to do to celebrate Christmas, some of which include volunteering. I know that not everyone is able to do the same things, has the same amount of time, or the same amount of money. But we are responsible for the choices that we make with the allotments we DO have.
A few ideas: drop change into those Salvation Army buckets. Be more considerate of people you come across and smile. Donate food. Or just take a little time to uncover a few volunteer opportunities. You may not have time or money to do as much as you want, or as much as someone else. Service cannot be a comparative thing; service is about the heart. Service is about love. Just like the parable about the 3 servants who were entrusted with different amounts of money, people are not identical and will not carry identical abilities. Do what you can with what you have. Strive to learn to love, and doing those things will pour out of you. But don't wait to learn to love to do them, because if you really want to learn, you will learn to love as you serve. And learn to serve as you love.
This is not (meant to be) a guilt trip. Just an encouragement to look outside yourself, look for needs, and follow our greatest commandment ( which is essentially love God and love others.)I have been learning a lot by looking at these ideas.
PS. If you're a female going to the brunch this Saturday, I'll be speaking more about what the arrival of Jesus means, and what we can do with that knowlege. I will also say that preparing to speak has given me a lot to think about.
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3 comments:
you're a speaker! That's awesome! I enjoyed reading your entry and am in awe that allthough we are far apart, we are studing and learning simalier things. Our community group is focusing on Justice and Mercy and are reading through a book you might enjoy: "Ministries of Mercy" by Tim Keller - it's been VERY challenging as it questions who, why, and how to serve as Chirst did. Great to see you blogging! miss ya
Speaking of justice and mercy, I just read a novel where the two main characters -- a deputy sheriff and a reformed thief now orphanage worker -- symbolize the relationship of justice and mercy. The book is called Stealing Jake.
I also illustrated a book called What Think Ye of Christmas, which helps us separate ourselves from the commercialism by recognizing symbols of Him everywhere.
Thank you for stopping by my blog today.
Oops, I got so caught up in the dialogue I forgot to tell you I loved (and completely agree with) your post.
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