Advent Conspiracy: Spend Less Jeff Jones, Senior Pastor December 4/6, 2009 Proverbs 30:7-9 Today we continue the Advent Conspiracy, where we are doing Christmas this year a little differently and much more meaningfully. Today s challenge is to spend less, which doesn t sound fun at all, does it? By saying, spend less at Christmas, I might sound like Scrooge with his bah humbug or the Grinch Who Stole Christmas trying to ruin Christmas for all the whos in whoville. After all, we are a more-is-better culture, not a less is better culture when it comes to most things. But not everything. We ll do a little test, and I want everyone to play (epoch). In this bag I have items that represent various elements of life where either more is better or less is better. Let s start out easy. This is a 1040 form, representing taxes. More or less better here? Next is also fairly easy. Chocolate. No brainer there. Here s a wedding ring, which doesn t represent more spouses. One is enough there. But for married people there is a God-designed activity, let s name it: sex. More or less? Let s see what s next. Flu medicine, representing flu. More or less? These are too easy. Ah, here s something. Acne wash. Pimples more or less? Again, too easy. These next two are a little tougher. A present, something we all enjoy at Christmas time. More or less? Or this last one, which again seems like a no-brainer. Money. More or less? Certainly, we d assume more is better with money, and why not? If I had to choose poverty or abundance, I d choose abundance 100% of the time. But today we are going to put this to the biblical test, to see that abundance has its own challenges. It s probably not a big stretch to assume it just might be possible that American culture is a little out of whack when it comes to the more is better thing with money, that maybe, just maybe, we could use some recalibration on our view of how much is really enough which we ll apply to how we do Christmas as well. Today s message might actually be the most important message I ve given all year at least for those who want to be godly. To start out the recalibration process, let s turn in our Bibles to Proverbs 30, at a profound little prayer from a guy named Agur. About 10 years ago, if you were a Christfollower at the time, you might have been caught up in another prayer in the Bible, the prayer of Jabez. Someone wrote this book called the Prayer of Jabez, this little obscure prayer in the Old Testament from this obscure guy named Jabez who prayed for God to expand his borders and Americans ate that one up. It was a more-is-better prayer. God, give me more. We re all about more, so the book sold millions and millions of copies. This prayer is quite different, and if someone wrote a book called The Prayer of Agur, it would sell about two copies, but this is actually the prayer we Americans need to hear. Let s read it, starting in Proverbs 30:7-9 1
Two things I ask of you, O Lord, do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, Who is the Lord? Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. A profound prayer, isn t it? Lord, give me just the right amount of money, not too much and not too little. Now, we can all relate to too little being a problem. And there may be times in life where we have too little. Some of you are out of work right now, and that s a scary and difficult time. I know because I ve been there, and those were the longest months of my life. My prayer for you is that God will provide so that you will not have too little, and in the meantime know a couple of things. One, it won t last forever. It really won t. And two, this time has the potential to recalibrate your life in terms of what is really important in ways nothing else will. If you take the opportunity of a difficult experience, you will look back on this one day not yet but one day, and realize that the worst of times are also the best of times. For now, hang on, and trust the God who promises to provide. We might relate to too little, but how about too much? He asks God not to give him too much, because too much would be a problem. The question is why? Could too much really be a problem? That s a great question, because most people in our culture as we ve talked about recently are in the top 4-5 percent of the world s wealthy. If anyone has the challenge of too much, it is us. You may not feel like you have abundance, but almost all of us are in the people who have too much category. So, we need to understand this. How could too much be a problem? Too much is only a problem for those who want to be godly. The Bible is very consistent on this, as we see here in this prayer: It is hard for a rich person to be godly. That s important, because by biblical standards someone who is rich is someone who has more than is necessary to survive. Almost everyone listening today is rich, and we must understand: It is hard for a rich person to be godly. You may be familiar with Jesus statement about this to a rich guy who initially wanted to follow Christ, but decides not to because he is unwilling to simplify his lifestyle. Jesus looks at this guy and says, Luke 18:24b-25 How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. A camel going through the eye of a needle is not easy. I can t even get thread through the eye of a 2
needle; I get frustrated and give up but a camel? Jesus was making the point: It s hard for a rich person to be godly. Another time Jesus tells this story about a guy who is rich, and he keeps expanding his farming business, and one year has this huge crop yield. He s already got too much, so much that his barns are already full. So, he says to himself, I know what I ll do! I ll build bigger barns so I can store more grain and buy more stuff! Again, more is better. So, he does, and he thinks to himself, Now, I ve got so much that I ll never want for anything. I can take it easy. And then God enters into the story, Luke 12:20-21 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." This story is called the story of the rich fool. He was a fool not because he wasn t smart. He was very smart, and those smarts helped him gain lots of wealth. He was a fool because he allowed wealth to make him a fool. He assumed the extra was for himself, so he hoarded it rather than gave it. He lost perspective. Too much can do that to the smartest of people. Again, we see: It s hard for a rich person to be godly. In advent conspiracy, we are considering advent, the coming of the Messiah, the birth of Christ. We all know that part of the story is that God chose a poor family, Joseph and Mary, to raise Jesus. Why a poor family and not a wealthy family to raise the King of Kings? Probably multiple reasons, including the fact that God identifies most with the poor. But I think it has much more to do with what we read in Luke 2:52 about how Jesus grew up to become the person he needed to be: And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Now, I don t understand how the incarnation worked, how Jesus being God took on humanity in such a way that he had to grow up in wisdom and stature and godliness. I don t get that, but he did. God has him grow up in a poor family, not destitute family, they had just enough. They were living the prayer of Agur. They had daily bread, but not much more. And God knew that was the best situation for Jesus to grow up in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man. Because God knows this fact: It s hard for a rich person to be godly. It s not impossible, but it is hard. Since most of us are in the biblical category of rich, meaning we have more than just our daily bread, our most basic needs covered, this is a tough reality at least if we want to be godly. If we want to be godly, if we want our lives to matter for eternity, if we want to find the real life Jesus came to bring then 3
having more than enough, having extra is a bit of a problem. It makes being godly harder, not easier. Because of this, Paul writes Timothy about how to be a pastor to the rich people in his congregation. He does call wealth a blessing from God, in 1 Timothy 6:17, not a curse. Yet, wealth comes with huge difficulties for those who want to be godly. So, he says in 1 Timothy 6:8-10c But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith. Notice it isn t automatic. You can be rich and not fall into these traps, but wealth and the desire for more wealth comes with it s own traps. He s just saying that it s hard for a rich person to be godly. But not impossible. So, in the spirit of 1 Timothy 6, for those who want to be godly and yet also happen to have more than enough, today I want to expose the traps and temptations of too much. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Right now, coaches (SEC or Cowboys vs Giants) are studying game films, to be ready for what they will face. Since we happen to face life in a culture where we have the challenge of too much, let s know what the traps are and design some plays to avoid them. 1) The Trap of Distraction The first trap is the trap of distraction. Money and the desire for more of it, is a huge distraction to spiritual growth. In Luke 8:14 Jesus is telling this story about why people don t grow spiritually, why the seeds of spiritual growth don t go anywhere. For one group, he says, The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature. They don t mature because they are so distracted by their stuff, and the pursuit of more stuff. And it is certainly true that many of the godliest people I know are in places like Ethiopia where the distraction of wealth is not an issue. That s why we are working to do all we can to help them make a living wage, but not export a western lifestyle of over-abundance. That would be the worst thing we could do for them. They are happier and more godly than we are. 2) The Trap of Arrogance 4
The more we have the better we feel about ourselves. Stuff is a measuring rod of self worth in our culture. And the more we have, the less we need God. That was Agur s concern. He prayed that God wouldn t give him too much so that he disowns God. Why would he disown God? Because he doesn t need him. The more we have the less we depend on God. Last week we all saw a video at the beginning of the service, and in there was a common biblical phrase, Shout to the Lord! as an expression of joy. And I read that and thought, I m not a shouter. I don t shout for joy. And I wondered why, and as I thought about it I realized it is because I am not desperate. Desperate people shout. (use football e.g.?) When you are desperate for daily food, and you get it, you shout for joy. When you are occasionally desperate for a good report from an oncologist, you shout for joy. But otherwise, you don t shout. We aren t desperate very often. It is harder for us to feel our need for God in the same way that someone who is poor can. We occasionally do; they always do. Go to church in Ethiopia, and you are going to be around a lot of people who shout for joy. 3) The Trap of Staying Overwhelmed Ecclesiastes 5:12 c was written by Solomon, a very rich man, and he simply says, The abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep. Solomon was a sleepy man, because he had so much. The more we have, the more complicated life becomes, the more we have to worry about, the more troubles we add to our lives. You d think that those with the highest anxiety levels around the world are people like those we ve mentioned from Ethiopia. But that s not true. The most anxious people I know are right here in the States. There s far more anxiety and discontentment here than there. Having too much consumes our lives. Can anyone relate right now to feeling overwhelmed? It s hard to live out Christianity when you feel that way. In light of all these traps, you can see why Agur prays what he prays. It s hard for a rich person to be godly. Look back over these traps right now, and put a star by the ones that you maybe have fallen into. Paul tells Timothy to challenge people like us with more than enough to be careful to avoid such traps. We have to be proactive. It s not impossible for a rich person to be godly, but it takes intention, it takes effort. Now, since we are in advent conspiracy, let s apply all this to the Christmas season. Our call today is very simple: This Christmas season, 2009, choose to spend less. Notice I didn t say spend nothing. I said spend less. Actually, the specific ask I have for you today is very simple. Simply choose to buy one less gift this Christmas, and in the name of Jesus give that money to provide some necessities to the poorest of the poor. This Christmas Eve, we ll have an offering and collect those monies to give. Our call today is 5
to throttle back on the spending a little bit, and it isn t just for the benefit of the poor. It is for your benefit and mine. After all, it is quite possible that we need some recalibration on this whole Christmas shopping thing any way. It is quite possible that we as Americans are out of whack and are actually missing what God wants us to enjoy. Is it at least possible? I just read a new book that is fascinating, called Tinsel. The author wanted to write about what Christmas in America has become, how carried away we have become with consumerism this time of year, and he wanted to find the epicenter of Christmas consumerism, the center of out-of-whackedness, and guess where he decided to come? Our neighborhood. Out of all the places in the country he could choose, he chose us. He decided to come to Plano, Texas, but then saw the mall at Stonebriar and decided to shift slightly over to Frisco. In the book, he talks about how crazy things have gotten by telling stories of people like you and me. And he notes that the whole country has gone a little nuts. Americans spend half a trillion dollars on Christmas gifts each year. Half a trillion. That is more than the GDP of about 60% of the countries of the world. That is more than we have spent in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. It s hard to even conceive of half a trillion, and before the bailouts, half a trillion seemed like a lot of money. Now with the bailouts, it s like, What s a trillion? Big deal, throw another trillion out there. But half a trillion dollars; that s out of whack. And the epicenter of this whole out of whack Christmas consumerism earthquake? Right here, at least according to the author. We may not think we are out of whack, and that s where the recalibration comes in. Take some time this week to talk to God, to talk with others, to talk as a family about how you think about Christmas shopping, and ask God to help you recalibrate some. As part of that, we are, as I said earlier, asking that all of us who engage the conspiracy choose to throttle back our spending a little bit. You can do a lot if you want, and that would be good, but what we are asking is very simple: for each of us to give one less gift, and bring that money to the offering that will provide necessities for others. And as we are open to recalibrate, the more we do the more we will avoid the traps we talked about earlier. These traps of abundance that keep us from godliness are the same traps of Christmas consumerism that keep us away from the real essence of Christmas. Let s go back through them with that in mind. 1) The trap of distraction. We get so busy with the shopping part of the season that we blow right past the point. We exchange frenzy for family, and the best gifts we can give, the gift of time, we squander 6
to buy lesser things. The more we can throttle back, the more time we ll have to spend on each other, on our families. We ll talk about that part of it next week. Choose not to fall into this trap this season. Join the conspiracy and throttle back the distraction. 2) The trap of arrogance The more we have the more we think we deserve. The biggest enemy of gratitude and joy is arrogance, feeling like we deserve all these things we run after. We get nice things because we work hard and deserve to reward ourselves. Really? We act like this is our birthday, but it s not. This is not your birthday. It s not mine either. It s Jesus birthday. Why not do Christmas as a family where we honor that, talk about that, and consider how to honor him? 3) The trap of staying overwhelmed We all live overwhelmed lives through the year, and then choose to add tremendous pressure and stress this time of year on top of already overwhelmed lives. Again, anybody feel overwhelmed out there? Is that really the best way to go through advent? The more we can throttle back, the less overwhelmed we will be. And abundance of gifts itself is overwhelming. We can t appreciate what we have because we get too much. I saw that some years ago when Caleb, our youngest son, was two. We were opening all these gifts, as the family watched to see how he would react to each present, especially looking for his response to the ones they gave. Caleb has this huge pile of gifts, and he opens one, and it was a truck. He loved trucks, and he started to play with the truck. But we had to take it away from him so he could open the next gift. He did, and it was another toy, and he started to play with that toy, but we had to distract him with the next gift. We had to get through the gifts. After a while, he rebelled against that, to go find that first truck. He just wanted to play. He didn t even want to open any more gifts. He shoved them away as we tried to shove them into his face. These people were all looking on. Christy was wise enough to put a stop to it, and let him take a break and just breathe and play a little while. How much is too much? Caleb was letting us know that enough is enough. So, this Christmas, let s do it differently. Instead of being distracted, let s find ways to focus on what really matters this season. Instead of being arrogant, let s choose to honor the one who gives us all we have. Instead of being overwhelmed, let s throttle back to find peace this Christmas season. Imagine that, a Christmas season where we can know peace, not frenzy. To do so, let s choose to spend less, to throttle back. That s an essential part of the conspiracy, and come next week for the next step. Let s pray. 7