So we have carols by candlelight this Sunday at church, and I have been asked to do a short address, of course keeping to the theme of Christmas. Now I don't know about you, but I get fed up with the idea of "we must remember the real meaning of Christmas".
Sure I get it, Jesus came into the world to serve and save, and that is significant. We should do the same. Also significant. But somehow it just seems cliched to try be uber-Christian as a response to the commercialised version of Christmas we see in the malls and on TV. And in the end, most of us will still have a lavish Christmas lunch with presents that cost too much and a credit card debt to remind us of the real meaning of Christmas for the whole of 2011.
The little drummer boy got it. He had nothing to give, he was just a poor boy like Jesus. He couldn't give Jesus gold, frankincense or myrrh. Man he couldn't even give him a chappie. But he had his drum. And he had his talent. So he played for Jesus with all his might.
In a recent blogpost, Julie Cunningham, editor of SA - The Good News quotes her mentor: "God is not interested in what you don't have, but in what you do with what you do have". It is great to be generous at Christmas time, especially when it is aimed at those less fortunate than us. But when you are still racking up a crazy Christmas debt, then you have missed the point. God is interested in what you do with what you have. And let us be honest, making a quick donation to a good cause is never going to really use everything we have.
What we have is so much more than our bank balance.
And if your bank balance is less than nil then you should be glad it is not the sum total of what you have!
The drummer boy had a gift. And he used it. What if this Christmas you played your drum for Jesus? What if you played your best for him? What would that mean? And could you sustain it for as long as credit card debt will choke others?
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