Musings for the days leading up to Christmas

What's most important? How do I understand the true message of Christmas. How is the way I celebrate this blessed season a reflection of my passion and commitment for my brothers and sisters in other parts of the world?

I realize that in the hectic, crazy schedules which define our lives, Judy and I have had to struggle to maintain balance. We have immersed ourselves into the wonder of some amazing lighted Christmas displays. Zoolights (in spite of a long walk from a distant parking lot) was amazing. The creativity, patience and skill of those who designed and constructed this lighting display at the Pt. Defiance Zoo stunned us with beauty, dazzling light and animated displays. I thought to myself, this can't be topped.


Thursday, I took a group out on the boat to follow the Argosy Christmas Ship in a lighted boat display. It is always one of the highlights of our boating experiences. This year was no disappointment. About an hour before we needed to leave the dock, the dense fog lifted and we were treated to a crisp clear cruise around to Dash Point where a lighted tree and giant bonfire shone brightly as we waited for the Christmas ship to arrive. It's always an adventure to travel at night by boat. But we missed any logs, other ships and docked safely in the warm glow of carols and lights and good friends.

A number of people had told us we really should go see the Holiday Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. So last Friday we jumped in the Hybrid Sleigh, set the GPS, turned the stereo up high and headed out to see another awesome display of lights - even better in my opinion than the previous week's. Wow. I came home determined to do something more creative and complex in our yard next year. Just wait. Now, we have tickets for this Friday to drive through a neighborhood in nearby Spanaway (that's right. You heard me. Tickets to drive through a neighborhood) to see an entire community decorated.

In the midst of all the happy twinkling of colored lights, elaborate displays, joyful music, and throngs of people, one thing seemed to be missing - JESUS.
Last I checked, Christmas is a time to remember and celebrate the birth of God into the world. Incarnation. The divine taking on human flesh. God in a manger; born to give his life in sacrificial love for a lost and hurting world.

And lots of people are hurting. This year more than any other Christmas in my memory, I have heard of and talked to more people who are going through rough times than ever before. Serious illnesses, deaths, loss of jobs, financial pressures, family strife, depression, worry and anxiety are as much a reality and maybe even more so as the dazzling lights and happy music; the parties, dinners, and gift exchanges.

It struck me this year then that the reason God became man was not simply to give us another holiday or reason to party and spend money. It was to bring hope and healing in those places of brokenness, hurt, and fear. That is why the angels told the shepherds not to be afraid. There had been born in the city of David a baby, who was Christ the king. Truly a reason to see glory and experience God's peace and favor.

I was emailing back and forth with one of our missionaries in South Africa and she recounted how Christmas is not really a sacred or special time there as much as it is a chance to go away on "holiday."

That got me thinking about our dear partners and friends in Zambia. They won't be sitting under a brightly decorated tree or in front of a cozy fireplace with a warm, seasonal beverage. They won't be sitting down to a big feast or dashing off to the mall the day after Christmas to return unwanted or ill-fitting gifts. For them, Jesus entry into the world means something much more organic and authentic: eternal hope and profound love - love that is stripped of all the sentimentality, glittering lights and canned music.

The love of God that brought Jesus into human life for them means taking in, feeding, and educating orphans. It means for the first time they have safe drinking water. It means that there is a unity and connection with Christians from half a world away to are inexorably tied in Christian fellowship and service with them.

That is a world and a life that is probably much more like the world into which Jesus came 2000 years ago. How easy it is for me to forget that as I get so wrapped up with all the trappings of Christmas here in my culture and my world. So as I look at brightly lit holiday displays, I also think of darkened fields and dirt paths leading among the small homes of my brothers and sisters in Zambia. As I marvel at the beauty of our statuesque tree and the decorations so lovingly placed on it by Judy, my mind's eye is etched with the picture of a tower supporting a water tank and all the people of a small community gathering underneath it to draw water from it. As I open cards and presents and overeat delicious holiday treats, I remember that the greatest gift ever given was not a present - but a presence; God making his dwelling in our midst. That reality shines through no matter where in the world we might be or what our circumstances are. And it is what unites us with God's people everywhere. I pray I won't forget them and that I can continue to share in the partnership that is ours because Jesus was born.

Looking back at Christmas

We were in a fabulous Christmas spirit. We had just heard an incredible concert by the Seattle Symphony and performers from Cirque du Soleil. The holiday concert in the Seattle Pops series is always our favorite. Afterward, we walked a few blocks to the main downtown shopping area of Seattle. The twinkling white lights sparkled in the crisp air. Regal horses drawing white “handsome cabs” decorated in green boughs and red ribbon added to the ambience. Street musicians sang and played a mixture of music and school choirs performed Christmas Carols on stage at one of the indoor malls. Children giggled with glee on the Merry-go-Round. It wasn’t cold enough to snow, but there was a crisp chill in the air that heightened our sense that this was indeed the Christmas Season. It is an multi-sensory, almost magical time we enjoy every year. We walked around the same blocks and browsed through the same stores looking at the same displays and merchandise that is available every year.

But there was something different about this annual tradition for us. This year, we both commented that the most notable difference was our lack of tension and impatience. We weren’t concerned about long lines or pushy people. We weren’t frantically trying to make last-minute decisions about one more gift to fill a stocking. You see this year, we were free from all that. We had, along with a large number of others in our congregation, decided that we were going to celebrate Christmas in a different way. Instead of excessive spending on over-priced items that would be returned or wear out shortly after purchased, we had committed to redirecting the majority of what we normally spend on Christmas gifts to purchase something that would truly make a difference in the lives of people we had never met.

Each year, the members of our church – Calvary Presbyterian Church in Enumclaw, Washington – participate in a project where people buy hand-made Christmas cards crafted by people from the church. For each card purchased at $5.00 apiece, a wool blanket is purchased by Church World Service to send to some crisis area in the world: places where hurricanes have wreaked havoc or wars have sent refugees fleeing, or earthquakes have left people homeless and cold.

This year, in addition to the Christmas card project, we decided to participate in a growing movement known as ADVENT CONSPIRACY. The originators of this movement decided a few years ago to encourage their congregations to change the way they celebrated Advent and Christmas by purchasing safe water for people in far flung places like Kenya, Central America or Asia. Over 1.2 billion people lack safe drinking water. A child dies every fifteen seconds from disease that could be prevented by the availability of uncontaminated water.

As with any new program, our staff and our Elders weren’t sure how this project would be received by our people. Would it conflict with our Christmas Card/Blanket project? Would it be asking too much of people in this period of uncertainty in the economy? Was it too “Scrooge-like” to ask people not to spend as much on Christmas presents as they normally had? With some trepidation, we forged ahead with the coordinated materials of ADVENT CONSPIRACY. Our weekly sermons followed the themes suggested by the program: Worship fully; spend less; give more; and love all. Even several of our small groups read the book and discussed what it would mean to restore the idea of sacrificial giving to Christmas. But how would we raise the money to meet our goal?

In October a group had just returned from Zambia where they had helped a community drill a bore hole for a well. But we didn’t have enough money to finish off the project with a pump and storage tank. People were already aware of the need in this poor community just to the north of Lusaka. We have sponsored community-based schools there and have sent two mission teams over the past two years. It seemed like a given. So we set that as our first priority and we committed $1,500.00 to make further headway.

Our Elders had set an initial goal of $4,000.00 for our first year doing this project and prayerfully wondered if we could do it. We adopted a second project in Kenya. Numerous organizations are doing good work in bringing water to the world but we chose Food for the Hungry. My son-in-law worked for Food for the Hungry. That seemed like a natural place to begin. He put me in touch with other staff at FH who suggested a “guttering” system in Marsibit, Kenya.

It didn’t seem very glamorous but it fit our estimated budget. For $3,200 USD we could provide a simple but effective system of rain water collection and filtering that would provide safe water for people in the community throughout the dry season. It was just what we were looking for. But how could we capture the interest and participation of our people?

We found numerous helpful materials. An organization called the H20 Project sent us wrist bracelets and little cards. The cards suggested that by giving up things like sodas, bottled water, espresso drinks or other beverages, that people drink water only for two weeks and give the money saved from that change to the water project. The wrist-bands were daily, visible reminders of those commitments. The first weekend of our emphasis, I put $20.00 in, representing the money I would save by not drinking expensive robust coffee from my favorite, large, Seattle based coffee purveyor (not to mention any names).

We also placed large 5 gallon water jugs (empty) around in different places throughout the church. These would be our collection containers - visible reminders of how readily we can have not just safe water but distilled bottled water. Since the bottles were clear, we could watch the progress of the fund each week. It was so much fun to watch kids of all ages bring plastic zip-lok bags of change and pour it into the barrel. The first couple of weeks, those coins would hit the hard plastic bottom of the barrel and make a loud, reverberating “kerplunk.” Adults would bring rolls of bills – ones, fives, tens, even hundreds – and force them down through the narrow opening at the top of the barrels. People who visited the office, located in another building on our campus, could make a contribution there as well.

We soon began to realize that we had set our sights to low. We wouldn’t know for sure until we cut the barrels open and counted the money, but everyone could see that the fund was growing; welling up like a fresh spring of water and coming close to overflowing. With eager anticipation, we waited until after our Christmas Eve services to count the money. When we finally did extract it all from our collection barrels, we were amazed to discover that over $8,400.00 had been raised. And that was in addition to our Card/blanket project, our annual Deacon’s offering, and people’s regular gifts.

A comment heard often was “This was so meaningful. It truly made my Christmas meaningful.” Another was “Will we do this again next year?” I don’t think there is a doubt about it. What kind of gift could better represent the sacrificial gift of God’s Son, whose birth we celebrate each Christmas? Not an ugly tie or a pair of socks or an “executive desk organizer.” This same Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me will never thirst but in him, springs of living water will well up to eternal life.” What a joy it has been to give water in His name. Christmas will never be the same.