Ensign: The Advent Conspiracy Theory

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 29 November 2013

WORD COUNT: 45,315

[Bringing back an oldie – well, for me it is, I wrote it four years ago – but something in it speaks to us on the Black Fridays (trivia: the earliest reference to “Black Friday” as the shopping day after Thanksgiving is from a 1961 Philadelphia newsletter) that have sprouted up over the last few days after Thanksgiving; by the way, I pray you all had a blessed one! Now let's carry that to the rest of the year, shall we? – David]

Too often in reading the accounts of Jesus and His disciples in the gospels, I find myself wondering how anyone could spend more than five minutes with Him! Jesus was and is not someone who will puff you up or tell you, “Well done” without adding while we’re alive and kicking, “Now here’s what we’re going to do next.” The account of Mary anointing Jesus in the twelfth chapter of John comes to mind, not so much because of the deed but the responses to it.

I do not like coming out on the side of Judas – two thousand years of tradition where he’s the villain of the story because we catch him weak and following that tide to betray, that all-too-human urge to get ahead and not care what happens and to who does that to you – but I appreciate his question to Jesus in verse five, “Why was not this ointment [that Mary anointed Your feet with] sold for three hundred pence [a year’s salary], and given to the poor?”

Jesus’ response in verses seven and eight probably came as a surprise to everyone there! “Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.” It’s the poor always being with us that bugs me; in two thousand years, it’s hard to believe we as a race, we as a community actually have people sleeping in the streets or living along and unloved. It’s really easy to objectify people not as (we think) fortunate as being “out there” or SEP.

Somebody Else’s Problem. There’s an article in this week’s [the week of December 18, 2009 when I originally wrote this – David] TIME magazine (I read it on their website) about a ministry called the Advent Conspiracy. It sounds like another Dan Brown novel, but it’s basically a movement than in the midst of all the Christmas hoopla that I would argue some ministries encourage (insisting those who wait on them must say “Merry Christmas” and not “Happy Holidays” lest they offend among other things) tackles the problem some of us have – Christmas can cost a small fortune!

I don’t know if I want to take all the money we spend on the decorations – even though I hate putting them up – and presents, even the non-extravagant ones and just throw it at the poor, what some well-intentioned ministries often do. Call it my cynicism. But I have to ask is what I want in line with what Jesus, Whom I am a disciple of even if I don’t get it sometimes (okay, a lot of the time), wants me to do? I cannot make a difference in the life of every person and often don’t, but I can make a difference to one.

Or many. I’m not trying to write an ad for this Advent Conspiracy, but it does make an intelligent point in seeking to “substitute compassion for consumption”. But I would ask why we don’t start it from a website but right where you and I are? We shouldn’t need to be guilted into doing what is right for the people close to us as well as what we are able to for others. And all the Merry Christmas saying and shopping in the world will not make us better people until we let Jesus in and see as He sees the poor always with us, in us. So when we see them, what will we do? It’s our turn to answer and reveal that yes, Virginia, the truth is out there.

Sincerely yours,

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find that I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know – thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to you in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You. I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.