Whose birthday is it anyway? Yours? No, you’ve got one of those, and you’d probably prefer not to have two per year. Your kids’ or grandkids’ birthday? I’m sure that they would love to have another birthday, another special day that’s all about them, but this isn’t it. Christmas is Jesus’ birthday.

Now is a good time to examine your holiday traditions. Take a look at each of them, and ask the question: “Do they really honor the birth of Emanuel – God with us?” A lot of them do . . . when kept in their place. Jesus liked a good party, too. It honors God for us to get together with friends and family. The Bible even commands feasts for special days. Of course overindulgence has no place on Jesus’ birthday. Presents have their place, too. God wants us to enjoy the good gifts he has given, but spoiled children and months of credit card debt do not honor Jesus. Keep it simple!

Make sure to include the poor in your gift giving. Extravagant gifts for your family, while others starve and go without shelter do not honor Jesus. Keep your gifts to your family within your means, so that you can be extravagant in gifts that truly meet basic human needs. The $239 that you might spend on a Play Station 3 could buy 400 subsistence meals for people in Northern Africa who will die without them. It could pay an electric bill for a family in which mom or dad has lost their job.

Make sure to include advent in your “Holiday Season.” Advent is a time for preparation and expectation. What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming in four weeks? Decorating the tree and baking cookies would move way down on your to-do list, wouldn’t they? You would work on preparing your heart to be worthy of the presence of the Son of God. Advent is a time to do that. If you don’t currently practice daily devotions, now is a good time to start. There are devotional materials available in the back of our sanctuary, and plenty of good ones on the internet. Scripture reading and prayer are a must in preparing for Christ. Daily devotions with your family will help to make sure that your children are expecting Christ more than they are Santa!

May Christ come into your heart anew this Christmas, and may he find you a ready and willing disciple!

November

About ten years ago, I bought $2,000 worth of a particular stock. That was a lot of money to me back then – it still is. I owned it for about two years during which time its value doubled.

I had a preaching professor who warned me that a pastor should never tell a story in which s/he comes out as the hero. This looks like one of those stories . . . except . . . what I want to stress is that I checked the value of that stock every day. Sometimes I checked it twice a day! Sometimes I would get up in the morning and during the time when I usually do my devotions; I would get online and check my stock. Even when it went up, I worried. Should I sell now? Will it drop? Will it keep going up?

After I sold it, I decided that I do not have the temperament to own individual stock. Investment gurus would say my risk tolerance is low. I put my little bit of investment money in broadly diversified mutual funds, and made a commitment not to check it every day. In fact, I consider it a spiritual discipline to read my quarterly statements, and that’s it.

I broke my own rule last week and checked my investment account when the economic crisis came to a head. (Has it come to a head? I have to write my Pastor’s Page two weeks in advance!!) My little portfolio doesn’t look good! You know what I’m talking about? You do now! Just like you, I wish my risk tolerance had been even lower – as in Treasury Bonds or a hollowed out mattress.

I’m intrigued, though, that in the midst of rotten economic times, there were two very successful banks in a bidding war to buy Wachovia. (Chris Kaup used this metaphor first – I’m just running with it.) Truly successful institutions know that the crisis is the time to take a risk, to do something bold.

The Presbyterian Church is in crisis. We have been bleeding members over the past several decades. We have churches that have closed and many more that seem destined to. Orangewood has grown slightly over the last year, but the tenyeartrend is down about 20%. Statistically it doesn’t end well . . . or last very long. Here I am – your pastor with a low risk-tolerance!

The question is: “Which bank are we?” Are we a failed bank, just using creative accounting to stretch things out a little longer? Are we a sound bank, but one that doesn’t want to take a risk in these hard times? Or are we Wells Fargo – willing to step out and take a risk when the time is right? We have substantial resources of all kinds here at Orangewood. Are we risk intolerant, or are we ready to put them on the line for investment in the Kingdom of God?

Truly, the Kingdom of God does not fully lend itself to statistical analysis or investment metaphors – as if its success is up to us. The Holy Spirit is in charge here. It’s not our job to save the church or the Church or the Kingdom. Our job is to use our resources to join the Spirit which blows where it will in ministry. That’s risky! Especially in hard times, our natural inclination is to circle the wagons, but God wants those wagons headed outward. We have a special opportunity to reach out to a world that is anxious and hurting right now. I have found great comfort and courage in our Lord and in the fellowship of God’s people over the last couple weeks of crisis. This crisis is a great opportunity to bring others to God!

Which bank are we?