Simplicity and Giving Life

I was thankful for G’s message on simplicity last Sunday. Simplicity frees us to be present to God and to others. It creates space and opportunities in our lives for the Spirit to move in powerful ways and for us to respond. At this time of year I am even more convinced of the need for simplicity.

This week has been an incredibly hectic, but uplifting one for me. Every neatly blocked out space of time I had planned to use to accomplish tasks and be productive was interrupted by another call, another visit, another meeting with a person in spiritual or emotional crisis, another disruption. There are many things that I wanted, really needed to get finished this week that are still safely on my “to do” list. Usually that would disturb me and keep me up at night, but not this week. This week I have welcomed the interruptions because my eyes have been more open to see the presence on God in the interruptions. I think that we are best able to see God in the interruptions when our lives have been simplified enough to receive God in the interruptions, to embrace them as a gift.

Simplicity frees us from our need for self-preservation, from trying to sustain our own lives by having and doing more and more. It liberates us from the lie that enslaved the Rich Fool in Jesus’ parable in Luke 12:13-21, who thought that his banner crop and bigger barns would save him. That is a great temptation at this time of year, especially when people keep asking me for my “Christmas list.” The reality is that I don’t need anything. I already have far too much. Many of the things that I have don’t get used, they are tucked away in the back of the closet, neatly folded in a dresser, or stored in boxes in the basement. And my barn building just keeps on going.

But at this season we have a chance to counter our internal desire for self-preservation by giving. After all, it is at Christmas that we celebrate the coming of the great gift of God in the Incarnation. Please understand; I am not talking about giving gifts to our spouses, children, parents, aunts, uncles, or cousins. None of those things are inherently bad; in fact, I have been collecting some lists of my own. But, real giving at this time of year, giving that is patterned after the gift of God that we celebrate at Christmas, is giving that is a true source of hope for the hopeless. It is gifting that allows us to become a source of life for others.

That is why the interruptions this week have been so welcome. Let me just describe one of them. All week long I have been e-dialoguing with a group of incredible people from this community of faith who have been giving themselves to become a source of life for a hurting, abandoned mother and her kids. They have given up their time to fix her furnace and her transmission. They have given of their money to buy her a new washer and a new tire. They have given her their love by making arrangements to take her to buy some Christmas gifts for her children. These people have become a source of life for me this week, because they are struggling to understand and to embody what it means to live simply, so that you can be open to receive the presence of Christ in others.

This week you will have a chance to become a source of life for families that need some hope this season. Next Sunday we will have a special service of giving and celebration, where we as a church family will collect food and other items for Christmas gift baskets for some families in need. At the end of our service today, our teenagers will be passing out decorated bags with shopping lists attached to them. Grab a bag or two or even three. If you can’t afford to buy all of the items on a list, try to find another person or family who will “go in” with you to fill a bag. Then spend some time this week buying the things on the list for the family. Bring your bags back to worship next Sunday morning for our time of Lake Orion family giving and celebration.

May God bless us all this week, as we give of ourselves to become a source of life for others.

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Dwelling in the Word:

“Preparing the Way of the Lord in Our Hearts”

To cultivate the spirit of receiving the gift of God in Jesus, spend time dwelling in these passages this week.

Sunday, Dec. 10: Mal 3.1-4; Luke 1.68-79; Phil 1.3-11; Luke 3.1-6
Monday, Dec. 11: Luke 5.17-26; Psalm 85
Tuesday, Dec. 12: Luke 1.39-47; Psalm 40
Wednesday, Dec. 13: Matt 11.28-30; Psalm 85
Thursday, Dec. 14: Matt 11.11-15; Psalm 85
Friday, Dec. 15: Matt 11.16-19; Psalm 98
Saturday, Dec. 16: Matt 17.9-13; Psalm 85