Rediscover Christmas: Getting Ready for a Changed Life by Cheri Holdridge & Kurt Young

This week, Cheri visited a home of a family that lives very simply. It’s a value
for them. Some of it is necessity because there are two adults and one child living on one parent’s income; but they are not poor. The dad is a professional. But Cheri was struck by one thing: there was no clutter in the house. They have a child and there was no clutter.

By comparison, we will confess, to those of you who may never have seen our house, we have some clutter (ok, lots of clutter says Kurt, the producer of lots of it). Cheri is kind of a pack rat and Kurt is not exactly Mr. Clean himself. Neither of us think of ourselves as materialistic. We drive middle of the road, albeit newer cars. Neither of us like to shop. You won’t see us at the mall except to go to the movies, the bookstore, or people watching at Kurt’s suggestion for something to do, hardly at all.

We will tell you that living simply is one of Cheri’s values, instilled into Kurt throughout our lives together. We live in the Old West End (for those out of town, a beautiful historic district of Edwardian, Victorian and Arts & Crafts Homes) in a sort of medium sized house for the Old West End (the neighborhood is absolutely teeming with large homes, some mansions) and the rooms just seem to fill up with stuff. We wish we could tell you that Cheri or Kurt are one of those Moms or Dads that keeps up with that annual practice of thinning out our own clothes, our kids' closets and helping them sort out the toys and giving away the ones they don’t play with. Every holiday break - Easter, Summer, Thanksgiving or Christmas we start out with the same intent. We’re going to do it. And every year, something, friends, family, illness, work, etc intervenes before the job is done.

LIVING SIMPLY! It’s what we want to do. It’s what we believe Jesus wants us to do. But we don’t feel like we’re keeping up with it. So lately, We have been trying to make some course corrections. As Kurt, the sailor (and son of US Navy Sailor) will tell you, the further away from danger you are, the smaller the correction you need to make; gradually, over time, your course will change greatly with a little turn of the tiller or wheel.

Because here is the other thing. We feel better when we live in a home that has less clutter, but we don’t keep up with our own clutter. Despite what we’ve accomplished in our lives, we’re not very disciplined persons. It does not come naturally for either of us. So Cheri has a dresser that is piled with stuff. Kurt’s was just cleaned up last weekend for the first time in the Village’s worshiping existence (not an exaggeration, he found a receipt from the week we started cleaning up our worship space for the first time). And we have a desk in the kitchen that is piled with stuff (mostly kids stuff). And a table in the living room, by the chair where Cheri prays, that gets cluttered with stuff. Cheri has some file drawers over at The Village offices that are piled with stuff that needs to be sorted through. Kurt’s office, save one area, is very organized, but that’s a job requirement and he has a staff to help. We need some order.

And when we think about people in this world that have nothing. And then we look at all the stuff in our house, that we can’t keep organized, we feel like a failure. Kurt is so out of control, he has a coat to give to homeless man but he couldn’t get it together to bring it to church on Sunday. Pathetic! Who are we, to have all this stuff that we don’t even need and we can’t even manage, when other people have nothing? Other people could benefit from our excess, but we have to get it to them.

It makes us crazy! We cry out to God and ask God to please help us find a way out of this mess. Well here is the thing. Advent is a time, for course correction. It’s a time for self evaluation. It’s a time to make changes. FROM THE INSIDE OUT. BIG
CHANGES. OR GRADUAL ONES that will result in big changes over time. Some of
us have to take baby steps, because when you make big changes too fast, you can’t
stick with them, and you end up failing. Ever been there?

In our scripture story from worship this week (Matthew 3:1-12 from The Message for those reading along at home), we have this “bigger-than-life-character named John. He was Jesus’ cousin. He was a wild man. They tell us “John was dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey.”

Here is what it says in Matthew, chapter 3:
7-10When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for
a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he
exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here
to the river? Do you think a little water on your snake skins is going to make any
difference? It's your life that must change, not your skin! And don't think you can
pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither
here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your
life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire.
11-12"I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life.
The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him
I'm a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the
Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean
house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper
place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."

John was a preacher that was pointing the way for Jesus, getting folks ready for
Jesus. He was SERIOUS! He did not want them to waste any time. It was time to
make some CHANGES. NO TURNING BACK.

So, you see, that’s what this season is for us. It’s a season of changing gears, and making corrections in the course of our lives. A new year is coming in January, and many of us like to get a fresh start in January. But even before that turning point
on the world’s calendar – God’s calendar has this world changing event happening
and we get to celebrate it again every year. On Christmas, we relive the Holy Night
of Jesus coming to us as the Infant Christ.

So, what does it mean for to celebrate the birth of Jesus, to receive God’s gift of Jesus? What difference does Jesus make to us? God sent Jesus to change the world. God sent Jesus to tell us that we CAN make changes in our lives. Little ones – and little ones that turn into big ones.

Now getting a hold of the clutter in our home and our office may seem like a little
thing. But it represents our values. It represents the feeling that our life is spinning out of control; and that we can’t keep up with things. Having too much stuff also goes against our Jesus-values of generosity and giving stuff away. So when we see all that stuff, it works against our core values of simplicity and generosity. So you see, having a plan and being disciplined to clear out the clutter is essential to us living out our Jesus values. Becca was terrified yesterday when she and Kurt were sent, after feeding and giving things like clothes and hygiene items to the homeless, to the library to check out a book on celebrating holidays more simply. She asked Cheri to please order her Christmas gifts on line first and then read the book.

But making changes demands a plan and commitment. And we cannot do it alone. And neither can you. We need God to give us the strength to do what we cannot do alone. When those people came down to the water to John to be baptized, they said they wanted to be changed. But he did not believe them. He said, “You just want to do the trendy thing. All your friends are getting baptized so you are coming down here too. But baptism is not about getting a little water on your outside skin – it’s about a change inside.”

Baptism – and the choice to accept the gift of baptism and say – “I want to belong to God” – is a willingness to be changed from the inside out. In our two worship services on Sunday, we had a baptism and a renewal of our baptism. But before we did that, we invited each of the people present (and you reading along at home) to consider a question. What is one big change you want to make in your life, that you know you can’t make without God’s help?

We took a slip of paper to write that change on and asked people to put it
in a basket, but you can do it at home. Maybe you need help with a relationship, or with getting out of financial debt. What is the one thing that keeps up at night with worry more than any other thing? Because here is the thing, that’s the thing you need to give to God, and we believe you need to ask God to help you with.

John the Baptist told the people to get ready for Jesus. He said that it was time
for them to make some changes in their lives. That’s what this season of Advent is
for us. A time to make some changes. Pick one. Pick one change you want to work
on, starting today. And ask God to help you.

If you need a community to help you do this, a place where no one is perfect, where we ALL have something to work on, then come join us at the Village Church. We are imperfect people who make mistakes, but we know God loves us; and with God’s help, we are going to follow Jesus and change the world. Starting each Sunday at the corner of Monroe & Central Avenue in Toledo, and branching out to the rest of Toledo, Northwest Ohio, the United States and the world. Peace and may the joy of Advent and the coming of God’s greatest gift, fill you.