Did Jesus come to advance the kingdoms of the world or the Kingdom of Heaven? His countrymen fully expected Him (at least their idea of "Him") to come and advance the cause of their kingdom. The Jewish people longed for a deliverer who would come and release them from the bondage of the kingdom of the day. It had been a long time since the nation of Israel was on top of the world, respected by other empires, and feared by their enemies. But when Jesus showed up on the scene as the Messiah He didn't fit their deliverer model, so they rejected Him. This was all prophesied by Isaiah:He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)
Is it any different in the world today? Our culture rapes the birth of our Savior by slapping a nativity scene in their stores and then advertising their latest product at an overinflated price that we don't need in the first place. This is what they call the "Christmas spirit"! And don't get me started on the office parties that turn into drunken orgies. I would implore people to take the name of our Christ off their celebrations and just call it their "Late December Office Party."
The rejection of Jesus Christ the King takes a different, more subtle form in the Church. We reject the way Jesus resisted the empire of His day by accepting and bowing down to the empires of our day. No, I'm not talking about politics, although we could make a case for that because it seems to me that more and more Christians put their hope in human government instead of the future Kingdom of Heaven. As believers we fail to resist the empire of the consumer culture at Christmas. We buy into the phenomenon that bigger is better and he who dies with the most toys wins. We follow the rest of our comrades to the malls and spend more time shopping than we do with each other.
We have been called by God to be different and therefore our difference must make it into Christmas. God's gift was presence, not presents! We must model His way of giving this year and strike back against the empire of consumerism. Spend less, give more, give of ourselves, and worship more fully! (Check out www.adventconspiracy.org)
Grace & Peace,
Scott
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