1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,800 Welcome and thanks for joining us today for our sermon here on the second Sunday of Advent 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:09,960 at Trinity Church, Streetsville. 3 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:14,700 This is the second sermon from our sermon series, The Advent Conspiracy. 4 00:00:14,700 --> 00:00:18,800 We have Rob Hirkmans with us today where we will be working through the second tenet of 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,820 the Advent Conspiracy, which is called, Spend Less. 6 00:00:22,820 --> 00:00:27,560 And I really hope you enjoy this message today, and we hope it encourages you to rethink your 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,120 purchasing this Advent and stir some thought as well. 8 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,840 So here it is, enjoy and God bless. 9 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:40,320 Good morning Church family. 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,800 The Gospel reading is from Matthew chapter 2 verses 1-12. 11 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:51,840 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Maitre from 12 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:59,400 the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? 13 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:04,960 He saw his star when it rose and had come to worship him. 14 00:01:04,960 --> 00:01:12,960 When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all Jews lived with him. 15 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:18,800 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he 16 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,860 asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 17 00:01:22,860 --> 00:01:32,200 In Bethlehem, in Judea, they replied, For this is what the prophet has written, But you, 18 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:40,520 Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. 19 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:48,360 For out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. 20 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:57,360 Then Herod called the Messiah secretly and found out from them the exact time the star 21 00:01:57,360 --> 00:01:59,360 had appeared. 22 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:06,360 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the child. 23 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:15,360 As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him. 24 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:21,560 After they had heard the King, they went on their way and the star they had seen when 25 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:30,360 it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 26 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:36,120 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 27 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:43,080 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and 28 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,120 worshiped him. 29 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:53,920 Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 30 00:02:53,920 --> 00:03:02,120 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country 31 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,960 by another lot. 32 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:06,800 This is the word of the Lord. 33 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:08,800 Thank you, Lord. 34 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:09,800 Oh, yeah. 35 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:11,800 Hey Zion, how are you today? 36 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:12,800 Oh, I'm doing well. 37 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:13,800 How are you? 38 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:14,800 Yeah, I'm pretty good. 39 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:15,800 Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. 40 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:16,800 Yeah, yeah, all right. 41 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:17,800 Merry Christmas, Zion. 42 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:18,800 All right, Merry Christmas, Rob. 43 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:19,800 Yeah, that's great. 44 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:20,800 That's great. 45 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:21,800 Hey, hey, everybody. 46 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:22,800 I want to welcome you. 47 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:32,040 I want to welcome you to the second official meeting of the Advent Conspiracy. 48 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,560 Now some of you are probably saying like, hey, what was that all about? 49 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,640 What was that little thing you just did with Zion? 50 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,880 Well, you know how like secret societies and conspiracy movements, they all have their 51 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:46,960 own like secret handshakes, and sometimes they have like a secret code word or a secret 52 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,200 ring or something like that. 53 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,800 So we thought, you know, because we're kind of doing something a little subversive in 54 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:57,760 this conspiracy, we need to have our very own secret handshake. 55 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:03,560 And so I am very proud to tell you today that the official secret handshake of the Advent 56 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,720 Conspiracy is kissy thumbs. 57 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:10,200 Kissy thumbs. 58 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:12,960 This is how we're going to do it. 59 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,400 Now you may say, well, that seems like a bit of a strange kind of secret handshake. 60 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:18,400 But wait, get this. 61 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,200 Look, because when you put your fingers together like this, you see what happens. 62 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,720 It forms the letter A, and that doesn't stand for Avengers. 63 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,340 It stands for Advent Conspiracy. 64 00:04:29,340 --> 00:04:30,880 This is our secret handshake. 65 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:31,880 Isn't that awesome? 66 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:32,880 So cool. 67 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:33,880 Yes, I can't wait. 68 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:34,880 I can't wait. 69 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,520 So what I want you to do right now is I want to turn you turn to someone who's around you 70 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:43,920 this morning, and I want you to say Merry Christmas, and then give them the secret handshake. 71 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:44,920 Give it a shot. 72 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,720 Give it a shot. 73 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:49,720 Isn't that cool? 74 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:50,720 Yes. 75 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,060 Now, OK, I want to be honest with you. 76 00:04:53,060 --> 00:04:57,440 We probably don't need a secret handshake, although it's super, super cool. 77 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,960 But because we don't need a secret handshake because if we wanted to know kind of who's 78 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:07,080 in and who's out and who's part of this movement, all we really got to do is look at their lives. 79 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:12,620 We just got to look at how you live your life over this month of December as we lead up 80 00:05:12,620 --> 00:05:18,900 to Christmas, because members of the Advent Conspiracy have pledged to live their lives 81 00:05:18,900 --> 00:05:24,360 a certain way as a kind of subversive movement as we come to Christmas. 82 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:30,080 And the Advent Conspiracy has these four core commitments, these four core ways of life 83 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:31,080 that we're going to practice. 84 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,240 I wonder if you guys remember what those four commitments were. 85 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,280 We're going to refresh ourselves this morning. 86 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:41,120 But our first core commitment in the Advent Conspiracy, which we learned about last week, 87 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:45,160 was that we are going to worship fully. 88 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,880 We're going to worship fully, which means we're going to do everything we can to keep 89 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,780 Jesus at the center of this celebration. 90 00:05:51,780 --> 00:05:55,840 And that'll probably mean decluttering our lives, slowing down our lives, and trying 91 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,920 to get rid of some of the stress that comes with Christmas. 92 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:00,720 So we're going to worship fully. 93 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:02,280 Today we're going to talk about this second one. 94 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:05,600 We are going to spend less. 95 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:12,160 So in our current culture that really, really, really pushes us to spend, spend, spend, that's 96 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,840 actually really devastating for our soul. 97 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:17,440 And we're going to talk about that one today. 98 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:18,660 We're going to spend less. 99 00:06:18,660 --> 00:06:24,700 And then thirdly, next week we're going to talk about how we can give more. 100 00:06:24,700 --> 00:06:28,420 And when we give more, we're going to give more relationally, which means that maybe 101 00:06:28,420 --> 00:06:32,200 more of our gifts aren't going to come from the shopping mall this year. 102 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:36,100 They might come, well, they'll definitely still come from the heart though, right? 103 00:06:36,100 --> 00:06:40,560 And then finally, that means our last commitment is we're going to be able to, say it with 104 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:42,960 me, love all. 105 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,360 We're going to be able to take some of the resources, energy, and money that we've kind 106 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:52,420 of saved and give it to some of the people who need it the most in our world through 107 00:06:52,420 --> 00:06:55,680 a big act of generosity, this Advent. 108 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:57,600 And isn't that what Advent's all about? 109 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,340 Isn't that what Christmas is all about? 110 00:06:59,340 --> 00:07:01,940 To change the world, to change the world. 111 00:07:01,940 --> 00:07:09,520 So that's how we are subversively working to make Advent and Christmas meaningful this 112 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:10,520 year. 113 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:14,360 Now I have to just say, some of you, you're not quite getting this whole kind of secret 114 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:15,360 society thing. 115 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:16,360 I'll tell you what I mean. 116 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:21,440 I was driving down the road the other day and I went by the house of Rick and Ali Bradshaw. 117 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,120 And I was like, really? 118 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,200 You're going to put a cross on your garage? 119 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:31,080 Or you're going to put baby Jesus in a manger scene right outside there? 120 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,360 I mean, what part of conspiracy? 121 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,180 Don't you understand? 122 00:07:36,180 --> 00:07:41,040 Rick and Ali, do you really want the whole world to know that God loves them this Christmas? 123 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:42,040 Come on. 124 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:43,040 No, I'm just joking, of course. 125 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:44,040 Way to go, Rick and Ali. 126 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:45,040 Well done. 127 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:46,040 Well done. 128 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:47,440 It's an open secret. 129 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,720 It's an open secret, but it's an open secret we're celebrating. 130 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,160 Anyways, what we're learning is that Advent is the perfect antidote that we have to the 131 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,860 chaos of the modern version of Christmas. 132 00:07:58,860 --> 00:08:04,520 And so by worshipping fully, spending less, giving more, and loving all, we're going to 133 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:08,800 learn to see Jesus from the manger, not the mall. 134 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:09,800 OK? 135 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,480 So that brings us to today's topic, which is spend less. 136 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:18,280 Now I want to know, you know that talking about this with you this morning gives me 137 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:19,920 a certain amount of fear, intrepidation. 138 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:20,920 I'm a little nervous. 139 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,220 I have a car running in the parking lot just in case I have to get out of here quick after 140 00:08:25,220 --> 00:08:31,200 the service, because many of us will say, oh, this is such a grinchy, grinchy idea. 141 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,960 I mean, Rob, Christmas, Christmas is all about excess. 142 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,000 It's about excessive spending. 143 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:43,440 It's about excessive buying, excessive eating, excessive drinking, excessive partying and 144 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:44,440 revelry. 145 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:45,440 And it's true. 146 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:51,500 Yeah, here in Canada, Christmas is, let's be honest, it's 99% commercial. 147 00:08:51,500 --> 00:08:55,800 You know, it's all about finding that right gadget for him or that right gift for her 148 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,400 or getting the kids everything that they want. 149 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,280 And of course, we are doing our part. 150 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,040 You and me, we've all done our part in this. 151 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:10,840 Canadians back on last Friday or the Friday before that, we set a new Black Friday spending 152 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:11,840 record. 153 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:18,440 And in the US, Amazon sold more items on Black Friday than ever before in their history. 154 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:24,720 In fact, they sold 1000 items per second on average during Black Friday. 155 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:26,600 So here's the question, though. 156 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,760 Why do we do this? 157 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:33,340 Why do we celebrate Jesus this way? 158 00:09:33,340 --> 00:09:39,040 Why do we say, happy birthday, Jesus, and in honor of your name, in honor of your birthday, 159 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:41,920 Jesus, I'm going to spend a whole bunch of money that I don't really have. 160 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:47,440 I'm going to charge it to a card that I can't really pay in order to buy a bunch of gifts 161 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,880 for people who don't really need them or buy sweaters for people who will probably never 162 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:53,080 wear them. 163 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:54,400 So why do we do this? 164 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,700 And again, my point here is not to make anyone feel bad. 165 00:09:57,700 --> 00:10:02,700 You will not hear me say bah humbug at all throughout this whole message. 166 00:10:02,700 --> 00:10:05,700 This is not a guilt message. 167 00:10:05,700 --> 00:10:12,120 And here's why it can't be a guilt message, because Christmas is all about giving. 168 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,600 Gift giving is actually a biblical idea. 169 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:20,560 I think the reason we give gifts at Christmas is because of the story we read in Matthew 170 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:25,840 chapter 2, where the wise men brought those three gifts to the baby Jesus. 171 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:27,920 So yes, Christmas is a season of giving. 172 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:32,580 It always has been, it always will be, and it always should be. 173 00:10:32,580 --> 00:10:39,200 But it just seems that things are kind of getting a little bit out of control. 174 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:45,800 So what if this year we did something a little countercultural and we just spent less? 175 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:47,520 That's what I want to talk about. 176 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:51,300 And I think that one way to get at this is actually to dive into our reading today from 177 00:10:51,300 --> 00:10:55,360 Matthew chapter 2, because there's lots there for us to learn. 178 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:02,240 When Jesus was born, we know that Herod was king. 179 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,220 And historians know a lot about King Herod. 180 00:11:05,220 --> 00:11:09,920 You see, the civilized world at that point was pretty much ruled by the Roman Empire. 181 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:14,920 And the leader and lord of the Roman Empire was Caesar Augustus. 182 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:21,840 But Caesar Augustus had put Herod in charge of this area of Judea, where the Jews live. 183 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:26,280 So in some ways, what you could say is that whenever you spoke of the emperor, you were 184 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,180 supposed to say, Caesar is lord. 185 00:11:29,180 --> 00:11:34,840 But whenever you spoke about Herod, you were supposed to say, Herod is great. 186 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:35,840 Herod is great. 187 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:41,120 That was the nickname, I think, probably Herod gave to himself that he was Herod the Great. 188 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,240 You could, you know, if you were following him on Instagram, you'd find him at Herod 189 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:46,500 the Great, right? 190 00:11:46,500 --> 00:11:52,000 He was probably a guy with a very big ego, if that's the nickname you're going to give 191 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:53,000 yourself. 192 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:57,440 And actually, I think that's kind of true, because when you look at his life, Herod often 193 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:04,080 undertook these massive building projects just to kind of show off his prestige and 194 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:05,080 his power. 195 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,120 Let me share a few of these building projects with you this morning. 196 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:08,120 Quite fascinating. 197 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:14,720 One, of course, was the massive and beautiful and amazing renovation of the temple in Jerusalem. 198 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:20,560 The temple in Jerusalem never looked so good as it did when Herod had finished renovating 199 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:21,560 it. 200 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:22,560 He rebuilt the house of God. 201 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:25,360 I don't believe he rebuilt it for God's glory, though. 202 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:27,480 He rebuilt it for his own glory. 203 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,540 He wanted to have a capital that was worthy of his power and prestige. 204 00:12:31,540 --> 00:12:33,320 So there was the temple in Jerusalem. 205 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:40,000 He also undertook this major building project in a place called Caesarea by the Sea, or 206 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,840 Caesarea Maritima. 207 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:47,200 This city was like a little version of Rome in Israel. 208 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:52,040 It had an amphitheater, where you could have horse races, chariot races, and all this stuff. 209 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:56,600 It was like he was trying to bring the glory of Rome into the city he was building for 210 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:58,160 himself. 211 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:00,040 But he named it after Caesar, right? 212 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:01,040 Caesarea Maritima. 213 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:05,080 Now, you might notice out there there's like a marina. 214 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:10,800 And very fascinating was that that was the first time, I think, in antiquity that people 215 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:16,320 built structures with concrete that hardened underwater. 216 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,600 So prior to that, that wasn't a thing. 217 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,000 But again, Herod was a great innovator. 218 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:22,180 He was politically connected. 219 00:13:22,180 --> 00:13:23,180 He was rich. 220 00:13:23,180 --> 00:13:24,180 He was ambitious. 221 00:13:24,180 --> 00:13:30,420 And so he even like innovated this unique way of creating concrete that hardened underwater. 222 00:13:30,420 --> 00:13:32,680 So he was all those things. 223 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:34,600 But he was also paranoid. 224 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,600 And that's why he built this structure named after himself, Herodium. 225 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:45,080 And it is a mountaintop fortress, was a mountaintop fortress, where he basically just cut the 226 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,760 top off a mountain and then built this fortress. 227 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:49,760 Why? 228 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:55,040 So he could escape there if anyone ever kind of came after him. 229 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:59,040 He was convinced that everyone was after his throne. 230 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:05,680 In fact, we know from history that he had his favorite wife executed because he thought 231 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:08,200 she was just a bit too ambitious. 232 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:12,560 And he had three of his own sons strangled to death because he thought they too were 233 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:15,080 ambitious and maybe vying for his throne. 234 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:17,800 He was ruthless. 235 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:23,480 Even Caesar in Rome said, I would rather be Herod's pig than Herod's son. 236 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,280 And the reason he said that, of course, is Jewish people didn't eat pork. 237 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:31,400 And so at least a pig would have been safe in Herod's family. 238 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,600 This is the backdrop of Christmas, everyone. 239 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:41,540 A tyrannical king who is obsessed with power and prestige, hoarding possessions, taxing 240 00:14:41,540 --> 00:14:46,960 the poor to pay for massive self-aggrandizing building projects. 241 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:53,920 It was all part of what Greg Holder, the author of a book called The Advent Conspiracy, all 242 00:14:53,920 --> 00:15:00,480 part of what he calls the empire of more, the empire of more. 243 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:08,120 Build more, spend more, make more, gain more, hoard more. 244 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,240 More is always better. 245 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:11,880 More is merrier. 246 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,400 This is the world of King Herod. 247 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,160 This is his kingdom, his empire of more, more, more. 248 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:24,040 Now into that empire of more, more, more, we read that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in 249 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,320 Judea during the time of King Herod. 250 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:32,920 So now Jesus, not born in the capital city, but born in a small town, not born in wealth, 251 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,400 but born into poverty, didn't have famous parents. 252 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:38,240 He had peasant parents, Mary and Joe. 253 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:39,640 No one had ever heard of them. 254 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:41,480 He's not born into a palace. 255 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:42,480 Where was he born? 256 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:46,400 He was born in the garage out back because there was no room for them in the hotel or 257 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:48,760 they couldn't afford the hotel. 258 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:49,960 They were in the stable. 259 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:55,240 And so what you end up having is you've got this picture of Jesus being born in great 260 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:56,840 humility. 261 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:01,200 And you have to bring that into juxtaposition with this other kingdom that he's being born 262 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:02,960 into the kingdom of more. 263 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:12,040 And what you end up is with two kingdoms in conflict, Herod's empire of more and Jesus's 264 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,600 humble coming, the humble coming of Christ. 265 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,880 Now about that time, wise men from the East arrived and they started asking the question 266 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,800 that you really should not ask given what we know about Herod. 267 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,800 Hey, where is the newborn King of the Jews? 268 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:32,160 To which Herod, I'm sure said, excuse me, excuse me. 269 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:36,480 What did you, did you just say there's another King? 270 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,720 Because listen to me, I rule this town. 271 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:41,680 I'm King of this place. 272 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,360 I rule this empire of more. 273 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:47,240 And that of course got him all worked up. 274 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:52,080 And we read, say it with me, King Herod was deeply disturbed. 275 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,120 Why was he deeply disturbed? 276 00:16:54,120 --> 00:17:01,060 This is why, because at Christmas, at Christmas, when God enters our world, he immediately 277 00:17:01,060 --> 00:17:05,120 confronts the empire of more. 278 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:12,360 The humble birth of Jesus challenges the power, the military muscle, the wealth, the palatial 279 00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:14,440 palaces, the massive building projects. 280 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,360 He challenges all of it. 281 00:17:16,360 --> 00:17:21,240 He challenges the very idea of what a King is, of what a savior is. 282 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,280 Now Herod, of course we read was furious. 283 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:31,940 And then in a sad and just sickening moment of the Bible story, he sent soldiers to kill 284 00:17:31,940 --> 00:17:36,880 all the boys in around Jerusalem who were two years old and under. 285 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:37,880 So here you go, everybody. 286 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:39,120 Merry Christmas. 287 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:40,120 Here's what you've got. 288 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:43,200 A state sponsored genocide. 289 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,800 Herod did not want any rivals. 290 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,680 He did not want any competitors to his empire of more. 291 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:56,080 This is a hard piece of scripture to look at and a hard one to fathom, but we have to 292 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:57,080 look at it. 293 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:58,080 And here's why. 294 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:04,080 Because it shows us that the Christmas story has this dark side to it. 295 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:08,760 That there's this dark underbelly, if you will, to Christmas. 296 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:13,360 When you pull back the tinsel, when you pull back all of the decorations, what do we see? 297 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:15,800 We see a battle going on. 298 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:20,320 We see two Kings, two kingdoms fighting with each other. 299 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:24,200 And there's this, in Jesus, there's this rebellion afoot. 300 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:28,800 There's a conspiracy, if you will, on the rise. 301 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:35,080 And what we see is that Jesus is offering himself not as a King that hoards power, but 302 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:36,800 as a King that surrenders power. 303 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,960 Not as a King that is full of wealth, but a King that actually surrenders his wealth. 304 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:44,000 He gave up his heavenly riches to be born into poverty. 305 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,760 It's the empire of more versus the humility of Christ. 306 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:54,360 That was the choice that God was offering the world on the very first Christmas day. 307 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:57,960 And that is actually the same choice that God is offering you and I today. 308 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,080 All of us also have a choice to make at Christmas. 309 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,320 Who are we going to serve? 310 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,400 The empire of more or the humble Jesus? 311 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:12,940 Now Herod's not around anymore, but I think there still is this counterfeit King out there 312 00:19:12,940 --> 00:19:14,280 that wants our allegiance. 313 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:19,120 And let's call it, you could call it lots of things, but let's call it consumerism. 314 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:25,400 Like Herod, it is all about bigger and better and faster and more and more and more. 315 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,080 More presence, more possessions, more spending. 316 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,800 The empire of more that we live in says pile on the purchases. 317 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:35,800 You need more. 318 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,240 Charge more to your cards. 319 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,240 Spend more of your time and spend more of your energy and spend more of your resources 320 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:44,960 chasing after more, right? 321 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:50,160 If you ever think about it, debt and consumerism peak. 322 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:57,100 They peak at the very same time when the savior was born into the world to liberate us from 323 00:19:57,100 --> 00:19:58,100 these things. 324 00:19:58,100 --> 00:20:03,140 It is a battle and Christmas is like ground zero for that battle. 325 00:20:03,140 --> 00:20:07,120 And what do you think is actually closer to the heart of Christmas and to the heart of 326 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,120 Jesus? 327 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:14,600 Are we piling more and more on our pile of more or spending less so that we can give 328 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:16,720 to those who are in need? 329 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:22,080 Now in that book that we're reading, the Advent Conspiracy, Greg Holder says something. 330 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:23,080 I don't know. 331 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,440 I haven't actually fact checked it, but if it's true, it's pretty profound. 332 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:32,960 He says in America, the amount of money, he's an American, we spend on Christmas is 45 times 333 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:38,360 the amount of money it would take to supply the entire world with clean water. 334 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:43,200 Now that is, if that's true, that is hard to swallow. 335 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:48,760 And if that's true, we have a real important choice to make this Christmas. 336 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,200 Which king are we going to worship? 337 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,160 Which kingdom are we going for here? 338 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:59,560 So that's why one of the core commitments of the Advent Conspiracy is to spend less. 339 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:01,100 Now that does not mean spend nothing. 340 00:21:01,100 --> 00:21:08,560 It just means spend less so that your heart, your heart doesn't get hollowed out by consumerism 341 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,920 and end up just leaving you feeling defeated and deflated at Christmas time. 342 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:14,080 I want to show you a little clip. 343 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,400 This is from the interview that Elizabeth did with Greg. 344 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:23,920 He talks a little bit about what spending less looks like from where he sees it. 345 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:31,160 Because celebrating Christmas, one of the things that we will sometimes say is that 346 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:35,780 a beautiful Christmas morning is not defined by having a pile of presents four feet high 347 00:21:35,780 --> 00:21:38,160 around the tree. 348 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:45,800 What I've noticed in my own life and previous, like pre-Advent Conspiracy days, and we all 349 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,380 fall into this, it's kind of like you think, well, more is better. 350 00:21:50,380 --> 00:21:54,040 And so we've just got all of these things, and particularly when you have young kids, 351 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,820 it's like, let's just shower them with so many things. 352 00:21:57,820 --> 00:22:02,080 And what we have found is when this happens, which I understand motivation, but when it 353 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:09,680 happens, the kids then really don't even take the time to savor or enjoy one gift from the 354 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,880 next because they're tearing into something and tossing it over their shoulder to get 355 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:19,360 to the next thing, to get to the next thing, which is just this hyper consumerism that 356 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:26,320 we've all been led to believe, well, this is how you celebrate Christmas. 357 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:33,360 When that little baby, Jesus, grew up and became a man and started walking around teaching 358 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:37,640 people, he said this once, he said, watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of 359 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:38,840 greed. 360 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,400 Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. 361 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,960 And I think that Jesus would say, especially at Christmas, especially at Christmas, remember, 362 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,040 your life isn't about the abundance of stuff. 363 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,440 Your soul is worth so much more than stuff. 364 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:57,520 In Jesus' kingdom, less is actually more. 365 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,880 That's hard for us to understand. 366 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:05,880 There is this lie that we face every day out there that says, if you buy this, you will 367 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:07,500 be happy. 368 00:23:07,500 --> 00:23:09,520 If you buy this, they will be happy. 369 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:10,520 Right? 370 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,160 If you buy these shoes for your wife, that gadget for your husband, this phone for your 371 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,440 kids, and actually, it's true. 372 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:17,760 You do feel happy. 373 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,300 When you receive a gift, I feel happy. 374 00:23:19,300 --> 00:23:20,300 You feel happy. 375 00:23:20,300 --> 00:23:22,440 But I guess the question is, how long does that happiness really last? 376 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,720 Does it last two or three days? 377 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,080 Does it last two or three hours? 378 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:34,160 We spend billions of dollars in December trying to get that latest thing that will somehow 379 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:38,120 give us that happiness we're looking for, that joy that we're longing for. 380 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:44,060 But what we're searching for is something that money cannot buy. 381 00:23:44,060 --> 00:23:50,600 There is this God-shaped hole in your heart, the saying goes, and no flat-screen TV is 382 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:51,840 going to fill it. 383 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:57,680 Neither we nor our children nor our friends or our family will ever experience that deep 384 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:03,680 soul satisfaction that we're all looking for without Jesus in our lives. 385 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:04,680 And that's the truth. 386 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:11,640 So now, do you kind of see how spending and our spirituality are really connected? 387 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:16,320 Somebody comes back from Walmart after doing some Christmas shopping and says, I feel closer 388 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,040 to Jesus. 389 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,840 Never, never. 390 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:26,480 Because what happens is, under the tsunami of hyper-consumerism, as Greg mentioned, all 391 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,560 the joy and all the wonder gets washed away. 392 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:35,080 Actually, pretty soon, when we shop, shop, shop, Jesus actually becomes just one more 393 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,720 commodity, one more thing that we buy. 394 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:44,840 Not this king that comes to rule in our life, but just something that we can consume. 395 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,360 Jesus becomes something we consume. 396 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:53,200 So do you see how this can rob us of our joy and the wonder of our relationship with God? 397 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,000 So what if this Christmas we did something differently? 398 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,080 We took our cue from the wise man. 399 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:03,240 What if we gathered around the tree this year, not in a mad scramble about who got what, 400 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:10,080 but rather just filled with joy and filled with worship, as the wise man did? 401 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,920 What about you, though? 402 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:20,020 What if you scaled back your spending this December so that you could worship more fully 403 00:25:20,020 --> 00:25:23,280 and give more joyfully? 404 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:28,320 I asked the question to myself, Rob, are you willing to rethink your own approach to gift 405 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:29,820 giving this December? 406 00:25:29,820 --> 00:25:34,920 Let's end very practically today because I want to give you some ideas of how you might 407 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:35,920 do this. 408 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,280 And the thing is, when you hear us say spend less, you might be like, well, spend less 409 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:40,280 than what? 410 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:45,680 Spend less than I spent last year, spend less than my neighbors do, or spend less than the 411 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:50,400 average Canadian, which is something like $1,000 per person per year or something like 412 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:51,400 that. 413 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:52,960 What does it mean to spend less? 414 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,560 Well, here's some secret little secrets that I want to share with you. 415 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,600 What does it mean to spend less? 416 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:04,480 Here's the first one. 417 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:06,400 Set a limit. 418 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:11,680 Now the word limit sounds very negative and oppressive, but really the best way to curb 419 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:16,520 over runaway spending is actually to set a limit before we get there. 420 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:21,160 Now, Greg Holder, he just said, right, that what are we really teaching our kids anyway 421 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,040 when we bury them under a huge pile of presents on Christmas morning? 422 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,200 With every gift they open, it seems like the previous gift becomes less valuable and the 423 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,000 message of Jesus is probably lost in all that anyways. 424 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,000 So here's an idea. 425 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,080 You can take it or you can leave it. 426 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,160 It's entirely up to you. 427 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:42,280 But one of the things that people sometimes do is they take their cue from the wise men 428 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:49,160 and they say, what if you actually gave three gifts per person this year? 429 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,040 This is the idea that when the wise men came, they opened up their treasure chest and they 430 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,560 had gold and they had frankincense and they had myrrh. 431 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:01,200 So we could say, hey, hey, you know, the baby Jesus got three gifts at Christmas and so 432 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:02,200 will each of us. 433 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:06,680 We're going to limit our gift giving to three presents each. 434 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:12,440 Sometimes people say, OK, the gold gift is something that you really, really want. 435 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,040 And the frankincense gift would be something that maybe you really need. 436 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,300 Maybe you need a new snow suit or a new jacket or something like that. 437 00:27:19,300 --> 00:27:23,680 And then the myrrh gift could be some kind of an experience that you would share together. 438 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:25,120 Hey, we're going to go to a concert together. 439 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:28,840 We're going to go to a nice dinner together, a family outing or something like that. 440 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,880 I have to tell you, we have done this as a family in previous years. 441 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:38,040 And I think what we've discovered is that with fewer gifts, every gift actually becomes 442 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,240 more meaningful. 443 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,920 So if you want to give this idea a try in your household, we've actually got little 444 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,720 gift tags ready for you to pick up at the resource table afterwards that say gold and 445 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:50,720 frankincense and myrrh. 446 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,960 And you can say to so and so from so and so. 447 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,240 I would just say word of warning, two things. 448 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:01,000 Parents don't just drop this on your kids on Christmas morning. 449 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:02,600 Have a conversation with them. 450 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,960 Explain, hey, kids, this is something we're going to do this year. 451 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,400 Second thing I would ask, don't throw me under the bus when you're having that conversation 452 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:11,400 with them. 453 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:14,680 Don't say, oh, Reverend Robb thinks you've got too many gifts. 454 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:17,800 And he's going to you need to change. 455 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,960 But no, seriously, having a conversation, just having the conversation will open up 456 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:25,440 all sorts of good things for your family or for your boyfriend or girlfriend or for your 457 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,560 coworkers or whatever it is. 458 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:29,400 So set a limit, set a limit. 459 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,000 Maybe, maybe go with the three, three gift idea. 460 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:33,400 That's the one thing. 461 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,800 Second thing, of course, is make a budget. 462 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,380 Most of us spend way beyond our means at Christmas. 463 00:28:40,380 --> 00:28:44,760 Apple News the other day reported that one in four Canadians, 25% of Canadians, are still 464 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,680 paying off credit card debt from last Christmas. 465 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:54,160 So a budget really does help you take charge of your spending choices rather than letting 466 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:55,760 culture dictate your spending. 467 00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:00,460 A budget doesn't mean that you don't eat out or you don't throw a party or don't buy gifts. 468 00:29:00,460 --> 00:29:06,760 But a budget tells you where you want your money to go rather than wondering where did 469 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:08,480 it all go. 470 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:12,640 And the budget, when that credit card bill shows up in January, it will not be a moment 471 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,280 of shock and regret, but of relief and freedom. 472 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:17,280 So that's the second thing. 473 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:23,800 So we limit, make, set a limit, make a budget and thirdly, lastly, spend wisely. 474 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:28,840 Slow down and give a little thought to some of the gifts that you're giving instead of 475 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:34,160 just grabbing a random gift card and saying, hey, I thought I'd give this to you just to 476 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,080 let you know I thought of you at the very last minute. 477 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:38,080 Right? 478 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,040 So choose your gifts more carefully. 479 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:42,840 Think about the gifts that Jesus were given. 480 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:47,200 They were very carefully curated for who he was. 481 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:48,640 He was given gold. 482 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:50,380 Gold is a gift of royalty. 483 00:29:50,380 --> 00:29:52,760 He was the newborn king. 484 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,160 He was given a frankincense. 485 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:56,640 Incense is a gift for a deity. 486 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,560 You burn incense as you worship. 487 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:03,040 You are the son of God, frankincense said. 488 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:09,880 And myrrh, myrrh was actually a spice used to embalm dead bodies, which is hinting that 489 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:11,840 Jesus was not just a king. 490 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,240 He was not just the son of God, but he was also a savior. 491 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:21,440 And that of course leads us to thinking about the cross and what he gave us there. 492 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:26,320 So just be thoughtful this Christmas, make gift giving even a spiritual exercise. 493 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,440 Pray about the people on your shopping list. 494 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:32,440 Say God, what is the best way I can show my love to them? 495 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:37,480 Maybe God will say, spend a little less, or maybe God will say, give them an experience. 496 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:43,440 Or maybe God will say, you know, just get grandma and grandpa a framed photo of the 497 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,920 family because here's a pro tip. 498 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,100 That's all they want anyways. 499 00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:49,100 That's all they want. 500 00:30:49,100 --> 00:30:56,200 Or remember, gift giving does not mean, no, I should say it this way, spending less does 501 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,760 not mean that you love people less. 502 00:30:58,760 --> 00:30:59,760 Okay. 503 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:04,800 So here we go. 504 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:14,920 Let's conspire together by spending less, giving more, worshiping fully and loving all. 505 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:15,920 Are you with me? 506 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:16,920 Are you with me? 507 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,160 Let's, let's set a limit. 508 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,920 Let's make a budget and let's spend wisely. 509 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:25,560 Are you with me this Advent? 510 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:32,200 Because with God's help, we can resist that empire of more and celebrate the birth of 511 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:37,760 Jesus just beautifully and relationally and humbly. 512 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:38,760 So thanks be to God. 513 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:39,760 Amen. 514 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,600 Thanks for listening into our sermon today. 515 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:47,080 We are so glad that we can share our message and the good news with you in this way. 516 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,960 If you enjoyed what you just heard, please feel free to take a moment and rate and review 517 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:55,520 our podcast as this will help us to continue to reach even more people. 518 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,440 Thanks again and join us next week. 519 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:03,240 Today's sermon was taken from the December 10th, 2023 service at Trinity Church, Streetsville 520 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:30,480 in Mississauga, Ontario.