The End of the World As We Know It – by Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove
Advent begins two Sundays after Black Friday. As we watch the engines of our present economy gear up for the big event of Santa’s world tour, we remember that Jesus’s coming was not celebrated by the merchants of Bethlehem. When Jesus was born in Judea, all of ancient Palestine was under Roman occupation. Though “great with child,” Mary traveled from the Galilee down to Bethlehem, her husband’s ancestral home, because an emperor half a world away decided to impose a tax on his subjects. The resulting influx of internally displaced persons was good for the hospitality industry in Bethlehem. But it was bad news for Jesus, for there was no room in the inn.
This world’s economy does not have room for the Jesus who was born in Bethlehem. Economic recovery is on our minds, and we are not looking to the child of a poor refugee for answers. We watch instead for the next move of the Federal Reserve and big corporations, focusing our expectant hope on the survival of this world’s system. But the advent of Messiah is not about economic recovery. It is, instead, the end of the world as we know it. Jesus did not come to patch up a system in which there is no room in the inn for the third of the world’s population that now lives and dies in slums. Jesus came, instead, to interrupt our broken system with the good news of God’s Economy.
The economic assumptions of our world are clear: resources are limited, and there is only so much food, time, and money to go around. Survival demands that each of us get what we need first. Once we’ve done that, we may move on to think of others, calculating the best way to manage limited resources.
But Jesus defies this logic, assuming plenty rather than scarcity. Jesus proclaims abundance through seemingly reckless gift giving. Like the adolescent son of a rich man who thinks his daddy’s money will never run out, Jesus lavishes his Father’s love prodigally. Jesus knows something astounding: he draws his gifts of love from a wellspring that is endless. The table is wide enough for everyone, and everyone is invited. The table is an invitation to enter the relationship of the Triune God whose eternal dance of love scandalizes the assumptions of Wall Street and the White House.
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ADVENT ACTION:
This Black Friday, let’s allow Jesus to RE:Arrange how we buy. Let's create some space to STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!
Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving is known as “Black Friday” which officially begins the secular Christmas over-consuming-craze (the US spends around $450 billion from this day-Dec. 24). As followers of Christ, Jesus should inform the way we purchase goods and services rather than advertisements misinforming our (over)consumption.
Instead of Black Friday, “Subversive Economy Day” (S.E.D.) is an invitation for Coastal Community (and Christians in general) to reflect on the kind of community Jesus has called us to create. Reflect on your past spending habits and look at this season of Advent as a move into a space of intentionality.
Does the places where your dollars go reflect what you value? This S.E.D. we challenge you to be DELIBERATE. For many that means completely abstaining from the shopping centers and investing your time elsewhere. For some that may mean careful reflection and intentionality as you go out to purchase items, swimming upstream against a culture that says more is better.
*** In an act of resistance against the culture of nonsensical consumption that is ritually celebrated on Black Friday, please watch this video below, put on the mind of Christ, and be deliberate in the way you go about purchasing goods and services!!!
So, what do you think?
Potential gifts to consider:
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