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Max Lucado – Unscrooge Your Christmas: Rediscover the True Meaning of Christmas · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

0:01
Speaker 1: There's a little bit of bah humbug in all of us.
0:04
Speaker 1: Charles Dickens described his colorful character with these words. Ebenezer
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Speaker 1: Scrooge was hard and sharp as a flint from which
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Speaker 1: no steel had ever struck out generous fire. He was
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Speaker 1: secret and self-contained and solitary as an oyster. The holidays
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Speaker 1: can stir the Scrooge within us all. Like Ebenezer Scrooge,
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Speaker 1: we can find ourselves withdrawing into our own shells like
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Speaker 1: an oyster. And we can create a small world of
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Speaker 1: just what we want. We tell Santa what we want.
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Speaker 1: We make a list of what we want. We drop
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Speaker 1: hints about what we want. Not that we want to
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Speaker 1: be Ebenezer Scrooge, We all know deep within our hearts
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Speaker 1: why Scrooge was so unhappy. We understand why miser is
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Speaker 1: just one letter short of misery. We've become too acquainted
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Speaker 1: with the sting of being stingy. But how do we
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Speaker 1: unscrew our Christmas? How can we exercise the muscle of
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Speaker 1: generosity even in a difficult December like this one? I
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Speaker 1: think the answer is found in becoming a part of
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Speaker 1: the great Christmas giveaway, and remembering that Christmas is really
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Speaker 1: celebrating what we've already received rather than trying to receive
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Speaker 1: more things. A great example of this is the story
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Speaker 1: of the wise men in Scripture, the Magi, those mysterious
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Speaker 1: stargazers that Matthew tells us about. Open your Bibles, if
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Speaker 1: you brought them, to Matthew chapter 2. Matthew chapter 2.
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Speaker 1: We're going to look at a story of the wise
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Speaker 1: men and keep your fingers nimble. And then we're going
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Speaker 1: to flip over to a parable in Luke chapter 16.
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Speaker 1: And before it's all said and done, we're going to
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Speaker 1: read a paragraph from the pen of the Apostle Paul
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Speaker 1: in the epistle called First Timothy. If you want to
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Speaker 1: just follow on the screen, that's fine as well, too.
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Speaker 1: Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea
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Speaker 1: during the reign of King Herod. About that time, some
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Speaker 1: wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem asking, where
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Speaker 1: is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen
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Speaker 1: his star as it arose and we have come to
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Speaker 1: worship him. Now, there's so much we don't know about
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Speaker 1: these men. We really don't know their origin. We don't
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Speaker 1: know their nationality. Maybe they were from Persia. Maybe they
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Speaker 1: were from Arabia. We don't know their nationality. We really
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Speaker 1: don't even know the population. We don't know how many
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Speaker 1: of them there were. We see the three wise men
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Speaker 1: on the lawns in the Christmas creches, and we sing
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Speaker 1: about the three wise men, but we really don't know
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Speaker 1: if there were three or if there were ten. And
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Speaker 1: we wonder why in the world Matthew would make such
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Speaker 1: a big deal about these astronomers, because quite honestly, the
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Speaker 1: Gospels don't talk anything else about stargazing and astronomy, and
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Speaker 1: here are these mystical characters that come from a far
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Speaker 1: land to find Jesus. But then as we read further,
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Speaker 1: we find that the story of the wise men is
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Speaker 1: contrasted with the story of Herod, who had just the
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Speaker 1: opposite reaction to the story, the announcement about Jesus. When
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Speaker 1: Herod heard that a king had been born in Judea,
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Speaker 1: what was his reaction? He was hard-hearted. He was tight-fisted.
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Speaker 1: He was jealous. He was mean. His heart had room
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Speaker 1: for only one king, and that place was already occupied.
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Speaker 1: And so he set out to kill all of the
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Speaker 1: children ages two and under. It's a horrible act. Contrast
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Speaker 1: that with the kindness of these wise men who traveled
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Speaker 1: a long way to see Jesus. And here's what happened.
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Speaker 1: Picking up in verse nine, the wise men went on
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Speaker 1: their way. Once again, the star appeared to them, guiding
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Speaker 1: them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped
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Speaker 1: over the place where the child was. And when they
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Speaker 1: saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered
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Speaker 1: the house where the child and his mother Mary were,
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Speaker 1: and they fell down before him and worshipped him. Then
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Speaker 1: they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of
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Speaker 1: gold and frankincense and myrrh. They didn't make one request.
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Speaker 1: They didn't request one favor. They didn't put in a
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Speaker 1: single petition. Here they have an audience with the one
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Speaker 1: they believe is the king of kings, and they don't
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Speaker 1: even write a note saying, when you grow up, could
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Speaker 1: you do this for me? There's no request. All they
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Speaker 1: do is bring gifts. They come and they worship. And
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Speaker 1: they leave tangible worship. Gold and frankincense and myrrh, which
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Speaker 1: I'm thinking came in very handy when Joseph took his
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Speaker 1: family to Egypt. Gold and frankincense and myrrh. They bring gifts.
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Speaker 1: They demonstrate the beauty of a generous heart. And so
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Speaker 1: we have two stories. We have Herod who's scroogey, who's evil.
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Speaker 1: And we have the Wise men who are generous and kind.
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Speaker 1: And we have to ask, with whom do we best relate?
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Speaker 1: Which of those two characters best demonstrates our state of heart?
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Speaker 1: Now this is not an easy year in which to
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Speaker 1: be generous, is it? It's the year of bailouts. It's
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Speaker 1: the year of layoffs. It's the year of more pink slips,
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Speaker 1: it seems, than paychecks. It's a year in which our
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Speaker 1: natural reaction, our default reaction is to crawl inside our shell,
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Speaker 1: to hold on to what we have, to be super
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Speaker 1: conservative and to withdraw. That's the natural reaction. But I'd
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Speaker 1: like to remind us that this is also a great
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Speaker 1: chance for us to demonstrate generosity and to develop the muscle,
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Speaker 1: the spiritual muscle of generosity. It doesn't come by us naturally.
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Speaker 1: We see kids, the first thing they do when they
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Speaker 1: get old enough to own a toy is say, it's mine.
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Speaker 1: We spend the rest of our lives trying to overcome
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Speaker 1: that tendency. And I believe that this is a great
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Speaker 1: opportunity for us to explore and develop the generosity muscle
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Speaker 1: within us and be a part of the great Christmas giveaway.
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Speaker 1: So we ask the question, how does a Christian behave
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Speaker 1: during a recession? Well, Scripture has all kinds of comments
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Speaker 1: about money, more than you might imagine. But three themes
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Speaker 1: always surface. We're only going to mention the first two
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Speaker 1: and then park on number three. Theme number one in
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Speaker 1: Scripture is this. Don't spend what you don't have. Don't
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Speaker 1: spend what you don't have. Dump all the debt you
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Speaker 1: can and don't take on any more. Owe no one anything,
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Speaker 1: the apostle Paul wrote, except love. Number two, live beneath
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Speaker 1: your means. Live beneath your means. When my friend Robert
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Speaker 1: Emmett taught on this text or on this topic a
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Speaker 1: few months ago over at CBC, he said, I just
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Speaker 1: had everybody in the church say, live beneath your means.
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Speaker 1: And I said, you know, that's a good idea. So
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Speaker 1: I'm going to do that today. Will you say that
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Speaker 1: out loud with me? Live beneath your means. How about
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Speaker 1: one more time? Live beneath your means. Not at your
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Speaker 1: means and certainly not over your means because to live
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Speaker 1: over your means is is to be greedy. That's what
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Speaker 1: greed is. Greed is when we don't trust God to
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Speaker 1: give us what we deeply need. And so we try stuff.
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Speaker 1: Dave Ramsey says, act your wage. Act your wage. We'll
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Speaker 1: talk about that someday too. But number three, these are
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Speaker 1: the three principles in scripture. Number three is cultivate generosity.
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Speaker 1: You're not born generous. You have to develop it. So
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Speaker 1: cultivate generosity. Press yourself. Stretch that muscle. Develop it. Discover
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Speaker 1: new realms of generosity. And this is tough. I understand.
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Speaker 1: It's a tough time to be talking about generosity. But
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Speaker 1: I think it's the best time to be talking about generosity.
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Speaker 1: Because anybody can claim to be generous when they have
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Speaker 1: a lot. But it's when we're passing through tough times
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Speaker 1: that generosity takes. can be a very, very stubborn virtue.
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Speaker 1: So cultivate generosity. The Scripture always teaches that the generous
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Speaker 1: heart leads to a happy life. And the hard heart
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Speaker 1: leads to a miserable life. To teach us this, Jesus
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Speaker 1: shared a parable or gave us a teaching of a
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Speaker 1: person who Scripture calls the rich fool. And if you
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Speaker 1: want to find this story, it's in the Gospel of Luke.
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Speaker 1: We started in Matthew, now go past Mark into Luke,
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Speaker 1: and then look in chapter 16. Matthew, Mark, Luke, chapter 16,
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Speaker 1: and then look in verse 12. I said that wrong.
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Speaker 1: Chapter 12 and verse 16. Chapter 12 and verse 16.
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Speaker 1: Luke chapter 12 and verse 16. Or follow on the screen.
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Speaker 1: And then Jesus told them this parable, the ground of
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Speaker 1: a certain rich man produced a good crop. And he
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Speaker 1: thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no
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Speaker 1: place to store my crops. Then he said, this is
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Speaker 1: what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and
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Speaker 1: build bigger ones. And there I will store all my
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Speaker 1: grain and all my goods. And I will say to myself,
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Speaker 1: you have plenty of good things laid up for many years.
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Speaker 1: Take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry. But God
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Speaker 1: said to him, what? You fool. This very night, your
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Speaker 1: life will be demanded from you. Then who will get
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Speaker 1: what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it
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Speaker 1: will be with anyone who stores up things for himself,
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Speaker 1: but is not rich toward God. We studied this passage
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Speaker 1: a few weeks ago on a Wednesday night and we
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Speaker 1: pointed out that this fellow seems to be such a
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Speaker 1: decent guy. There's no reference to any extortion, no dishonesty,
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Speaker 1: no exploitation. He put his God-given talents to work and
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Speaker 1: made some talents. And so we wonder, what is it
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Speaker 1: that he did that is so bad? What did he
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Speaker 1: do to deserve to be called fool? Truth is, we'd
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Speaker 1: like to learn from his success. Were he alive today,
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Speaker 1: I'm sure that he would write books and book would
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Speaker 1: say bigger barns and recession-proof your barns, and he would
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Speaker 1: have seminars, and he'd be interviewed on MSNBC, and he
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Speaker 1: might even have his own television show. We like guys
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Speaker 1: like this. He was a success. There's a certain Warren
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Speaker 1: Buffett-ness to this guy, where he accomplished something, and he said, good,
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Speaker 1: I have it, and now I can keep it, and
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Speaker 1: I can enjoy it. What was it that he did
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Speaker 1: that caused Jesus to use him as an example of
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Speaker 1: someone who plays the fool? Well, look at the parable
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Speaker 1: one more time. This time, look at the heart of
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Speaker 1: the parable. Circle all the personal pronouns, and you'll see
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Speaker 1: the heart of the man. Listen to it again. And
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Speaker 1: he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, since
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Speaker 1: I have no room to store my crops? So he said,
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Speaker 1: I will do this. I will pull down my barns
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Speaker 1: and build greater, and there I will store all my
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Speaker 1: crops and my goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul,
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Speaker 1: you have many goods laid up for many years. Take
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Speaker 1: your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. About whom is
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Speaker 1: this man thinking? Himself. He lives in a one-room house
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Speaker 1: of mirrors. And everywhere he looks, he sees himself. He
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Speaker 1: looks north, he looks south, he looks east, he looks west,
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Speaker 1: and he sees himself. And when he talks to somebody,
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Speaker 1: to whom does he talk? Himself.
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Speaker 2: Himself.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't consult anyone else. And most of all, he
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Speaker 1: doesn't consult God. Put all these pronouns together and listen
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Speaker 1: to how it sounds. I, I, my, I, I, my, I, my, my, I, my.
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Speaker 1: This is his favorite song. There's no they and there's
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Speaker 1: no the. Just me. And even when he talked about
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Speaker 1: to himself. Well, even when he said you, he was
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Speaker 1: talking to himself. Basically he says, okay, everything I have
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Speaker 1: is mine. I've earned everything that I have so I
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Speaker 1: can take it now and I can go dine and
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Speaker 1: wine and recline. So he did. He moved to Scottsdale,
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Speaker 1: Arizona and he bought him a nice split level on
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Speaker 1: the third fairway of the country club. And he put
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Speaker 1: all his money in the bank and And he unpacked
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Speaker 1: all his belongings and he put on the swimming trunks
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Speaker 1: and he went outside and he dove into the pool.
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Speaker 1: But too bad he forgot to fill it with water.
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Speaker 1: And he conked his noggin on the seam in and
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Speaker 1: he woke up in heaven. And when he did, God
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Speaker 1: looked at him and said, you fool. He was God
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Speaker 1: was not impressed with his portfolio. God said, you fool.
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Speaker 1: Now what's going to happen to all of your stuff?
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Speaker 1: And I've come to take your soul. And you haven't
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Speaker 1: prepared for that. Why did he deserve the title of fool? Simple.
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Speaker 1: Because he talked to the wrong person and he didn't
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Speaker 1: ask the right question. He could have spoken to the
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Speaker 1: right person. Here's what he could have done. He could
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Speaker 1: have said, God, you have blessed me. I mean, you
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Speaker 1: have blessed my farms and you have blessed my crops
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Speaker 1: and you have blessed my harvest. I have more than
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Speaker 1: I ever thought. What? And then he could have said, God,
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Speaker 1: you gave all this to me. What would you have
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Speaker 1: me to do with it? It's all yours anyway. Can
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Speaker 1: we be real clear about this parable? This parable is
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Speaker 1: not anti-savings. It's not anti-retirement. It's not anti-planning. I don't
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Speaker 1: even think that the parable is anti-affluence because the man's
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Speaker 1: possessions are not criticized. His success is not criticized. What's
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Speaker 1: criticized is the fact that though he was greatly successful,
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Speaker 1: he only gave himself credit and he didn't try to
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Speaker 1: help anyone else. He became self-contained. He became a scrooge,
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Speaker 1: counting his money and ended up in misery. That's not
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Speaker 1: where you want to end up. It's really not where
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Speaker 1: I want to end up, but that's exactly where this
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Speaker 1: man ended up. Now, if he had asked God, What
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Speaker 1: would you have me to do with this? Here's what
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Speaker 1: God would have told him. We know what God would
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Speaker 1: have told him because it's written in the Bible. It's
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Speaker 1: in 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. I
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Speaker 1: believe this verse ought to be printed on every dollar
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Speaker 1: bill because no paragraph in the Bible summarizes a healthier
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Speaker 1: view toward finances, in my opinion, in my estimation, than
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Speaker 1: 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 17 through 19. This is
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Speaker 1: written by the Apostle Paul to a young preacher by
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Speaker 1: the name of Timothy. And Paul said, command those who
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Speaker 1: are rich in this present age not to be haughty
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Speaker 1: nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living
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Speaker 1: God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let
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Speaker 1: them do good that they may be rich in good works.
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Speaker 1: ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves
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Speaker 1: a good foundation for the time to come, that they
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Speaker 1: may lay hold of eternal life. Now, who is the
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Speaker 1: audience that Paul is addressing here? He says, command those
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Speaker 1: who are rich in this present age. Command those who
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Speaker 1: are rich in this present age. Can I ask you
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Speaker 1: a question? Are you rich in this present age? And
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Speaker 1: as you're thinking of an answer to that, let me
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Speaker 1: just remind you that 3 billion people on the globe
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Speaker 1: live on less than $ 2. 50 a day. Can I ask
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Speaker 1: you a question again? Are you rich in this present age?
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Speaker 2: You are.
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Speaker 1: You are. We are. We are. We are affluent in
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Speaker 1: this present age. So his teaching is for us. And
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Speaker 1: his first command is, command those who are rich in
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Speaker 1: this present age not to be what? haughty, not to
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Speaker 1: be haughty, not to take pride in their accomplishments, not
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Speaker 1: to say this is mine, this is what I have earned.
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Speaker 1: But let us be quick to remember that God owns everything.
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Speaker 1: Throughout scripture, we're reminded, for example, in Deuteronomy 10, 14,
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Speaker 1: to the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the
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Speaker 1: highest heavens and everything in it, including your 401k. Yours,
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Speaker 1: O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the
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Speaker 1: glory and the majesty and the splendor for everything in it.
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Speaker 1: And the earth is yours. The silver is mine and
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Speaker 1: the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty. Now, the
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Speaker 1: rich fool missed this point, but the poor widow did not.
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Speaker 1: Here's another story Jesus told us, and it's not a parable,
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Speaker 1: but it's a historical event. He said, Then a poor
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Speaker 1: widow came and dropped in two pennies. He called his
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Speaker 1: disciples and said to him, I assure you, this poor
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Speaker 1: widow has given more than all the others have given,
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Speaker 1: for she gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she,
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Speaker 1: poor as she is, has given everything she has. They're
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Speaker 1: at the temple. It comes time to worship. She steps
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Speaker 1: forward and she gives out of her poverty. And Jesus
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Speaker 1: lifts her up as an example of financial wisdom. Now
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Speaker 1: I'm thinking if a financial counselor were to read these
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Speaker 1: two stories, he would probably think the rich fool is
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Speaker 1: the one who displayed financial wisdom because he saved until
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Speaker 1: he could successfully retire. And he would turn to the
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Speaker 1: poor widow and he'd say, now don't go overboard on
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Speaker 1: this giving because you don't have too much left. But
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Speaker 1: Jesus makes a big deal out of the one who
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Speaker 1: has little but gives out of her good heart. This
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Speaker 1: little story teaches us so much. It teaches us that
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Speaker 1: God notices what we give and he notices the heart
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Speaker 1: with which we give it. And he loves the person
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Speaker 1: who gives cheerfully, even if they don't have a lot
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Speaker 1: to give. He honors people like that. Paul says to
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Speaker 1: those of us who are rich in this present age,
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Speaker 1: he says, not only do not be haughty, but he says,
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Speaker 1: do not put your trust in riches which are so uncertain.
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Speaker 1: Do not put your trust in riches which are so uncertain.
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Speaker 1: Here's my conviction. I believe that God is telling the
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Speaker 1: entire world right now, do not put your trust in
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Speaker 1: riches which are so uncertain. I believe that this is
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Speaker 1: not a consequence of somebody's mismanagement, that this recession is
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Speaker 1: not just something that is predictable in the economy, but
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Speaker 1: I believe that God is speaking to those who have
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Speaker 1: ears to hear, so let them hear. If you will
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Speaker 1: hear him say, he is saying, don't trust money. It's unstable.
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Speaker 1: I mean, you can have a savings account with $ 100
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Speaker 1: in it, and then the next morning you wake up
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Speaker 1: and it's got $ 75 in it. You lose 25% of
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Speaker 1: what you have. or 30% or 40%. Pay attention. Don't
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Speaker 1: trust stuff. It is unstable. The United States economy has
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Speaker 1: had 10 recessions since 1948, not counting the one in
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Speaker 1: which we're in. 10 recessions since 1948. In other words,
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Speaker 1: about every five years, The economy just dumps its suitors
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Speaker 1: and starts over with a new group. Costing Americans billions
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Speaker 1: of dollars. Now, what would you think about a man
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Speaker 1: who about every five years dumped his wife and got
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Speaker 1: a new one for 50 years until he looked up
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Speaker 1: at the end of half a century and he'd gone
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Speaker 1: through 10 wives? What would you think about a guy
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Speaker 1: like that? Would you call him stable? Would you trust him?
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Speaker 1: Would you depend on him? And here's a better question.
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Speaker 1: What would you call wife number 11? We've got a
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Speaker 1: word for her, don't we? Four letters. F-O-O-L. Fool. Pay attention.
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Speaker 1: This is going to happen. It's what happens. God will
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Speaker 1: take care of us. And he will take us through this.
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Speaker 1: But I believe we have a great opportunity to examine
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Speaker 1: our own hearts and say, am I trusting in something
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Speaker 1: that is unstable? Am I relying upon something that from
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Speaker 1: the very beginning has been unstable? Do not put your
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Speaker 1: hope and your trust in riches, Paul says, which are
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Speaker 1: so untrustworthy, unstable, but rather put your hope in the
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Speaker 1: living God. Now, Bob Russell tells a story about the
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Speaker 1: day he learned a lesson about this. I'll read it
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Speaker 1: to you. He writes this story. A few years ago,
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Speaker 1: our family got involved in a game of Monopoly. And
21:48
Speaker 1: I was on a roll. First time around, I stopped
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Speaker 1: on Illinois Avenue and Park Place and bought them both.
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Speaker 1: Then I added Indiana Avenue and Boardwalk. Let anyone come
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Speaker 1: down that street and I had them dead. I bought
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Speaker 1: all four railroads. I had houses and hotels I couldn't
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Speaker 1: keep from smirking. I had so much money, I had
22:10
Speaker 1: to set some on the side. Everyone else was counting
22:13
Speaker 1: their little dollar bills. And I had hundreds and thousands. Finally,
22:19
Speaker 1: about 1 a.m., they all went bankrupt and I won.
22:23
Speaker 1: They got up from the table with no word of congratulations.
22:30
Speaker 1: And they headed for bed. Wait a minute, I said.
22:34
Speaker 1: Somebody needs to put the game away. And they replied,
22:37
Speaker 1: that's your reward for winning. Good night. And so there
22:43
Speaker 1: I sat all alone. All my hotels and all my
22:48
Speaker 1: deeds and all my money. And I realized it doesn't
22:52
Speaker 1: amount to a thing. And I had to put them
22:56
Speaker 1: back in the box and fold it up and put
22:58
Speaker 1: it on the shelf. And I went upstairs to a
23:00
Speaker 1: cold bed. My wife did not say, you know, Bob,
23:07
Speaker 1: I'm so proud of you. You're such an impressive investor.
23:12
Speaker 1: We can never beat you. You are Mr. Monopoly. She
23:18
Speaker 1: just gave me a perfunctory kiss and turned over. Well,
23:24
Speaker 1: good thing in Bob's case, it was just a game.
23:27
Speaker 1: Too bad in many cases, it's not a game. Let's
23:30
Speaker 1: not make the same mistake. Let's see this financial downturn
23:35
Speaker 1: as an opportunity for us to examine our own hearts,
23:38
Speaker 1: examine our own priorities, to have some good, honest conversations
23:42
Speaker 1: with God and say, God, am I trusting stuff too much?
23:46
Speaker 1: And then also, let's see it as a great opportunity
23:48
Speaker 1: to do good. That's what Paul says. Do good. Share
23:53
Speaker 1: what you have. God gives us richly all things to enjoy.
23:57
Speaker 1: If he has blessed you, then you don't need to
23:58
Speaker 1: feel guilty for being blessed by no means. But just
24:02
Speaker 1: don't trust what he gives you. Trust him and realize
24:05
Speaker 1: that he has given this to you so that you
24:07
Speaker 1: can be a blessing now to others. And you do
24:10
Speaker 1: this so well. You do this so well. You're the
24:13
Speaker 1: most generous church I know of. And you're so quick
24:16
Speaker 1: in your spontaneous acts of kindness. Christian Hope Resource Center
24:21
Speaker 1: on the west side of San Antonio where we distribute
24:24
Speaker 1: a lot of food and a lot of good ministered
24:26
Speaker 1: to 600 families yesterday. They literally ran out of clothing. Literally.
24:32
Speaker 1: That's how severe the need is. So we have opportunities
24:36
Speaker 1: everywhere we turn. So I want to close with three
24:38
Speaker 1: ways that you can unscrew your Christmas. Just very quickly.
24:43
Speaker 1: Three ways for you to unscrew your Christmas. Number one,
24:48
Speaker 1: help a needy person in a foreign country. That's what
24:51
Speaker 1: the wise men did. In fact, the wise men, you
24:55
Speaker 1: might argue, this is one of the first ever mission efforts.
24:58
Speaker 1: But they went to Jesus. God wants us to go
25:01
Speaker 1: to people in the foreign country in the name of Jesus.
25:05
Speaker 1: Help people in a foreign country. Now you'll notice in
25:08
Speaker 1: your weekend handout, I don't think I brought one up here,
25:11
Speaker 1: but as you open it up, yeah, I did. As
25:13
Speaker 1: you open it up and look in the inside flap,
25:16
Speaker 1: we've listed the names of some relief agencies with which
25:19
Speaker 1: we often work as a church. We recommend to you,
25:22
Speaker 1: maybe you know some others, but here are some ways
25:25
Speaker 1: that you can help someone in a third world country.
25:28
Speaker 1: Some of these organizations are very creative. For example, I
25:32
Speaker 1: did my Christmas shopping about a week or so ago
25:35
Speaker 1: on the telephone with World Vision because World Vision will
25:40
Speaker 1: allow you to give a gift to someone in the
25:42
Speaker 1: third country in the name of someone else. I thought
25:46
Speaker 1: of the people that I was about to buy presents for,
25:48
Speaker 1: and I thought, you know, they don't need another pair
25:50
Speaker 1: of socks. They don't need another necktie. We all have
25:53
Speaker 1: neckties and socks that, you know, we don't use. But
25:56
Speaker 1: World Vision will allow you to buy an animal in
25:59
Speaker 1: the name of someone else. And so my friends will
26:02
Speaker 1: soon receive cards from me that will say Max Locato
26:07
Speaker 1: gave a goat to someone in a third world country
26:12
Speaker 1: in your name. And I like that idea. For one thing,
26:15
Speaker 1: I want to be able to tell them I got
26:17
Speaker 1: your goat. I told Dina and my wife, I said,
26:24
Speaker 1: I could get you a donkey. She said, why would
26:26
Speaker 1: you do that? I married one. But these organizations will
26:34
Speaker 1: allow you to contribute to the drilling of a water
26:37
Speaker 1: well or buy a chicken or buy something, livestock like
26:44
Speaker 1: a cow or something as small as a chicken. You know,
26:47
Speaker 1: whatever you find the desire to do. But here's a
26:50
Speaker 1: way for you to practically help somebody out. in a
26:52
Speaker 1: foreign country. And number two, number two, be sensitive to
26:58
Speaker 1: the needs right here in San Antonio. Extend a hand
27:01
Speaker 1: to the needy here in San Antonio. You may not
27:03
Speaker 1: know that one out of four children in our county
27:07
Speaker 1: suffer from food insecurity. That is to say that they
27:11
Speaker 1: don't have a guarantee of the next meal. One in
27:14
Speaker 1: four children right here in our own county. I know
27:19
Speaker 1: you want to help them and didn't At the same time,
27:21
Speaker 1: it is a difficult time. And you may be thinking,
27:24
Speaker 1: you know, I'm barely paying my own bills. I just
27:27
Speaker 1: don't have extra money to help others. And understand that.
27:31
Speaker 1: And be reminded, please, that generosity comes in the giving
27:34
Speaker 1: of time as much as it does in the giving
27:36
Speaker 1: of money. So perhaps you could volunteer with the homeless
27:39
Speaker 1: shelter downtown. Maybe you could say, my Christmas gift this
27:42
Speaker 1: year is to volunteer at Christian Hope Resource Center two
27:45
Speaker 1: hours a week. And I'll fold clothes on Thursday afternoons
27:50
Speaker 1: or I'll show up on Saturday mornings and help distribute. Again,
27:53
Speaker 1: all of that information is in the church bulletin. So
27:56
Speaker 1: maybe you could give time this year. And then number three,
28:00
Speaker 1: be sensitive to the needs right there in your own neighborhood.
28:03
Speaker 1: Somebody in your neighborhood is upside down in their mortgage.
28:06
Speaker 1: Somebody's concerned about a job. And you may know who
28:11
Speaker 1: they are. You may just pray and say, God, maybe
28:13
Speaker 1: you could direct me to somebody. Somebody. And you don't
28:15
Speaker 1: have to be their savior, but you could be their neighbor.
28:17
Speaker 1: You know, you could bake them a plate of cookies
28:20
Speaker 1: or take them some brownies. You could tell them, for example,
28:23
Speaker 1: about the career transitions workshop that we host here, your
28:28
Speaker 1: church hosts right here on this campus every Thursday night.
28:32
Speaker 1: And we help people who are going through career transition,
28:35
Speaker 1: help them write resumes and and fill out applications, and
28:40
Speaker 1: coach them through that. Every Thursday night, there's a group
28:42
Speaker 1: that meets here. You might get the word out to
28:44
Speaker 1: somebody and tell them to contact the church, and we
28:47
Speaker 1: can connect them to that group. We have Financial Peace University,
28:52
Speaker 1: in which people take courses in learning how to manage
28:55
Speaker 1: their money. Sign-ups are already taking place for the next course,
28:59
Speaker 1: which starts next February. So there are a lot of
29:02
Speaker 1: different ways that you can help. What's important is that
29:05
Speaker 1: you deliberately determine to unscrew your Christmas. Does anybody remember
29:09
Speaker 1: how the Scrooge story ended? Remember Jacob Marley? Jacob Marley
29:15
Speaker 1: was the ghost of his former partner. Now, I'm not
29:19
Speaker 1: big on talking to ghosts. I don't think ghosts talk
29:23
Speaker 1: to us. So don't yell at me or anything. But
29:26
Speaker 1: I like the way the story ends. Because Jacob Marley
29:30
Speaker 1: comes back in the form of a ghost. And here's
29:33
Speaker 1: what he says to Scrooge. He says, about this time
29:37
Speaker 1: of the year at Christmas, I suffer the most. And
29:40
Speaker 1: I remember my life on earth and I ask, why
29:42
Speaker 1: did I walk through the crowds of fellow beings with
29:45
Speaker 1: my eyes turned down and never raise them to that
29:48
Speaker 1: star which led the wise men to a poor abode?
29:52
Speaker 1: Were there no homes to which a light could have
29:55
Speaker 1: conducted me? Are there homes... that God's light or God's
30:02
Speaker 1: light might take us? I think there are.
30:06
Speaker 3: Loving you alone feels so beautiful. And yet, it hurts
30:17
Speaker 3: the most.
30:21
Speaker 2: You became my quiet sunrise, the dream I never dared
30:27
Speaker 2: to say. Every smile you gave so freely took my breath.
30:33
Speaker 3: A little away.
30:34
Speaker 2: I held this love like fragile glass, so precious, soft
30:41
Speaker 2: and true. But every beat inside my heart was only
30:46
Speaker 2: reaching out to you. Unspoken love is sweet and painful
30:54
Speaker 2: Like honey mixed with rain A tender hope I hold
30:59
Speaker 2: so tightly While it slowly breaks me Loving you from
31:06
Speaker 2: just one side now Leaves my soul in silent blue
31:12
Speaker 2: Cause the deeper that I fall alone The lonelier I
31:17
Speaker 2: do I can blame my heart for choosing someone it
31:25
Speaker 2: could never keep. So I smile through hidden heartache and
31:31
Speaker 2: love you quietly. Unspoken love is sweet and painful like
31:38
Speaker 2: honey mixed with rain. A tender hope I hold so
31:44
Speaker 2: tightly while it slowly breaks me. Loving you from just
31:50
Speaker 2: one side now leaves my soul in silent bloom. Cause
31:56
Speaker 2: the deeper that I fall alone, the lonelier I do.
32:06
Speaker 2: Maybe loving you in silence is the closest I can stay.
32:26
Speaker 2: Though it leaves behind a sorrow that may never fade away.
32:36
Speaker 2: Unspoken love is sweet and painful like honey mixed with rain.
32:43
Speaker 2: A tender hope I hold so tightly while it Slowly
32:49
Speaker 2: breaks me loving you.
32:51
Speaker 3: From just one side now.
32:53
Speaker 2: Leaves my soul in silent blue. Cause the deeper that
32:59
Speaker 2: I fall alone, the lonelier I do.