The Advent Conspiracy

by Josh Butler

One of my favorite stories from our Advent experience last year was a father telling me how his family had been talking together about the birth of Christ and what it meant that God gave Himself to be with us. He could see His children processing, but he was unsure of how it was connecting for them. During one of the worship services his child had brought his allowance savings, unbeknownst to the father. As the sanctuary was filled with voices singing songs to worship Christ in celebration of His birth, he went forward to the communion table and his father, from the side, saw him put all of his savings, something like $40, into the offering for kids around the world. One of the greatest things was to hear that father describe the son’s expression of joy in this act of giving. When he asked his son about it later, his son explained it by saying how he wanted to give like God had given to us.

This became a beautiful expression for me of what it truly means to worship the Christ-child as we celebrate and remember His birth. It can be a scary thing to tell kids (or adults!) who’ve been accustomed to getting a personal wish list every year that the season doesn’t really revolve around us, it revolves around Him, our sacrificial, loving King. Yet over and over again I have heard from families that this was the best Christmas they ever had. It felt as a community we were truly able to focus on Christ and our giving became a window through which to worship Him, rather than a mirror through which to see what we got or impress our family and friends with the amount of stuff we could put under the tree for them. To remember Christ’s birth and celebrate His presence today through joyful, sacrificial giving is to truly come before the feet of the Christ-child and worship in awe and wonder.