For anyone with a liturgical background (as Matt Edwards would say), this is the season of advent. You know, advent being the first coming of Christ. And for probably many of you, this season is marked by little calendars filled with cheap chocolates, advent candles that you burn a centimeter a day, the cutting down and decorating of Christmas trees, party planning, and most of all...Christmas shopping. Oh joy. Christmas shopping. I hope that you detect that sense of dread in my voice.

I will admit that in the past I have loved Christmas shopping. But as I have grown older, had more people to shop for and less time to do it, I've come to despise it. It's not that I don't like the whole gifting thing. I actually LOVE that part, which is why I enjoyed it in the first place. But I'm coming to feel as though I've lost something along the way. It seems somehow meaningless to go out and buy a gift for someone for the sake of buying a gift. And I have that presence of a sort of evil hanging over my head that says, "they're not even going to appreciate it anyway." I mean, let's be honest: how many of us get gifts at Christmas and think, "Crap. I wouldn't normally be caught dead in this sweater, but I'm going to have to wear it once or twice, aren't I?" or "What in the world would I even do with such a thing as this? It's perfectly useless to me. But I'll keep it around for a year or two so it seems I got some use out of it before I accidentally misplace it," or "Not this again?" Yeah...that's what I thought.

You know people mean well. The problem is that we often do (truly truly) buy just to give something. Whether it's out of tradition or a sense of obligation or competition or even out of good heartedness. Doesn't it all, deep down, just feel meaningless?

The excitement over the iPod wears off in a few weeks. Or the new phone is great, but it's only a matter of months before you're finding reasons why you hate the darn thing and are looking for something else (or sometimes in a matter of days). Have we lost sight of the bigger picture? Not just for Christmas. No, I don't mean that. I mean for life?

It's not about getting things. It's not about abundance or having all that we want or being comfortable. At least not if you're a Christian. We live in abundance in America. Even if you are homeless, you still have more than a lot of people in the world living in complete poverty; in countries where there are the poor...and the poorer. We get it into our heads that we need things...things that we really don't need. And sometimes we even get mad at God when we don't get them.

How many of you have been frustrated with Him because you didn't get a job that you wanted when you were struggling to make ends meet? And in the same case, how many of you have felt that certain jobs were beneath you so you didn't even consider them? How many of you have ever complained about your car? But then not realizing that less than 10% of the world's population even owns a car?

I complain about not having health insurance all the time. But if I needed to see a doctor, there are plenty available and I can probably afford a visit and some antibiotics without feeling to uncomfortable. If I couldn't, there are free clinics and clinics that offer health care on a sliding scale. And even so, there are my parents who, if I really needed it, would take care of me. Even people in my church would probably donate toward a large medical bill if I needed surgery or something of that nature. Yet roughly 270 million children in the world have NO access to health care at all. NO ACCESS. This puts things in perspective for me a little bit.

I have never gone a day where I've had to think: "How will I eat?" Not one day. I may have gone a day without eating because I was sick or fasting or forgetful. But I have never had to ask the question of 'how'...I will eat. Have you?

I was challenged this past Thanksgiving: you know, the holiday celebrates our abundance. And that is fine. It is good to be thankful and celebrate abundance, but I was challenged to not stop it at that. Instead...should I not be giving out of that abundance? I'm not rich by American standards. In fact, if you really want to know, I make less than $1000 a month. But I still consider myself to live in abundance. My needs are met. I have food. I have clean water. I have shelter. I much more. I have a car that works. I have enough money each month to go out to eat or sit in a cafe regularly. I have a mobile phone. I have netflix (I love netflix). I have a laptop, which I am typing on as we speak. I have too many clothes, even though I've already gotten rid of almost half of them. I have two jobs. I have cable tv where I live AND wifi. I have two guitars. I have three coats, one anorak and one really nice fleece jacket. I have too many shoes. I have a tv and a dvd player. I have a large room that is bigger than a space a family might share in a developing country. I have a credit card. I have heat in my home...

The list goes on and on and on and the more I think about it, the more I know I could add. And the more I add, the more I realize how much abundance I live in...and I am still considered poor by American standards. I find this laughable. I dare you to make a list of all the things you own. Feel free to clump things like clothes and shoes together. It doesn't matter. You'll still probably have a ridiculously long list. If that doesn't get you to think, I don't know what will.

So anyway...here is my greatest challenge: don't make Christmas about having more stuff. Make it about giving...to people who need it. Christ didn't come to heal the healthy and feed the wealthy. He came to heal the sick and feed the poor.

Pray about how you can give out of abundance this year. Visit www.adventconspiracy.org, www.worldvision.org, www.ijm.org, www.mochaclub.org, and www.kiva.org for more information and ways you can help.