Julie Merritt Lee's sermon this past Sunday was on Advent Ethics.  In our heart of hearts we know that having Christ within us should make us different.  We get frustrated with the fact that we argue the way others do in their marriages; we don't seem to forgive any easier.  We aren't more patient when driving.  Our tempers flare.  What difference has Christ really made?  Does Christ coming--Advent have any influence on us ethically?

But if we take Advent seriously, which is what the Advent Conspiracy is about, we cannot NOT be changed.  The call for Christ to come redirects our heart to this Christ and we enter into the story, not as a passive player or onlooker as in a sporting event or a reader of a novel, but we are placed into the story of Jesus.  It would be better practice if every year, you made a new figurine for your nativity set.  You!  Place yourself there.

This week of Advent, has the emphasis of Peace.  We light the candle and read scripture about the peaceable kingdom where the leopard and the kid lie down together, the wolf and the lamb, the cow and the bear.  What makes this vision happen?

There is a judge who rules not by what his eyes see, not by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth...

The lion and lamb can lie down together because the kingdom has been governed by righteousness, equity to the poor, speaking truth to power.  Our way of looking at justice is disrupted.

So what does this mean for us this Advent? If we want Jesus to come, if we want peace on earth, we have to let him change us, mold us until it affects the way we do everything.

One of the emphasis of this series is saying we will not be caught up in all of the mindless spending and consumerism in a season, holiday where peace is linked with presents.  We are not asking you NOT to give gifts...we are asking, what kind are they? Give someone the gift of time and relationship, they probably want that more than the gift certificate deep down.

We have to examine the way we live and the choices we make if we're going to really live into the real meaning of Advent.  How does my spending affect others?  Do we give thought to where this t-shirt was bought, or what people earned to harvest this coffee bean for me?  The most damaging part of consumerism is that it seeps into our relationship with God.

This Advent, may we seek not to settle for the sweet little Jesus boy, but be gripped by and surrendered to the Christ who reigns as Prince of Peace.