Re-gifting Love for Christmas

Like many others this holiday season, the Living Stones Family sent Christmas cards, attended "white elephants" and hosted delicious dessert get togethers. Amidst all that activity, however, we continue to look for ways to celebrate Jesus and his birth, which is easily overlooked with all the other common seasonal festivities. How do you celebrate God’s extravagant gift of love? Our family found it best to re-gift. We re-gift God’s gift to us; Jesus: His love, shown in the form of a servant. So off to a group foster home we went on Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of our King. And what better way to celebrate a birthday but with a classic ice cream party?

So armed with 15 gallons of ice cream and all the fixings: cones, a choice of sprinkles, caramel and whipped cream, we aimed to flesh out God’s love to others. Because that’s what Christmas--this Christmas, as well as that first Christmas--is all about, putting flesh on love.

Jesus in a Tow Truck

Last year, when our son was only 1 year old we found the “Little People Nativity Set” on Craigslist. Last year our boy just stared at it, but this year he is in his “terrific twos” so it gets a lot more play. We keep the stable, wise men, animals, angel and of course Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus on a bookshelf. But daily, we search for baby Jesus. You see, he does not remain under the star. We always find the Jesus figure throughout our home. I have found Jesus in the midst of a train yard layout, under our dinner table and even driving a tow truck, down the ramp of the Little People garage. Jesus does not stay in one place. He is not confined to the stable or his place in between Mary and Joseph. I am not the only one who has had this problem. I have seen the nativity display of infant Jesus secured by chains, and remember news reports of Jesus missing from town nativity displays. Even the gospel of Luke records Mary and Joseph looking for the “missing” boy Jesus.

We have places where we want Jesus to be. We want Jesus on the shelf, or on Sunday mornings or with us in crisis. We want a Jesus we can control and place. But Jesus tends to roam freely, to go wherever he wants. We champion the cause of keeping Christ in Christmas, but that is where we really want to keep him! Keep him in Christmas and Easter, and keep Jesus Christ in the church, as long as He doesn’t roam into other places; as long as Jesus stays away from our dinner table, or out of our tow truck, or our work place. Keep Christ in Christmas but keep him out of our Christmas and New Year’s parties. But we have a Jesus who tends to roam, who understands that true hospitality and relationship invites Jesus to roam through our hours and weeks, to visit us not only in crisis but also between calmness and celebration. So this holiday season don’t stop at keeping Christ in Christmas but also allow Jesus to find himself in the raucous celebration of the New Year, the intimacy of friendships and the grittiness of train yards and tow trucks.

Response & Responsibility

Living Stones Church is part of a movement called “simple church”. It may be a misnomer at times because being the Church can be rather complex or simply messy. We have no church choir or praise team, no Sunday school or greeters; in fact we have none of those garnishes that often accompany the Church in America. So what does full participation look like? How does someone get involved? What type of response is desired from a member of the Living Stones family and what responsibility is given? Well we are glad that you asked!☺ There actually is more opportunity to plug-in at Living Stones than you might think. It just may look different (perhaps more messy). The Bible tells us that there is a “priesthood of all believers” (1 Peter 2:9 and others)—in other words, every member is a minister and a missionary. Jesus did not tell us a lot about what his followers’ worship gathering should look like, but instead focused on how we should live and follow Him. So we try to keep our weekly worship gathering simple but purposeful. It’s not our gathering time that defines us however… it is our scattering time: what we do during the other hours of the week when we are not crammed around a table or filling a living room.
We encourage intentional community. On different days and times we meet in smaller groups of 2 or 3 where we share what God is doing in our lives; we encourage each other by helping stay accountable to God’s purpose in our lives, and pray for each other and those whom God has put on our path. These micro-gatherings help shape us into devoted disciples of Jesus.

We also encourage participation in our gatherings! While visitors are encouraged to participate at their comfort level, once you have joined us twice you are considered part of the family. So people take turns bringing our common meal; instead of a sermon there is a Bible discussion where people can respond by bringing their observations and their questions. And worship, service projects, etc. are not planned by a small few in leadership but are part of our response to what God is doing in our lives and God’s call in our lives. And eventually you too will share in co-hosting a gathering at your favorite coffee shop, home or anywhere else God might be calling you.

And much of our responsibility is to people who are not familiar with Living Stones or even Christ for that matter: Jesus tells us to love our neighbor. Part of our response to that command is to help your new neighbor move in, invite your co-worker over for a BBQ, and act on all of those good things each of us would do if we only had more time. Our lack of committed mid-week meetings are meant to encourage people to worship God with their whole lives. The response and responsibilities of those in the Living Stones family are found in the words of Jesus: love God, love others and as you go make disciples. There are no bystanders… everyone’s part of the family!