Every Good Gift: A 28-Day Advent DevotionalSample

Today’s Scripture readings are perhaps some of the most convicting in the Bible, particularly for those who live relatively comfortable lives in a consumeristic, materialistic society like North America.

See, we often don’t see ourselves as “rich”. But if you have food on the table and a roof over your head, then on a global scale, you are indeed quite rich. Many of us have much, much more than that, likely an extraordinary amount of material wealth and privilege—even if it doesn’t always feel like it in the society and culture that we live in.

The passage in the final chapter of James certainly isn’t a passage that’s talked about very often—you won’t be finding it printed in a Christmas card, that’s for sure. It’s not an easy message to hear, but it’s one that we ought to soberly consider as people of wealth and privilege. Is our wealth rotten? Are we hoarding? Are we contributing to a system of consumerism that fails to pay workers fair wages?

Jesus’ encounter with a man whom the gospels call the Rich Young Ruler also gives us much to consider. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,” Jesus says, “than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

As we consider all of this, along with the idea we’ve already explored this week that Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, what does this tell us about how we should choose to posture ourselves, shift our perspectives and live in a society and culture that is obsessed with material wealth? 

One of the most powerful things people of wealth and privilege have is choice. What we see in the story of the Rich Young Ruler’s encounter with Jesus is that our choice of what we do with our wealth is what can make it rotten, or not. It’s what can lead us into abundant, kingdom-oriented life, or a life of serving the master of money, “[living] on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.” (James 5:5)

Perhaps what the good news of Jesus offers us in our noisy, overwhelming, oppressive world of consumerism and corporate ladders is an invitation towards peaceful simplicity. An abundant life that is less about the numbers in our bank accounts and more about how the good news can bring the wealthy and the poor together to end poverty and build a world where everyone has enough. Perhaps what the good news offers us is an invitation to commune with people who are completely different from us, so we can learn from each other and build communities free from oppression, hoarding, toxic selfishness and rotten wealth.

The conclusion of the passage in the Gospel of Mark offers extraordinary, grace-filled hope to the rich: “all things are possible with God.” Even if it feels impossible in our noisy, consumeristic world that is amplified all the more during the Christmas season, Jesus makes a way for us to find the peace, truth and simplicity of His good news message. 

Prayer:

Jesus, thank You for the simple, abundant life that You offer us. In a world and particularly this season that can be filled with so much noisy consumerism, help us fix our eyes on You and shift our perspective towards the upside-down nature of Your kingdom. Challenge us with ways to steward our wealth and privilege for Your kingdom purposes. Thank You that all things, even postures like peace and simplicity that feel impossible to hold in our world today, are possible with You. Amen.