Pash over cash
(a poem)

All of the gifts which I’ve never had
Well I guess that I don’t miss them much.
Of all of the gifts that I’ve ever had
The ones I love most are the touch
Of a hand at my back and my feet on wet grass, and my babies’ wet kiss on my cheek.
Well I guess that they’re right though I hardly believe it will be Christmas time in a week.

All those signs in the store that want us to buy more
Telling us that they’ll sell us love fast
Yes they’re ten percent off but they’re all made of crap
‘Cause they don’t really want them to last.

So I stagger along wondering what has gone wrong
And where’s just one good thing to eat?
I feel like a fool staggering down rundle mall
When there’s 26 shops for my feet.
Or a nice spray on tan or gifts for those from Japan
Who are only here for a day.
When they head for their plane you know I’ll be pray’n
That they take this whole place away.

All those signs in the store that want me to buy more
To show my great love with some cash.
Call me old fashioned but I’d rather show
My wife that she’s loved with a pash.
And my kids with a hug then a game on the rug
‘cause in the blink of an eye they’ll both go
So I’d rather be round now as much as I can
Than working to pay back what I owe.

So how about this Christmas, we all stay in the black?
Like the sun weathered skin of that Nazareth chap
Who went on about money and the dangers of wealth
For those trying to nurture their spiritual health

Give gifts of love, they won’t send you broke
Lots of big hugs (come on, even you blokes!)
To those who want one, offer a kiss
Celebrate love, not capitalist-mis

(last line was originally be filled with the Spirit, not filled with piss)

An evolutionary Christmas story
(a more kiddy version follows below)
this is shortened, pictureless, reworking of a kid's story I wrote for family last Christmas. It's designed to be very short, and open ended, to generate discussion with your kids (or just yourself): eg which of the three options at the end would you pick?

God needed something to be God of.
God wanted to be the God of love, so God needed something to love.
So whoosh! God gave birth to the universe, which gave birth to stars, which gave birth to planets, which gave birth to life, including right here on the outskirts of this milky way galaxy. 

And the first forms of life gave birth to other forms, and so on and so on.  And all was as it should be: creatures caught up in the cycle of life, birth and death.  They lived, they had fun, they got sad, they had kids and so on.  It was a good way to live.  And God experienced them all, lived through them all and was changed by them all.  God loved them all- at last, God was the God of love!

Then one day, one of the species of animals started to fear death.  They were so afraid of it that they cut themselves off from life, and the God of life. 

Not all of them, but enough of them to make it a problem, a big problem.  So God started to call to them, over and over, louder and louder.

DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED, AND DO NOT BE AFRAID. 
I LOVE YOU! LIVE LIFE ABUNDANTLY, LOVE LIFE, LOVE YOURSELVES, LOVE EACH OTHER, LOVE ME!

Into this story comes a Jewish carpenter, born in Israel a long time ago.  Not long compared to evolution, or even how long humans have been around, but pretty long.

He walked all over the place talking to other humans, so he got very grubby.  He spent most of his time with the kinds of people that others thought were too grubby to even be seen with.  If you’ve seen Jewish people on TV, he probably looked like them (but grubbier).

Maybe during all that walking and time in the wilderness Jesus heard God calling.  Lots of people think so. 

Maybe he heard it better than anyone around him, maybe anyone ever.  Lots of people think so. 

Lots of people think he was God calling!

With Christmas on the way, here’s what a couple of friends had to say about him in their Christmas card a while ago…

 “At the end of a full and challenging year we pause (as much as you can with two kids) to ponder the situation that Jesus was born into.  A poor child of a repressed race in an occupied land, who would grow up to be executed for standing up to the dominant power of the day.  2000 years on and not so much has changed and yet we still find so much hope in the story of this child, and the person he grew to be.  We wish for you hope and not despair as your companion this Christmas and into the year ahead.”

A more kiddy version
(it was meant to be shorter, but ended up longer! Cut as you will)

This is a story about Jesus.  Not a bible story. It starts long, long ago.  Way before the Bible, or even books!
Once upon a time there was God.  Just God, all alone.  Lonely.
All God wanted to do was love somebody.  Because that’s what being God is all about.  Loving.

But God had nobody to love.

So whoosh! God gave birth to the universe, which gave birth to stars, which gave birth to planets, which gave birth to living things.  Including right here on the outskirts of the milky way galaxy, where we live.
The very first life was tiny, and had no brain, so although God loved it and thought it was good, those little blobs couldn’t really love God back.
But they had babies, which had babies, and so on and so on for a loooooooong time!

And just like you are a bit different form your mum and dad, and from your grandparents, each of their babies was a bit different.  Eventually sooo different that Earth ended up with not just blobs, but grass, and plants, and huge trees.
And of course fish, and frogs, and lizards, and mammals like kangaroos and dogs and dolphins, and of course us! 
This was getting more like it!  Lots of different plants and animal for God to love.  And some of them started loving God back!
Which animals love God?  We can’t know for sure.  We know all mammals love their babies at least a bit, so they might love God at least a bit.  What do you reckon?
So, all these animals, for years and years, being born, growing up, having babies of their own.  Just as it should be.

But after a long time, one kind of animal started to get scared.  Not just when being chased by a crocodile, but a lot of the time.  Because they were scared, some of them started being mean.  Some of them kept to themselves and didn’t have any friends.  Some got selfish.  Can you think what kind of animal that was?

Now, not all of them got this scared, but a lot did.  Enough to cause a problem for everyone else.  A biiiig problem.
And if it’s a problem for others, it’s a problem for God!  These people were so scared they stopped loving each other, and stopped living God.  Uh oh!  The whole point of making the universe was starting to come undone!
So God started calling to the scared people, over and over again:
DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED, AND DO NOT BE AFRAID. 
I LOVE YOU!  YES YOU!  BE JOY-FULL, BE WONDER-FULL!
LOVE LIFE, LOVE YOURSELVES, LOVE EACH OTHER, LOVE ME!
Now what on earth has this got to do with Christmas!?!?

Well, if you’ve heard of Jesus of Nazareth, you will know that he was a Jew, born in Israel a long time ago.  Not long compared to how old the Earth is, or even how long humans have been around, but pretty long.

He walked all over the place talking to other humans, so he got very grubby.  He spent most of his time with the kinds of people that others thought were too grubby to even be seen with.  If you’ve seen Jewish people on TV, he probably looked like them (but grubbier).

Now,  lots of people who met Jesus came to believe that he was the one whom God had been promising would come and set people free.  Free from fear, free from people being mean to them, free from not having friends and so on.

The Jewish word for that person was the Christ.  So they ended up calling him Jesus the Christ.  And “Mass” was another word for communion, which means “being together.”  So Christ-Mas meant, being together with Christ, or with the One who sets us free.

Christ-Mas: Freedom is with us.  Love is with us.  That is God’s gift to all of us: love.  It’s the best gift we can ever give.  (All the grownups I know might remember one or two presents that their parents gave them when they were little but they ALL remember how much their parents loved them.  And if they have kids they might remember some of the presents their kids gave them, but they ALL remember the kisses and snuggles.)

But how did Christmas work?  How does it work today?  How did God saying “I LOVE YOU” turn into Christmas?  Books and books have been written arguing about it!

Some people think that during all the walking Jesus did, and the time he spent in the outback, and the time he spent eating with grubby people, he heard those words of God calling, and told everyone else about them.
 
Some people think that he heard those words more clearly than anyone around him, maybe more clearly than anyone ever has.  That made him brave enough to speak up, even when people didn’t want to listen.

Many people think that Jesus actually was God’s words calling to us!  Like if you wanted to talk to a dog you would have to turn into a dog, so God had to turn into a human to be able to speak to humans.

So: was Jesus one of the people who heard God, or the person who heard God best, or the only person who heard God, or actually God?  Different people who wrote the bible seem to have different answers.  What do you reckon?  See what some adults think.

Only God knows the real answer I suppose.  But whichever it is, Christmas is a great story.  God didn’t come to earth as a rich and powerful ruler, but as an ordinary person like us.  Or: God didn’t choose to speak to a great king, but to an ordinary person.  Or: When God speaks to everybody, it isn’t the powerful rulers, but the ordinary people like us who are most likely to hear it!

The point is to make sure that we listen!  Whatever Jesus did, the same Spirit of God who was with Jesus is now in all humans, saying over and over,
I LOVE YOU!  YES YOU!  BE JOY-FULL, BE WONDER-FULL!
LOVE LIFE, LOVE YOURSELVES, LOVE EACH OTHER, LOVE ME!
Let’s see if we can hear it this Christmas!

(more carols at What Would Jesus Buy?)

[The carols in a word doment]

First, the carol most often heard at this time of year: We wish you a capitalistmas
(tune: we wish you a merry Christmas)

“We wish you a capitalistmas, we wish you a capitalistmas, we wish you a capitalistmas and a credit debt next year!
Cash registers ring, from all the buy-ing: we wish you a capitalistmas and a credit debt next year!”

Now some carols we would like to hear more...
Joy to the Lord the world has come

Joy to the Lord the world has come!
And God has been set free
In fa-ar flung sta-a-ars and pla-anets like ou-ours
The wonder of God’s love, the wonder of our love, the wo-o-o-o-nder of love

Joy to the World, for sun and rain
Since all the nations prove
That li-i-ife abu-undant
Flows forth from both of these, flows forth from both of these, flows fo-o-o-orth from both of these

Joy to the Lord, for human beings
For such as you and me
Despi-i-i-i-i-ite our ma-a-any fau-ults
Oh we have shown such love, oh we have shown such love, oh we-e-e-e-e have known such love.

Joy to the world
For those of us
Who see God in all things
With re-e-ever-ence for li-i-i-ife
With reverence for life, with reverence for life with re-e-everence for the God of life.

Joy to the world, for Christmas time
Jesus: "God is- with us"
Not just back then, no we still sing amen!
For we have known God's love
and we have show God's love,
The wonder of God's love.

* I don’t use Lord much myself, but it does heighten the juxtaposition from the original song.  In this one it is the world which brings joy to God, setting God free from an eternity trapped in sameness, a point first made in process theology I think, and expanded on in my thesis on biocentric theology, available from http://ecofaith.org/papers

From God the Universe emerged
(Good King Wenchlas)

Often the first two words have to be run together.

From God the universe emerged
Terribly uneven
At first it was mighty hot
now its mostly freez’n
Brightly shine septillion lights
burning up their fu-el
Occasionally a great delight
life begins to cra-a-awl!

I must confess it saddens me
and I don’t mind telling
The brilliant stars we hardly see
cause neon lights are yelling:
“Forget two thousand years ago!”
“forget the temple mountain!”
“forget Jesus: God is with us!”
“buy buy buy,” they’re shoutin’

He spoke of flesh and spoke of wine
His folks were in a dither
With the poor he’d often dine
The rich he’d often wither
On them his wrath was fully spent
So they got together
His arms were broke, his body bent
And hung out in the weather!

But this is Christmas not Easter
Sing of such things no longer
let us Christians just agree
for which gift we hunger.
The gift of love lasts through the age
Let us give it boldly
The_one thing that this world needs most
We shall give it wholly

We shall give our love to God
and to all God’s creatures                              
All throughout septillion stars
that is what God preaches                             
So we give our gift for sure
With_no thought of possessing
Give your love: forget the store-
And we will all have blessing!

The Milky Way
(tune: away in a manger)

The milky way is a galaxy
Where we lay our head
Here Jesus of Nazareth
Offered wine and bread.
The stars in the night sky
Re-mind us today
That God is much bigger
Than we used to say.

The universe is growing
Those Christmas lights above
A septillion systems
Receiving God’s love
No bodily Jesus
Sits up in the sky
Still God is among us and
Flows through you and I

Yes the body is gone now
Yet the Spirit today
Dwells within and amongst us
Though we have feet of clay
We all are God’s children
And if the rich would just share
We would find Jesus’ heaven
Amongst us right here.

New lyrics to “Deck the Halls”
These are specific to our outdoor faith community, but you can adapt them easily!

Here beneath the ancient fig tree
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
beside a small creek sits you and me
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

standing in our little circle
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
listening to the magpies chortle
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Here the sun beats down upon us,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
As we affirm that God is with us
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

And we know it is God’s pleasure
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Every creature is God’s treasure.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

So we come with all creation
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
In this sunburnt Christmas nation
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

To sing joyous, all together,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Out amongst the wind and weather,
Fa la la la la, la la la la!

And finally, not really a Christmas one, but great at Christmas:

Twinkle twinkle little star
We are here and you’re so far
God’s out there & God’s here too
God’s in us and God’s in you.
Twinkle twinkle little star
We are here and you’re so far.

Twinkle twinkle little star
how you make us all wund-ar
How can a God out there with you
Ever notice what we do?
Twinkle twinkle little star
Yet we feel God in our hearts.

Twinkle twinkle little star
Signalling a messi-ah
So the story goes you see
You were in him and you’re in me
Twinkle twinkle little star
I’m part of the advent-yar!

[The carols in a word doment]

Capitalistmas
(based on a sermon I preached in about 2000)

Now, we all know that Father Christmas doesn’t exist. He’s a figment of the imagination. 

We also know that there is a spiritual Father who does exist.  We know him to be real.  We know him to be evil!

Who is he? Father Capitalistmas of course!

Father Christmas was just unchristian. He gave to those who were good and not to the bad. 

Admittedly, he knew nothing of the gospel of grace- with him you were saved by good works (being naughty, not nice).  He was not a Father who brought rain on the just and the unjust.  But he was fairly innocuous.  In the old days most kids got a little something (and that’s all they got) to tell them they were good after all.

These days Father Christmas is just an innocuous PR front man for the new Father- Father Capitalistmas.  The new Father is just plain evil.

He doesn’t use elves, but turns poor children around the world into slaves to make toys for rich children.  He doesn’t give to the good, but to the rich.  At capitalistmas time, the rich are the good.  They get lots of toys, Father Capitalistmas' little retail minions fall over themselves to serve the rich. 

Meanwhile, the poor, those seeking refuge, aren’t welcome, whether it’s in Australia itself, or any of our shopping centres.

Father Capitalistmas has bought out, and hides behind, the jolly, harmless looing, fat old git in a red suit.  The one who prostitutes himself to children at hundreds of brothels around Brisbane.  He offers them a pat on the head and a fleeting sense of being loved and affirmed- as long as their parents have cash!

Jesus declared a God who fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty.  He comes to bring good news to the poor.  He scatters the proud and lifts up the lowly. The rich man who kept his possessions went away sad, rich Zaccheaus found salvation when he shed his possessions.

Father Capitalistmas and Santa, his bearded puppet, do the exact opposite.

So…
Do we believe in Jesus' Father enough to resist Father Capitalistmas, and the hoards of retailers who manipulate us into bowing down to their God? 

How do we resist Father Capitalistmas without being a killjoy, a spoilsport, a cheapskate?

If we are going to pour cold water on FC’s good news for the rich, we need to really believe JC’s good news for the poor.  The problem is it can be hard to work out if we are the rich or the poor. 

We’re not Packer.  We’re not homeless.  I’ve heard the situation most of us are probably in described this way, in comparison to conditions in the time of Christ. 

We aren’t the masters of the house, and we aren’t the absolute poor who have no house.  We are the household slaves.  Wanting to make things better for the outcast but afraid of our masters and their ability to cast us out.

So we make some gains and some losses in our desire to follow either Jesus, or the God Jesus pointed us to: engaging with the very heavy reality that what Jesus said about hospitality and giving and living life is pretty much the exact opposite of how we are expected to live at capitalistmas time- the time when we are supposedly celebrating the arrival of the revelation of Christ.

How different would the world look if we applied just three of Jesus' thoughts at Christmas time:

1. Give in secret
2. Do not give to those who can repay you.
3. When you give a feast, don't invite those you know, but the poor and the outcast.

I have to admit its too much for me, too late, this year. Perhaps a bunch of us could get together next year and give it a go!