If you’re old enough to read this, then it’s quite likely you know what it feels like when someone takes advantage of you. And of course the ways of being taken advantage of are endless. An employer may take advantage of his employees and employees may take advantage of their employer. A husband may take advantage of his wife, a wife may take advantage of her kids, and the kids may take advantage of their father and the list goes on and on.

Before I share how I feel like I was taken advantage recently, I was thinking, how does a person really know when someone takes advantage of them? Is it only a matter of having a boundary violated? Or is it when you do something nice for someone and they don’t appreciate it? Or is it doing something nice for someone and they expect you to keep doing the nice thing over and over and over?

Several years ago I met a couple from a neighboring community that stopped by church for some financial assistance and so we helped them. It wasn’t long and they stopped again…and again…and so I didn’t feel right about having the church help them so frequently. However, my heart was tender towards their struggle so I started helping them from time to time. And yes it developed into the kind of relationship that the only time they wanted to visit with me was when they need more money.

Well, last week when we were on vacation they texted me and asked if I could help them—they even went as far as asking me to wire some money to them. I explained to them that I was cruising along the shoreline of Lake Superior and that I was nowhere near a bank and that they would have to wait until I returned.

Much to my surprise, I soon received a text with several naughty words and some other not so nice names in it, concluded by, “I hope you rot in hell.” After reflecting on the text and getting present to my level of anxiety, I tried hard not to give it the wrong meaning which would’ve led to having wrong emotions which may have led to wrong actions on my part. And so I simply responded, “You are welcome to meet me at church on Tuesday, and after you apologize for being so rude to me, I will give you the money you are asking for.”

So they stopped by Tuesday and promptly asked for the money. I responded by saying. “You said some pretty hurtful things to me; I will give you the money after you apologize.” Well the wife finally offered the kind of apology a brother makes to his sister after dunking her doll in the toilet only because his mom made him apologize. And so I gave them what they asked for, and away they went. I’ll admit it, I felt taken advantage of. And if that wasn’t enough, I got a text two days later from the husband asking if I would make his car payment for this month.

Although I didn’t respond to the text, I thought, “Sorry buddy, I’m done being taken advantage of by you, I’m pretty sure the bridge has been burned for good!!!”

That’s when the Spirit spoke to me; “Mike, you have probably never told me to burn in hell, but can you think of a time when I blessed you and you wasted it and then asked for more blessing. Or does it ever seem like the only time you want to talk is when you want something from me? Do you ever take advantage of me?” BUSTED!

I was trying to think of a Bible verse to end with that would help guide me in the future when I feel taken advantage of, but I couldn’t think of one. So if you have one in mind, please e-mail me at mike@arcluverne.org.

Showered with grace, Mike Altena

During the month of June Vicki and I did a little remodeling project in our basement. In one of the rooms was the furnace, the water heater, the washer and dryer, a toilet and a long piece of counter top with a kitchen sink in it. We thought it would be nice to take out the long piece of counter top with the kitchen sink and replace it with a small vanity and a shower so that I could have my own space to get ready in the mornings, as well as having a nicer bathroom for guests and family.

The project all went very smoothly and soon I had my own bathroom to get ready in. However, when it came to picking out a mirror to put above the vanity, Vicki had a hard time finding one that fit the space between the outlet and the light above. I suggested that we get the kind of mirror with the medicine cabinet behind it and with the row of lights at the top. I found a nice one in a pawn shop in Sioux Falls, but she assured me that no one on HGTV ever uses them in a remodeling project.

I had been using the bathroom for a few days without having a mirror, but I soon discovered that shaving and making my hairdo look nice wasn’t going that well, I kindly asked her if she was having any luck finding a mirror. She responded by informing me she was going to Sioux Falls that day and she would look for one. I jokingly responded to her, “Well whatever you get, don’t buy the kind of mirror that shows that my hair is thinning, or that reflects that I’m looking older. And don’t get the mirror that shows that I’ve been gaining weight. If you can, find a mirror that makes me look good.”

Over the past several weeks we’ve been looking at the 10 Commandments and while John Calvin considered them as a “thankful guide for daily living,” Martin Luther saw the 10 Commandments as a “mirror which reflects our need for grace.” Either way, the challenge of looking in the mirror and seeing how far short we fall of the glory of God, is to repent.  Again, as I’ve shared before, at times it feels like my                 “want-to-er” is broke. I deceive myself into thinking my life is working just fine, and so I don’t give my word to obeying God’s commands.

I’m often like the person James writes about in James 2:22-24, “Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.”

Well, Vicki finally found the mirror she was looking for, so now I can mow down all those pesky whiskers and do my hair real nice. And whether I like it or not, it reflects my receding hair line, the signs of aging, and that I’ve gained some weight. After it was finally hung, the mirror reminds me of how desperately I am in need of God’s grace in every area of my life.

May it not be so with those who are reading this article that we would resist being confronted with the ugly reality of our sinfulness and of our need for grace when hearing the Word of God. But rather, when convicted, may we be open to the Spirit’s transforming work in our lives, and eagerly give our word to obeying God’s commands.

Mike Altena

A few weeks ago we spent some time with our granddaughters in Sioux Center.  Part of the joy of spending time with them is to watch their emerging personalities and to watch how they respond to conflict and crisis.  Sauren, who is the middle child, is three years old.  She is always happy and bubbly and often dances around on her tippy toes.  She spends a great deal of time in her imaginary little world having real life conversations with her dolls.

While we were there Suaren decided to go out onto the deck through the sliding doors in the kitchen.  However, as she was crossing the threshold where the door slides on, she tripped and face planted right on to the deck.  Vicki was standing right beside the open door and quickly scooped her up, and of course by that time Sauren was having a pretty good cry (the kind of cry when you can’t breathe for a bit).  Vicki frantically checked her over; thank goodness all of her teeth were in their original setting.

Vicki continued to console her, lavishing her with kisses and assurance that nothing was bleeding and that everything was okay.  But then after a few moments Sauren began to squirm to escape from Vicki’s loving arms, she wanted to lie on the couch; she wanted to be alone in her pain.

Sensing her pain, our oldest granddaughter, Rilyn, stepped in and offered Sauren some candy, but the trauma was still too fresh, and so she angrily turned away and repeated her request to lie on the couch. So Vicki laid her on the couch, propping her head on a pillow.  Then as Vicki began to turn away, still whimpering, Sauren asked her to go find her purple blanket—“the one with the dots”—“and, Bramma, can you bring me my IPad too.”  And so after Vicki brought the blanky and the IPad to Sauren, she was able to begin her road to recovery—alone with her sources of comfort.

As I reflected on Sauren’s response to her crisis, I wondered if my reactions are much the same when I stumble and fall and when my ego gets bruised.  Do I resist the Holy Spirit’s attempt to lavish me with love and words of encouragement?  Do I respond with anger when other’s try to cheer me up?  Would I rather be alone at my pity party?  And what are my first choices when trying to medicate my pain? (Mountain Dew and donuts, of course J)

We live in a society with a great deal of pain don’t we; a society full of people medicating themselves with alcohol, with a variety of drugs, with pornography and other fantasy escapes, by buying more stuff, by seeking to be “liked” and yet remaining isolated—the list of ways we seek to comfort our pain are endless.

And yet may it not be so with you and me.  May we be a people who, in the midst of our pain, first seek comfort from God while at the same time allowing others to sit with us.  And may we live confidently in the promises of Psalm 34, “I will praise the Lord at all times.  I will constantly speak his praises.  Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy.  Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!  The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.  He rescues them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”

Seeking to recover in Christ alone, Mike Altena

A few weeks ago I traveled to Prior Lake to discuss the future of Harbor Community Church with members from their Oversight Team. After about an hour of deliberation, and with everyone feeling deeply saddened and frustrated, we voted 5-1 to close the ministry with Sunday, June 25 being its last gathering.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, some from the group asked, “How did this happen, a year and half ago we were a thriving vibrant ministry? No one answered, and it appeared to me, at least during our meeting that none of them were really interested in doing an autopsy. The feelings of shock, pain, and anger were just too fresh. We were content to ponder the question—how did this happen?

Having been a part of, or connected with, Harbor Church through the Church Multiplication Team over the past ten years, I spent my ride home reflecting on the life and death of Harbor. After getting New Life Celebration in Luverne off to a good start, our Classis Church Planter, JR Henderson, restarted Harbor Community Church with the support of Peace Church from Eagan back in 2007. He had assembled a core group of people who were passionate about proclaiming and demonstrating the good news of the message of God’s kingdom in the Prior Lake community.

The ministry quickly grew. Soon after, we hired Josh Johnson, a young passionate “fisher of men” from Peace Reformed Church in Eagan to lead the ministry while he was finishing up seminary. Josh and his wife Nicki connected with many wandering sojourners from the area. The excitement was contagious and the church grew to about 130 regular attendees.

In January of 2015 Josh initiated conversations with his leadership team about organizing as a church in the RCA. Although a bit prematurely, and without careful guidance from the Church Multiplication Team or Peace Church, elders and deacons were elected. This wouldn’t have been a serious issue, however two of the elders determined that women wouldn’t be able be elected to serve as elders. In addition they began to question Josh’s ability to lead. To make a long story short, those two elders were eventually asked to leave. And they did leave—with about 50 other members.

While this conflict was going on, Josh felt called to begin a ministry in Rochester Minnesota. Many in the congregation who had a deep connection to Josh and Nicki were deeply disappointed, a few left. The search for a new Pastor began. The Oversight Team chose to call Pastor Bev Modlin, and because Bev is a woman, a few more members left.

In June of last year, a member of Harbor Church had an affair with a young woman who was temporarily living with he and his wife. Of course, many were outraged. Pastor Bev and the leadership team felt they handled the situation in a biblical manner. Eventually the man and his wife and about 25 of their friends left. With the group rapidly shrinking, a few other families left because the children and youth programs had little to offer. Finally, a highly respected leader and his wife announced they were moving to Iowa, leaving Pastor Bev and approximately 20 disheartened people.

As I was reflecting on all of the unique circumstances that caused the death of Harbor Community Church, I wonder if the spiritual battle was ultimately lost because the gap between expectations and experience was never filled with sufficient love and grace.

May it never be so with you and me at ARC!! As Paul would write, “When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.” (Romans 5:20) The Message

And now you know why, Mike Altena

A couple of weeks ago Vicki and I had the pleasure of driving down to Sioux Center to watch our granddaughter’s soccer game. After 15 minutes of practicing dribbling, passing, and taking shots on goal, Rilyn’s Gold Team was ready to take the field. The kindergartners play on a much smaller field, maybe 25 yards by 40 yards or so and with six players from each team on the field at a time.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever watched kindergarten soccer, but basically it’s a herd of 12 little boys and girls all chasing the ball at the same time in hopes of getting an opportunity to kick the ball towards the opponents goal. They run and kick and run until someone gets kicked or knocked over at which time the whistle is blown signaling a break in the action to rub the owie or to wipe the tears.

After about 20 minutes of some pretty intense pursuit of kicking that little white and black ball, it was time for substitutions, and so Rilyn got a chance to rest. Then, after about 10 minutes of sitting on the sidelines, I began to sense that Rilyn wanted to get back into the game, so I got up from my comfy lawn chair next to Vicki and I walked over to where she was sitting and I sat down beside her. Apparently feeling a little embarrassed that I would come sit by her and her other teammate, she said, “Grandpa, you can’t come and sit by me.” Although, after I affirmed her efforts on the field, I think she was glad I came.

I had only sat with her for a minute or so when it was time to substitute again, and so fully rested and hydrated; off she went to engage the little traveling herd with renewed passion. Again she played her little heart out, once nearly scoring a goal, only this time after about 15 minutes she was ready for more rest and water. And much to my surprise, rather than going to sit by her other teammate, she came over to the side line and crawled onto my lap. My heart was filled with happiness as I thought about how her reasoning had gone from, you can’t sit by me to I want to come sit on your lap.

As I reflected on our experience of watching Rilyn’s game as well as attending the Hiller Lectureship event that Cory referred to in last week’s Not So With You article, I was reminded again of the importance of rest. And not only rest because I’m physically unable to keep going at a frantic pace, but unhurried rest because I just love sitting with Papa.

Jesus knew the importance of rest.  Mark records Jesus saying to his disciples, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while” Mark 6:31 KJV.  Dallas Willard would make a play on those words by saying, “If you don’t come apart and rest for a while, without rest, after a while you will come apart.”

When thinking about the rhythms of work and rest, I also love the words of Jesus found in Matthew 11:28-30, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

May it not be so with you and me that we would resist our need for rest, but rather that we would find great joy in “getting away” with Jesus.

Grace to you, and shalom, Mike Altena

Have you ever had an experience, good or bad, that you were certain would change your attitude or behavior forever? And maybe the experience did bring about lasting transformation, but maybe it didn’t.

I can think of many in my life, here are just a few examples. When you’re playing baseball with some friends, don’t ever stand too close to a teammate who is swinging a bat.  And when you’re operating a torch designed to cut steel, don’t ever run the flame over top of your hand.  There is no point in ever drinking so much alcohol that it impairs your ability to function or causes you to vomit.  After attending our Marriage Encounter weekend I was sure I would always love Vicki like Jesus loves his bride, the church. Or after attending several Promise Keepers I was confident I would always make time for my kids. And then after returning from a mission trip to Haiti, I was sure I would never complain again.

This past Wednesday night, our Young Emerging Leaders lesson with the 7th-12th grader focused on “The Meaning of the Cross” and in particular why Jesus had to die on the cross and how it changes everything for us. This lesson was a follow-up to the previous lesson which focused on how Jesus was crucified. Well, before each YEL meeting begins the leaders gather to discuss our approach to how we are going to teach the lesson. And while we were having our discussion, one of the leaders noted that “the kids in my group say they already know how and why Jesus had to die on the cross.”

When reflecting on her comment, feelings of both happiness and curiosity immediately emerged in my heart and mind. I was blessed to hear that the kids in her group had a clear understanding of how and why Jesus died on the cross, and yet I was curious about whether or not Jesus’ death has actually resulted in a changed life—forever.

One of our focus points of our lesson made this claim: Trusting in what Jesus did on the cross produces changed lives.  I wondered if that is true for our youth. I wondered if it was true for me; does trusting in Jesus produce a changed life?

In I Peter 1:13-22, Peter suggests Jesus’ death on the cross should result in the following transformation of our lives. “¹³So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control….¹⁴So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. ¹⁵But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.  ¹⁶For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” ¹⁸For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. ¹⁹It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. ²⁰God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake….²²You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.”

So how about it, has your trust in what Jesus accomplished on the cross changed your life forever? More action? Growing self-control? Increasing obedience? Less backsliding? Deeper reverence? A Jesus kind of love?…

Forever changed, Mike Altena

A few weeks ago Vicki and I traveled to Montevideo to watch a first round tournament game of boy’s basketball between the Thunderhawks and the Benson Braves.  Some dear friends of ours have a son, Travis, who is a senior and we were excited to watch him play.

Montevideo got off to a good start with the Thunderhawks scoring a few quick baskets.  Then about two minutes into the game one of the referees called a foul on one of the Thunderhawk players while he was attempting to rebound a Benson shot.  The Montevideo coach was livid; apparently from his perspective the ref had completely blown the call.  A great injustice had taken place against his player and he wanted the ref to know it.

The game resumed with the Montevideo coach harassing the ref as he passed him by.  After the two teams had made a couple of trips up and down the floor, our friend’s son, Travis, was charged and found guilty of committing a foul while a Benson player was attempting a short shot near the basket.  Travis appeared to be disturbed by the judgment, but not nearly as distressed as was the Montevideo coach.  And once again the coach felt it was his responsibility to inform the refs that they had committed another injustice against one of his players.

And then, just four minutes into the game, the ref called another foul on the Montevideo team, and you got it, the coach became enraged and began petitioning the refs to dismiss the charges.  Meanwhile, Travis was still processing his resentment over the injustice against him a few minutes earlier so he thought the break in the action would be a good time for him to express his feelings to another ref about their job performance.  Apparently, while processing Travis’s comments, the referee felt he had crossed the line when sharing his feelings, and so he discerned that Travis deserved a technical foul.

Then after receiving the technical foul, Travis immediately thought to himself, well that’s not fair, and so then without thinking, he again expressed his feelings to the ref that the technical foul was not warranted but rather “that is bull@#$%!”  And yep you know it, the referee felt even more disrespected so he gave Travis his second technical foul.  And with that, Travis was on his way to the locker room for a nice long warm shower.

As you can imagine, in the 90 seconds while all of this was unfolding, the Montevideo fans are silent until they discover with great dismay that one of their star players has just been ejected.  And so while a Benson player is shooting the six free throws, and while the Montevideo fans begin to express their chants of outrage, I began to reflect on how people react when they feel they are unjustly mistreated.  Again it was a reminder that anxiety often makes people stupid.

On the way home my thoughts drifted to the injustice on the night of Jesus’ arrest, mock trial, mocking, beating and crucifixion.  Was it really fair that Jesus was despised and rejected by mankind?  Was it fair that he took up our pain and bore our suffering?  Was it fair that Jesus was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53)?  Doesn’t it make you want to petition the Father and tell him what a “bad call” it was to make his Son become sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God?

No of course not!  In his wisdom, God knew the only way to overcome the injustice of our sin was grace!  Thank God for that call!  And may it be so with you and me that we would have the wisdom to know when to confront injustice, when to extend grace, and always to remain self-differentiated.

Grace to you and peace, Mike Altena

HOLDING ENVIRONMENT CONVERSATION INVITE

Since our retreat in September the Ridder Church Renewal Team has been working on “owning” and “mastering” the following core values and skill sets of the process—and in particular owning and mastering Generating and Sustaining Creative Tension :

1. We were to give our word to developing a schedule for completing all of our home work with integrity—doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it, and in the manner it was meant to be done. Our team meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month to report and reflect on our completed homework.
2. Each team member was challenged to develop a relationship with a “sojourner,” (someone who is spiritually disoriented) using the 5 Guiding Principles in a Mental Model of Mission as a guide. You will learn more about the 5 Guiding Principles in our To Grow Means To Go message series.
3. As we considered a few weeks ago, to be missional means to be sent. And in order to be sent I must be willing to leave something behind. Part of our homework included confronting an area of habitual disobedience that keeps us from leaving old ways of behavior or thinking behind—those thoughts and attitudes that keep us from faithful and fruit mission. Once we identified our areas of habitual disobedience, we shared them with our team.
4. Often times our areas of habitual disobedience have to do with our lack of emotional maturity so each person had to develop a plan for growing their emotional maturity. In addition to participating in our fall series on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, our team also had to read the The Leaders Journey by Jim Harrington and Trisha Taylor. Jim and Trisha are also two of the instructors of the Ridder process.
5. In addition to all we are learning and practicing, we were challenged to consider who in our congregation needs to learn what we’ve been learning and to develop a plan on how we would help them learn it.

And this is where you come in! First, the method of sharing what we’ve been learning is called a “holding environment.” A holding environment is simply a safe space to have a crucial conversation about challenging topics.

And in our case the challenging topic is that, if American Reformed Church is going to continue to be faithful and fruitful in mission in a rapidly changing culture, we must move from an attractional model of doing church, to a missional model of declaring and demonstrating the message of the Kingdom of God. Part of the conversation includes identifying the current reality of our understanding of what it means to live on mission.

On December 6, 2016 the Ridder Team held our first “holding environment conversation” with several members of the Consistory and a few other key stake holders of our congregation.  Our second conversation with several designated Life Group leaders, Sunday school teachers, and youth ministry volunteers was scheduled to be held this past Tuesday; however it was postponed because of the snowstorm.

And so, we are rescheduling our final holding environment conversation for this coming Tuesday evening January 31 at 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall. In addition to those who were invited to last week’s conversation, we want everyone who is interested in engaging in a conversation about the exciting future of ARC to join us. Please understand, we are not asking you to commit to anything more than having this conversation. If the future mission of ARC is something that interests you, please call or e-mail the church office by Tuesday at noon.

Growing and going,

Mike Altena

I recently stopped at a local restaurant to do some reading while enjoying a cup of coffee. Only a few minutes had passed when a couple of elderly women at the table to my right began expressing their thoughts and feelings about their church. One of the women in particular seemed most passionate and therefore did most of the talking.

She began by expressing her frustration about her church by saying, “all they really want is our money.” She went on to explain to her friend that her finances were tight which made it difficult for her to give. Then she gave an example of how greedy her church was in that they charged a fee for the use of the church for weddings and other activities.

When it came to her daughter’s wedding, she said it didn’t really make any sense to her that her church would charge her rent, especially since she had been a member of the “damn church” her whole life and she helped pay for it. So what did her and her husband do; they rented a town hall in another town and her daughter’s wedding “was just as nice of a wedding as if it was in a church” (I assumed the rent of the town hall was less than the church).
Next she shared how her brother had been offended by one of their pastors. As she told this part of the story, her voice got softer so I was unable to hear the extent of the offense. However, raising her voice again as she finished the story, it seemed as if she wanted everyone in the restaurant to know he hadn’t been back to church for over 45 years!! And then she finished by sharing that she didn’t attend her church very often anymore.

I thought, oh my, I’m sure glad the members of ARC would never talk that way about our church or about me in public! And I’m sure glad that none of our members would harbor unforgiveness for 45 years for something the pastor said. And I’m sure glad we don’t charge our members for using the church they helped pay for—oh wait!

And then it dawned on me, since the book I was reading was entitled Organic Outreach for Churches; Infusing Evangelistic Passion into Your Congregation, I wondered if it was divine appointment, so I was about to engage the two ladies in a conversation about their painful church experience, but they began talking about the exorbitant cost of health care. And so I let the grand opportunity slip away.

Then ironically, I began reading again in chapter three where Kevin Harney writes, “When we criticize the church and sling mud at Christ’s bride, our vision for outreach grows hazy…The church, as the bride of Christ, is made up of frail and broken people…But Jesus still loves his bride, even with her warts and weirdness, and we should love her too. When we judge and condemn the people and practices of the church, we are attacking our brothers and sisters, and ourselves.”

As I reflected on the witness of the two women, I couldn’t help but think of Alexander the metal worker. Paul writes about how Alexander negatively impacted the Kingdom in II Timothy 4:14-15, “Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.”

May it not be so with us to slander the bride of Christ, but rather in love, may we speak only that which is helpful for advancing the Kingdom, that it may benefit those who listen…because you never know who might be listening.

Grace be with you, Mike Altena

On New Year’s Eve, Vicki and I were invited to join with several friends for some good food, fellowship, and fun. The food was delicious, the fellowship was delightful, and the fun…well, it was unique.

One of the most exciting activities was the White Elephant Gift exchange. In a White Elephant Gift Exchange, everyone brings a gift and yet the goal is usually to entertain rather than to gain anything meaningful.

The gifts can be funny, weird, or nice. Funny gifts make the biggest splash at the party, but aren’t always that desirable. The weird gifts are often artsy things and gadgets that aren’t really that useful, but some people want them anyway. And then the nicer gifts are highly sought after.

Our exchange began with all 22 of the guests sitting in a circle. The facilitator of the exchange then began by playing some music at which time everyone began passing their gifts around the circle. When the music stopped, the facilitator would call out a number and then that person would open their gift. After the first gift was opened, the music began and everyone passed gifts again until the music stopped and another number was called. But then after the first gift was opened, from then on, before the next person would open their gift, they had a choice if they wanted to take someone else’s gift.

The gifts ranged from a miniature outhouse, to a dancing chicken, to a toilet plunger that looked like a BB gun. Then there was the cute little slinky wiener dog, the large size frog made out of wire and covered in green lights, the candle with candy bars, a very nice desk lamp, a pair of men’s gloves, and a piggy bank with $12.76 in it. And then last but not least, everyone had a good laugh when the person opened the little ceramic man who was bent over with his pants pulled down and when you turned him on he would fart little bubbles.

As you can imagine, everyone enjoyed a great deal of laughter as well as some interesting conversation around the opening and exchange of gifts. The White Elephant Gift exchange was indeed a hit.

As I was reflecting on the experience, I wondered if for some people, Christmas is like a White Elephant Gift Exchange. God sends his Son into the world as a gift to all people. People open Him up; some find Jesus to be funny—his humble, selfless way of life and his claim to be the only way to the Father—how funny.

And then some find Jesus weird, what do you mean “don’t worry about what you eat or what you wear.” What do you mean “bless those who persecute you,” and “don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you,” that’s weird. While yet others find Jesus to be like a very generous gift card; he’s just enough to pay my sin debt.

I believe for many people, Jesus is like a White Elephant Gift, he provides good entertainment and is worthy of an interesting conversation. Jesus is good enough to take home after the party and yet they stick him in a closet until next year when they can re-gift him at the next exchange.

So what do you think? How valuable of a gift is Jesus to you? And who is Jesus to you; do you find him to be interesting, weird, nice, but not really that meaningful? Is Jesus someone who could be traded for a better opportunity?

May it not be so with us, but rather like Paul in II Corinthians 9:15 may we declare, “Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!”

Speechless,

Mike Altena