The crowds kept asking him, “What, then, should we do?” He answered them, “The person who has two coats must share with the one who doesn’t have any, and the person who has food must do the same.” Luke 3:10-11
“Two coats. It’s quite a call to repentance. I like coats. I must have a dozen coats; one for every possible climate I might face. There’s that Banana Republic warm-up coat, and the Barbour all-weather coat, and the Diesel pull-over coat, and the J. Crew barn coat, and the Mossy Oak camo-hunting coat, and the L.L. Bean denim coat and … you get the picture. I like them all so much that when it comes time to give a coat away, I’ll go into the way-way-back of the closet and pull out an old one I don’t wear anymore.
This year I’m finally going to do it. I’m going to take one of the coats I like, maybe even one of the new coats, and give it away to someone who doesn’t have a coat. It’s too bad John didn’t tell me how many to give away if I had twelve coats. And you? Have you counted your coats lately? We so often think of repentance as an inner feeling of sorrow over bad behavior and a resolve not to do it again. John says it’s a lot bigger than this. When there are people without coats and I have twelve … you get the point. Count those coats.”
J.D. Walt in Not Yet Christmas: It’s Time for Advent (Franklin: Seedbed, 2014) 26-27.
This is a great little Advent book in which Walt astutely notes that “when the Church reclaims Advent, the culture will behold Christmas.” Imagine if every Christ follower preparing for Christmas focused on sharing coats with shivering people rather than baking cookies and hanging stockings?
Now I am not saying that Jenni, who is back home baking cookies for us to enjoy and share and getting our home ready for Christmas should stop. With Walt and John the Baptist long before him, I am saying let’s show the world who Jesus is not through “inner feelings” but by way of “outward actions.”
With Walt I will admit that I have been acculturated to have a coat for every occasion. I need to learn from my own son, Sammy, who has only three: a fleece for cold, a shell for rain, and an all-purpose coat. When I get home I need to count my coats and do some sharing before Christ arrives.
I notice less “commercialization” linked to Christmas down under. Sadly, many in Australia pay little attention to Christ, though they have the most beautiful Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the world (pictured from my ferry ride between meetings today). Let’s show them Christ through our outward actions!
Join me in counting your coats and doing some sharing. Whatever you give to the poor you give to Jesus.