The following is from Reuters, reporting on holiday retail sales over Black Friday weekend:

Cash was king for consumers who shopped over the Thanksgiving weekend…and that factor could have cost retailers additional sales.  Only 26 percent of people who shopped over the weekend said they used credit cards for their purchases…A total of 39 percent said they used cash, while the remaining shoppers used debit cards, the survey showed.  Consumers shunning credit cards is a bad sign for retailers, since people who buy gifts with a credit card tend to spend anywhere from 20 to 40 percent more on the gift.

What is bad news for retailers according to Reuters– consumers buying more with cash and less on credit – is good news, I would say, for consumers.  After all, by spending only the money they actually have in the bank, consumers save themselves monstrous interest charges and mountains of debt which can land some in the poor house.

Although I am quite happy to see more consumers spending responsibly, I am also thankful that the message of Christmas is about a man who gladly and knowingly spent everything he had with reckless abandon and landed himself in the poor house for our sakes.  Our reading for Christmas Eve from Titus 3 explains thusly:

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. (verses 4-6)

When Jesus appeared in history as a baby in a manger, he poured out his Spirit through Christ not minimally, but generously.  The Greek word for “generously” is plousios, meaning “richly.”  In other words, God “broke the bank,” as it were, when he gave us Jesus.

And indeed he did.  God have everything he had – even the life of his one and only Son – so that our salvation could be purchased and secured.  God sent Jesus to the poor house so that we could be rich in eternal treasures.  As the apostle Paul elsewhere says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “What Child Is This?”  I especially appreciate the second verse:

Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear; for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.
Nail, spear shall pierce him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary!

These lyrics capture well the poor house, or “mean estate,” in which Jesus lie.  And the “ox and ass” were only the beginning of Jesus’ poverty.  As the carol so appropriately reminds us, Jesus would lose everything, even his life, when nails and a spear pierced him through.

This Christmas Eve, I hope that you are financially stable.  If you are not, I pray God’s guidance and help for you, that you would enter into a better fiscal season.  But whether you are financially secure or shaky, tonight, give thanks for the One who spent everything he had for our salvation.  He came to the poor house so that we, whether we are rich or poor in money, would always be rich in salvation.  Praise be to God.

“I, Zach McIntosh, a resident of San Antonio, Texas, being of sound mind and body and over the age of eighteen years, and not being actuated by any duress, menace, fraud, mistake, or undue influence, do hereby make, publish and declare the following to be my Last Will and Testament, revoking all previous will and codicils made by me.”

Such begins a standard Last Will and Testament.  Perhaps the most famous line in the above paragraph is, “being of sound mind and body.”  This phrase is foundational and fundamental to any Will, because it indicates that person signing it is familiar with their property and family and that they are physically well enough to sign a Will and are not doing so under any sort of coercion or duress.  In order to sign a will, a person must be sound – both mentally and physically.

In our reading for today from Titus 2, we find that the same thing needed for a will – soundness – is also needed in a Christian’s life:  “You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance” (verses 1-2).  The Greek word for “sound” in these verses is hugiano, meaning “healthy.”  Thus, a Christian is called to healthy doctrine and healthy living in faith, love, and endurance.  This is a high calling.

Far too often, Christians sacrifice so-called healthy living for so-called healthy doctrine and so-called healthy doctrine for so-called healthy living.  I have seen many who have prided themselves on living well while simultaneously refusing to take principled stands on important doctrinal issues.  Conversely, I have also met many who, while priding themselves in their doctrinal purity, do so arrogantly, without the humble spirit that should mark a follower of Christ.

Trying to have sound doctrine without sound living and trying to have sound living without sound doctrine is impossible.  Both sound doctrine and sound living are needed.  Indeed, this is precisely what Paul says later this same chapter:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (verses 11-14)

Here we find both sound doctrine and sound living.  The gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ – the very crux of Christian doctrine – is taught clearly and unequivocally while a call to righteous living is upheld.

Do you hail sound doctrine over sound living or sound living over sound doctrine?  Today, take an inventory of your beliefs and your life.  Is there any area in your doctrinal beliefs that you need to clarify or on which you need to take a solid stance that you have not heretofore?  Is there any area of your life where you are not soundly living within God’s commands?  God calls us all to a sound mind, believing sound doctrine, and a sound body, practicing sound living.  May you live and believe soundly.  For this is living and believing soundly in Christ.

There are two kinds of families in this world:  Dog families and cat families.  Growing up, I was a member of a cat family.  We always had at least two cats frolicking around the house, shedding fur and using our sofa as a scratching post.  I love cats.  They’re low maintenance and, at least when they’re in the mood, they can be quite affectionate.

I can remember one afternoon, I decided that I wanted to take our cat, named Neffy, for a walk.  Interestingly enough, even though we never had any dogs, we did have a dog leash.  So I called my brother and sister and announced, “Let’s take Neffy for a walk!”  And so, we placed the leash on her collar.  Dogs, of course, gladly welcome the opportunity to be walked.  They happily pant with anticipation and even jump up at their owner as a sign of eagerness.  Our cat, however, dug her claws into ground and began rumbling with a low, disgruntled growl punctuated by an occasional hiss.  And it was then that I learned the perils of walking a cat.  For cats do not like to be led.

In our reading for today from Titus 1, the apostle Paul gives a pastor named Titus an assignment at the churches at Crete that is about as easy as walking a cat:  “The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you” (verse 5).  Apparently, things on the Mediterranean island are not going well.  This is why Paul continues,  “For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers…They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain” (verses 10-11).  The Greek word for “rebellious” is anupataktos, a word meaning “submit” with an alpha privative.  Thus, these are people who refuse to submit to Christian teaching and godly guidance.  Like cats, they do not like to submit to leadership.

What is the solution to these cats of Crete, who refuse to be led?  Paul answers, “Rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith” (verse 13).  Even though it may be difficult and harrowing, Paul encourages Titus not to give up on these wayward ones.  For he wants them to be led to soundness in faith.

Walking a cat is not easy.  Neither is leading one who has wandered from the faith.  But as hard as it might be, such leadership is certainly worthwhile.  For God’s desire is that more and more people “hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught” (verse 9).

As Christmas approaches, is there anyone whom you can lead with God’s Word and gospel?  Perhaps you can invite them to Christmas worship.  Perhaps you can share with them the gospel.  Even if they seem hostile to Christianity, take a chance on introducing them to the Christ child in the manger.  For his birth, life, death, and resurrection is the very thing on which all of history – and even all of eternity – hangs.  So take a Cretan cat for a walk.  Yes, they may growl.  But, then again, they may believe.

It was my parents who first taught me about Jesus.  I can still remember them reading stories to me from my children’s Bible about folks like Abraham and King David and the twelve disciples and Paul and, of course, Jesus.  These stories warmed my heart.  But more importantly, God’s Word saved my soul.

As I grew older, and my faith grew deeper, I continued to learn about Jesus.  In high school, an unbelieving friend tested my faith.  So I studied and consulted one of my teachers until I found transcendent answers to her objections.  In college, I had a professor who taught me New Testament Greek.  His love for God’s Word gave me a deeper appreciation for Scripture than I could have ever imagined.  In seminary, a pastor took it upon himself to mentor through a very difficult season in my life.  If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be a pastor today.  Over and over again, from my parents to my teachers to my professors to my pastors, I have been taught God’s Word and have had my faith stretched and deepened.  It is because of these people that I am who I am today.

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (verse 7).  Such is the exhortation of the preacher of Hebrews in our reading for today from Hebrews 13.  And this is an exhortation we would do well to take to heart.  For we all have leaders in the faith – those who have gone ahead of us and have gladly, willingly, and freely shared their wisdom, knowledge, and insight with us to help us grow in our faith.  It is these people we are to remember.

Sadly, we all too often fail to honor these people.  Past mentors all too easily become forgotten relics of a bygone era.  The less we see them, talk to them, and ask for their counsel, the less often they come to mind and the less often we thank God for their influence on our lives.  And yet, their teaching is just as valuable today as when they first shared it with us.  For the author of Hebrews continues by reminding us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (verse 8).  In other words, the doctrines of Christ do not change because Jesus does not change.  Thus, true doctrine that we are taught at the age of two is just as true when we recall it at the age of eighty.  The people who taught it to us, therefore, are to be remembered and celebrated.

Who has led and mentored you in your faith that you can remember?  Was it a pastor?  A parent?  A professor?  A friend?  Today, write that person a card or send them an email or give them a call or take them to lunch and thank them for the formative influence they have had on your life.  “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God of to you.”  And then, lead someone else.  Mentor someone else.  For even as you were led, others need your leading.  For leading someone in the faith by God’s Word can change a life – and even change an eternity.

A couple of weekends ago, I was taking care of some things around the house while my wife, Melody, was relaxing on the couch and watching TV.  She was enjoying a movie I had not seen in decades – the movie “Annie.”  You know Annie – that indomitable red head with an irrepressible spirit.   And then, of course, there is her unforgettable song:  “The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.  Just thinking about tomorrow, clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow, till there’s none.  When I’m stuck with a day that’s gray and lonely, I just stick up my chin and grin and say:  The sun will come out tomorrow!”

If only we all had Annie’s perpetually cheery disposition.  But real life doesn’t always allow for Annie-esque optimism.  For life doles out plenty of days which are “gray and lonely.”  The clouds of trials and troubles often overshadow the sun of joy and jocularity.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I had to endure many a cloudy day.  Under what seemed to be perpetually gray skies, a burst of sun was always a welcome and even exciting sight.  For me, a sunny day is better than a cloudy one.  That is part of why I find the opening of Hebrews 12 so fascinating:  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (verse 1).  The preacher of Hebrews says that our life of faith is marked not by sun, but by clouds.  It is marked by a cloud of witnesses.  Who are these witnesses?  These are those who have gone before us in the faith and sometimes have suffered and died for the faith.  Indeed, the Greek word for “witnesses” is martys, from whence we get our English word “martyr.”  We meet some of these witnesses in the previous chapter of Hebrews:  Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, and the like.  In fact, Hebrews 11 and 12 seem to echo Jesus’ transfiguration, when the witnesses of Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus before Peter, James, and John, and a “cloud appears and envelopes them” (Luke 9:34).  The image of preference for the Scriptural writers to describe those who surround our lives of faith seems to be that of a cloud.

But why?  Isn’t the image of a cloud dark, dank, and depressing?  Well, certainly a Christian’s life is not always easy.  It is often marked by suffering from sin and persecution from the devil.  But the image of gray skies carries with it not only difficulties, it also carries hope.  For we are promised: “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen” (Revelation 1:7).  And I always thought the day of Jesus’ return would be sunny.  I guess it will be marked by clouds.

Annie may have hoped for the sun to come out tomorrow.  But today, I’m hoping for clouds.  For on the clouds my Savior will come.  And that promise is enough to make even the cloudy day of his return seem awfully sunny.