HIGHER definition

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give alms... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

(Luke 12:32-33a, 34)

On Thanksgiving Day, a windstorm blew over our satellite dish in our backyard.  We've been DirecTV subscribers since they first came to Hawaii (can you say NFL Network?!?) - about 5+ years ago.  Originally we had a medium-sized dish on our roof, but no local TV channels (we had to get them via an antenna).  Then they added another satellite over the Pacific, and about a year later they offered local channels.  But we needed a dish upgrade.  This one was HUGE... and it had to be mounted on a pole in our yard.  It was a HD-compatible dish.  We didn't have an HD TV, but it was necessary for us to receive local channels.  (Interesting note: at that time, true HD service required TWO of those massive dishes, linked side-by-side!)

So anyway, I was talking to our repair guy the other day about the size of the dish & HD service... and he said that now this single dish is able to receive HD service on its own.  Which got me thinking... gee, it sure would be nice to be able to watch sports in HD!!!  So I've been scouring the internet for prices/sales on HD TVs.  Nothing huge, mind you... 37-40 inches LCD should be adequate (1080, of course!).  But in the back of my mind, I kept hearing this voice ("But the TV you've got is just fine!")... so I'd answer back, "True, but it's not HD!"  To which the voice would say, "But the TV you've got is just fine!"  Which tells me that the voice doesn't know how to listen to reason!

Then I read today's passage from Luke 12, and stumbled upon (literally) verses 32-33.  Jesus tells his followers that God longs to give them THE KINGDOM!  Wow!  The Kingdom of God!?!  That's a great gift!  Then Jesus says, "Sell your possessions and give alms."  Hmm... what about "Upgrade your out-of-date possessions, sell your old models, and THEN give alms!"???  (Nah, I didn't really think so either).  The kicker comes in verse 34: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  (dang!)

We're officially in Advent now... the season of preparation for the Coming of Christ again.  I'm trying to lead my congregation along this pathway - putting the first things first - striving after The Kingdom... and darn it if visions of HD TV's keep dancing in my head!  ("But the TV you've got is just fine!")  Maybe God is calling me to spend that $500-$600 on the poor this Christmas, instead?  Maybe that's a "higher definition" of faithfulness? 

But what if a really good sale pops up?!?!

I know... I know... THE TV I HAVE IS JUST FINE.  (Sheesh!)