I had an epiphany in Wal-Mart the other day. It occurred to me, standing in the Wal-Mart
line as I watched the flurry of frantic Christmas activity, that we, as a
society, are celebrating the wrong thing
or things at Christmas. While there is
certainly nothing wrong with letting people know how much you care about them
through the love language of giving, especially in light of all that a loving
God has given us, it occurred to me that our focus, as a society, has turned to
a celebration of materialism and capitalism.
This certainly wasn’t the first time that thought has hit me—as I imagine some of you with the “well, duh” expressions on your faces. But I began to see it in stark contrast to
what we should be celebrating and how what
we celebrate affects who we are, and our energy levels and even how fulfilled
and excited we are about life. Let me
explain.
To most people in our society, Christmas has become all
about the perfect material gift for the significant people on your list, and
for the stores themselves, it has become a marketing bright spot in a year of
otherwise soft sales. And the game
becomes one of seeking the perfect price point.
If the goods are marked too high, people will tend to walk away. But if they are priced too low it cuts into
the profit margins. And prices are
constantly being adjusted to try and regulate a good flow of merchandise. And so the two have merged as a celebration
in their own right. For the consumer, it
is buying the perfect gift at the right price and for the merchant, it comes in
keeping the flow of merchandise moving to maximize profits and the bottom line,
so that the fourth quarter earnings can be posted much higher thereby driving
your stock prices up. And the more Christmas becomes about the gifts and the
profit-margins, the more tired and disgruntled we feel, and the less joy and
energy we feel. That focus on Christmas
actually sucks the life out of us. It
reduces us to a mentality of quantifying how important we are by how much stuff
we get.
If we get something exotic or expensive given to us, then we
assume we have great worth because much was spent. Likewise, if we don’t get much, we assume we
aren’t worth much. And for those with
little to spend, the uneven financial ground, that we are so keenly aware of all
throughout the year, is merely exacerbated and seen in starker contrast because
those with little, see those with much, purchasing expensive gifts and they wish THEY could buy more for their loved ones.
And instead of leaving Wal-Mart excited about what they have been able
to purchase, they leave disappointed and discouraged and drained—the life
sucked out of them, and the wealthy leave Wal-Mart with an air of superiority
because they are able to afford more—well actually, many of the wealthy
wouldn’t be caught dead shopping Wal-Mart—but you get my point. But here’s the rub.
Many of the poor are actually grateful for
what they receive for Christmas, while many of the rich only pretend to
be. Or they may be excited at first, but
because they get so much, it quickly loses it’s appeal and special-ness and
fades into the landscape of all the other stuff they have and within just a few
weeks, many forget that they ever received it. I know...it gets really confusing...and sometimes even maddening.
May I suggest a different focus? What we really celebrate, or should
celebrate at Christmas, is that God chooses us. He comes tenderly as one of us
and makes the gigantic step of choosing to love us, choosing to take all of
what he has, all of what he holds, and offers it to us in a
relationship. Now that’s energizing
isn’t it? That’s exciting. And no matter what your socio-economic background,
that is still more than any of us will ever have in the material world.
Think of that—God chose YOU! He made the gigantic step of choosing to love
YOU, choosing to take all of what He has, all of what He holds, and he offers
it to YOU in a relationship. Is that
worth celebrating? That doesn’t leave
the drained or disappointed feelings that materialism subjects us to. That can be energized every single day for
the rest of your life! And that’s the
point. God chose YOU to be in
relationship with Him so that He could impart LIFE and ENERGY to YOU.
For
all of the junk that we have to wade through down here—for all of things that
can turn life sour, or disappointing or discouraging, or even hopeless, you
need to know that Jesus, the Word, capital W, is the right answer. In a mixed-up world with a mixed-up society
celebrating Christmas in a mixed-up way, Jesus continues to be the right
answer. I would submit that it is only
through understanding the Word, incarnate,
that is, Jesus in the flesh, that we can begin to see where we fit into
the whole scheme of things and then, finding our rightful place, we can begin to live
life with a purpose and an aliveness
that has eluded us while we spend our time in the Wal-Mart line.
Thomas
A Kempis wrote: A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of
the giver.
Merry Christmas! GOD CHOSE YOU!
