Sunday, December 19, 2010

Retail Sales Don't Celebrate Jesus

"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God."

-- Luke 12:4

The traffic was backed up and barely moving. Crowds filled the stores. People swiped cards and pulled out cash, toting bags of goodies to their cars. It was Christmas as we know it.

I don't think this is what Jesus had in mind for His birthday.

When did we all get so commercialized? And I do mean "we." The stores didn't do it to us. We did it to ourselves. We're so focused on getting the perfect gift and having the best holiday ever that we've lost the reason we're celebrating. Don't blame it on the government or the democrats or anyone else besides the person you see in the mirror each day. Because you are just as responsible as I am.

We not only buy in to the tree with all the lights and brightly wrapped gifts underneath, we enjoy it. We do. We want to give presents and we want to get presents in return. We want to eat until we can't move because we finally have an excuse. His name is Jesus. Except we aren't doing any of it for Him.

What would Jesus really want for Christmas? More people to invite Him into their hearts, for sure. But what would He want you or I to do for His birthday? Maybe spend that money on the homeless, the working poor or a sick child rather than people who already have too much stuff anyway. He'd probably suggest we visit a few people who are homebound and invite a few more people to church. He'd expect us to be kind and compassionate to those around us, sharing all our blessings with others. Doesn't sound too much like the kind of Christmas we're actually planning, does it?

We've let the world convince us that Christmas is about retail sales when it's really about a baby that came to save the world. When did we forget His focus on the poor and those who are alone? When did we become so obsessed with ourselves and our possessions that we stopped caring about those around us?

We're quick to tell people "Merry Christmas" and to loudly announce we want the world to "Keep Christ in Christmas." But our actions speak something else. No wonder the world ignores us and keeps right on ringing up those sales.