This year Americans are expected to spend between $942 and $960 billion on Christmas. The average American will spend just under $1,000.00, a slight decrease from last year. That noted, holiday sales have grown year over year for over a decade. Twenty-five percent of Americans still have holiday debt from last year. Approximately one third of Americans take on debt for Christmas spending. Seventy percent of Americans say they will overspend their budget to buy Christmas gifts.
This is all to welcome the birth of Jesus, who owned nothing and was homeless. It is as tragic as it is ironic. We spend money we don’t have to buy things for those who already have too much. And the hungry will still be hungry when the Christmas basket is gone. The homeless will still be homeless, People will still have to choose between paying a utility bill and buying the medication they need to treat chronic health problems.
I am not a Scrooge and I do not feel bah humbug about Christmas. I am, however, deeply troubled by the farce that Christmas has become. It troubles me that I go into the grocery store to buy food for the food pantry and hear “O Holy Night” play on the Muzak right after “Santa Clause is coming to Town.” Sacred Christmas carols and secular holiday music have blended together and the sacred carols are the losers.
Every year I hear complaints about not singing Christmas carols during Advent. I am a bit like the Advent Police. The four weeks that precede Christmas are a time of introspection and preparation. The haunting lyrics of Advent carols call us to slow down and remember what this season is supposed to be about. The world may run the mall and the shopping industry, but it doesn’t run the church. So we will sing, “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” and “O Come, O Come, Emanuel” and tell our rushing spirits to slow down and consider the true gifts of this season: Peace, Hope, Joy and Love. From where I sit the world is in much more in need of these than another plastic thingamajig that will be forgotten by New Year’s.
People say that Christmas is for children and use that as an excuse for overindulging children with more than they need. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we taught that Christmas is for children, and that means giving to children who don’t have enough? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if children learned the joy of giving and not just receiving?
I am proud of the teachers and children at Ledyard Congregational Church where I serve as interim pastor. Our children are learning about giving and sharing with others. They have conducted a food drive for the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen and a pet food drive for the hungry animals that live in shelters waiting to be adopted. Making God’s love concrete in deeds of generosity and care is the message of Christmas that I want all children to have.
Instead of buying holiday gifts this year, why not take all the money you would spend on gifts and give it to the food pantry or the fuel fund? Why not pick names out of a hat and buy one gift for that person with a limit of $25.00? Why not make handmade gifts this year?
There are so many ways to celebrate Christmas without going into debt and over-indulging children. To welcome the Christ child into the world and into our hearts is to welcome those he came to make whole; the last, the least and the lost. Try stepping out of the rat race and the mad house of it all. Enjoy Advent. Prepare your hearts. Slow down. Listen to an Advent song or two.
Advent Blessings.
The Irreverent Reverend 