Christmas Is Not Your Birthday

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more.
~ Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Perhaps Christmas does mean a little bit more. I have struggled with how we celebrate Christmas for several years. I wonder if you struggle with it too.

For the last ten years the average spending on Christmas gifts has been around $1,000. Last year, Christmas spending dropped a little to $859. This year, most shoppers are planning to cut their gift spending by 50%. The American Research Group conducted their twenty-third annual survey on holiday spending and found that shoppers are planning to spend an average of $431 on gifts this year. This is the lowest amount recorded since 1991.

I am really pleased to see this shift, however, I imagine the reduction in spending is mainly because of the poor economy and not because of a sudden realization that Christmas does not come from a store. But we are the church. We do know. Christmas is the story of how God came to us as one of us in the birth of Jesus. And yet, we continue to run to the store.

Many congregations today challenge the way they live during December. They say, “Christmas is not your birthday. Celebrate your birthday when it is your birthday. Celebrate Jesus’ birthday on Christmas.” Shopping and spending a terrible amount of money on stuff does not celebrate Jesus’ birthday. Jesus said he came to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free (Luke 4:18). Jesus did not come so the wealthiest people in the world (that’s us) could have more stuff.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. Still, it is not about consumption but compassion. It is not about presents but presence. Therefore, I want to challenge us all to cut back even more on gifts this year and instead give to mission with our money (and how about with our time and service, too?). Even buying one less present and giving the money to Nothing But Nets or for clean drinking water, etc. is a good start. Check out Advent Conspiracy or speak to our Missions Committee for more ideas. We can all do this.



Next year, I will challenge us to consider what we spend on Christmas gifts and give an equal amount of money for mission. Christmas is not your birthday. Furthermore, we will choose one mission project for the whole congregation to support. Then, whatever we spend on Christmas, if we give an equal amount for that mission, we can write one big check from Salem.

Is this different? Perhaps. The truth is, we are Christians. We are different. We celebrate time differently. Our new year begins the First Sunday of Advent and not on January 1. We celebrate holidays differently. The week before Easter this year, I was talking to the part-time custodian at First Church in Des Moines. He is a young guy in his twenties. He plays the drums and would talk to me about playing in bands. He asked, “What are you doing for Easter?” I said, “Well, we’re going to worship on Easter morning.” He said, “No way! On Easter? You’re going to go to church on a holiday?”

Most of us recognize that he did not understand what Easter is all about. And yet, I wonder if most of us who know what Christmas really means struggle with how our lives reflect that.