A WORD FOR TODAY, November 26, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, November 26, 2021
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love, having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him. We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will, to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ. In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation - in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:3-14, WEB
I used to do the whole Black Friday shopping thing. I actually liked the excitement of it all. I never went with the intention of buying specific sale items like big screen TVs and the hot toy of the year, but there were always fun specials to fill our shopping lists. When my daughter was old enough, we would get up early, do a little shopping, take time for hot chocolate, and then go back for more shopping. We would get home late morning exhausted from the adventure.
I haven’t gone out early in the morning for years. It stopped being fun when the store started opening earlier and earlier, and especially when they started opening on Thanksgiving. It is also not as much fun as it was with my daughter. I usually manage to get out to the stores at some point on Black Friday, but well after the mad rush has ended. I thought about going out this morning, but did not get around to it. I looked at the clock this morning at 8:00 a.m. and thought, “I’m really late.” Of course, I’m not really late; the stores have had Black Friday sales happening for weeks already. I’ve done most of my shopping already. The things I need or want to buy are not typically items that disappear from the shelves early in the morning. And really, if I don’t find it, did I really need to buy it?
I have seen several memes on the Internet that say something like, “Only in America do we wait in lines to trample others for sale items one day after giving thanks for what we have.” Black Friday is considered an official beginning to the shopping season. I remember in the days of my youth when the malls did not open until normal time on Black Friday. The night before was spent decorating for the Christmas season. The mall where my mother worked had an event the hour before opening at which time Santa Claus arrived with much fanfare. One year, my sister and some other girls wore reindeer antlers and danced in front of the sleigh. It was adorable. Then the doors opened and the people went into the mall to take advantage of the sales. In recent years, they have opened the doors to stampede and chaos, although this year was apparently much calmer.
Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year, however. The Saturday before Christmas is a higher grossing day because so many people wait until the last minute because they have not had the time to shop or because they are hoping to find a late sale with drastically reduced prices. Many of the people that do that late season shopping are also the ones who were out there early. I have often thought myself finished with my shopping, but as the day drew nearer I found more gifts that would be just perfect. My budget is shattered and my pile of gifts under the tree is bigger than I want it to be, again.
Giving gifts for Christmas has a long history, after all, the wise men brought Jesus gifts when He was a young child. However, gift giving has often become the sole focus of our Christmas celebration, and the gifts have been little more than packages bought out of a sense of duty or as a response to the expectation. I’ve seen too many web posts of people who are disappointed because they did not receive exactly what they wanted for Christmas. I do think two years of pandemic and recent supply chain problems have made many people rethink what they want to give to those they love, and even the recipients of those gifts. Do we really need to buy something for every aunt or cousin?
When my children were little, we got presents from everyone: grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbors. One year we counted the presents and each child had more than two dozen. It was too much. One year we were moving from Washington state to Europe during the Christmas season. We asked our loved ones not to buy gifts because we would have to carry everything we received on the airplane. No one understood; they wanted to show how much they loved our kids through toys. One aunt in Kansas gave our son a huge police car with lots of bells and whistles. We still had a thousand miles to drive home. He was able to play with the toy the first day, and then it ended up hidden in the back of the car. Another aunt gave a huge book. We had to buy trunks to take all the new toys overseas.
I realized this year that I’ve been as guilty as all those relatives thirty years ago. I want to be the aunt that is remembered after Christmas because I’ve found the perfect gifts. The nieces and nephews are older now, but now their children get presents. I hate to give gift cards or money, but I think the cost of shipping and the reality of too many presents may lead me in that direction from now on. Then parents can supplement the gifts under the tree if there is something they can’t buy or save it for another time when the child really wants something special.
It might be tempting to simplify the holiday, to stop giving gifts altogether in an attempt to make Christmas more holy. Yet, gift giving is a part of Christmas, not only because of the gifts the wise men gave to Jesus, but because Jesus is the greatest gift we can receive. We just have to find a way to be generous while also honoring the reason for the season. When shopping this year, let’s ask ourselves an important question: “How is this glorifying God?” By keeping Christ in Christmas, by keeping our eyes on Him in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we will not purchase things for the wrong reasons but will do that which will share the gospel of Jesus Christ and the love of God. Christmas is a time to look beyond ourselves, not only at others but most especially at the Lord, to share the gift that changed our lives by changing us into the people of God. We act as witnesses to His presence in this time and place. We do this as we walk in His grace and pass His gift on to all those who cross our path.
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