What would happen if Christians decided to do Christmas differently this year?
Normally, Christmas is a frenzied free for all shopping spree to make sure we get the toys, clothes, gadgets, and trinkets that will soon be forgotten ho hum by middle of January. The U.S. Department of Commerce predicted retail sales of $287 billion in the fourth quarter of 2002. The way most of us do Christmas, it is rarely about the Christ of Christmas and all too often about the stuff of Christmas.
Why not do Christmas differently this year?
I know this sounds crazy and so un-Christmaslike, but just follow along just for a moment and dream with me.
What if we all chose to forgo - just for this year - our normal gifts for ourselves and our family and instead thought about using the money we would spent on Christmas gifts for one another to give away to the poor? What if every church in the US chose a worthy charity and every church collected the Christmas funds from our church members and gave it away in the name of Jesus Christ on Christmas day?
Could you imagine the joy such giving would create in...the world? us? in Christ?
We always say that Christmas is about giving and not receiving. What if, just for this year, we made Christmas truly about the joy of giving this year?
What a joyous day that would be!
Could you imagine the joy around Christmas this year?
And I tell you what, if you really want to, you can do Christmas in this way every year.
James <><
www.trinitypresbyterian.us
http://tpc-james.blogspot.com/
twitter @jameskimtpc
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