This message was written in 1998 but it is still quite true, perhaps even more so, today.
Only Shopping Days 'til Christmas
The malls are full, the churches empty. Every one is busy looking for that special gift for that special person. The lines are long, patience short. Grab that last Barbee before someone else does. No time for graciousness, push through the crowd, grab what you need, fight the trafic to the next big sale. Who's that shabby looking woman there with those kids, she's in the way, she isn't buying anything , why does't she get out of the way? Oh, there's another one of those guys with the red kettle, man they are everywhere. Can't give them all money, just walk by and don't look. Too busy to dig for change. Why are these lines so slow? They should have more people working. Next year i'm going to start shopping sooner. Maybe i'll go on Sundays while people are in church.
Christmas time in the USA. Where is the Christ? Only in the name, not in the spirit. Where is the Love, as fights break out for a parking space? Where is the Charity in a handful of unwanted pennies thrown in a brass kettle? Were is the Holy Spirit amid all the mass consumption? It has been said that with the booming economy this could be the best shopping season in history. Yet many will remain homeless, hungry, cold, and unwanted, as we sit by our warm fires admiring all the brightly wrapped boxes under our Christmas trees. We will prop up our tired feet, sore from weeks of frantic shopping and spending as others waste away for lack of basic needs.
The spirit of Giving is not about trading gifts with our peers, or making points with the boss, or impressing people with our generosity. It's about giving to those who are unable to repay, even unable to show gratitude. It's about shining the light, showing the love of Jesus to a dying world. Christmas is Saint Nicholas dropping coins down the chimney of poor families (in complete anonymity), not sitting on Santa Clause's lap and going down a list of 'i want'. It's a homeless family having a child in a stable, lying Him in a feed trough because there was no bed.
Do we need to spend $100 on a dead tree and a couple more on decorations for our comfortable homes when half that could get a family through the whole month? Do we need to spend $50 a bottle on champagne when that could feed a whole family? Yes we want to do things for our families and friends, and buy them nice presents. But GOD has blessed us not only to benefit us or our families, but those around us who may not even know Him. What better way to share the Gospel than to fill starving bellies? How better to show GOD's mercy than to shelter the poor?
Jesus said "Whatever you do to the least of these you do to Me." When we walk by the needy, the hurting, on the way to a bargin, we show our true god. We walk past Jesus on the way to the temple of Mammon. We are not celebrating the Christ in Christmas, we are running after our own lusts and promoting the lusts of others. December 25 should be renamed, Shoppermass. We can trade in Kris Kringle for Sam Greedle, and Ebenezer Scrooge can take the place of Old Saint Nick. After all "it's the economy stupid".