Christmas Bah Humbug!

A story was told to me recently about a person who was leaving a local store with their shopping basket full of, well for a better term, stuff! The thing that caught my friend’s attention was that this person, who had overflowed their cart, had a frown on their face. How could this be? Had they not acquired all their heart’s desires? My reaction to the story was that the person was not happy because they had just spent their rent money on things that they did not need.

I have only one thing to say about what Christmas has become, “Bah Humbug!” I confess that I have been caught up in the economic stimulus package called Christmas; bought things I did not need, bought things for people they did not need, and spent money I did not have any business spending. Really! What does Jesus think about all this?

It’s time to do something different, something that will be so radical and crazy that people will catch the fever and change the insanity of present day happy holiday. Consider the following, instead of charging to Visa for Christmas gifts, pay your Visa bill off. Don’t have a credit card? Then take the money you would spend on Christmas gifts and pay off debt. A lot of people will feel better when the credit card statements come in January with this plan.

You say that you don’t have any debt? Take a look and see if anyone owes you any money, if so, forgive the debt they owe you. After they pick themselves up off the floor and stutter asking you why, take the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ who died for your sins and tell them about a God who is full of love and grace and is ready to forgive and forget.

What? You say that you do not have any debt and nobody owes you anything? Great! Then instead of shelling out money on material possessions find a cause that you are passionate about and go help that cause by getting your hands dirty. Stock a local food pantry with the money you would have spent on Christmas, see how many winter heating bills you can pay for others, go serve in a soup kitchen and then bless that ministry with the money you would have spent. The possibilities are endless.

Grandpa does not need another tie! Instead of giving gifts that collect dust, end up in the trash or get re-gifted, wouldn’t it be funny if grandpas wrapped last years tie up and gave it back to you? Give gifts to ministries in the name of family and friends. Let your friends know that Christmas is changing and that you are not going to give them stuff that they cannot use and instead are giving gifts to families around the world who need water, food, any a means to survive this year.

When all is said and done and everyone believes that you have gone crazy, invite your family and friends to church, invite them to a radical and crazy experience with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s make Christmas Jesus Crazy!