Unwrapping Jesus
There I stood amidst the presents
Sparkling gold and high as heaven
What a wondrous day to sing a song
And stack my gifts higher than
Money, money, stuff galore,
Oh I’m thankful I’m not poor!
Rip and tear and snarl and stare
For a moment…then
Over my shoulder in a pile
Onto the next gift with a devious smile
Like Peter walking on the water,
I walk on gifts and teeter totter
In the corner, a plain brown bag,
With no “to”, or “from”, or fancy tag
No shape, or color, or flashy sign
It’s not my gift, it’s just not mine
At night my eyes curl up my face
and blanket me to sleep
But all those presents hollow now
an emptiness so deep
A fading thought, that plain brown bag, perhaps worthy of a peep?
A storm of yawns capsize my thoughts
As I wonder, in eternity what I will reap
-Corey
For most kids and many adults Jesus is a simply a footnote to the story of Christmas. It’s fine that he’s there while the gifts are opened (as long as we don’t have to really talk about Him too much), but by the end of the day how many families unwrap Jesus as the center piece to their Christmas celebration?
Christmas Gift Giving, Not the Way it Always Was:
It’s interesting that we think that the way Christmas is today is the way it’s always been, or at least it’s been like this for a while. In fact, our celebrations date to around 1880. Earlier than that the symbols for a good English Christmas were the yule log, the boar’s head, and the wassail bowl (which occasionally turned violent). Interestingly, gratification did not come through fulfilling our children’s every desire. The early settlers of the south embraced this English tradition, but the New England Calvinists rejected it, even outlawing Christmas between 1659-1681 (it wasn't until the mid-1800s that celebrating Christmas became fashionable in the
The Christians in the middle Atlantic colonies tried a middle route, in part disliking and discouraging the revelry in the south, but embracing the celebration as a whole. As
Before 1880 Christmas was miniscule compared to today’s standards and was not a major player on the national economic level. In part because gift giving was not as common a custom and in part because gifts were hand made, not manufactured. But the rise of the modern era, more people in cities, and of course mass production (thank you Ford) gave rise to a bottomless pit of giving (and receiving). Sure, commercialization is to blame, but urbanization (working class people mixed in with high ranking wealthy, so the urban class feels they have to compete with gift giving)) and industrialization (development of cities and technology) are equal culprits.
Before 1880 most gifts were handmade and simple: Needlework (typically women), wooden toys (typically men), and baked goods. With the rise of industrialization people worked more and had less time to devote to homemade gifts (farmers after all had more time to enjoy in the Fall after the harvest, as opposed to city workers).
Is Gift Giving even Biblical?
Most people would say yes with out any qualifications. Of course being generous is biblical as long as it is an attitude of the heart, not a one-time event (1 Cor. 8). But gift giving during Christmas has always seemed a little strange to me. In part I don’t have the same nostalgic moments of growing up with gifts piled under the tree. The local church would bring my gifts by on Sunday morning and they were always generically labeled, “boy” or “girl.” There was no family celebration, usually no tree, lights, or wreath. We were still thankful, however, and for us, my sister and I, it was still Christmas. In short, I’m not bound to the emotional appeal people make to justify doing Christmas the way their parents did it and the way they remember.
When I became a Christian in my teen years I began to think it a bit unusual that we celebrate the birth of our Savior by buying gifts for other people. Putting aside the idea that in most families gift giving ends up being a conduit for feeding children’s materialistic inclinations, and that the next generation is already the most unthankful I have ever seen in my short life (judging from the kids I have taught at Christian schools the last few years), we ought to ask, how does giving gifts to each other during the celebration of His Son honor God?
Using the wise men as an example of gift giving only works if in fact you are going to give your gifts to Jesus. Buying someone the video camera they always wanted is a generous gift for another person, but not Jesus himself. Since Christmas is somehow supposed to be about Jesus, where is He in all this?
The Real Issue is Not Gift Giving, it’s WHEN the gifts are Given
And maybe this is more to the point: The issue isn’t gift giving, it’s when that gift giving takes place. Have you ever shown up at someone’s birthday party, marched right up to them, given them a list of all the things you want, and then walked away? We would probably call someone like that selfish, self-centered, and rude. Yet, isn’t that what we are training our children to do every Christmas? For kids, is it really possible that Christmas can really be about Jesus when it’s also about all the things they get too? For Christian families, how could the focus remain on Jesus primarily and all other things secondarily? It doesn’t mean you can’t give gifts, it just means that you separate a time to specifically celebrate the birth of Jesus without allowing it to be overshadowed by gift giving.
If Christmas is Jesus’ birthday (simplistic I know) then couldn’t our celebrations reenact showing up at His birthday party, with gifts specifically for Him, looking forward to celebrating His life?
Celebrate Jesus’ Birthday, not Christmas
Christmas has too many connotations of gift giving; Santa, elves, and everything else that has nothing to do with celebrating the birth of Jesus (much like Easter egg hunts on Easter). What if we viewed it in a different light, as what it is, the birthday of Jesus. So, make a birthday cake and as a family sing happy birthday to Jesus (works for adults too). Ask the entire family to bring gifts for Jesus and separate a time to just celebrate the birth of Jesus. Some gift ideas that you might suggest people bring: make a donation to a charity in Jesus’ name, volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, find a need in your church and meet it (plenty of ministries there), share the gospel with your family members who do not know Christ (write a letter, buy them a Bible, take them out to lunch), sing hymns or praise songs as a family that morning, etc.
For example, I’m not a musician at all and could not carry a tune if it were stapled to me. In reflecting on gift giving’s history it became apparent that handmade gifts are so special because they take so much time. Time for me, is more valuable than money. So, Lord willing, I will try to learn one song on the guitar and play it as special music to the church at some point in the next year.
You may not like me shining the light on our traditional Christmas time but at the very least we can agree that Jesus is often left under the Christmas tree. How will you unwrap Him this season?
References
http://masstraveljournal.com/features/1101chrisban.html “Once Upon A Time When Christmas Was Banned.”
The Modern Christmas in
