- Christmas shopping with Jesus
Today is the last Sunday of the church year, often celebrated as “Christ the King” Sunday. It’s also the Sunday before Thanksgiving, which leads us to focus on all the many blessings God has given to us; a day to offer up to God our gratitude.
After Thanksgiving we have Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, and the kickoff to the season of Christmas decorations and non-stop sales.
And this morning, this all has me wondering: what if, when I go Christmas shopping this year, I brought a friend with me. Someone to walk with me and talk with me.
What if, when I go Christmas shopping, I brought Jesus with me?
What if you, when you go Christmas shopping this year, brought Jesus with you? What if, when you wake up early on Black Friday, while the dew is still on the roses… you invited Jesus to go along with you?
This morning, I invite you to play along with me, and imagine what would happen if you invited Jesus to go Christmas shopping with you on the day after Thanksgiving.
2. Black Friday
Shopping the day after Thanksgiving starts early, so
you’ve set your alarm, so that, long before sunrise, you’re in the driver’s seat, and Jesus is there with you, in the passenger seat, and you’re on your way to get the best Black Friday deals you can find.
As you start to drive, Jesus asks: “So, how was your Thanksgiving?”
And maybe you spent the day with family, and you tell him about that; or maybe you spent the day alone, but you still spent some time in gratitude for the blessings in your life, and you tell him about that.
And Jesus smiles. Spending time with family or friends, sharing love, and counting one’s blessings makes Jesus happy.
And then Jesus asks, “So. Where are we going shopping?”
This is when you realize that maybe you shouldn’t have invited Jesus. Which is kinda silly, when you think about it. Because Jesus is always with you, am I right? But today he’s with you in a more visible way.
Your plan had been to go to the big box store, the store that had the giant ad in the Thanksgiving Day papers, showing the electronics at unbelievably low prices, where you hoped to be close enough to the front of the line that you could get one, and do so without getting trampled or punch or yelled at… but you start to wonder if this is the kind of shopping Jesus would actually enjoy….
You recall how that store had giant help wanted signs in the window a few weeks ago, and when you saw those signs, you said to yourself, heck no! Work for minimum wage in the Christmas shopping season - just to get trampled and yelled at by shoppers in the “Christmas spirit?” No thanks.
Over the years, CEO pay has risen astronomically, exponentially, while the average worker’s pay has barely budged. You know that the government has raised tax rates on those average workers but has drastically lowered taxes on wealthy millionaires and billionaires and the mega-corporations they manage.
Just last week it was announced that Amazon, FedEx, AT&T, and Netflix all paid NO taxes to the government in 2018, despite making record profits. What good, exactly, are these corporations doing for society? Are they bringing wholeness to a fragmented world? No! They are taking more of our money and giving the bulk of it to their CEOs, while cutting their workforce and refusing to raise wages, furthering the divide between rich and poor and making this world more and more fragmented.
And you think: Jesus probably won’t want to shop at any store owned by a giant corporation. In fact, Jesus would probably be offended if you took him there.
So now what?
3. Driving in Circles
You have to think fast. After all, the two of you are in the car, driving, on your way.
Fortunately you know of some smaller, locally-owned stores. In fact, you know the owners of some of those stores personally. One lives on your block. Another has a child in the same class as your child. These are stores owned by average people, people living in the community, people invested in the community.
Yeah, Jesus would probably rather shop there.
However, it’s still early. The sun isn’t even up yet. And those stores won’t be open until much later. Because those owners spent the day with their families on Thanksgiving, and didn’t want to ruin that for themselves and their employees by spending Thanksgiving night getting ready to open their doors in the wee hours.
So you have some time to kill. What to do? Jesus is in the passenger seat, you’re driving…
You turn to Jesus and say, “Hey, you wanna grab something to eat before we shop?”
Jesus says, “Yeah. Sure.”
And quickly in your mind you try to figure out where to go... McDonald’s is open early for breakfast!
Oh, but you remember that McDonald’s just fired their CEO for dating an employee under him… and sent him packing with a 42 million dollar severance package! That bothered you when you read it in the news - 42 million dollars given to him when he was fired due to unethical behavior! While the hard-working McDonald’s employees slave away earning a minimum wage that hasn’t been raised in ten years?
No. Can’t go there. Jesus would never approve. Heck, you don’t even approve.
Jesus looks at you. You know that he knows what’s going through your head, yet you both play a game in which you both keep pretending he doesn’t know.
You’ve made far too many turns, and it’s clear you have no idea where you’re going. But now you do know: the little corner restaurant that you went to a couple of times, with the really nice owner who is always supporting various community groups and causes, and who hires local kids, giving them a chance, even when the corporate stores and restaurants would refuse to hire them.
After a couple more turns, you pull into the parking lot, only to find that it’s closed.
Of course it is.
You glance over at Jesus. “It’s closed,” you say.
“I see that,” Jesus says.
This is not going well.
You drive back out of the parking lot, and continue on down the street. You’re starting to sweat now, even though the eastern sky has just barely started to glow, and the air is still chilly.
All of a sudden, you see a coffee shop up ahead. With its lights on. And people inside. It’s open!
Without thinking, you blurt out, “Oh, thank you, Jesus!”
And Jesus says, “You’re welcome.”
And you say, “What?”
And Jesus says, “Nothing….”
And you think to yourself that Christmas shopping with Jesus was a really bad idea.
The two of you go inside. You order your drinks. They ask your name, and you’re about to answer, but Jesus answers first, and then the two of you go to your seats and wait for them to call you to tell you your drinks are ready.
A moment later, the barista calls out, “Jesús!” You ignore it, but Jesus says, “that’s me,” and goes and gets your drinks.
He comes back, and hands you your drink, and even though it burns your tongue, you sip and slurp it because you don’t know what to say.
4. Good. Sacred. Holy.
After a moment of awkward silence, Jesus speaks up.
“I want to thank you,” he says. “I want to thank you for inviting me to join you today. Most people, when they start their Christmas shopping, don’t even think about me.
After another moment of silence, Jesus talks some more.
“You know, when God created the world, God made the land and the sea and the sky; the sun, the moon, and the stars; the plants, the animals, and people…
“And God pronounced them all GOOD. Every single thing and every single person God created is GOOD. Everything and everyone is SACRED. Everything and everyone is HOLY.
“And I like it when people honor the goodness and the sacred-ness in each other by giving gifts… The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas, on my birthday, brings me joy.
But I do want people, as they shop, to remember that every person is holy… that every thing is holy. Every gift that is given is made from raw materials that God placed on this earth, and was designed and fashioned by hands belonging to sacred children of God. And every sales clerk forced to get up before dawn on the day after Thanksgiving - or even on Thanksgiving day - is a holy child of God.
“And do you know what else is good and sacred and holy? Every dollar you spend. Every dollar is good and sacred and holy, because it represents the time and energy you gave in exchange for that dollar.
“This is what I want people to remember when they shop for Christmas.
“And I do want you to ask yourself: Is the way you shop honoring the goodness and the sacred-ness of your life? Is it honoring the goodness and the sacred-ness of the lives of others?
“If you buy something that is cheaply made and cheaply sold, put together by a child in a sweatshop, made with materials that were extracted from the earth in a way that damages the land, the sea, or the air, and is something that isn’t valued and cherished, but thrown away after just a few uses - or even one use - that is not valuing the goodness of every aspect of creation.
“It’s not valuing the goodness of your own time and energy.
“I don’t want to see you spend your time and energy for things that don’t last, things that perish in an instant. I want you to spend your time and energy on things that will endure, things that will nurture life in you and in those you buy from and in those to whom you present gifts.
“Just like the gift I give to you. I am the bread of life, and I give you myself. Whoever comes to me will never again be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never again be thirsty.
“Every purchase you make, every gift you buy, can either lead the world to life, or lead the world to death.
“I know it’s a lot to think about. And I know you’ve already been thinking about it. You were thinking about it as we drove in circles this morning.
“It is not my purpose to rob you of joy. Especially not now. In saying these things to you, my hope is that your joy will increase.
“And perhaps your Christmas shopping habits will now differ from the way most people shop for Christmas; and maybe the gifts you purchase will differ from the gifts most people purchase. Maybe now they will be like many of the gifts I gave and received during my time on earth. Gifts like the ointment applied to my feet which were then washed with a woman’s tears and dried with her hair. Gifts like the footwashing I performed for my disciples. Gifts that mean something. Gifts that nurture life, and bring joy.”
More Joy
I don’t know about you, but I often have little conversations like this with Jesus in my mind, all the time. And I know that my shopping habits are far from perfect. But every once in awhile, these conversations with Jesus do help me change how I spend my money. I’ll seek out a locally-owned restaurant instead of corporate fast-food, for example.
Sometimes these decisions are easy, but most of the time they are not. And it’s impossible to be perfect in this area.
On the TV show The Good Place, it is revealed that no one actually gets into the Good Place (i.e., heaven), because the whole structure of society is so stacked against us… With all the complexities of our modern world, it’s just too hard to make decisions in such a way that the good outweighs the bad.
That’s kind of a depressing thought, and I know it’s just a TV show, but there is some deep truth here.
The show isn’t over; I’m hoping for grace to intervene before it ends, and make things right. In the meantime, when it comes to my own shopping habits, I know that there are so many changes I can make and probably should be making to be a more conscious consumer…
I’ll do what I can, one step at a time, so that God’s grace can flow through me and bring joy to others through me…
and I’ll rely on God’s grace to bridge the gap when I fail...
and I’ll do my best to give thanks for that grace, and for all the blessings in my life.
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