Brain Twitch

I really don't like ruining Christmas but I am a little concerned I may do just that with my sermon this Sunday. Christmas is one of those times of year when people take in the glittering lights, the piles of gifts, and, if they dig deep enough, an image of Mary & Joseph hunched over a beautiful baby Jesus laying in a manger. (It's usually a lily white baby Jesus too, but that's another topic.) These images make us want to sit back and say, "Awww, how precious."

In actuality that baby in a manger is the result of a decision to take up a fight, to get down and dirty with the gloves off, to go ahead and accept a battering, bruising, and bloody fight. The way I see it, God had a decision to make about this 3rd planet from the sun. Seeing the mess it was in, the simply thing to do would have been to obliterate it. It was hardly worth saving. Instead God decided redemption would be the better way so he entered the fight in the only way it would work, as a vulnerable baby born in a barn located in an insignificant town.

When I connect that baby in a manger with the God making that decision about this planet it changes things. That baby suddenly doesn't seem so warm and cuddly. It represents a gauntlet thrown down to Satan. It says God loves this world enough to fight for it and he has arrived, ready for battle. It's not a publicity stunt either. Otherwise God would have arrived with pomp and circumstances befitting a champion, and not in a lowly manger. He's not hiding behind 10,000 angels because he can't win the prize that way. He arrives naked with no gimmicks. This is serious. This is a battle. This is God confronting the enemy.

I hope I don't ruin Christmas for people by connecting the baby Jesus to a battle. (I know some people get tired of all the military talk we use all the time. But if we learned to fight like Jesus that wouldn't be a problem.) I hate to take away your "Awww" moment. But I do hope we'll learn to love enough to fight. Love our families, love our friends, and love our church communities enough to fight for them. Love others enough to fight for them. And love God enough to fight for him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

I heard that some retailers are going to be dropping prices early this year. Have you got your Christmas list all ready? The discussion about whether giving Christmas gifts is good for our economy is an interesting one.

I just read an article by Tyler Cowen debating the issue against Joel Waldfogel's book "Scroogenomics." In the book Waldfogel apparently suggests (I haven't read it) that we shouldn't give gifts because people value the gifts they receive at only about 85 cents on the dollar. Since we spend approximately $60-$90 billion on gifts that 15% drop is a considerable loss. That 85 cent figure is probably high too. That puke colored sweater you got from your in-laws you probably value a lot less.

So there we have it. Clear cut case against buying presents. The Christian thing to do is to be a good steward and not by gifts. It will cut billions of dollars in waste.

But then Cowen muddies the issue all up again by pointing out all the intangibles that are associated with gift giving, or "indirect costs" as he puts it. One could add the stress involved in deciding what to get to the cost of the gifts along with many other factors to really drive up the cost of giving gifts. But then you also have to count the value of joy, celebration, love, not feeling forgotten or alienated, relational growth, etc. on the plus side. And what about all the valuable information you learn about yourself and your friends from the gifts you receive or don't receive. "How come Jim got such a nifty gift from Julie while all Julie gave me was a new pair of socks?"

The articles goes on to mention a lot more but the result is that it just isn't cut and dried. It is just another thing with which you have to live with the tension. So I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season while you roll that one around in your head.