I’m struggling with Christmas. It’s all about celebrating Jesus, about Jesus being born and Jesus being God and Jesus saving us and saving the whole world.
And we celebrate Jesus— we remember his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection— by making Christmas wish lists, buying hundreds of dollars of presents for family and friends, wrapping it all up in fancy paper and bows, spending hours opening up the paper and bows only to see the exact items that we specifically asked for on our wish lists. And then we top it all off by eating lots of rich, fatty, sugary food that makes us feel sick and bloated and guilty.
I’m struggling because I want the gifts and food and all day family party just as much as the next person. It feels good, it feels familiar, it feels like Christmas. It’s how it’s always been and how it’s supposed to be. I like making a Christmas list and getting what I want. I like eating too much food because it tastes good. I like spending all day with my family doing fun things.
But what does it have to do with Jesus? Why do we do all these things and then say that Jesus is the reason for the season. It seems to me we’re lying, plain and simple. We don’t spend all that money on Jesus —we spend it on buying luxury items for people who already have plenty. We spend it on buying food that would feed twice as many people. We spend it on Christmas trees and ornaments and lights and garlands and wrapping paper and cards. What does this have to do with Jesus?
Why can’t we just be honest with ourselves and admit that actually remembering Jesus would kind of suck because it would mean giving away our things instead of getting new things. It would mean spending time with strangers who have nothing instead of spending a whole day with our family and friends. It would mean feeding the starving instead of stuffing our own faces. And you have to admit, that would really suck. I don’t like that; you don’t like that. So we don’t do that. We don’t celebrate Christmas because we love Jesus. We celebrate Christmas because it feels good.
And I’m not quite sure what we’re supposed to do with that. Inserting a short prayer, the story of Jesus or some group Christmas caroling doesn’t really change the focus much. It’s just what we do so we can say that Jesus was the reason for our celebration. It’s just what we do to appease our conscience when that little small voice inside tells us that something about Christmas isn’t quite right.
If the story of the Grinch came true and all of it was gone—the trees, the lights, the gifts, the food—would we still be celebrating? Would the Grinch be able to hear our joyful songs ringing through the air on Christmas morning? Would we still have the spirit of Christmas in our hearts without all of the physical symbols of Christmas present?
I’m really not so sure.
