Christmas Gifting in a Time of Financial Uncertainty
Pastoral Pondering by Pastor Keith Larson
It’s been happening in our family for a few years now. Some of you have talked about it happening in yours. And it will be happening in many more families this year out of necessity and the changing economic times. People are evaluating the role of gift-giving at Christmas. Gifts will always be a part of Christmas. After all, the magi or Wise men brought gifts for the Christ-child. And the baby Jesus is seen as God’s great gift for humankind.
But in recent years – well for most of our lifetimes, Christmas has been ruled by commercial forces. Christmas has been the time when many retailers actually made profits during the year. Advertising and commercialization linked Christmas with buying and giving things. It has been in November and December that new toys have been touted and long lines have waited and even fought over artificially scarce “in-gifts.” All of this really has little to do with the gift of God’s gracious and forgiving love for all of humanity that was born in Jesus.
Our gift-giving ought to reflect that love – so gifts ought to be life-giving - reflecting the unique gifts and personalities of our children and grandchildren. Gifts ought to encourage interaction and relationship with others and exploration of the world God created, rather than causing others to become focused only on themselves. Gift-giving also ought to reflect a care and love for creation. A really great invention has been reusable gift bags (they are a lot easier for folks with clumsy fingers who end up taping themselves to wrapping paper and gifts). A great sadness for me has always been seeing curbs piled high with garbage the day after Christmas.
As we consider our lives, many of us look around and see that we have all that we need. We look at our children and grandchildren and see that often times they have all that they need. Some families have made pacts with themselves to limit gifts or even eliminate gifts and use the time at Christmas to be together in other meaningful ways. Some families pool the money or some of the money normally spent on gifts to help people less fortunate. Some actually go shopping together to buy gifts for angel tree projects or other agencies that provide gifts for families. Our ELCA Hunger Appeal provides funds for people in need around the world. The ELCA website has a list of Good Gifts for persons who want to contribute to special projects. The local food pantry reports increasing numbers of new people using it each month.
Christmas is a time of sharing gifts – even as God shared the gift of Jesus. May our gift-giving reflect God’s love for all people and all creation.
