While it may seem too early to start talking about Christmas, department stores are already setting up Christmas décor even though we haven’t passed the end of September. This year, as in past years, families will spend enormous amounts of money decorating homes, churches and streets and purchasing gifts for each other—all to celebrate the birth of a baby to a family in poverty that later became refugees to avoid the baby being slaughtered in genocide. Where does this add up?Our tradition of gift-giving at Christmas finds its roots in the New Testament account of wise astrologers bringing gifts of tribute to lay before the infant Jesus in whom they recognized kingly greatness. Generosity is an appropriate response to this story, but generosity doesn’t have to mean the accumulation of stuff for
stuff’s sake.So this Christmas how will you choose to respond to this story? Just as the baby Jesus received three gifts from his wise visitors—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—you too could ask your family for only three gifts. Or maybe instead of purchasing gifts you could encourage your family to give a gift of money for mission projects which help refugee families.
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