Holiday Seasons

It seems that each year Christmas decorations go up earlier and earlier. It received an e-mail this morning (11-22-10) that Black Friday specials begin today. Watching the Today show this morning I caught several commercials stating that you can begin receiving huge discounts in store beginning Thanksgiving Day.

The world around us wants to rush to Christmas. The world can’t prepare early enough. The world can’t get there quick enough. Buy now pay later. Stand in line for exclusive early morning deals (it doesn’t matter that you weren’t planning on buying a new computer, or TV, etc… but at this price you’ve gotta pick one up). Rush to school Christmas parties, community Christmas parties, office Christmas parties.

So much to do and not enough time….

BUT WAIT….. That’s not what this season is about! This is a season of giving thanks for all that God has done in our lives. This season leads into a season of expectant waiting, and that season leads into the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

We give thanks to God for the blessings He has given us, and for providing so much and so frequently for us. As we give thanks, this should help us to see how much we have, and how much we can actually do without. Then we enter into a time of expectant waiting, and a time to prepare ourselves for the birth of Christ. This time of preparation gives meaning to the time of celebrating the birth of Christ.

If we do not give thanks, how can we really prepare? If we do not prepare, how can we really celebrate?

Too often this is a time we prepare for ourselves, forgetting what these seasons are really about. It’s not my birthday, it’s not your birthday, it’s Jesus’ birthday. We must stop acting like it’s ours and let it be Jesus’!

The early Christians gave gifts to show others they love them and that God loved them. My family really doesn’t need more gifts (of stuff), but I still have that urge to get something for those that I love. I believe what Jesus wants more for his birthday is for His followers to impact the lives of others. We are impacting families in our community as we make donations of time, money and food items through Common Ground Mission and Backpack for Kids. We are impacting families and individuals in our county, our area, our region, our state, our nation, and our world through our contributions to our shared ministries (monies each United Methodist Church pools together to do ministries we could not do on our own).

We have another opportunity to impact individuals, families, and a community this holiday season. People are dying from a lack of clean water. In fact, it's the leading cause of death in under resourced countries. 1.8 million people die every year from water borne illnesses. That includes 3,900 children a day. The solution to this problem is directly beneath our feet. Drilling a fresh water well is a relatively inexpensive, yet permanent solution to this epidemic. This Christmas Eve, we will be taking an offering to help drill a well for a community on the continent of Africa.

But this isn’t just about drilling a well. It’s about a community organizing; it’s about the formation of a water committee to ensure the longevity of the project and local ownership, and the training of a technician to maintain the water system and health and hygiene education. Drilling a well for a community is also about freeing women to help their families and communities in other ways. It is typically women who collect water, some spending 15 – 20 hours per week and walking up to 7 miles during the dry season. A local well gives these women time and energy for child care, education, or for providing an additional income for the family.

May this season of Thanksgiving, of Advent, and of Christmas be different and may we be different because we have chosen to seek gifts that honor Jesus; that impact lives, families and communities. Gifts that give hope, help, and show God’s love through our actions.