Is It A Christmas Or A Holiday Tree?

I recently read with interest an exchange between some friends on Facebook about stores no longer having Christmas trees. Now you will notice that I did not say they were no longer going to have trees. That practice they are going to continue. There will be highly decorated trees in the stores but they will now be known as "Holiday" trees. That discussion between my friends ended with the question, "Where did we go wrong?"

It is that question that I wish to address. We went wrong when we Christians began to stress the exchanging of gifts over the reason for the celebration. In our defense, giving and receiving gifts has always been a part of the modern celebration of the birth of Christ. However, it was never the focus of the holiday.

We could blame the transition on what in the 1960's we referred to then as the "Madison Avenue" retailing (marketing) of Christmas. That was when American retailers began to realize the enormous potential for sales that this gift giving custom presented. But that really would not be fair to these people, many of whom were themselves Christians.

No, I suspect where we really went wrong was when we started allowed the secular world to seize our celebration. Perhaps seize is too strong because in reality we pretty much handed it over to them. In some strange way we thought that letting non-believers celebrate Christmas it somehow brought them closer to faith. The birth of Christ and the Biblical Christmas story had no meaning for them but the gift giving was another story. That they could understand . . . that they could do not because the loved Jesus but because they loved each other.

Now do not let me loose you here. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people exchanging gifts with one another. After all the birth of Christ was the beginning of the greatest gift of all . . . the beginning of our salvation. And it was indeed because of the love God has for us that he gave us that wonderful gift. Hence the pattern is set for exchanging gifts as an expression of one's love.

Besides all that, didn't the wise men from the East bring gifts? They most certainly did and they were expensive gifts. However, these gifts were not for each other, or the Shepherds, or Herod, or Mary & Joseph. No, they were for the child born that night . . . the same child for whom the season is named . . . Jesus Christ!

However, over time the reasons for giving and receiving of gifts was so enlarged by slick marketing that in most cases the gifts we now exchange have little if anything at all to do with the gift God has given or even our own love for others. We do it because it is expected.

I remember that when I was a child our extended family would gather on Christmas eve to share a time of fellowship, food and yes, some gift giving. However, at some point during that great family gathering we would assemble as a group by families and someone would open a Bible and read the biblical account of the birth of Christ. This was followed by a prayer that always began with an expression of thanks to God for the gift he had given in Jesus Christ His son. This was done to remind us, lest we forget, that the heart of Christmas is the birth of Jesus. From the youngest to the oldest among us when asked, "What is Christmas?" would answer, "It is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus."

Yes my friends, where we went wrong was when exchanging gifts became the focus of the occasion. The evidence of this transition from celebration of Jesus' birth to exchanging gifts is demonstrated by the fact that we start our shopping on "Black Friday" (the Friday after Thanksgiving) and don't stop until the stores close on Christmas Eve.

This transition is so complete that our society now deems the use of the name Christ in conjunction with Christmas as politically incorrect. I heard a fellow on a cooking show on talk about preparing a stuffed pork chop that was seasoned with rosemary and other spices. However he said, "If you don't like pork you can use chicken and if you don't have any fresh rosemary you can substitute . . . " Somewhere in that his meal ceased to be a pork chop and became a chicken. I am afraid that is what has happened to Christmas.

Little by little over the years we have "substituted" away our Christmas celebration and now it has become just another holiday. I know that "happy holidays" is not a bad greeting; I also know that gift giving is not incongruous with Christmas; I know that having a "holiday tree" isn't a bad thing but I also know that it isn't really Christmas.

Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart

I always like attending church on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. One reason for that is because invariably some portion of the service will be given over to sharing that for which you are thankful. This past Sunday was no exception.

It is always interesting to me the kinds of things people share. Little children are always a source of interesting comments. One little boy is thankful for the "world" while a little girl declares that she is thankful for all the food. I liked the little boy who shouted out that what he was most thankful for was "My mother." I don't know what his motivation was but from just about every angle it was a great answer.

"Thanks" . . . that's what I like about this uniquely American holiday called, "Thanksgiving." It is a national holiday universally recognized by the citizenry that forces us to pause and think about that for which we are most thankful. I actually have the fear that like Christmas this holiday may very well be succumbing to commercialism as the "kick-off" day for major Christmas shopping.

I hope that trend doesn't continue because I think that reflecting on how we have been blessed and sharing that around a family table adds something very important to our national as well as family experience. Something intangible but very special and powerful happens when families gather and break bread together. It becomes especially powerful as we express our gratitude to God and to and for each other.

So, while I think of turkeys past and all the various gatherings over the year I want to begin by Thanking God for my heritage. Both sides of my family came to the shores of this nation before the nation was even conceived in the minds of our founding fathers. The hopes and dreams that they brought with them and all the struggles of each generation since then to bring them to reality are one of the things for which I am grateful.

I am grateful to all the members of my family who defended this nation starting with Samuel Appleby who marched with the Continental Army to help give birth to this wonderful nation and contibuted through every generation since.

I am grateful for the Christian heritage of my family. I know few families who has has so many ministers of the Gospel and teachers of the same over so many generations. It has been said of more than one of them by friends and neighbors that they were the "Godliest Christians they have ever met."

I am thankful to God for giving me my parents. "Boots" and "Syl" as they were known raised me to be kind but strong; independent but cooperative; loyal and accepting; and what it means to be a friend. Not only am I thankful for my parents but for every other person who became a part of my life because they were.

I am thankful for my wife, Susan. She has loved and supported me for 45 years now. That love and support did not require me to be perfect and has sustained me during the infrequent dark hours. I am thankful for the family we have together and the families of our children . . . they are precious in my sight.

I am thankful for my friends. I have many many acquaintances all around the world and I am thankful for each and every one but the people I am most thankful for are the true friends who have stood with me; have laughed and rejoiced when things were good and who have cried and carried me when things were not so good. I am especially thankful for those who have stood in the gap with and for me when many turned away.

I could go on and on. There were my teachers and fellow students; there were my church members and fellow staff members; there were the denominational leaders and missionaries/evangelists; there were my fellow ministers and my colleagues in the travel industry. So many people God has used to touch and shape my life.

As I look back over this list I find that the common denominator for everything I am thankful for turns out to be people. So as I count my blessing I discover they are all the people that God has chosen to weave into the tapestry of my life. I am so blessed. To each and every one I say, "Thank You!" Thank you for being a part of my life. Why not join me in giving thanks?