At our house this Christmas, we've had the unique joy (unique for us) of not putting up a Christmas Tree or lights or decorations. There's been no production made of Christmas at all and in that there is a blessing. I won't go into the reason for this choice. It's not particularly high minded, but there is a bit of caring and careful thought behind it. Part of what it means is we are also not exchanging presents this year.

Christmas truly has become a production for most of us. That production has become a framework upon which we all hang Christmas expectations. For middle class America, those expectations (which are frequently moderate by our measurements) are simply astounding by the measurements of much of the world and certainly immense by the measurement of the under-served in our nation.

The lack of holiday production in our home has stood as grounding place for me as I venture out into the Christmastized world. Cars whose rear mirror view is impeded by the mass of presents stacked in the back seat pull right on by a young couple on a corner huddled together for warmth with a sign that reads, “Lost Job, Need Food.”  Families walk in and out of grocery stores with their baskets full of Christmas meals without giving a second thought to the Salvation Army bell ringers who collect money not to provide a grand Christmas meal for the under-served, but to provide them with a simple meal or maybe a little taste of Christmas.

With all of that in mind, I can't help but think of the simple, meager, humble conditions in which God chose to enter into this world. I think of the message of a child being born in a manger, of the lessons that child would grow up and teach us... and I think, all I want for Christmas is...

...for people to stop looking for reasons to hate each other. I've grown weary of the divide in our nation.  We  seem to be fueled by hating the other side, blaming the other side, judging the other side. It isn't just something that plays out on the national scene, it gets played out in our families and our churches as well. This Christmas I want us to love our neighbors a little more – even if we don't agree with them.

...for the middle class to feel a little less entitled to our privilege. I've left the wealthy out of this discussion because I really can't understand what it's like to be that rich. To pass judgment on them would really be unfair, but I do imagine this Christmas wish is for them as well. I am sick and tired of people who judge the homeless, the poor, the unemployed and say things like, “they just need to work harder,” “the welfare system is encouraging them to live that way,” and a host of other ignorant, thoughtless and hateful statements.  We've started thinking that we aren't where they are because 1) we work harder than them, 2) we are smarter than them or 3) it is the will of God (“but for the grace of God, there go I”). But the reality is that what separates us from them is 1) luck and 2) opportunity. This Christmas I want us to recognize that from the top to the bottom of our economic divide, we are more alike than different.  I want us to help each other more and help ourselves a little less. I want those who have two coats to give a coat to those who have none.

...for Christian to start acting like Christians and stop playing games. It breaks my heart to see what has become of the followers of the baby born meek and meager in a manger some 2000 years ago. Somehow "Christian" has become a label rather than a life perspective. It has become a badge of honor rather than a burden to bear. It has become a way to access privilege rather than a mandate to align with those who have been marginalized. For far too many people, being a Christian is about attending church and having people think you are a nice person. That's nothing more than a game; it isn't real and it gives plenty of space for you to be particularly unChristian beginning with the way it encourages you to develop fake relationships with all the others playing the game of being Christian. This Christmas I want us to get serious about the teachings of Jesus. I want us to be intolerant of only one thing – Christians playing the game of being labeled a Christian.

Here's the thing, all of my Christmas wishes won't cost you a single dollar, but they will cost you your life. The good news is: when you lose the life that prevented you from doing these things, you will gain the life God intended for you - the old life will be gone, and the new life will have begun.

Merry Xmas from The God Article... and Peace on Earth, goodwill toward ALL people.

As Christmas quickly approaches, it gets harded and harder to not get caught up in the consumerism that has come to define the season.  Amidst all of this season's consumption, groups like adventconspiracy.org are advocating a change - a change from consumption to compassion.  What if this Christmas season, instead of giving presents to our family and friends, we put the same time and effort we spend shopping for and thinking about those presents into spending time with them - presence rather than presents, substituting compassion for consumption?

Take it one step further.  What if, rather than spending all that money on each other, we spent the money on “the least of these?”  What if, instead of fulfilling our perceived "needs," we filled the real needs of people around the world as our gift to our friends and family, by giving a family in Zambia a milk cow or someone in the Uganda honeybees.  That $150 Kinect for  XBOX 360 will be yesterday's news next Christmas.  The milk cow and the honeybees, which you can help provide for $50 or less, will be providing much needed nutrients for years to come. 

Maybe you don't feel like you can afford to just "give" your money away, even if it is for a good cause.  In financial times like these, many of us really can't.  Just keep in mind, if it is bad for us in the world's riches nation, it is probably worse for others around the world.  So, here's an alternative to alternative gift giving ideas: microloans.  Groups like kiva.org are pulling together small (or even large) amounts of money from those who have to help out those who have less.  It is an opportunity for those who are "the least of these" to, through their own inventiveness and hard work as well as the good will of others, better their lives through loans they would not have had access to otherwise.  

Does all of this mean I'm suggesting that there should be no presents to open around the tree this Christmas and we'll just have to sit there and...and talk?  (I know, sounds horrible doesn't it?)  No, that's not what it means.  Over and beyond giving cards to let people know what you have done for "the least of these" in their name, there are plenty of other ways to give that doesn't mean throwing inordinate amounts of cash at the large companies that frequently, through questionable production and employment practices, take advantage of "the least of these" around the world so that we can play video games for less than 200 bucks.  Check out buynothingforchristmas.org and sites like it for more information.  

In doing these things, not only will you be helping those in need, but you will also be helping fight the systems of domination that help keep the under-served “in their place.”  In order to prepare the way for the Lord, in order to begin to taste what the peaceable kingdom of God here on earth might be like, we must (as John the Baptist told us) lower the mountains and raise the valleys - if you have more than you need share with those who do not have enough, begin dismantling systems that support consumption and domination.  (see my sermon “All Means All”).

As Christians we should stand more strongly in our convictions and start looking critically at the domination system out of which we operate.  We should stop shopping at stores that get their goods from places that require workers to perform for little pay in substandard and sometimes unhealthy work conditions.  Which means not buying clothes from places like Wal-Mart and even Target.  We should stop buying food from places that take advantage of migrant workers, overlooking their human rights in an effort to provide cheep food.  Which means we stop eating at places like McDonald's, Taco Bell and Subway until they correct their dominating ways (like all three have in their most recent cases).  We should stop allowing our consumer oriented lifestyles to destroy our environment.   We should show compassion to workers around the world by buying Fare Trade goods, so that we can be insured that no one is being dominated or taking advantage of because of our support.

This Christmas, let's honor the greatest gift of all by giving the world the greatest gift we can give it - peace, real peace.  As worshipers of the Prince of Peace, let's take a stand again our domination oriented systems of consumerism and adopt instead a peacefully oriented system of compassion.  

Education is the first step.  So, go learn more about things like  Living Wages, Fare Trade Goods and  Advent Conspiracy... and start living into compassion.

This Christmas lets give the best we have, let's give ourselves to God and to the work of God.  Let us deny the shallow consumerist disposition of the systems of domination and leap into the depths of a life lived in compassion.  Let's prepare the way for God by leading peaceable lives that value ALL flesh.  This Christmas let 's begin living lives that will allow us, and all of God's children, to have a taste of what the peaceable kingdom of God might be like.

The Tea Partier and a member of The Christian Left 
have a discussion about "The War on Christmas."

Good and gracious God,

This time of year,
despite all of the presents we give,
it is sometimes too easy 
to get caught up in ourselves.
In the 'joy' of shopping,
the 'love' of all the seasons' festivities,
the 'peace' of settling in by a fire 
          while the Christmas Tree 
          helps light the room,
the 'hope' of what we might receive.

Change our hearts O God.
Not in a way that devalues those things, 
but in a way that puts them into proper perspective.

This first day of December,
remind us that there are more important things in this sometimes broken world
with which to concern ourselves.

Today, on World AIDS day,
Remind us of the half a million children that were born with HIV\AIDS last year alone.
Remind us of the more that 2,000,000 children living with AIDS and
the 33,000,000 million people living with it.

This time of year,
despite all the presents we give,
it is sometimes too easy to get caught up in our selves.
Let us revision the joy, love, peace and hope of Advent.

May we find the joy you intend for us
     in doing something that makes someone else's life better.

May we share the love you extend to us
     with those whom society continues to ostracize due to fear and ignorance.

May we offer the peace you give to us
     to the entire world by living in ways that confront dominance and marginalization
          by living in ways that do not accept that some people are not given 
                    what they need to live healthy lives
          by speaking out and speaking up
                    against systems that continue to ignore those in need.

May we share the hope of Advent
     with those who must at times find it particularly difficult to hold on to hope.

Teach us that we can achieve all these things,
not just in the presents we give,
but with our presence as well.
Let us stand with all of our brothers and sisters
over and against the powerful governments and businesses 
that treat them as if they were pawns in a game,
ready to sacrifice them for the good of Kings and Queens.

On this World Aids day,
we ask that the joy, love, peace and hope
that waits in the wings of Advent
may break forth upon this sometimes broken world
and that we may be part of the spark
that brings that fiery Spirit
to realization here on Earth.

Amen.