Christmas in a Crummy Economy

If you have somehow avoided a newspaper or television, maybe you didn't know that the USA is in a recession. But more than likely you knew it because it has somehow affected you. Recession could just as easily be summed up in one word - loss. Loss of job. Loss of retirement. Loss of savings. Loss of homes. Loss of sales. Loss, loss, loss. We Americans - the richest of all nations - have learned that the things in which we too often place our trust are nothing more than shifting sand. Of course, we Christians were supposed to already know that. At least we sing it.

When Jesus came to earth - and by the way, talk about LOSS. Paul said it best in the book of Philippians when he said that Jesus 'emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.' Jesus chose loss for our sakes. He bypassed an eternity of glorious riches for a temporary life span on earth. A life span that Ecclesiastes defines as "a mist, a vapor." It didn't change His eternal destiny but it sure changed ours.

Most of us affected by the economic turndown are focusing on the temporary - the things that are mists and vapor. Focusing on those things will take our spirits to where the economy is - in the tank! When our focus turns to the eternal riches that are ours; the inheritance that is promised to us; the infallibility of our God and His kingdom and the immutable truth that "all things work together for our good" and "nothing is impossible with God, " we are more than conquerors. We are different. We are a light in a dark world. We are confident in things unseen.

Christmas is about the incomprehensible. God became a fetus. He limited Himself to the womb of a teenager and a delivery in a stable. Seems like a sweet story unless you've ever birthed a baby. Then you know that being forced to deliver in a stable versus a birthing room surrounded by loved ones and skilled attendants might rank higher on your scale of crisis than the economy.

Immanuel - God With Us - stripping Himself of honor, glory and majesty to come to a world that had no room for Him. Maybe your losses in this recession make you feel stripped....of pride, of self, of honor. Perhaps you are in good company. Jesus did so willingly that we might know - really know - how much God loves us and longs for us. That didn't change when the economy took a nose dive. He is near to you.

Christmas in a crummy economy is forced de-materialization. I think I made that word up. It is being forced to not buy so much. Not shop so much. Not stress so much over what we can't afford and don't need anyway. And focusing on what's really important - people. I'm really sorry so many people are hurting. I'm really sorry so many people have experienced so much loss. But I'm so happy that most of the people I know are more than overcomers in Christ Jesus.

This economy is nothing to God but His concern has never been on the economy. He is concerned about His children. His heart is that we would turn from our obsessive compulsion for things that never satisfy to the rock which will never be shaken. I am praying that we discover the joy of Christmas this year above all others. Share what you have. Open your home. Give. It's the Bible's cure for loss. And discover what Jesus did - joy!