Family of God Lutheran Church     ELCA

With our November snow storm and cold snap, it began to look a lot like Christmas even earlier this year. Kroger is a giant grocery store chain in the south with 2700 stores. These stores will be open on Thanksgiving Day, and no doubt it will be the same at Christmas. This is great if you need some more cranberry sauce or an extra pie, but I am glad I don’t work there.

There are several ways to think about the issues of changing cultural mores regarding the winter holidays. 

One is to bemoan the fact that it isn't the way it used to be. Thanksgiving was sacrosanct, so was Christmas Day (even for Scrooge), and no one would dream of opening stories and violating the spirit of the day. If only legislators and companies would find a way to forge an agreement and agree on common sense rules for keeping employees home and giving everyone an appropriate day off.

Another approach is to see that this is actually good for our economy. The growth of e-commerce has been so difficult on bricks and mortor stores they need to find any edge they can to compete and make their sales targets for the year. A successful Black Friday or after Christmas sale actually helps to employ people and improve their lives by offering employment, which is good for everyone. Adding another open day or two can make or break their bottom line.

A third approach is to see that the old informal alliance between government, commerce, and the church have eroded away. During much of the 19th century and long before, these three pillars of society worked together to maintain certain standards regarding holidays and other long held practices. Since we live now in a post-Christian world, where religious faith are no longer given a significant voice or preference in culture, government, or the marketplace, it is too much to expect that it can ever be the way it was again.

No one forces us to go shopping on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day. The marketplace is very responsive to demand. Even if my little choice to not shop then has little effect on the masses of consumers, it still doesn't have to affect me. I can stay home and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with no pressure to go out and be the first in line to get a deal after the holiday dinner. 

Living in a post Christian world is actually more like the ancient church of the Book of Acts and the first several centuries which followed the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. And somehow the Church survived. Perhaps it became even stronger, because the message of Jesus was no longer convoluted and watered down by the forces of culture who had other priorities. 

At best, living in a post Christian culture helps us to focus on what's really important this time of year. There are many things to like and treasure, like meals, family time, a day off, gift giving, football, family games, great desserts, lights and trees, seasonal songs, snow, and yes, Christmas worship.

The best treasure of all is our Lord Jesus Christ, made flesh at Christmas, to become a servant, live the lives we do, show us the way God always intended for us, and to accomplish our eternal salvation.

“Sacred infant, all divine,

What a tender love was thine,

Thus to come from highest bliss

Down to such a world as this."