Honestly, what do we really need? What can’t we do without? I want to engage your imagination and I hope doing that will illustrate the point I’m trying to make…

Imagine you’re in a burning building…what would you save? Let me add an element to this. Imagine you are in a burning building and you had to make a choice between someone’s life and Rembrandt’s “Portrait of a man, half-length, with his arms akimbo” worth $32 million, what would you save? No question, we’d choose the person’s life every time.

The reason? I believe we ultimately value people above possessions. The problem? We have a tendency to value lesser things in everyday life when the choices we make are not life and death. We don’t think we’re sacrificing our family over stuff when we choose to overspend. It just doesn’t register in our minds that we’re doing anybody any harm when we bow to the altar of “more.” But the truth is we are doing great harm to our relationships every time we do this.

I love what Joseph did when he was warned that his new baby was in danger. At this point in the Christmas story Jesus is a toddler, and King Herod is looking for this revolutionary with a pacifier, hard on the heels of the would-be king of the Jews in a diaper. An angel comes to Joseph and tells him to get out of town. The Bible records this young father’s response:

            And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt. (Matthew 2:14)

He got out of Dodge. Why? Joseph did this because he knew that little baby meant a whole lot more than his security in Bethlehem. And remember, Bethlehem was Joseph’s hometown. He was comfortable with his familiar surroundings, but his family was more important than his comfort. He made a decision to get them out of danger.

Are we not putting our lives in danger when we give into the Empire of Greed? Are we not teaching our children and friends that their soul can only find satisfaction with things when we dive into the pool of hyper consumption? This is something with which we all must wrestle. I just want to encourage each of us to shift our focus at least a little. When it comes time to spend and give, and there is great joy in giving and receiving, think along the lines of how that gift is going to build your relationship. With some creative thinking I believe we will begin to walk away from the danger of overspending this Christmas.

Grace & Peace,