Black Friday and Christmas Red and Green

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Nov. 23, 2007

Happy “Black Friday”! Don’t know what that means? A few years ago, retailers figured out that the Day-after-Thanksgiving sales were what pushed them out of the “red” in losing money into the “black” of turning a profit for the year. So “Black Friday” became the symbolic turnaround required to be successful in retail sales.

Have you noticed that the after-Thanksgiving sales incentives keep getting bigger and bigger? I heard that Kohl’s is opening at 4 a.m. Friday with “door-buster” sales incentives to get consumers up and out of bed and into their stores.

But it’s not just after-Thanksgiving anymore. Some stores have started opening on Thanksgiving Day to try and boost their bottom line. Wal-Mart keeps its physical stores closed on Thanksgiving Day, but walmart.com is open for business 24x7, and its Thanksgiving Day sales have been greater than any other online retailer.

What’s driving this buying and selling frenzy? Christmas “green.” Somehow our culture has gradually bought into the idea that each year’s Christmas has to be bigger and better than last year’s Christmas in terms of quantity and cost of presents. Of course, retailers love this trend – and even drive it!

Have you seen the commercial where Mom and the kids are eager to open their store-branded wrapped gifts? Dad comes in and announces that they can open their gifts when they get back from seeing Grandma. Next, they’re in the car outside Grandma’s house; Grandma opens her door and beckons them inside. Instead, Mom rolls down the car window, waves and shouts, “Hi Grandma!” Then she turns to Dad and says, “OK, let’s go!” They drive away, presumably so they can open all that stuff.

I am not naming which store made that commercial because I don’t want to give them any additional name-brand publicity for what I consider to a horrific obscenity against Christmas! That commercial makes me see Christmas “red”! Whenever we cross the line from “what can I give?” to “what am I gonna get?”, we have violated the meaning of Christmas.

But I’m really not surprised that people don’t know the meaning of Christmas anymore. In fact, the word “Christmas” may be soon on the “endangered” list. Instead of “Merry Christmas!”, we are supposed to use the more politically correct “Happy Holidays!” “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Glory to God in the highest, and peace towards men on earth.”

Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but many have turned it into a celebration of consumerism and gluttony – a gluttony of presents, food, drink, revelry, etc. Now don’t get me wrong! I love the celebrations associated with this season!! I think it is right and good to give gifts to one another, to gather with family and friends, and to enjoy good food and good times. But here’s the point: we do all of these things to share the love of God with one another – NOT to get stuff for ourselves.

Now before you get too comfortable in yourself, thinking that none of this applies to you, let me add these challenging questions: Do you have presents to give without an expectation of receiving? Have you made an anonymous gift sometime during the year other than Christmastime? Have you encouraged others towards generosity by your own example?

I can ask you those questions, because I also ask them of myself. And I, too, fall short. You see, God’s standards for generosity are much higher than our own standards. The Bible tells us what God’s standards are for giving: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever would believe in him would not die but live.” (John 3:16)

The excitement of Christmas red and green gives way to the red blood of a Cross. And God mysteriously but thoroughly uses that red to turn the black of our sin into the white of God’s righteousness. So as you scurry through stores, gather for holiday parties, and eat all those goodies, remember the real reason for this season and say a prayer of confession and thanksgiving to God for the Gift given to you.