Exhortation, December 7

Exhortation for December 7:

Christmas is a few weeks away, and that means food, lots of food, lots of rich food. It means candy and candy canes and nuts and chocolate and more chocolate, always chocolate. It means parties and feasts, and then more parties and feasts. It means drinking and eating. And more chocolate.

What are we to make of this as Christians? There are some ?Elet us call them liberals ?Ewho want us to feel guilty for the excess of our celebration. How can we be eating all this chocolate and making this great expenditure when people are hungry and lonely and vulnerable. And there are others ?Elet us call them conservatives ?Ewho say that the hungry and lonely and vulnerable are not our responsibility, so we should celebrate with a clear conscience. Besides, if someone is hungry, so goes the thinking, it’s probably their own fault anyway.

Scripture does not allow us to be either liberals or conservatives when it comes to Christmas, or when it comes to anything else for that matter. Against the liberals, we have the Scriptural pattern of abundant and rich and frequent feasting. At their feasts, Israel cut loose and enjoyed food and drink, and enjoyed it abundantly. At the Feast of Pentecost, the Lord told Israel to celebrate a week-long feast, rejoicing before Yahweh their God. And at the Feast of Booths in the seventh month, yet another week-long feast, the eating and drinking was emphasized even more: “you shall be altogether joyful” (Dt 16). When tithes were gathered, Yahweh told Israel to bring the tithes to the sanctuary and enjoy themselves: “you spend money for whatever your soul desires, for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your soul desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of Yahweh your God and rejoice, you and your household” (Dt 14).

Israelites sometimes fasted in the OT, especially during times of trial and calamity. But against the liberals we have this simple statistic: There were two week-long festivals in Israel’s calendar, and several one-day feasts, not to mention new moon festivals and the weekly Sabbath. Altogether, Israel spent about 20% of the year at feasts. Over against this, Yahweh commanded Israel to observe precisely ONE fast day: the Day of Atonement.

But we are not conservatives either. The fact that we are to feast and rejoice with a clean conscience does NOT mean that we feast without any thought for those who have nothing to feast on. Israel is commanded over and over not to forget the Levite, the orphan, and the widow. “You shall not neglect the Levite who is in your gates, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.” And again, “the alien, the orphan, and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied.” And again, “you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your gates and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst.”

Remembering the Levite, the orphan, the widow and the stranger was not a way of smuggling liberalism and guilt-manipulation into the back door. Israel was not supposed to refrain from feasting because there were orphans and widows around. Rather, they were commanded bring the orphan and the widow into their feasting, so that the needy could share the abundance of their joy and of their goods. We in the new covenant have an even more profound reason for doing so: God has shared the abundance of His life with us in Jesus, and so ought we to share with one another.

So, feast this Christmas in good conscience. Lay your hands on whatever your soul desires, and eat it in rejoicing and thanks. But look for opportunities to share your abundance with the orphan, the widow, the aged and the poor. God has filled you when you were empty, and helped you when you were helpless. Go and do likewise.