Christmas in Poverty

Some of my best Christmas memories come from being a child.  A child in a very poor family.  I’ve been there.  I’ve eaten meals provided by others in bags surreptitiously left on a porch when no one was home.

I thought about that this year, as we bought meals for those in need at Christmas.  The local church outreach organization calls it “meal in a bag”.  We were given a list of 9 items that supposedly make a Christmas meal.  The idea is to provide an entire Christmas meal to a family who might not otherwise have one.  So, you buy the 9 items for about $30 or so; they’re split into bags and given to families who need them.  It doesn’t matter that they are not members of our church or, even, that they are Christian.  They simply need to be in a position to need help and ask for it. That’s Christian outreach and it’s a good thing.

As we planned to buy these 9 things and laid it beside our own shopping list for Christmas dinner the difference was astounding.  God has been very gracious to us over the years and we’re in a position to put on an amazing meal for every holiday.  I worry sometimes that the kids coming to my house on holidays are getting the wrong idea about what those holidays are actually about.  We’ve worked hard and God has rewarded that work with abundance.  We use that abundance to glorify Him but sometimes… sometimes I wonder if we’re doing it for the right reasons or, at the very least, sending the wrong message.

To “fix” this we’ve decided that this year our Christmas meal will be exactly what we gave away.  There will be 9 items and nothing more. They will be the same 9 items that were on the CRO meal in a bag list.  Depending on the number of folks that join us for this day of celebrating Christ’s life and works we will double or triple the order (if we’re feeding three families we’ll need more, right?) but it’ll be all of the same stuff.  Instead of one canned ham we’ll have three… whatever.

I’m not doing this out of some misdirected “be more poor” attitude or to glorify myself by submitting to a “substandard” meal.  God has granted us amazing gifts and we celebrate those every other day of the year.  I’m doing it because we don’t want to teach a fallacy to the children (or adults) that come here and celebrate with us.  The fallacy that you can’t enjoy a perfectly happy and joyful celebration of Christ with other than the best food you can afford. 

I was reminded today that Christ himself spent a lot of time working over food.  The bible calls on us in several places, to celebrate prosperity and to share his Word over food.  It reminds us to invite sinners, the lame, the blind, the crippled.  It reminds us that what we have should be used for His glory. 

I intend to do all of those things but I intend to do it with the tools that he has given us to use for others.  We’ll have a beautiful if not extravagant meal.  We’ll have friends and fellows to share it with.  We’ll talk about what Christmas means to us and share how He has led our lives.  We’ll just do it over a canned ham, canned vegetables and a box of cake mix rather than three fried turkey’s and 27 pies.  I think that’s fair, no?

My Uncle Butch declared himself a “buzzard Baptist”. He knew every cook in the church and could preselect meals at the church based on what he knew of the people that created the food. He even knew the individual dishes, plates and crockpots owned by members of the church to help him identify who cooked what.  At any church function he could be counted on to lead you to the best of the best. As Mrs. Jinksto and I are exploring a new Church home I find that much of what he taught me is still there.  We’ve only been attending this church for a few months and became members just last week.   In that time I’ve already identified enough of the best cooks to be able to pick out a really nice plate at any church function. 

That’s not to say that the ONLY thing about this church is the food.  Not at all.  It’s an amazing place with wonderful, thoughtful people.  I simply prefer to meet and talk with those folks over amazing food.  It puts us on even ground and gives us a chance to share the most basic of human needs with one another while celebrating our love of God.  Food is important but we want to remind ourselves that it’s not the only thing that’s important.

As always during the holidays our doors are open to everyone.  If you’re spending Christmas with just your immediate family or alone (or know someone who is) then, please, feel free to stop by and share ours.  You don’t have to bring anything and you don’t have to dress up. You don’t even have to be Christian as long as you respect our faith. Just bring yourself.  That will be plenty.   

jinksto@gmail.com for directions.

As for the menu:

1 Canned Ham
1 Large Box of Cornbread Mix
1 Large Box of Stuffing
1 Large Box of instant Potato’s (or rice)
1 Large Can of Cranberry Sauce
1 Large Can of Green Beans
1 Large Box of Jell-O
1 Package of Drink Mix: tea, juice, etc.
1 Box of Cake Mix and Can of Icing

Bon Appetit!
If you don’t think that jinksto can create an amazing, blessed, celebratory meal out of that and a bag of flour you aint read enough of my blog yet.