Our Community, Our Justice: Celebrate Christmas by Giving

Christmas is a time to count our blessings and celebrate the love and charity that life brings with our family, friends and neighbors — perhaps with a little bit of Nat King Cole playing in the background as we exchange gifts and take the roast beef out of the oven. Despite mainstream America’s attempts to desacralize the season by dropping Christ from the masses, it is mainly established as the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

When we celebrate someone’s birthday, we often reminisce about their greatest moments and qualities. If it is the birthday of someone we admire that is no longer with us, we will often reflect and aspire to follow in their footsteps. As we celebrate Christmas 2011, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I would like to encourage you to think of a moment and/or characteristic of Christ’s ministry and to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).”

When I think of Jesus’ life, one of the greatest moments that come to my mind is from his final Passover on earth. In John 13, Jesus rises from supper to do something that not even the most humble of us, let alone a Forbes 500 CEO, would partake in: he washed the feet of his disciples — twelve everyday men with, for those who did work, simple jobs. And for what reason would the King, the Lamb of God, our Good Shepherd, give for performing such a lowly and humble act? In John 13:12-14, He puts it like this: “Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done.” While some people may gloss over this scripture, I always have to slowdown and look at my own life. If Jesus were willing to do the task of a slave for common men, even though He was the Son of God and the Son of Man, then how can I even come remotely close to reaching the mark?

Though none of us are capable of fully attaining Jesus’ virtues, we should reflect on the core message of his foot washing and celebrate his birthday by following his example. The message is simple: “Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).”

Service was a central piece of Jesus’ ministry. As we look at our good ‘ol City, there is certainly no sort of shortage of people or places that can use extra hands and hearts. Consider the 17.2 million American households that suffered from food insecurity last year, with 3.9 million of those households including children; or think about the 45% of food insecure households that did not register or failed to participate in SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program), WIC (Women, Infants and Children) or School lunch programs; consider the 500,000 New York City children who live in homes that are food insecure; think about the food pantries that are overwhelmed with an unprecedented 12% demand rise this year alone; think about the 3.6% increase in the cost of food over the course of 2011; ponder the 100,000 New Yorkers, 90% of which are Black or Latino, who face homelessness throughout the year; or, simply picture that family with a naked tree in their living room, just yearning for someone to drop a toy as plain as a yo-yo and a Teddy Bear at the base.

The numbers are real and the reality is sobering. But that is exactly why we must “press towards the mark” on Jesus’ birthday. Sure, play the Temptations and Jackson 5 Christmas albums as the children scurry over to the Christmas tree and grandma makes the final touches to her trademark baked goods — these are Christmas essentials that we should all hold near and dear and preserve with our own unique family traditions. But it is time to go the extra mile and wash the feet of those who are less fortunate than you. So long as we have a roof over our head and a little something in our refrigerator, it shouldn’t be hard to find someone who is in greater need.

Here are some ways you can get into the spirit of service for Jesus’ birthday bash:

(1) (1) Stop by your nearest soup kitchen (the largest in Brooklyn is CHIPS, or Christians Helping in Park Slope) to volunteer.

(2) (2) Participate in the YMCA’s and/or Salvation Army’s annual community Christmas service at any of their participating sites.

(3) (3) Visit and spend time with people who are sick and shut-in.

(4) (4) Make room in your closets by dropping off your clothes, as well as your friends’, family and neighbors’, at a nearby shelter or clothing drop off location.

(5) (5) Donate toys to the U.S. Marine’s Toys for Tots at any of its drop off locations at Toys R’ Us or Babies R’ Us.

(6) (6) Invite someone who is less fortunate than you over for a Christmas meal.

(7) Contact a shelter, orphanage, senior or community center and arrange for you and your family/friends to carol, donate gifts and pray with people in the facility.

But those are only suggestions. You may look at Jesus’ life and think of an entire different virtue to celebrate on his birthday. Whatever the case may be, make sure that you “press towards the mark” in what you do, and that it reminds people of the goodness of Christ on Christmas 2011.