The secret to joy this Christmas

When I was in my teens and 20s, my family began our present opening with me opening my gift from my nan (on my dad’s side) while my mum, brother and sister looked on eagerly.

One year, it was an eight-pack of KitKats – with four removed. Another year, it was a plastic Filofax with the initials ‘JF’ on the front. My mum hurried to her bedroom, returning with an identical one she had received free with her Janet Fraser catalogue. For a while, when I worked at Woolworth’s, Nan would give me Woolworth’s vouchers.

These gifts weren’t given due to poverty. She had plenty. I could never work out if she was deliberately modest to keep us from excess, or if she was tight because of the times when she had known lack.

Poverty at Christmas is a reality for millions of people. If you’ve been struggling to keep up with your bills in the summer months, what hope have you got in winter? Then there’s the added pressure, particularly for those with children, of wanting to make Christmas special. It’s supposed to be “the season to be jolly” but for many, the thought of Christmas brings misery.

Thankfully, churches across the UK will be doing what they can to provide for those facing a harsh Christmas. I recently visited a church in Hull that serves more than 200 Christmas dinners to people who would otherwise go without.

We adjust our lifestyles to our incomes rather than settle for enough

There’s also a challenge for us as individuals. If your Christmas is characterised by abundance rather than lack, what can you give, share or do to make someone else’s day a cause for joy instead of sorrow?

In Proverbs 30:8-9, there is a curious prayer: “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (ESV).

As we head towards Christmas, this prayer can be useful in taking stock of what we have, what we want, what we ask God for and what we share.

Inequality is growing. Our culture is one of excess, where we adjust our lifestyles according to our incomes rather than settle for enough. Even how we define excess is interesting. I have heard it said: “There’s no one in real poverty in Britain”, or: “People come to foodbanks because they know they can get free food.” These are deeply entrenched myths that are flawed and pervasive.

At a recent Jubilee+ event, a new Christian who has lived in poverty for a long time was asked what message she would give to Christians who have never experienced need. Her challenge was to live for a week on her income, to better understand how it feels to work every hour, count every penny, and still find you can’t make ends meet.

This Christmas, we have an opportunity to think about what we spend, be grateful for having enough (and avoid giving into greed) and to use what we have to bring joy to those for whom Christmas might otherwise bring sorrow.