Pause for a moment and ponder this fact: the one event in the year which inspires millions of Americans to wake up early, bundle up and face the cold, and weather huge crowds is... shopping. Yesterday many of my friends, Christians and non-Christians both, wakened in the dark to go and participate in an annual frenzy of consumerism. $79 digital cameras, $799 50 inch HDTVs, and $100 GPS systems motivated our nation to emerge from their warm, sleepy blankets and stand in massive lines before our modern temples -- the Wal-marts and Targets and JCPennys.
The Seattle Times reported the following this morning: "In a sign of consumer desperation amid a bleak economy, the annual rite of retailing known as Black Friday turned chaotic and deadly, as shoppers scrambled for holiday bargains.
A Wal-Mart worker on Long Island, N.Y., died after being trampled by customers who broke through the doors early Friday, and other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man. At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals." This god has literally turned us into cannibals.
I am a pastor. And I know for a fact that if I asked my congregation to come to church at 4 am on Good Friday in order to memorialize the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, I could count on about 4 people showing up.
Is there any doubt in anyone's mind who the God of our country is? Pause for a moment and reflect on the contrast between Good Friday and Black Friday. Which garners more enthusiasm? Which loosens our wallets? Which motivates a massive turnout? Which excites people to the extent that they will wait in lines for hours?
Jesus is starving. Jesus is cold, naked, and homeless. Jesus is being ravaged by AIDS and we, his children, prefer to pledge our allegiance to Black Friday instead of participating in Good Friday.
God, have mercy.
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