Considering the Cost of Christmas

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

Ever wondered how much you have spent on races? Running is supposedly the cheapest sport around – just get some shoes, shorts and a “T,” right? But for AVID runners, go ahead and add race registrations at $30-$40 a pop. Then figure gasoline for all those miles driven.

Our good friend, Dr. Bo Ryles, tells me that he and Roger Keel were “neck and neck” in running competition for maybe 10 years or so – when they averaged as many as 180 races a year! Bo recalls one “crazy weekend when we got in 13 races!” 

So, I was fascinated by Jim Warrensfeltz’s article published July 22, 2013 in Runner’s World magazine, where he calculates the costs of an average runner over a LIFETIME (link to column). Some people spend enough on races to purchase a medium-sized home!

Warrensfeltz says, “Assuming a healthy 30 miles per week, you get 1,564 miles per year. Over 57 years, that adds up to 89,164 miles…That's 3.6 times around the Earth but only 37% of the way to the Moon.” Holy moley!

And then there’s George Southgate – George will receive a trophy next month for completing a marathon in all 50 states – THREE TIMES OVER! Seriously, George has completed 421 marathons as of this writing! As the #1 marathon man in Georgia, he has 100 marathons just in Georgia! And the week of Thanksgiving, he is doing the “Texas Quad,” 4 marathons over 4 days in a row! So just imagine all his expenses in running thousands of races!

Good things come at a price; that includes Christmas!

So, have you ever considered the costs of the first Christmas? No, not money spent buying gifts. I mean the first Christmas! It depends on perspective, I guess. Mary and Joseph would have a different tale to tell than the shepherds. And Joseph’s story would be quite different than Mary’s.

Consider what Christmas cost Mary, the mother of Jesus. Moms out there – picture those latter weeks of pregnancy: swollen ankles; lethargic days; quirky appetites. Now picture riding on the boney back of a donkey 90 miles no less (from Nazareth to Bethlehem) to register to pay taxes, no less. Yipes! Mary paid a heavy price of inconvenience.

And then we have Joseph. Actually, Joseph was tempted to divorce Mary (Matthew 1:19) when he first learned of Mary’s pregnancy – knowing he wasn’t the father of the baby. But a visit from an angel got him back on track. Joseph paid the price of renewed trust – trusting Mary – and trusting God in this matter. But I can only imagine how the “baby on the way” conversations went with both sets of parents.

And the shepherds in the fields? What price did they pay to celebrate Christmas? Well, as Luke 2 tells the birth of Jesus, they were hard at work – at least the ones on shift were – keeping watch over their flocks by night. Their keen eyes were alert to spot wolves that threatened the sheep. But following the angelic explosion in the skies praising God, they left their flocks in the field to high tail it to the manger where they found the newborn baby Jesus! They risked their livelihoods to worship Jesus!

But now, what about you? What might Christmas cost you this year? Inconvenience, like Mary? A step of trusting faith, like Joseph? Something about how you earn your livelihood, like the shepherds?

Join me for part II of “Considering the Cost of Christmas” in a couple weeks, when we take a look at what Christmas cost the wisemen and King Herod, too. And then we’ll look at the greatest price-tag of all.