Christmas Through the Eyes of a Retailer

This Sunday we start a new sermon series: Christmas Through the Eyes of...

We start off by looking at Christmas through the eyes of a retailer. Retailers are exceptionally busy during December. Many retail stores can do about 25% to 50% of their yearly sales in one month. Stress is obviously high. Certainly the long hours can make a retailer tired.

Did you see three words? Busy, stress, and tired. I don't think these traits are unique to retailers in December. Many of us deal with these daily. I also don't think these are words that God generally wants us to use to describe ourselves.

Here are some thoughts about busyness, stress, and being tired:

The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. -Stephen Covey

There's no sense talking about priorities. Priorities reveal themselves. We're all transparent against the face of the clock. -Eric Zorn

It's not stress that kills us. It is out reaction to it. -Hans Selye

He who runs behind a truck is exhaused; he who runs in front of a truck is tired.

A teenager is always too tired to hold a dishcloth, but never too tired to hold a phone.

Luke 10:38-42

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

You can help me write the sermon. How do we respond to stress in a way that is helpful? How do we not get so busy with unimportant things so we have time and energy for the things that are most important to us? How do we achieve balance in life?