Initially this might look like a contradiction to last week’s topic – Spend Less. It’s funny & maybe a little bit sad how we associate giving with things & stuff. However, the greatest gift any one person can give to another is her/himself. It’s when we give of ourselves – our time, energy, effort, etc, not just our cash – to others that the really great gifts are given.
So how do we do that at Christmas? The guys over at Advent Conspiracy have put together a website of ideas at Rethinking Christmas that you can check out. There are heaps of ideas to wade through there. My favourite example of a ‘relational’ gift from the AC book is where a bloke gives his Dad a bag of coffee with the understanding that he was only allowed to drink it with his son. Through that bag of coffee, the son was giving his Dad his time & the opportunity to build a stronger, closer relationship.
The point is to not just sort through a bunch of ideas & pick one like we would as we walked through a supermarket isle. It’s to give some thought to the other person who will receive the gift & think about who they are, what they like, what you value about them & how you can give them a gift that shows you that you value them. It’s to give of ourselves in our relationships with each other.
That takes a lot more time & effort, although probably less money, than just buying them something, but it’s a gift you’ll be able to enjoy together into the future.
It really reflects what Christmas is all about. A lot of the time when people pray we can thank God for the things he gives us. It’s good to acknowledge God as the giver of every good thing we have in life, but at Christmas God gives us so much more. He doesn’t just sit in heaven & throw stuff at us. Instead he gives us the most valuable thing he has – himself. That’s one way to understand Jesus – he is God giving himself to us as one of us. The person of Jesus is God’s gift to us of a relationship with himself as Jesus makes God & humanity one in his own body.
As God gives us the gift of himself, he also gives us a whole lot of good things with that. For example, during Advent & Christmas we usually talk a lot about hope, love, peace & joy. These are Gods’ gifts to us in the person of Jesus. As he gives us himself in relationship, he also gives us these blessings. Another way to think about it is by looking at the prophet’s words in Isaiah 61:1-3. Jesus quoted these words in Luke 4:14-21. When he said that they were fulfilled in the hearing of the people who listened to him read, he was saying that he gives these gifts in relationship with himself.
Think about that for a second – he’s promising the gift of good news to anyone who is need; healing for the broken-hearted; freedom for those trapped in addiction; release from those imprisoned in the darkness of depression; vengeance, aka justice, to those who have been wronged; comfort for those who mourn the loss of a loved on; praise to those who despair; and still there’s more…
At the heart of the Lutheran understanding of God is that he is a God who gives these & all that our hearts, souls & spirits need every time he speaks his promises in Scripture, a baby is baptised, he gives the body & blood of his Son in the Lord’s Supper/Holy Communion, or in community with other believers. These are God’s gifts to you in Jesus every day of your life!
There are some important ways this faith works out in our relationships with each other. People say that every relationship is a balance of give & take. That might be so, but when the taking outweighs the giving, then something is wrong. As the one who gives all of himself to us in Jesus, God calls us to be in giving relationships with each other. Are our relationships more about what we get from the other? Or more about what we can give?
Secondly – I’m tired of being a part of a church organisation that talks more about what we can get from people, rather than what we can give. Maybe you’ve been part of or overheard the conversations – ‘we need to get more people into church’, ‘I can’t get my child to worship’, ‘we need to get people into positions of leadership’, and so on… I began doing this a bit this past year, but from now on it’s going to be my mission to challenge anyone who talks about ‘getting’ people in the church to re-think & re-phrase what they are trying to say in terms of what we can ‘give’ instead. ‘Getting’ is the language of expectations & law. ‘Giving’ is the language of grace!
So this Christmas, give less stuff; give more of yourself. It’s a whole lot harder, but when we develop this kind of attitude, trusting in the God who gives all of himself & his goodness to us in Jesus, then everyday becomes a little Christmas.
God’s blessings to you.
Hi PAstor Eugene
After last Sunday evening I am still thinking about how to give and gain a giving responce to the love given.
In the consumeraristic sociaty we live in where all the media bombard us with what we need the want’s are strong.
I pray the giving has a lasting impact on my life and the lives of those I come into contact with