For many of us, notwithstanding our celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the highlights of this, and every Christmas will be the giving and exchanging of gifts. And that is, quite rightly, a highlight of our Christmas celebrations. It’s always nice to receive a gift and it’s even nicer to give a gift to those we know and love because we know that it’s something that makes them happy. And of course, as Christians, the giving and receiving of gifts is something we do as a reminder of the Christmas story. We do it as a reminder of the gifts the Magi brought to Jesus, and perhaps most especially, we do it as a reminder of that greatest of all gifts of Christmas, God’s giving to us his Son to lead us into the fulness of life; earthly life lived according to God’s own truth, and eternal life lived with God in his heavenly kingdom.
But having said how nice it is to receive gifts, I’m sure that, at times, we’ve all received a gift, or gifts, that have made us think, or perhaps even say,
“Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.”
Because we do, at times receive gifts that we don’t particularly need, or perhaps really want, or gifts that we’re not even sure are really for, don’t we? That’s not to say we’re ungrateful for these gifts, we probably are grateful to receive them, it’s just that we’re not really sure what use we can put them to.
I have met people over the years who are ungrateful in situations like this. I’ve met people who have opened presents and actually said something along the lines of,
“What am I supposed to do with this? I’ve got no use for it; I might as well give it back to you or put it in the bin.”
That kind of response to receiving a gift obviously says much more about the person who received it than the one who gave it, doesn’t it? It doesn’t so much speak about their ingratitude and insensitivity towards others, as shouts it from the rooftops. But isn’t it a fact that most people treat the greatest Christmas gift of all, God’s gift to us of his Son, in just these ways?
In our readings this, and every Christmas, we hear the song of the angels,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
We know from the Gospels that for God to be pleased with us, for his favour to rest on us, as other translations say, we must believe in the one whom he sent, his Son, Jesus Christ.
In other words, to enjoy the benefits of the great gift God has given us, we have to accept his gift with thankfulness and joy. We have to accept God’s gift as something we really need and want. And we have to accept it as something we can put to use in our lives. But how many people don’t accept God’s gift in this way? How many people won’t accept God’s gift at all and say, if not in words then certainly in deeds,
“What use is this to me? I don’t need it, I don’t want it; for all the good it is to me, you might as well not have bothered.”
And how many people, whilst they don’t reject God’s gift out of hand, only receive it in a half-hearted way, people who perhaps aren’t really sure that they either want or need it in their lives, but who’ll accept it any way, just in case it does come in for something, sometime? People who, to all intents and purposes, say of God’s gift,
“Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.”
But when we think about this great gift that God has given us, we have to remember whose thought it is that we’re talking about. It’s God who thought that we needed this great gift, and as Scripture tells us, God knows us better than we know ourselves. So if we think we don’t need God’s gift, it’s not God’s thinking that’s at fault but our understanding of what’s needful that’s wrong. If we don’t want God’s gift, it’s not God’s thinking that’s at fault but rather, it’s us who want the wrong things. And if people refuse to accept God’s gift, it’s not God who’s at fault for giving it, the fault lies in the ingratitude of those who refuse it.
And all this is true because, if we think about the gift God has given us, we can’t doubt that it is the greatest gift that any of us have ever received. The gift is God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and he was given to us to lead us to God. But it seems that many people don’t want to be led to God, they’d much rather be left alone to make their own way through life, wherever that may lead them in the end. Jesus was given to us to show us how to live so that we can enjoy the benefits of God’s great gift. But it seems that many people don’t want to be shown how to live, they’d much rather adopt an ‘It’s my life and I’ll live it as I choose’ attitude and approach to life, regardless of the harm that may do to them and to others. And Jesus was given to us to teach us God’s own truth. But it seems that many people don’t want to listen to any truth but their own, regardless of the consequences of that for themselves, their neighbours and the world.
And there are consequences, dire consequences for us, our neighbours and the world if we won’t accept God’s gift or don’t use it. We only have to look at the world around us, and what does go on, and is going on in the world to see that.
God’s gave his Son to us on that first Christmas Day to show us a better way. God’s gift was to give us the means to live in peace, both with him and with one another through following the teaching and example of his Son, his Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. And he gave us this gift, not as people often give gifts, so that they’ll receive a gift in return, but simply to make us happy, simply because he loves us. And that, in essence is what God’s gift of his Son at Christmas is; the gift of his love.
God’s gift to us at Christmas is the gift of his love for us, made visible in human flesh. It’s a gift that shows us the nature of God’s love for us, a self-giving, self-sacrificing love that thinks and asks nothing for itself, but thinks only of love’s recipient. It’s a gift that shows the depth of God’s love for us, the love of a God who is the creator and ruler of all things and yet who would stoop to come to us in the humblest of ways; to live as one of us and to die for us and, in the process, to show us what it really means to love and to show and give love.
As we look at the world around us, whether the world thinks it or not, what could be more needful to the world than this gift of love? Whether the world realises it or not, what is more wanted by the people of the world than this gift of love? And whether the world wants to accept it or not, what gift could be more acceptable than this gift of knowing what love is and understanding how to show love ourselves; how to give love to others and how to receive it from others? How much better and happier a place might the world be if only more people would accept and use this great gift that God has given us?
Our Advent preparations for Christmas have been, and always are, about self-examination in the light of Christ’s teaching and example. Advent has been a time to look at ourselves in the light of Christ to see how we might need to amend our lives so that we can be more like him. We could say then that our Advent preparations have been about looking at ourselves to see the extent to which we’ve welcomed and received God’s great gift of his Son. They’ve been about looking at ourselves to see to what extent we’ve understood our need of this gift and have wanted it in our lives.
They’ve been about looking at ourselves to see to what extent and how well we’ve used God’s great gift in our lives. We could say that our Advent preparations for Christmas have been about looking at ourselves to see just how loving we are.
Now that Christmas is here once again our preparations are over so let’s take time out to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and to give thanks to God for this great gift of love that he’s given us. But let’s not forget what we may have learned through our Advent preparations and let’s try to show our gratitude to God for his gift by accepting it, not in a half-hearted,
“Oh well, It’s the thought that counts.”
kind of way, but fully, thankfully and joyfully as something we both know our need of and truly want. And let’s show that by trying to give in our lives just a little more of the love towards one another that God gave to us in the gift of his Son at Christmas.
Amen.
The Propers for The Nativity of the Lord, 24th and 25th December can be viewed here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 