THE JOY OF GIVING
Jesus said, “It is
more blessed to give than to receive,” (Acts 20:35).
Is there
anyone who does not enjoy receiving a gift? At Christmas we give and receive
gifts as a cherished tradition. One my fondest memories as a child was the anticipation
that mounted in the weeks before Christmas. Our tree went up December 1st
and the pile of presents was steadily built up until the bottom of the tree
could no longer cover the gifts. I believe the waiting was as thrilling as the
opening of gifts.
As I got
older the thrill turned to disillusionment. On the one hand, receiving new toys
was a childhood delight and had grown out of that phase. On the other hand, as
my wants got more complicated and lists of requests were made, I knew what I
was getting. I grew quite cynical about the whole tradition.
Christmas
joy has been rekindled in my heart in recent years as I have begun to realize
that the giving is more fulfilling than the receiving. I still enjoy gifts,
especially when Sharon finds something that she knows I will like but not
expecting. But giving is where it’s at as far as the pursuit of joy at
Christmas.
Why do
we give gifts at Christmas? I remember a rather theologically weak explanation
being given when I was young. Someone explained that because the wise men
brought gifts to Jesus on his birthday, we give gifts to each other as a remembrance
of that great nativity. Tradition does not need much encouragement when gifts
are involved.
While
the theology of gift-giving is weak as far as Jesus’ birthday is concerned, the
magi do have some things to teach us about finding joy in the birth of Christ. There
are three questions I want to ask that will help us to focus on the theme of
giving and receiving as it relates to Matthew 2:1-12.
The first is this:
1. What do you want?
As we approach Christmas there are numerous expectations
we place on this special day. Chief among these expectations is the
anticipation of receiving. We want to receive joy from the celebrations, from
the Church services, from the season in general. We want to know the “peace on
earth” that the songs talk about. We want to be filled with the delight that
commercials and movies proclaim is part of the Christmas fantasy.
What did
the wise men, the magi, want? What were they looking for the night they came to
Jerusalem?
This was
not the Holy Night that Jesus was born. The math tells us that Jesus was two
years old by the time these guys showed up (Herod killed boys 2 and under
(2:16)). Matthew is quite brief in his description of Jesus’ birth. He writes
simply, “After Jesus was born in
Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod…” (2:1). Then the magi
come.
For a
gospel writer who writes to Jewish believers about Jesus the Messiah, the magi
are a peculiar feature. Magi were star-gazers, astrologers, a practice strictly
forbidden in the Law of Moses. Secondly, they were Gentiles from a foreign land
a thousand miles away. The inclusion of the magi in this story hints at the
inclusion of Gentiles in the receiving of the gospel and becoming part of the
church.
These
magi likely saw in the night sky Pisces, a conjunction of two stars, Jupiter
and Saturn. Jupiter was the royal planet and Saturn symbolized Israel. They
deduced that a king of great magnitude was born in Israel. Following the
message of the star, they came to Jerusalem to find the child.
What did
they want? Matthew tells us, “Where is
the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and
have come to worship him,” (2:2).
Their method
of finding Jesus may have been off, but they had the right focus. The first
step in finding joy at Christmas is looking for Jesus to worship him.
Some
folks get pretty riled when Christ is spelled with an X. They preach, “Keep
Christ in Christmas!” Quite right. Keep Christ in Christmas, but it has nothing
to do with the spelling of his name (which in Greek is X). Keeping Christ in
Christmas is first and foremost honoring his advent, his coming into the world,
his condescension to become one of us. Worshiping Christ is priority one.
2. Where do you look for it?
The second question following “What do you want?” is
“Where do you look for it?”
We learn
from the magi that there are right and wrong places to look for Christmas joy.
Where did they look for a baby born king of the Jews? In the usual places…they
sought him out in a palace in the middle of a major city. Logical thinking
really.
If we
look for Christmas joy in the gatherings, the turkey, the gifts, or in overall
season we may be disappointed. Black Friday teaches us that consumerism is
dog-eat-dog; don’t expect to find Christmas charity in the mall when a sale is
on. We can also place too heavy an expectation on family hoping that the
laughter and good times will be replicated every year. Being with family can be
hard work – you might have to prepare yourself to be with them and tolerate the
same habits and stories you have always endured.
The magi
discovered that the Christ of their Christmas was found not in the usual
places, but in Scripture. Sadly, those who knew Scripture had grown numb to the
truth of the Word. When Herod called on the Bible guys to tell him where the
Christ would be born it was sort of an anticlimactic revelation to them. They
knew where Christ’s birthplace was foretold, but it was sort of “ehh” (shrug).
Micah
prophesied, “But you, Bethlehem, in the
land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you
will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel,” (Micah 5:2). We take
for granted how amazing this prophecy really is in the story of Christmas. All
eyes should have been on Bethlehem, even if it took several hundred years.
Compare this with a prophecy that Christ’s second coming would begin in
Kleefeld, Manitoba. Can you imagine? I should think that real estate would go
through the roof.
If you
are looking for the joy of Christmas, you must begin with the Scriptures. Read
them, marvel over them, pause to meditate on the coming of God into our world.
I
remember the hardest thing to do was to listen to the Christmas story from Luke
before opening presents. So maybe don’t torture your children right then. Make
it part of breakfast or Christmas Eve or something. Take time to read the
nativity with a fresh heart and fresh set of eyes, and seek the Lord to worship
him.
3. What are you willing to give?
Pisces, if that’s what it was, the star, reappeared, and
the magi continued their journey until they came to Bethlehem and found Jesus.
Here’s where the gift-giving comes in to the story.
Three
small boys were in a Christmas play at school.
They represented the three wise men and they were to give
their gifts to baby Jesus. The first boy stepped forward, held out the gift in
his hands and said, “Gold.” The second boy stepped forward, held out his gift
and said, “Myrrh.” The third boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said,
“Frank sent this.”
What are
you willing to give to Jesus in worship? What the magi gave in gifts were
totally appropriate for the Christ. You would think that the gifts were
inspired by the Holy Spirit, they were so bang-on.
They
gave gold – a gift fit for a king. The magi were acknowledging that 2-year-old
Jesus was a king.
They
gave frankincense – a gift for a priest. Frankincense was an ingredient used by
the priests in temple worship to blend with the smell of the sacrifices. With
this gift the magi acknowledged that Jesus was One who would bring us to God.
They
gave myrrh – a gift for the dead. Myrrh was a fragrant ointment used to anoint
a corpse before burial. What an odd gift for a toddler. The magi must have had
some insight that the child was born to die.
These
were appropriate gifts for the Christ-child. I have seen a TV commercial (I
don’t know what it’s for – bad advertising) where couples are sitting around
exchanging gifts. In sweet, gracious voices they say horrible things. One says,
“Oh, what a lovely sweater. You must think I’m fat.” Another says, “Thank you
so much. I’m going to purposely forget this here when I leave.” And another,
“I’ll never leave the house wearing this.”
Gift-giving
has become complicated in a society where we lack for nothing. Rather than a
blessing, giving gifts becomes a game. There are four gift categories we need
to consider:
a) The gift for a gift, gift – When we
receive a gift we try to figure out how much that gift cost so we can
reciprocate and get the giver a gift of the same value. Sometimes these givers
are long in the memory: “I got them something nice but they didn’t get me
anything.”
b) The gift for a favor gift, gift –
these givers give a gift but don’t want a gift in exchange. They want a chip
they can put in their pocket so that they can get something else out of you.
Perhaps it is a favor; perhaps it is loyalty. It’s something, you can be sure.
c) The re-gifted gift, gift – This is
where you take a gift you received but never used and turn around and give it
someone else. Just make sure you don’t give it back to the original giver.
d) The “grace” gift – The “grace” gift is
unrepayable. You can’t pay it back; you can’t work for it, pay it off, or do
anything to measure up to it. The giver doesn’t even expect anything in return.
They would do it regardless of our gratitude or inability to respond. They do
it out of love for love’s sake.
You know
of course that this is the gift of God to us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John
3:16). That is a Christmas message if there ever was one.
I have
received the “grace” gift from others and it is amazing. The gift is “spot on,”
like they knew my character, and so touching. It leaves you with a funny
feeling, like you want to do something in exchange but you know you can’t. That
reflects the gift of God so perfectly.
The wise
men, the magi, brought Jesus material gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
They also brought the gift of presence (they were wealthy; they could have sent
a gift to Jesus but came themselves), the gift of time (it took 2 years for
them to discern the star and make the trip), and the most important gift which
is a culmination of all these gifts – worship. “When they saw the star, they
were overjoyed.” They were overjoyed to be able to give Jesus, this poor
carpenter’s boy who would be king, gifts of worship.
There is
one more gift that needs to be considered in this story: the gift of receiving.
Humbling oneself to receive a gift, allowing oneself to be served by another,
is a gift in itself. I have noticed this in many homes that I have visited:
when you decline an offer of drink or food, it almost seems to disappoint
people who want to serve you, to show you hospitality. Letting others bless you
gifts them in return.
But of
course the Christ-child wants us to receive him most of all as King of Kings,
and Lord of Lords. That too takes humility – we must make room for him in our
lives.
“Giving with a glad and generous heart has a way of
routing out the tough old miser within us. Even the poor need to know that they
can give. Just the very act of letting go of money or some other treasure does
something within us. That something is it destroys the demon, greed.” (Richard
Foster).
“It is
more blessed to give than to receive.” Perhaps we experience the joy of giving
because we are actually letting go of this world and reaching for the next; we
are letting go of our treasures to claim the gift of God.
A number
of years ago, when our extended Klassen family had grown, I campaigned to cease
giving gifts at Christmas. To buy presents for my brother and his family and my
sister and her family had reached unrealistic proportions. Budgets could only
afford so much per person and we all felt the pinch. I felt especially bad for
my parents who felt obligated to buy gifts for every child, grandchild and
great grandchild. I told my parents that if they wanted to write checks to
everyone it would simplify their lives.
You
know, sometimes a check just doesn’t say much. Now that Mom is gone, I don’t
have a book or a keepsake that I can remember coming from her own
thoughtfulness. The older I get the more I realize that it is the
thoughtfulness of the gift, not the cost. If someone buys me a history book, it
doesn’t matter if it came from the bargain bin – they thought of me. I trust
that goes both ways.
If
Christmas is about giving, let us give joyfully, thoughtfully, and
intentionally to show the love of God in Christ to those around us.
AMEN
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