God’s Gratuitous Gift
I only have two presents left to buy this Christmas, but I’ve been struggling to find the perfect gift for my family members. I could buy them a sweater or book (because no one can have enough sweaters or books) but is that what they really want or need?
As a good seminarian, the search for the perfect present has made me think about the perfect gift we were given at Christ’s birth. One of my professors called it “God’s gratuitous gift.” In other words, God gave us the perfect gift of Jesus Christ not because we deserved it or earned it but because God loved us and wanted us to have it.
Can you imagine unwrapping that gift on Christmas morning?
In some ways, thinking about God’s gratuitous gift that we celebrate on Christmas morning makes any present we buy our loved ones dull in comparison. The sweater I bought my sister will never compare to God’s perfect gift to us. So why should I bother finding these last two presents? Should I wrap a note that says “God already gave you the perfect gift” and call it a day?
“So as Christmas rapidly approaches, may we remember the ways in which this season points to God’s perfect gift and how we can share that gift with everyone in our life.”
As someone whose love language is gifts, that’s ridiculous! Instead, through remembering that God gave us the perfect gift even when we didn’t deserve it, I’ll search for the perfect present for my family. One that will never compare to God’s gift to all of us, but that still reminds them that no matter what they do or where they go I will love them. My simple, probably relatively inexpensive present (I’m a divinity student!) will be thoughtful and filled with love not because they’ve done anything to earn my affection but because it will always be there for them.
Maybe that’s one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season, that even if gifts are not your love language or the way in which your family celebrates, you can still see the symbolism in the traditions we embrace. Maybe you gather around a table with loved ones and share wisdom like we were taught in the Proverbs. Or, like another Dickinson family tradition, maybe you bake an excessive amount of cookies and share the gift of fellowship through food. Or, perhaps, you simply appreciate the joy found in the lights strung carefully on houses or in the eyes of children as they dream of Christmas morning. These are all beautiful aspects of God’s gratuitous gift that we throughout the celebrate Christmas season.
So as Christmas rapidly approaches, may we remember the ways in which this season points to God’s perfect gift and how we can share that gift with everyone in our life.