The Gift that Changes You

Did you ever receive a gift that altered you, your way of thinking, your understanding of another person, or how you live and the choices you make? I think of moments like that in my own life and they came as delightful surprises. I remember receiving an album from someone who I never expected would even know the artist. And I remember receiving a book that I had not known about, but was something I definitely wanted once I saw it. Both of these changed me because they revealed both a generosity of purchase as well as a generosity of spirit. They taught me a new thing and I accepted it. These gifts changed me.

          That, in a nutshell, is Christmas. It is the route of Advent. It is the receiving of the arrival of God on our planet and into our lives. In a word, this is the expression of God’s generosity and it changes us.

          When we think of the feast of Advent, sitting and receiving all that God has provided for us, we recognize that God is our host. God has prepared the meal. God has given himself over to us. In “Babette’s Feast,” both the movie and the story, we hear her say, “Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost!” And Advent is the artistry of God. This is the utmost act of God.

          But generosity must be integrated within us to truly be recognized in fullness. We have to be floored, responsively joyful to the gift. If we think we are not worthy of such a gift because of all we think we lack, if the world has damaged us so decidedly that we find it hard to trust such a gift, if we ache to keep this gift at arms’ length in control of this or any situation, if we believe that it is only through achievement that we can receive… then the generosity never becomes life-changing. It remains an unwrapped gift. We acknowledge the idea of it, even sitting there before us, but we don’t open it.

          This is our famous story of Scrooge who becomes one with Christmas and chooses to celebrate it throughout the year. The only way for God’s generosity in Jesus, in the gift of Jesus changing the world, is for us to unwrap the gift and receive it.

“…to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12, 13

We’ve been given a seat at the table of Advent, the arriving experience of God’s love and grace. The food is before us, and the artist of the meal has announced “Dig in!” The only question is… what to dish onto your plate.