The Christmas season is again upon us. It has been since Halloween or even before. Many of us feel repulsed by the big business Christmas has become and by being encouraged-even prodded-into spending more money and giving more extravagant gifts than we want to. We do not like the barrage of advertising that encourages our children to think greater happiness lies in receiving the latest toy or electronic gadget.
On the one hand, I cannot but agree. We are an intricate part of a free enterprise, consumer society that expresses some of the worst excesses at Christmas. I know how TV and print ads tantalize children and put pressure on parents. I have struggled with guilt when we have "deprived" our children of some of the things they really really wanted.
On the other hand, I wonder if our giving is lavish enough. I grew up hearing my parents' stories about the early years in Canada when their families were dirt-poor. Luxuries, store-bought clothes and toys were virtually nonexistent. Yet on Christmas morning they wondered at the lavishness of receiving an orange, apple and pencil.
My childhood was much less poor, but my parents rarely splurged-except at Christmas. Then they would spend relatively lavishly on gifts we had given up hope of ever receiving. I anticipated Christmas with eagerness because I knew my parents would surprise us with lavishness.
In O'Henry's great Christmas story, The Gift of the Magi, Delia and Jim are a young couple in New York City. With Christmas approaching, each wants to show love and care for the other by giving just the right gift, but there is no money to spare. Both find the money for the gift they want to buy: Delia sells her pride and joy-her glorious, long hair, and Jim sells his prized heirloom pocket watch. The beautiful irony of their sacrifices is revealed when Jim presents Delia with the elegant, longed-for tortoise-shell combs for her hair and Delia gives Jim a beautiful chain for his pocket watch.
The storyteller observes: "I have related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children...who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days, let it be said that of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest.... They are jfhe magi."
O'Henry suggests that the magi who came to see the infant Jesus invented the "art of giving Christmas presents." I think he is only partially correct. They were the first humans to respond by giving. But in the incarnation, God initiated the cycle of giving with the greatest, most lavish gift of all: his son, Jesus:
* Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.... In him we have...the riches of his grace that he lavished on us (Ephesians 1:3, 7-8).
* For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich (II Corinthians 8:9).
* The is sacrificial gift unleashes a new abundance: of grace (John 1:16; Romans 5:15-17); of joy (II Corinthians 8:2); of love, knowledge and insight (Philippians 1:9; I Thessalonians 3:12); of comfort (II Corinthians 1:3-5); of truth (Romans 3:7); of hope (Romans 15:13); of thanksgiving (II Corinthians 4:15).
Our response to this abundance is thanksgiving and generosity, indeed the desire to give as lavishly as we have received (II Corinthians 9:6-8, 11,13). The magi presenting their gifts to Jesus is an example of appropriate lavishness in responding to God's good gifts. Another is the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, then anointed him with perfume worth $25,000, a year's wages for a labourer (Mark 14).
I believe that the gift of the incarnation calls us to live lives characterized by lavish generosity and to celebrate Christmas with lavish giving that is an imitation and symbol of-and a response to-the lavish giving of God. Do I, do we, give lavishly enough?
Every year two of our kids begin their Christmas wish lists with a Porsche or a Lamborghini. They ask in jest (I hope), but even if we could afford to buy them such a luxury sports car, would that be lavish giving? God's giving of Jesus was lavish beyond measure, not because it cost big bucks but because it was a costly sacrifice and because its value and benefit was priceless to those to whom the gift was given.
If these are the principles that guide our sacrificial giving, I suspect the dollar value of our giving may decrease as the lavishness increases. When my parents were growing up, money and even essential things were in short supply, so gifts that cost money were a sacrifice to give, an incredible joy and benefit to receive, and powerful lessons of God's gift in Christ. Delia and Jim sacrificed precious possessions, powerfully lavishing upon each other profound expressions of love and care.
Most of us live quite comfortably. Given our affluence, it is hard for us to know how to give with sacrifice and great benefit. Perhaps the key is discerning what is hardest to give and what is of greatest benefit to whom we would give.
Kids still need toys, teens and young adults still need music and new clothes, moms still need new slippers, and dads still need new drill sets. We should never get away from giving "things" that cost money. However, I believe our most lavish gifts will be our most valuable treasures-our time, attention, caring and prayers.
What might such lavish giving look like? Perhaps like this:
* Giving your spouse a date on the first or third (or both) Saturday of the month for the next year.
* Spending a parent's birthday with them.
* Giving your friend tickets for the two of you to see a series of hockey games or symphony performances.
* Giving each child a coupon for a restaurant meal and outing of their choice.
* Giving nieces and nephews a banana split outing to Dairy Queen for birthdays.
* Inviting loved ones to help you make a quilt for them.
* Without notifying him or her, offering a one-minute prayer on behalf of your loved one every day for the next year.
I could go on, but you get the picture.
As long as there is money to be made, Christmas will be overly commercialized. May this not "be-Scrooge" us into withdrawal and cynicism, but let us be imitators of God and be joyful practitioners of truly lavish giving.
Dave Tlessen
[Sidebar]
I have struggled with guilt when wo have 'deprived' our children of some of the things they really really wanted.
[Sidebar]
The article was originally published in the Fall 2003 Messenger.
[Sidebar]
I bolleve our mort lavish gifts will bo our most valuable treasures-our time, attention, caring and prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment