THE GREATNESS OF GIVING

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.

Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.

Proverbs 18:16, 19:6   

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Next week, we’ll be having some holiday fun at my workplace through a “Secret Santa” event. Maybe you have done something like this yourself at some time. Here’s the way it works:

Basically, it is open to anyone who wants to participate and those who are interested are required to fill out a sheet of paper with questions about what they like. That piece of paper is then given to someone who is participating but unknown to the person who filled out the sheet, the someone who becomes that person’s Secret Santa. As Secret Santa, you simply buy little gifts off the person’s list and then stealthily pass those gifts to the person in a way that doesn’t reveal your identity.

I have done this sort of thing before and enjoy the experience, not because I like Santa or even being compared to him (more on that in a minute) but rather because I like giving. After all, Christmas is the time of giving, isn’t it? A time of giving as well as a time of receiving on many levels.

Maybe you’re like me and get great joy out of giving. I believe this joy is born out of being a Christian and definitely not because of any mythical figure in a red suit riding in a sleigh with flying reindeer. As Christians, we give with a sense of joy because we first received, we received the greatest gift of all as God the Father sent His Son to earth in the form of a tiny babe who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin in humble surroundings, a babe who would grow up to save us all. We give with joy, not because of Santa but rather because of another person who is referred to by a “S” word, Jesus, our Savior, the greatest gift ever and the ultimate example of the greatness of giving.

In this Christmas season and beyond, we should give not because it feels good to do so, not because we feel compelled to do so, but rather because we exhibit God’s spirit of providing something that makes a difference in the life of another as we give a gift and through that giving, we should always remember the gift God gave to us in Jesus, the Way and the Truth and the Life, the only One who lead us to a life eternal with the God who gave Him for us (John 14:6).

In writing to the church in Corinth, Paul had this to say about giving:

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

Indeed, God loves us to give for, as stated, we emulate His Spirit when we do so. In other words, people get a glimpse of the love and caring of their Maker when we freely and joyfully give to them a portion of what He first gave to us. The scriptures exhort us to give cheerfully, not reluctantly or out of compulsion. We are to give out of the joy we gain through receiving the greatest gift ever. After all, what more could we ever ask for than the gift of salvation, the promise of pardon from sin and everlasting life? In the end translation, nothing on earth can compare with the greatest gift of all, our Lord Jesus, and when we share our gifts with others, we need to do so sharing the good news of our Savior, the best gift we have ever been given.

Our proverbs today give us two other reasons why we should give:

1. A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great. Proverbs 18:16

Our giving opens the door that leads to emulating Jesus. In other words, we become who we are supposed to be as Christians and that is Christ-like. Through this, we find ourselves giving and living in a way that is pleasing in His sight as we bask in the glow of His Holy Spirit and thus the presence of His greatness.

2. Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts. Proverbs 19:6

God loves a cheerful giver. We know this as truth. But the one who receives loves the giver and sees them as a friend.

In Jesus Christ, we have a friend, the only perfectly real and legitimate Friend who is closer to us than any brother or sister (Proverbs 18:24). We sing the words, “What a friend we have in Jesus!” in hymns at church and so He is. And when we model His love in giving self sacrificially to others, we find others seeing us as a friend, something that always opens the door to us introducing them to the best friend they will ever know: Jesus Christ, the One who gave us everything.

Friends, this Christmas season is the season of giving and receiving, a season where we all have something to offer others. These lyrics of the Christmas classic, “In the Bleak Midwinter” highlight this fact:

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a wise man, I would do my part

But what I can I give Him?

I give Him my heart

The message for all of us is simple when it comes to giving. In its truest, purest sense, it doesn’t come in a box or a bag or a card. No, it comes from the love one has in their heart for others. For the greatness in giving comes in the spirit which accompanies the gift, and for Christians, that spirit of love is born from the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, a love which models that which God gave us in His Son Jesus Christ, the Son who was to save mankind:

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

Now and forever, Jesus, gifted to us by a loving, merciful Father, is the real reason for the season.

Amen.

In Christ,
Mark
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