THE GIFT GOD DID NOT HOLD BACK

THE GIFT GOD DID NOT HOLD BACK
Fr Luke A Veronis

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.” The Prophet Isaiah had foretold 1000 years prior to the first Christmas that God would offer to the world His Son as a child! What a gift.

And of course on Christmas morning, we are surrounded by other gifts. Wrapped boxes, bright paper, familiar traditions. For children especially, Christmas is often remembered as the day of receiving. They experience the joy of opening what has been lovingly prepared for them.

This is good. Gift-giving belongs to Christmas. Yet the Church calls us to take a deeper look and to understand why gifts matter at all. Of course, Christmas is not primarily about what we give one another but what God has given to us and to all the world. The Lord Almighty doesn’t give us something extra, something that is convenient or leftover. He gives us the very best that He has – His very self in His only-begotten Son.

I remember a beautiful story that reveals this truth. The author shared one unforgettable Christmas when she was a child. Her father had gathered all his children on Christmas morning. The tree was full of lights and the excitement palpable as each children opened their gifts one by one. They received toys they loved and gifts they had asked for. It was a typical, joyous Christmas.

Then, the father did something unexpected. He asked each child to pick their favorite gift, the one they loved the most. After each child put their favorite gift in front of them, the father gently said, “Today, we are going to give these gifts to families who do not have much. We’re going to share your favorite gift with someone who may not have any gift. Why? Because I want each of us to remember what God did for us on the first Christmas morning. He gave to the world the very best that He had. He gave His only begotten Son.”

One can only imagine the silence in the room. It surely wasn’t easy. There were some tears from the children saying that they didn’t want to give away that present. This little exercise wasn’t easy and the father made it clear it wasn’t simply symbolic. He wanted his kids to learn one of the most important lessons in life. Love is not easy and true, sacrificial love will always cost something.

This is what makes Christmas different from other celebrations. God doesn’t give to the world  from His surplus. He gives out of His Divine Love. Saint Paul tells us, “He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” God doesn’t hold back when He gives. He doesn’t wait until we are worthy.

The little Child in the manger is God’s most precious Gift given freely, humbly, vulnerably to the world. This child, wrapped in swaddling cloths, placed in a feeding trough for animals, born into a world that would one day utterly reject Him.

This is the cost of Divine Love. And when we truly understand the meaning of Christmas, it will change our understanding of what Christ-like giving is all about. Giving should never be measured by how easy it is. Giving should never be measured by how much we have left over.

Giving is measured by the love we put into it, and Divine Love always involves sacrifice.

That is why Jesus would later say in His famous Sermon on the Mount,  “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Christmas reveals God’s heart fully offered to us. And He invites us to imitate Him.

This Mystery of Divine Giving doesn’t remain in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. It continues here, every day as God offers Himself to us. It happens especially whenever we gather in the Church as the People of God celebrating the Divine Liturgy. The same Christ who was given to the world as a Child is now given to us through the Bread and Wine offered, which becomes His very Body and Blood. God still offers the very best He has, not symbolically and not from a distance but intimately to each of us who approach “with the fear of God, with faith and with love.”

Thus, as we receive this priceless Gift each week, let us ask ourselves the same question that father asked his children. “What do we treasure most? And are we willing to offer it back to the Lord with sacrificial love?”

Sometimes our gift is our financial generosity. Sometimes it is our precious time. Sometimes it is our forgiveness to someone who has deeply hurt us. Sometimes it is offering our full attention to someone who may be lonely. Sometimes it is giving our mercy and compassion toward those who need it now.

When we give in a sacrificial manner, Christmas becomes more than a day, it becomes a way of life.

So, as we come forward today to receive the Holy Gifts today, let us remember that God did not give us something He could spare. He gave us His Son so that we would be united with Him and thus, become like Him.

May this self-giving love form our worldview. May it inspire us to give as He gives. And may the Christ child born in Bethlehem be born anew in us, so that through our lives, others may encounter this greatest Gift of all.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!