When my Wife and I approached the entrance to Macy’s, in making our first visit to the local mall for the 2013 Christmas-shopping season, something seemed to be missing. As we got closer, I recognized what it was. A Salvation Army Volunteer was present, along with his kettle for donations, but there was no sound of bell-ringing. With our arrival, the volunteer opened a door, wished us a Merry Christmas and offered an apology, saying, “I’m sorry there’s no ringing, someone stole my bell.” With that, I shook my head and said, “Someone stole your bell?!” and I thought, “What has become of the Christmas spirit?!”
Upon completion of that Christmas-shopping outing, we found ourselves at that same Macy’s doorway. But now, as we neared that exit, we could hear the distinctive sound of a bell ringing. As we stepped outside, I looked at the Salvation Army Volunteer and said, “Great! I see you got your bell back.” His reply was, “No, another shopper went in and bought this for me.” To that, I said, “No kidding?! That’s wonderful!” and I thought, “There it is, there’s the Christmas spirit!”
What a heart warming experience that was?! As we drove home, though, I found that my happiness over the bell-ringer event was becoming mixed with feelings of guilt, as I considered, “Where was the Christmas spirit in me? Why hadn’t I thought to get a replacement for the Salvation Army Volunteer’s stolen bell?” In order to answer these questions, I realized that I needed to reexamine the question, “What is the Christmas spirit?”
IT’S ABOUT GIVING
For me, Christmas is for celebrating God sending His Son into the world, as His gracious gift of salvation. As a result, my general attitude is that Christmas is about giving and in my mind, that has always seemed central to what the Christmas spirit is. So, on the day following the bell-ringer event, when my Pastor, Daniel Gettemy, started a three-week special Christmas series on Why God Gives, What God Gives and How God Gives ; that provided an ideal way for me to review the meaning of the Christmas spirit.
In examining statistics on Christmas giving, Pastor Daniel found that, according to a national survey, 70% of Americans would welcome less emphasis on giving. Considering this discontent with Christmas giving, if I’m right that Christmas is about giving, it seems that I’m far from being alone in my confusion about the definition of the Christmas spirit. As he launched into this series on Christmas giving, Pastor Daniel suggested that this confusion may come from having our giving grounded in the wrong place. And, with that, he asked the questions, “What if we understood giving not as something that starts with us but as something that starts with God? What if we started with God, as The Giver and let God’s giving and God’s Great Gift define why we give or what we give or how we give or even if we give at all?”
Probably the most familiar New Testament verse is what Jesus said to the Pharisee, Nicodemus:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
This tells us that God’s gift to the world was everlasting life, through belief in Jesus. But, to understand the nature of God’s giving, we must consider the cost of His gift. It was costly beyond human understanding. To give everlasting life to man, God sent His Son, to live as a man and to lay that life down, as a sacrificial payment for our sin. Why did God do that? That, too, is beyond human understanding. Jesus gives us the simple answer in His words to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world”. Though simple, truly understanding this remains beyond our grasp because the nature of God’s love is unique. When we express our love, it’s because we see value in someone or something. Thus, we’re baffled by God’s love because, in our hearts, we know that it has nothing to do with our worthiness. While beyond our comprehension, God loves because that’s His very nature. He doesn’t begin to love in response to anything. The mutual love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit has always existed and They chose to extend that love to us from before the foundation of the world.
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT IN ME
Pastor Daniel’s Christmas Giving series went a long way to refresh my understanding of the meaning of the Christmas spirit. If you have a desire to be refreshed in that way, I highly recommend that you take the time to listen to the entirety of this series. It was, also, very helpful to me in answering the questions, “Where was the Christmas spirit in me? Why hadn’t I thought to get a replacement for the Salvation Army Volunteer’s stolen bell?” To me, the overall answer was that the Christmas spirit hadn’t left me. It’s just that, knowing I’m wrapped in human flesh and I’m always going to fall short of God’s perfection, I need to keep striving to follow the example He sets. A high-level summary of examples illustrated by Pastor Daniel’s teaching, includes:
- Give out of love, without considering worthiness.
- Give what’s needed most, without regarding cost.
- Give humbly, beginning with the most needy.
VALUING GOD’S GIFT
There’s no denying that what I said earlier is true. That God “… gave His only begotten Son”, was costly beyond human understanding. However, if you choose not to receive His gift, it is of no value to you. If you haven’t accepted that gift, I encourage you to do so. Remember, “For God so loved the world” is why that gift was given, it has nothing to do with your worthiness. And, if knowing that God gave His gift to “the world” leaves you thinking that you may be insignificant to God as an individual and that whether or not you accept His Great Gift may be unimportant to Him, consider this quote from Scottish Minister, Alexander MacLaren, that Pastor Daniel included in his teaching:
“God loves all because He loves each.”
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT IN US
If, like me, you have accepted God’s gracious gift of salvation, through Jesus Christ, His Son, we need to remember that the love God has for us, He also desires to exercise through us. That way, the next time we encounter a situation similar to the bell-ringer event, we won’t have to wonder “What has become of the Christmas spirit?!” We will know that it, God’s love, is alive in us and that it’s there to give.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Thank you, Gary, for re-focusing on the true meaning of why Christians celebrate Jesus Christ’s birth (the ultimate gift from the Father) at this time of year.
The end of the year (winter time, or summer time in the Southern Hemisphere countries) is a traditional time for families to gather together to give thanks to God for all of the blessings and gifts they have received throughout the year as a family, and to hopefully express love for each other. Without the acknowledging The Trinity during the Christmas celebration, the traditional family meetings lack the correct focus.
Instead of peace and love, these family get-together meetings may bring up and expand issues between some family members. This is especially hurtful and selfish of those members who use these meetings to promote arguing between family members and conflict rather than presenting a loving and nurturing environment.
The resulting stressful situation is especially hurtful to those in their family who have lost loved ones and would just like to be loved at the Christmas celebration meeting. They could care less about material gifts and would just like to be acknowledged with a genuine smile and hugged with a little love and tenderness. The greatest gift is your expressed loving kindness and hugs because of Jesus Christ’s ultimate gift of saving you from Sin by loving those who may feel lonely or sad at Christmas. Some family members and close friends may still feel sad that a treasured loved one (mother, father, spouse, or maybe child) cannot share the Joy of Christmas with them any more.
May God bless you and your family with the true Love and Joy He provides that money and status in this world cannot provide any day of the year. Give the intangible gift of Christ’s Love this year by giving tender loving moments to your family members and friends.