Christmas is the season for giving! At least that's what we are told. But really? Well really... it's not. Now I like giving and recieving gifts as much as anyone. But Christmas doesn't begin with what we give, it begins by getting. Christmas is really the season for getting (receiving). This is not a call for unbridled greed nor is it a grinch like stiffling of the family gift exchange. What it is, is a call to a humble acknowledgement that we need what God came to offer - the way for reconciliation with God. God gave first. We recieve. The mandate of the gospel is “Get it!” Get what God gave through the incarnation of Jesus.
The pressure to give is largely to blame for the anxiety (and debt) that drains the joy of this season. Receiving what money could not buy, but what Jesus purchased by giving his own life, that is the gift humanity gets through Christmas. Christmas is about getting the good we did not, indeed could not earn nor deserve. Christmas is about getting grace. That’s what it’s all about. So by all means, if you haven't, get it!
