Christmas Eve, 2007
Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier
1 John 4:7–16
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Recently, on a radio talk show, a Lutheran pastor was asked to give his opinion about all the commercialization surrounding the buying of Christmas presents. His response was a little unexpected. He thought that it was great. He explained that it is good for people to think of others and give gifts. He added that he just wished that people would think of others and buy gifts for them all year long. Why is it that we are so concerned about giving gifts at this time of year?
At Christmas time, we have the tradition of giving gifts. We give gifts to family and friends. Now some people may say that this tradition comes from the wise men who found the Christ Child. They brought him gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold. Now if this was the reason, then we should be giving gifts to Christ, rather than to each other. We could put the incense and gold in the collection plate as it goes around. Now that wouldn’t be a bad tradition, but it is not the custom we are discussing. We give gifts to each other.
Some people trace the tradition of giving gifts on Christmas to St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra. He gave the gift of three bags of gold to three daughters whose family didn’t have the money to provide dowries for them. Without dowries, they wouldn’t be able to get married. Now if this were the reason for giving gifts, then we should be giving gifts to the poor and needy rather than to family and friends who have plenty. Instead of exchanging gifts on December 25, we should give money to the needy on December 6 which is St. Nicholas Day. Now of course at this time of year, there are those who do think of the needy and pick out a special organization to donate money to. Again this not a bad idea, but it is not the same thing as the custom we are discussing of giving gifts to each other.
More recently, people seem to be connecting Christmas to a birthday party for Jesus. Again, this won’t do. At birthday parties we give presents to the birthday boy in exchange for cake, ice cream, and some games. The birth of Jesus is unlike the birth of any other child. He was born without sin. At a birthday party, we celebrate the gift of the previous year that the birthday boy has been blessed with and we anticipate the year to come. At Christmas we don’t celebrate another year of the life for Jesus. No, He is eternal. It is a celebration of the Incarnation, in which God became man. We celebrate the fulfillment of the promised King born in Bethlehem. It is the celebration of life of Jesus by which we are blessed.
There is a much better reason why we give gifts to each other on Christmas. We give gifts because God gives gifts to us. God is the One who gave to us the greatest gift of all. He gives us Jesus. Our Epistle lesson puts it this way, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14 ESV) At this time of year, we can especially understand the language of the Father sending the Son. We send out Christmas cards. We send out Christmas presents. Such gifts have a source of origin and a destination. They come from us and go to others. It is the Father who sent Jesus as the ultimate Christmas gift to us. Jesus is the Savior of the world. Jesus is the gift to the world.
The Gospel According to St. John puts it this way, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) God loves His whole creation. Love comes from God. God is love. Being made by a loving God, His creation should love.
But because of sin, love is tainted in creation. Love is not perfectly directed back toward God nor does it freely flow toward others. Instead, in the fallen creation love grows inward toward the self. Like an in-grown toe nail, it festers and becomes infected. Those who do not love do not know God. When we fail to love, we fail to show forth God’s love. When we refuse to love, we act like the fallen creation that is in rebellion to the only True God who is love.
Yet God loved us when we were unlovable. Verse nine of our Epistle puts it this way, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9 ESV) And again in verse ten, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:7-8 ESV) God loved us while we were still sinners deserving death. He gave us the gift of Jesus so that we might have life and the propitiation for our sins. God’s love for us in Christ covers over all our sins. Because of Jesus, we are beloved of the Father.
Our Epistle lesson goes on to say, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”(1 John 4:11 ESV) Those who know God know love and therefore can love others. God enables them to love. The children act like their Father in heaven. As God’s children, we love like our Father loves us. At Christmas, we first receive Jesus as a gift from God manifesting His love for us. Then we see Jesus as an example for us to love others. As we give gifts to others, we make God’s love manifest toward others. We give gifts because God is love. Amen.
