Day 49 - Issue 23
Luke 3:11 NLT
John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”
I remember my Jewish PhD supervisor remarking how Britain only seems to have one festival to celebrate and this was his explanation as to why everyone went so ‘crazy’ throughout the Christmas holiday period. It is sadly known more for its overindulgence rather than the welcome of the Son of God. The fruit of the post-war secularist dream seems only to have led to a loss of community and the celebration of the cult of personality. The very nature of Jesus’ birth in the earth reveals that at the heart of all true love lies sacrifice and service.
In fact, the battle we each have as friends of God is the battle with the selfishness of self-care. It’s Paul who speaks of taking an interest in the ‘other’, valuing them above ourselves (see Philippians 2:3-4). This is in harmony with the choice of Jesus to embrace incarnation. Stepping from heaven to earth was for the benefit of humanity. No surprise that in preparing the way of the Lord, John the Baptist speaks to the root of humanity’s fracture, selfishness.
Generosity has in many instances been reduced to the value of the gift I give to those I love, and Christmas is all about gift-giving. Parents struggle to afford what peer pressure demands they give their kids, and we run up huge debts. We feel in some way we are defined by the symbols of wealth we acquire. Yet, generosity simply means a willingness to share what I have. On two occasions, once travelling by train in India, the other in China, as the family in my carriage opened up their packed lunch, they invited me to join them. We did not share the same language, yet the universal language of love was unmistakable and inclusive.
Sadly a loss of generosity has created a society in which we grow to fear each other, react to difference and seek to find scapegoats for our own pain. Generosity, however, offers opportunity to build bridges as opposed to walls. Unsurprisingly the first visitors to Jesus were the shepherds, largely regarded as unsavoury thieves and mischief-makers in Jesus’ day.
QUESTION: How might you mirror God’s generous gift of Jesus in your approach to Christmas?
PRAYER: Lord, you said the giver is blessed. Help me to be a generous giver. [See Acts 20:35.]
