It’s Christmas morning. You’ve invested time, thought, energy, and money into getting the perfect gift for someone you love. The moment you’ve awaited and anticipated has come. You’re far less excited about anything you may receive than you are about the joy you know your gift is going to bring that other person—it’s just perfect! Now, imagine your loved one’s response. What if it looked like one of these?
The ‘Layaway’ response. I don’t know if layaway is still a thing or not, but it was when I was a kid. I remember me and my sister trying on winter coats in August or September when they first hit the rack at Sears—not exactly my idea of a summer afternoon well-spent! Once we made our selection, we would then carry them to the service counter, mom would fill out some paperwork, and we’d leave our new coats with the clerk. We wouldn’t see our coats again until November or so. They could only be worn after they’d been paid off little by little over a few months.
Now imagine your loved one looking at the amazing gift you’ve given, looking back at you and saying, “I love it and want it, but why don’t you hang onto it for a while. I’ll pay you back little-by-little, and when this gift is fully paid off I’ll come and pick it up.” I’m guessing that’s not exactly a response you’d be okay with.
Some folks respond to the gospel—God’s gift of Jesus and salvation—this way. This is such a nice gift, and I’ll be excited to get it one day, but just not today; it’s too costly today; I need to pay it off before I can claim it. This is an “I’m not worthy of this gift yet, but I will be, you’ll see…” mentality. It wouldn’t bode well for a happy Christmas morning in your living room. Nor will it bode well for a happy meeting with God one day!
Credit. Okay, let’s restart Christmas morning. Same gift, same joy, same anticipation, same intended recipient. But what if your loved one says: “Oh wow! I’ve always wanted and needed this; thank you!” Now we’re talking, right? But then, you notice something strange. Your loved one pulls out a calculator, and after a few minutes of head scratching, a little chin stroking, and some vigorous tabulating looks at you and says, “You know what, I’d like to take this gift home and start using it today, but I also want to prove to you that I’m worthy of it. So here’s what I’ll do: I’m going to wash your car, mow your yard, rake your leaves and shovel your driveway. Basically I’ll be at your house taking care of things for a few hours at least one day per week from now on. You’re not going to regret giving this to me. I owe you and I’m gonna show you I’m good for it!
Sometimes people respond to the gospel this way. Instead of “I’m not worthy now but will be someday,” this response says, “I AM worthy of this gift now, and to prove it I’m going to pay it off with acts of service.”
Both of these responses to your perfect gift would be utterly heart-breaking to you. Motivated by love you had that person’s joy in mind, but instead of taking your kind gesture as a free gift it is seen as a debt to be paid off either in advance of receiving it or in increments after receiving it.
No Thanks. A third horrifying, Christmas-ruining response to your perfect gift is the “No thanks” response. We could also call this the “Not for me” response in which your loved one rejects the gift outright. Just imagine the confused and insulted look on your loved one’s face and the response, “Did you put the wrong person’s name on this present? This isn’t for me. I don’t need it or want it. Maybe another family member would like it.”
Can we just agree that if any of these three exchanges happens in your living room this Christmas morning, the thrill, the joys, the hopes of having given the perfect gift will vanish…and Christmas lunch is going to be really awkward.
As Christians, we will encounter versions of all three of these responses as we faithfully share God’s gospel gift with people in our lives. Many non believers either see the gospel of forgiveness through Christ as something to be earned or paid for (thus not a gift at all), or as a gift wrongly given—a gift they neither want nor feel they need.
HOWEVER, my main concern in writing this post is for us—Christians. The Advent/Christmas season gives us not just a chance to think about baby Jesus, but a needed opportunity to see ourselves yet again as recipients and to examine the response of our hearts to God’s gift based on another year of life as a Christian. Regardless of what we say to one another or even to ourselves about God’s gift of Jesus, we need to ponder what our actions, our motives, our anxieties, etc. are saying to God about His gift? Have we labored this year from a layaway standpoint: I really want eternal life, forgiveness, wholeness in Jesus, but I just don’t feel worthy of all of it…yet; God, please be patient with me as I labor to fully pay for Your gift which I hope to receive one day! OR a credit standpoint: Watch my good works and see how worthy I am of this gift, Lord…?
If not remedied by prayer, devotion to the Word, and humble, oft-renewed submission to the reality of biblical grace in the company of other grace recipients, both the layaway and credit responses will give way to a “No thanks/Not for me” response. Satan wants us to feel unworthy of God’s gift AND he also wants us to feel worthy of it. Either way, he distorts God’s gift into a non-gift, and if we labor uncorrected—even doing great things for the Lord—the “No thanks/Not for me” response will eventually emerge as having been our posture all along just hidden under a mask of false gratitude and pretentious gestures of repayment.
Alright, let’s try this one more time. It’s Christmas morning, the gift is prepared, you hand it to your loved one. Upon opening the gift, you see that person’s mouth open slightly and hear a gentle gasp. As the crinkle of wrapping paper fades, a pregnant silence fills the room. Still looking down at the gift and holding it in one hand, the other hand rises to the slightly opened mouth. A certain (good) kind of tightness rises from your chest to your own throat. You are as fixated on your loved one as he or she is on the gift in hand. Slowly the head rises and your loved one’s eyes meet yours. Sniffles. Hard swallows. Tears (good ones). And because vocal chords would be of no use, you watch as your beloved mouths an inaudible “Thank you!” Looking down at the gift and again back at you, another mouthed phrase comes, this time in a whisper: “I love it. It’s perfect! Thank you!”
You’re going to be buying, wrapping, and giving a lot of gifts this Christmas. As badly as you want your loved ones to receive them joyously, God likewise wants you to rejoice again in His matchless, undeserved, limitlessly valuable Gift of the person of His Son and the eternal and abundant life that can only be had through Him. Let’s take time to gasp and gaze at Jesus and the grace of God that He is to us. Let’s take every opportunity to be captivated in speechless wonder and gratitude and to mouth (and mean) the words “Thank you! It’s perfect” to our heavenly Father this Christmas!