The Spirit of Giving
“This is my sister’s toy, but I can play with it when she is not here.” This is a quote from a five-year-old I know. When I was five, the blessing of Christmas was new toys. The challenge of Christmas, with respect to sibling relations, was toys. Property begs protection. Where there are possessions there are worries. We do find moments while sharing Christmas morning with young children when we can hear peace reign. Each person can simultaneously enjoy what he or she has. Children have Peppa Pig playhouse, a little farmer with a tractor, a wagon, and happy animals, an educational tablet, and grandpa with his coffee. Those spells come and go, replaced by situations. Thank God for parents that have the magic for smoothing tensions and soothing emotions. Grandpa’s magic is rusty.
So, we witness at Christmas time, the word “Mine!” can be expressed with full use of the diaphragm, loudly, and with gravel in the voice, we never thought possible from a young child. We get it: that is life with humans, not just children, but all of the lovely upright, bi-pedal creatures: feisty, anxious lot that we are. We also “get” this is not what Christmas is about.
Christmas is about a gift that leads not to squabbles but to shalom, not to possessiveness, but to peace on earth, goodwill among those absorbing the favor of God. To those who receive the highest gift of Christmas, Christ’s presence, the indwelling Holy Spirit, shalom is the endpoint. We are not there yet, have you noticed? But we are getting there, to the extent we fully embrace the gift. Individually, we must more fully receive the peace of Christ. Collectively, more and more people must embrace the inexhaustible favor of God, the grace offered.
The unfolding of the Christmas Mystery as the body of Christ through our worship is a three-fold movement. In Advent, we live the spirit of expectation. In the days of Christmas, we encounter the fulfillment of Love come down. With the Feast of the Epiphany, we experience and adopt for our life-pattern, the call to mission in action. Advent is looking for God. Christmas is receiving God. Epiphany is sharing God: Expectation; Fulfillment; Mission.
The themes of Epiphany have to do with showing God initiates, namely, that divine favor and love are for all. The rightful recipients of God’s gift of self and resulting peace are those who can look up in the sky and spot a star. The thing about a star, especially a bright star, is that it is not hidden, it shows its light to all. The birth may have been in Bethlehem, but the Love born there was for Boǧasköy, Bisatun, and Bishapur as well. It is for Bisbee, Bethesda, and the Bayou City. There is nothing esoteric and hidden about what is offered through Christ, now that God’s glory is here for us all.
In the Epistle Reading for this Sunday, Ephesians 3:1-12 we find Paul writing on how the mystery of Christ is revealed and available. He says the secret hidden to past generations of mankind is now, by the Spirit, made plain to messengers and prophets. He says the spectrum of peoples that had been excluded are now equal heirs and equal partners in God’s promise given by Christ through the Good News. Paul says, “Surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation.” He states he has written to them, simply and concisely, as he puts it, “to enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.” He goes on: “In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” This is the language of Epiphany.
The Psalm, written in the first age of the Kingdom of Israel, a thousand years before Paul’s writing has the broad plan highlighted. Who will be in on this blessed reign of God and the blessings of righteousness? Psalm 72:10-13 says: “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute, and the kings of Arabia and Saba offer gifts. All kings shall bow down before him, and all the nations do him service.” The psalm adds it is not just the rich and powerful in the flow of God’s favor: “For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, and the oppressed who has no helper.”
We should ponder this deeply. We need to be Epiphany People. It is not ours to hang onto what we perceive as a personal privilege. It is God’s to give and ours to announce to others it is theirs too. I know, my inclination is to say “Mine!” as forcefully as I can. But I can muster just as much verve to say. “It is yours! It is ours, together! I am familiar with our natural possessiveness with our toys, but the riches of God are poured out in plenty, they are available for all eternity. Let us not clutch and cling; let us share in the spirit of Shalom.