The gift that keeps on giving

IT’S that time of year again – the season where we begin to think about buying presents for friends and family, ready for the ritual exchange around the Christmas tree.

For some, this is a delight – but for others it fills them with dread.

I have a confession: I am not very good at buying presents!

As a result, my wife Maggie and I have come to an arrangement: she decides what present she would like, and I give that to her. It might not sound very romantic, but it works for us! By contrast, my daughter is a brilliant present buyer. She loves the whole process of thinking about the person she is buying for, doing lots of research, and finding something that fits really well. And she does a very good job! There is a real danger that buying presents becomes just another way to consume things. We buy things we don’t really need, at a price we cannot really afford, give them to people who don’t really want them – and we then find that they are half the price on Boxing Day!

If this happens, we miss the real importance of presents. At their best, they are an expression of love and relationship.

This is actually both the meaning of Christmas, and the reason for giving presents.

The Fourth Gospel puts it like this: The word became flesh and dwelt amongst us…full of grace and truth. (John 1.14)

The apostle Paul thinks this is the best present ever: Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Cor 9.15)

The reason why we exchange gifts at Christmas is because we remember that God has given us an amazing gift.

Jesus came, not to give us something, but to give us himself. He came to live amongst us, leaving all the riches of heaven in order to bring us hope and healing, forgiveness and strength.

But whenever we are offered a present, there is a challenge involved. Will we open it? Will we take the present out of its wrapping, remove it from its box, and make it a part of our life?

It would be very odd if, on Christmas Day, someone we loved put a present under the tree, and we left it there, neglecting to take it, open it, and thank them for it.

This Christmas, we are once again offered the gift of life in Jesus – so the question is, will we receive it? The Fourth Gospel comments: To those who received him, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1.12).

This is the greatest gift of Christmas – not just a present, but the offer of God’s presence in our lives.

■■The Rev Dr Ian Paul is associate minister at St Nic’s Nottingham and an honorary assistant professor at the University of Nottingham