LIFT Renewal Ministries

Gifting

As of noon on Friday, there are only 56,880 minutes left until the start of 2009…and only 46,800 minutes left until Christmas.  Just enough time for each of us to finish our Holiday gift lists and head for the shopping malls!  Are you ready? 

For myself, I’m not the list-making kind of person.  That kind of approach doesn’t come naturally to me.  Worse yet, I’m a notoriously impatient gift-giver.  Which is to say that when I have a gift to give to someone, I usually can’t wait for Christmas, or their birthday, or whatever.  I want to give it to them right now, without any further delay.  My impatience is even more acute when I’m giving a gift that really fits the person; a truly inspired gift that will delight the recipient and bring years of joy and usefulness to them.  And the worst cases of “I can’t stand the wait” for me are the gifts I’ve made with my own hands--the gifts that have cost me something of myself, and my time, and my creativity.

When I give a homemade gift to someone, it’s like giving them a piece of myself.  I remember as a child in grade school bringing home plaster casts, clay ashtrays, and other homemade gifts and decorations for my folks.  I just couldn’t wait until Christmas, to see if they would like the gift.  Don’t get me wrong; I was also excited over the tree, the lights, Santa, and the promise of gifts for me.  But I remember on Christmas morning, when it came time for my parents to open up the gifts we’d made for them, my face would flush and palms would sweat and I could hear my heart beating in my chest.  And then oh! the joy when my folks would say how much they JUST LOVED the particular gift I’d given them!  Even today, at fifty years old, it gives me a thrill to see the acceptance and appreciation of a carefully given gift on the face of that gift’s recipient. 

True giving is about connecting with another person, and sharing oneself with the other.  I read recently that you can hire a shopper to go out and buy things for the persons on your shopping list, so that you’ll have more time during the holidays.  I also remember attending a church meeting once where a resolution was proposed that all church members limit their Christmas spending to $100.00 per family, so as to make consideration for the poor and impoverished (the resolution did not pass).  These two approaches are opposite sides of the same coin—it’s called disdain for others.  We cannot possibly communicate our love for those who are close to us by throwing discretionary money at professional shoppers.  By the same token, when our moral stands become more important to us than close relationships we end up sending an awkward message to our friends and loved ones: “I would have bought you a gift, but there are too many hungry people in the world, and they are more important.” Or, as one person told me recently, “last Christmas my Christian cousin gave me the gift of feeling guilty for all the problems of the world.”

Mother Teresa once said, “If you give what you do not need, it isn’t giving.” I think she understood that giving is about recognizing the humanity—the personhood—of another.  True giving demands a cost from the giver—an investment of creativity and resources and sacrifice.  The sacrificial nature of a gift is what makes so meaningful.  And the remembrance of the joyful look on the recipients’ face makes us eager and impatient to give even more.  All the sacrifice is worth it when we see our loved ones light up with joy, when they recognize our sacrifice and tell us, truthfully, “thank you, it’s perfect.”

I don’t know whether God is an impatient giver or not.  But sometimes I imagine God sitting beside the manger, hands wet with perspiration, heart pounding, face flushed, and waiting for the world to unwrap a very special gift.  And I wonder, amidst the sleigh bells and tinsel and holly, when was the last time God saw my face light up in the glow of his sacrificial gift?  When was the last time I told him, truthfully, “thank you, Lord, it’s perfect.”?