Gift-Giving Season Is Near, But It’s Always the Season for Spiritual Gifts

Have you noticed how the Christmas hype is building up, especially now that Halloween is out of the way? Yes, Thanksgiving comes first, but it’s basically turkey and pumpkin pie. As far as advertisers are concerned, let’s get on with Christmas. Full speed ahead!

 

There are so many layers to Christmas. First and foremost, of course, is what it’s really all about: the birth of Jesus Christ, God incarnate. That will be the focus for another upcoming post. But when someone says ‘Christmas,’ what else comes to mind? Peppermint sticks. Parties. Frosty the Snowman, and the Grinch. Yuletide carols. Fruitcake. “The Nutcracker.” Santa Claus, Rudolph and the other reindeer. Christmas gifts.

I’m old enough to remember the spectacular Sears Wish Book -- its Christmas catalog. What a treasure. For a youngster, it was a true winter wonderland. Page after page of toys, anything we could imagine. Upon arrival, the catalog had my full attention. Like many other kids, it sparked a Christmas gift list that terrified my parents. ‘We don’t have money for all that!’ Every year the people at Sears Roebuck & Co. produced a savvy marketing tool that induced dreams much better than visions of sugar plums.

 

Then came Christmas morning, with the early wakeup time. Who could sleep with all the anticipation of what the gaily colored gift packages contained? For me, there were cowboy and Indian sets (we weren’t politically correct back then), toy trains, maybe a toy rifle (gun violence wasn’t an issue), games, books, model cars and planes, and the obligatory clothes.

 

But it wasn’t just one-sided. I remember one Christmas I saved up enough money to buy my mom a lighted, framed picture of “The Last Supper.” She loved it. And I loved that she loved it. Receiving and giving gifts made memory upon memory.

 

Have you ever considered that God loves gift-giving, too? He does. Several passages in the Bible describe them. However, these aren’t the kinds of gifts you find in a retailer’s catalog or on the shelves of a department store. No, these are spiritual gifts, and every follower of Jesus Christ is promised at least one. But they’re not baby dolls, Lego sets, electronics, or board games.

 

As the apostle Paul explains in Romans 12:36-8, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

 

Elsewhere the apostle lists other spiritual gifts, including evangelism, apostleship, pastoring, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, speaking in tongues and interpreting them. Some theologians contend there are more kinds of gifts God gives to His people, but the point is He wants each of His children to have gifts uniquely designed for their use.

 

Why does the Lord give these gifts? Paul tells this as well: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).

 

That last statement is the key. Unlike Christmas gifts we receive, they’re not given for our personal benefit alone. The gifts from God are intended “for the common good.” As Paul writes in another of his epistles, these gifts are “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13). 

 

The Scriptures compare spiritual gifts to parts of the human body, each of which has a specific purpose to benefit the whole. If you’ve been blessed by the preaching or teaching of individuals expounding on what the Bible says, you’ve benefited from the gifts God has given them. Many of us came to know Christ through people utilizing their gift of evangelism.

 

When I was working with parachurch ministries and non-profits, having to raise my own financial support, the Lord blessed me with a number of generous friends who had the gift of giving. Leadership, service, administration, mercy – we’ve all benefited from people exercising these spiritual gifts.

 

So, over the coming weeks as we view commercial after commercial about the newest and greatest consumer products that you, your family members and friends would love to have, don’t forget about the spiritual gifts God lavishly bestows on His children. The toys, trinkets and clothes we unwrap Christmas morning will one day break or wear out. But God’s spiritual gifts don’t. In fact, the impact of those gifts we use for His glory and the benefit of others will last for eternity.

Nostalgia, Wishful Thinking and the Nativity

The Sears Wish Book peaked imaginations
for more than 60 years.

Do you remember the annual Sears Wish Book? The seasonal catalog sent sugarplums dancing around youngsters’ heads for decades. We complain when stores unveil Christmas decorations in early fall, but the Wish Book appeared in late summer, giving kids months to fantasize over what they would discover under the tree on Christmas day.

A recent newspaper article reminded me of this iconic publication that spanned 1933-1993, featuring everything from tools to telescopes, and most important…toys. It was a winter wonderland for a young person’s imagination months before the first snowflakes would appear.

The Wish Book’s now a remnant of days gone by, but thinking about it flooded me with nostalgia. It’s like watching “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the original “Miracle on 34^th Street” with little Natalie Wood, “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and even Laurel and Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers.” They transport us to places and times far, far away, when we weren’t held captive to technology or rumors of impending social upheaval. That was too long ago!

Alas, who needs a Wish Book today when we have Amazon and the Internet? And in our skeptical age, sentiments and values portrayed in movie classics seem sentimental and sappy, hardly a match for the harsh and unsettling realities bombarding us today.

Nostalgia’s a thing of the past – literally. Some people think it’s old hat. And it’s that, too. But I say, bring it on. The more nostalgia, the merrier. Especially during the Christmas season.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" has captivated
viewers since 1965.

Despite new recordings released every year, we smile when we hear traditional holiday tunes like “The Christmas Song,” “Jingle Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The fragrance of a fresh-cut Christmas tree evokes memories from years past, and for decades we’ve thrilled to hear hapless “Chuck” proclaim the Good News of the first Christmas to the shepherds in the fields in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Traditional carols remind of us what Christmas is truly about: “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “The First Noel,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “Joy to the World.” The favorite of many, “Silent Night,” always draws me back to my boyhood days, attending Christmas Eve services in the Hungarian-American church in New Brunswick, N.J., where the simple tune written by Franz Gruber was simultaneously sung in both Hungarian and English.

Nothing is more nostalgic, in my view, than various depictions of the very first Christmas – Mary, Joseph and the Christ child huddled in a humble stable with cows, sheep, angels and shepherds peering over their shoulders. Ranging from simple creations that fit in the palm of a hand to cute Precious Moments renditions to elaborate Nativity scenes that are true works of art, they remind of the amazing time when “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

With our annual commemoration of that day nearing, let’s hope and pray that despite the turmoil and discord that seem to reign in society, we will experience the reality of this declaration: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests'” (Luke 2:13-14).