"Christ's gifts are yours with no obligations and no strings attached" Christmas 1 2024

29. December 2024

Christmas 1

Luke 2:22-40

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

A gift, no matter how artlessly or thoughtfully given, inspires a sense of obligation. What happens if you forget to give your pastor a Christmas present, but he gives one to you? You know he doesn’t expect to be paid back, per se, but the relationship scales become unbalanced. And gift-giving amongst unequals can get even more complicated.

Suppose your boss gives you and all your co-workers Christmas gifts. The gift isn’t something you necessarily want, nor does it directly compensate you for your work throughout the year. If you’re not the Grinch, this gift might make you feel obligated to be more friendly with your boss. If the gift is costly, it may make it awkward for you to voice complaints at next week’s meeting.  A gift from a superior is not meant to be reciprocated in kind but in loyalty. It creates social alliances in a world that normally demands immediate remuneration.

But this has always been true of gifts. Gifts have never gone out of style. The only thing that has changed about gifts over the past millennium has been how we say it. In old English, for example, it was pronounced “yift.” In medieval England, the “yift” was necessary for the success of a leader. The king’s throne was even referred to as the “gift stool,” derived from the tradition of kings giving gifts from their seat of power. But, like any gift received from the boss, one should not accept a gift from the king lightly. In doing so, you place yourself in a position of obligation to the king. Another wrinkle was that the gift was given publicly before witnesses, representing the giver’s hopes and expectations, his honor, power, and generosity. So, one could not receive a gift from his king and then claim that he was under no obligation to honor the gift or the gifter.

This is why, in some Germanic and Scandinavian languages, the same word for “gift” also means “poison”— and “marriage” — but I’m sure there’s no correlation between marriage as a gift and it being poisonous! In fact, during the Middle Ages, every marriage required a “morning-gift” — a substantial sum of money and land that was paid to the wife on the morning after the marriage’s consummation. This gift was paid to the wife, and not her father or any of her other family members. This gift was hers to sell, give away, or bequeath as she saw fit, which brings us nicely to Jesus and his bride, the Church.

Unlike how we prefer to treat a gift, as an obligation, God’s gift carries with it no obligation and has no strings attached. There is no exchange of honor for loyalty in the form of gifts and oaths. Instead, God gives his gifts — and gives himself to us as a gift when he bodies himself at the birth of Jesus — so that our relationship with him never has to be awkward. One cannot attach conditions to a gift, because that makes it not-a-gift, but an obligation. The very definition of a gift is that it is freely given without the gifter expecting some kind of remuneration from the one who accepts it.

So when Jesus comes, and he makes all things new, it begins with this gifting. His gift-giving is a selfless act. He gives generously without the expectation of being repaid with our service. He heals the sick and the lame, performs exorcisms, feeds the hungry, and raises the dead without any demand of compensation. And maybe more shocking to us, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the Gospel, and even our God-given vocations are handed out from Jesus’ “gift-stool” without conditions attached.

Sinners the world over and the devil exchange gifts for loyalty, ensnaring their family and friends, co-workers and employees (and even their pastors and brothers and sisters in Christ) in obligatory service to them through the act of gifting. But, for Jesus, and thus for us, his communion of saints, “there can be no word of giving or taking, nor of reward; for we are brethren.”

More than that, he is the head of the body that works us, his hands and feet. So we must await his treasures that are distributed from the “gift-stool.” And this, too, is a very good thing. We receive his gifts of words, water, bread, wine, and work that Jesus gives without limits or measures because he has more than enough.

His gifts are our reward for his being our God. He shows us favor because he cannot deceive because he is the Truth and — gift of all gifts — he is the source and sustenance of our life. There is not one of you that was made that was not crafted and birthed by him for him to shower you with gifts. Or, to put it simply: There is not one gift that Jesus gives that does not turn into another. It is his way that he must give treasures to you because this King greatly favors you.

So now, what if God gives you a present and you forget (or don’t want to) pay him back? Nothing. Nothing happens. The scales are still balanced by Jesus’ body, and blood is shed for you for the forgiveness of sin. But what if you want to give God a gift? What if you want to give your pastor, for example, or someone else a gift? You are free to do that, too. You are under no obligation to give them anything. Every good and perfect gift comes down to us from God’s gift-seat. Every gift that you give was given to you first by God.

That’s what Jesus does for you. He releases you from the obligation to treat every gift as a debt owed. The old way of gifting, the old way of defining a gift as an obligation, is put to death by Jesus at his birth, in his ministry, and at his death and resurrection. And that’s good news. The old way is awkward and hopeless, and it depends on your loyalty and service. God’s whole purpose for being bodied is to give you a graspable gift, the gift of himself, as a constant reminder that the new way of gifting has come into the world, bringing joy, peace, and freedom with it. 

We’ve all experienced this at a birthday party or at a Christmas gathering. There’s an improper exchanger of gifts that has the potential to inflict great harm and damage on family bonds and friendships. The gift has turned into poison. But, Jesus draws out the poison by assuming your sin, by suffering execution at the hands of the world, and by the fatal bite of Satan. Then, three days later, he is awakened from his tomb to pay the “morning gift.” Jesus gives away all his treasures so that he can say to the whole cosmos that you are most certainly and unquestionably his bride. All that he possesses is given to you.

And, yes, you may freely sell, give away, or bequeath God’s treasures to others. The gifts are yours, after all, with no obligations and no strings attached. But why would you give away the best presents you’ve ever been given?

So today, you will again come to Jesus’ gift-seat, and again, you will receive his truest treasures: his body and blood. Next week, God-willing, and if Jesus doesn’t return in glory, you will do it again. You will do this again and again and again until the resurrection to eternal life because there is no end to Jesus’ treasures. Jesus is the gifter and the gift, that just keeps on giving, which means, for you, that every day is Christmas.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin

Based on a sermon by Rev. Donavon Riley.