The Abiding Gift

A Reflection on the Gospel for December 25, 2022:
The Nativity of the Lord

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John
1.1-18
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. 
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things came into being through him,
and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life,
and the life was the light of the human race. 
The light shines in the darkness, a
nd the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 
He came as a witness to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him. 
He himself was not the light,
but he came to testify to the light. 
The true light, which enlightens everyone,
was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world came into being through him;
yet the world did not know him. 
He came to what was his own,
and his own people did not accept him. 
But to all who received him, who believed in his name,
he gave power to become children of God, 
who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man,
but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us,
and we have seen his glory,
the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 
John testified to him and cried out,
“This was he of whom I said,
‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”
From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 
The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 
No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God,
who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

Imagine receiving a gift so perfect that it filled you in ways you hadn’t even known you needed filling. You are humbled and overcome with gratitude that the giver knew you so well and gave you this gift that brought out the very best in you. In the beginning, you think about the gift constantly. You spend time with it, getting to know it, talking about it with others, and taking it everywhere with you. When you have the gift with you, you are happier. It’s like the world is just a better place. Somehow it helps you see the good in everything and everyone around you.

After a while, the excitement of the gift begins to fade, and soon you find that you aren’t showing it to others as often. You begin to worry that people are judging you for your love of the gift. Oh sure, you still have it, but it’s not always the first thing you make sure you have with you every day. One day you forget to bring the gift with you at all, and for some reason, your day seems a little drearier. You’re not smiling as much. You find yourself making an unkind comment to someone. Nothing seems quite right. When you arrive home, you review your day and realize that you forgot to bring the gift with you.  

There was a God-shaped hole in your day that the gift usually filled. That pinprick of light that shone through the darkness was sitting on the table waiting patiently for you to pick it up and bring it with you into the world. 

So it is with Jesus and the gift of faith that His birth gives us. He is God. The most magnificent gift ever, lovingly shared by a Maker who knows us so well that His gift fills every emptiness we didn’t know we had in our lives. He longs to be with us every moment of our day, not just in those exciting, joy-filled days of the beginning of His presence in our lives. His light will overcome darkness every time. He has come to transform the world through our witness to His love, and because He has called us, He equips us to be bearers of His light to the world. He wants us to take the gift He has lovingly shared with us into our world every day. He calls us to share our gift with every person we meet, and He promises that in doing so we will always experience the joy we had when we first received the gift ourselves.

Let us pray
Lord, thank You for loving me so much that You came to the world in human form. Thank You for the magnificent gift of faith and for trusting me to bear Your light to the world. Help me to remember that long after the joy of this season fades. Let me always be light in the darkness. Abide in me as I abide in You so that the world will be transformed by Your love. Amen.




Sandy Graves

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