Your doorbell rings.
For once in a long while, you’re not expecting a package from Amazon. You wonder who’s dropping by so unexpectedly.
“I’ll just open my door a bit so whoever-it-is can’t see my messy living room,” you mutter to yourself.
You open your door a crack to see me, your old friend Leah, paying you a visit. In my mittened hands I’m holding a large, crisply-wrapped present, tied with a fancy gift tag and rustic twine.
“Merry Christmas! I brought you a present, friend,” I say with a warming smile.
“It’s something you’ve always needed and told me you wanted. And to show you how much I care for you, I decided to sacrifice some things and buy it for you. I hope you like it.”
Forgetting the living room clutter, you throw open your door, thanking me, and reaching out for the gift. You invite me in and as I stand in your doorway, you eagerly unwrap the longed-for present.
“I love it!” you exclaim. You can feel the hot tears welling in your eyes. “It really is something I’ve always wanted,” you whisper.
Carefully, you run your fingers over the beautiful gift, knowing how special and costly it is. You feel thankful to have such a caring, attentive friend like me in your life.
“I’m glad you love it so much…” I reply with a pause, “…because it’ll cost ya.”
Your head pops up and you stare at me, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it WAS pretty expensive,” I say digging into my coat pocket. “So I made sure to bring the receipt so you could pay me back. Don’t worry if it takes awhile. There’s no rush.”
**cringe**
You gawk at me, speechless. Then you look down at the receipt I’ve handed you. The cost is higher than you could ever afford. Five lifetimes, working three jobs could never pay for this, you think.
“I..I thought this was a gift,” you stutter sadly, unable to comprehend how you could ever pay me back. You watch, heart-sunken as I get in my car and drive away with a friendly wave. This once wonderful, priceless gift has now become your burden.
I’ll bet the first part of this story gave you the warm-fuzzies, didn’t it.
A thoughtful, generous gift-giver, a grateful, humbled gift-receiver, and a gift that nobody–apart from the giver’s sacrifice–could afford.
God is like the generous friend in the first part of this story. His love and affection for us is genuine and indeed, unexpected! Not even the “messy living room” of our hearts keeps him from us.
And to prove how much he cares for us, he sacrifices what is most precious to him–his Son Jesus–in order to give us a gift we could never pay for ourselves: forgiveness and freedom and eternal life.
And wow…did it cost him everything. His Son Jesus paid for us with his very life.
That gift was given on the very first Christmas when Jesus Christ was presented to the world in a very unassuming place: a humble barn in a livestock trough. His life and death would not only change the world, but change YOUR world for eternity. What a precious, priceless gift…worth more than any of us could pay.
But the second half of our story is…well, a different story.
The tables turned dramatically when we found out the gift-giver expected payment for the extravagant gift.
What a jerk thing to do! Yeah, I know you were thinking it.
See, so many people (including believers) without even realizing it, can think that God’s gift of grace and forgiveness isn’t really a gift after all. Instead, it’s something God actually expects us to pay for ourselves through good deeds, saying the right things, going to church, or behaving nicely.
And if we just do enough, we can start chipping away at the total on God’s “receipt”. If we confess in church enough, read the bible enough, have enough right answers, say lofty and lovely prayers, or clean ourselves up enough (at least compared to other people), then we’ll feel better about the massive total.
But friends, unlike the less-than-generous friend in the story, God isn’t waiting for you to pay him back. Yes, his precious gift of a Savior on Christmas is meant to bring tears of humility to your eyes. The gift is MEANT to remind you that there is NOTHING you can do to pay God back. You’re MEANT to feel the overwhelming impossibility of it all.
It’s the Christmas gift you can’t afford, I can’t afford, and nobody can EVER afford. It’s vital to realize that in truly appreciating the gift.
Sadly, in our story, that once-precious gift became a tremendous burden, leaving you in a place of hopelessness and sorrow, knowing you’d forever be in debt, wondering if you could ever be free.
But UNLIKE the end of our story, God’s ending is AMAZING.
In contrast, after seeing the receipt…after knowing the cost of your sin and seeing Jesus pay your debt that you could never pay, YOUR response can be one of joy and gratitude and humility. How? By simply receiving it.
When you receive the FREE GIFT of salvation that God offers through Jesus Christ’s payment on the cross, you don’t have to worry about the debt you owe. You won’t ever have to come back to him and check your balance. You won’t ever have to wonder if his love for you is dependent on what you’ve done or haven’t done.
Because he’s already proved it in his once-for-all, sufficient, complete, and FREE gift. His gift is enough.
And it’s yours for the taking…if you’ll humble yourself, reach out your hands, and take it.
What makes a gift a gift is that it’s paid for by the giver and given freely without expectation for anything in return.
And that’s God’s free gift to YOU this Christmas.
I’m so glad that God doesn’t bait and switch us like I did to you in this story…promising something beautiful then expecting more than you could ever pay.
I’m so glad that this Christmas gift, beyond what anyone could ever afford, is truly free for you and me. Will you receive it today? I promise you won’t get the receipt.
