It was solemn business. With Christmas around the corner, Mom and Dad brought us four kids into the living room and had us sit down on the sofa. “We are going to draw names,” Mom explained. “There are four names in here, all folded up, one for each of you. And the name you pick out of this basket is the person you are going to buy something special for, wrap it up, and put it under the tree.”
“But we don’t have any money,” one of us piped up.
“That’s why Dad and I are going to give you $10 each, and we will take you shopping for your special person. Make sure to keep it a secret, though, and we will reveal the mystery on Christmas morning,” Mom said.
So when I stepped inside the store the following week, crisp $10 bill in my velcro wallet, I began my mission right away. Would my person like candy? A toy car? A stuffed animal? Being an ardent lover of all things cuddly and adorable, I gravitated toward the stuffed animals.
And that’s when I saw it – a stuffed penguin wearing a knitted blue cap and scarf. This. I had to have this! And not for my person, but for me. It was as if he was calling my name, begging me to bring him home. The shop was no place for a penguin, but I knew where he would be more comfortable – right on my bed.
Immediately I began to scheme. The penguin cost $5, so he could come home with me that very day if I could find my person a gift that cost less than $5. I felt a twinge of guilt, but one more look at the forlorn penguin convinced me. I could do this. My person would understand. After all, who wouldn’t? Adopting a stuffed penguin was important, especially at Christmastime.
Carrying the penguin around under one arm, I began to look for a cheaper gift for my person in earnest. And as I was properly motivated, I soon found a toy I thought my person would genuinely like. I smiled all the way to the checkout line, thinking to myself that this situation was a win-win. There were no losers in this equation. Toy for my person, check. A lonely penguin who now had a home for Christmas, check.
I felt mildly guilty as I was wrapping my person’s measly gift, but it was assuaged as I hugged my new stuffed penguin every night as I entered dreamland. And pretty soon, I awoke to Christmas morning! The anticipation was palpable as we opened our gifts from our parents and exclaimed our delight over each one.
Although we weren’t certain we could possibly contain any more excitement, Mom announced that it was time to present our gift to our special person. My little sister Candace placed this huge present in front of me with joyful aplomb and announced, “I drew your name! I hope you like it!”
I remember feeling a bit in shock that this gift was so big, and I felt unworthy of it. But I tore into the package nonetheless, and I found this immense ball of fluff and fur. Upon closer inspection, it was a super cute stuffed dog with pink ribbons around each of its floppy ears. But what eclipsed the elation at receiving such a large and precious gift was the look in Candace’s eyes as she asked, “Do you like it?” And what I found out later was that Candace had spent not only Mom and Dad’s $10, but she had also used $15 of her own money to purchase this present for me.
I can’t tell you how guilty I felt receiving such a lavish gift when I had been so stingy with my person – who, by the way, really seemed to love the gift I bought, regardless of the lack of generosity of its giver.
But I was thinking about this memory this week because sometimes I do think about it at Christmastime and berate myself once again for my selfishness, but also because often, gift exchanges are rather unfair. We’ve all participated in those White Elephant gift exchanges where you play a game and pick a present, and some people leave with something they’ll actually use while others are planning the closest route to Goodwill to drop their disappointing gift off on the way home.
Some of us put a lot of thought into the gifts we bring (you will be relieved to know that as an adult, I am now one of these people) while others just regift something they had in the back of their closet. It’s not exactly a fair trade. But even this lines up with what many of us celebrate this time of the year.
Luke 2:14 tells us what the angels said to the shepherds after announcing the birth of Baby Jesus: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Glory to God, peace to us. Is this how it works, then? When I give God the glory in my situation, I receive His peace? It doesn’t quite seem fair. All I am doing is recognizing who He is. And I am only able to do that by His grace, because He has opened my eyes to see. And peace? For God to gift me with peace – that which all of us so desperately need but cannot attain for ourselves – seems like I’m getting the better end of the deal.
But really, isn’t the Gospel itself a glorious exchange?
I hand Him my sins in repentance, He clothes me in His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).
I surrender my bad attitudes to Him, He creates a clean heart within me (Psalm 51:10).
I offer Him my weakness, He fills me with His strength (2 Corinthians 12:9).
I give Him my ashes, He gifts me with beauty (Isaiah 61:3).
I cast my cares on Him, He gives me peace (1 Peter 5:7).
I bring my depression to Him, He lavishes me with His hope (Psalm 42:5,11; 43:5).
I lay my burdens at His feet, He grants me rest (Matthew 11:28).
I regale Him with a list of why I am overwhelmed with life, He lends me perspective by leading me to the rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:2).
I could go on and on, listing the measly trinkets we lay before Him and the treasures He places in our arms instead. But I think you get the idea. We praise Him because He is mighty, holy, faithful, true, loving, just, and so much more. And in turn, He helps us by daily bearing our burdens (Psalm 68:19).
And like the little-kid version of me on that Christmas morning when I hugged the furry stuffed puppy that I did not deserve and certainly had not earned, we are grateful for grace. For the gentle ways God’s kindness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4) and to praise. We give Him the glory. And we are changed.
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
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