The Gift of Love

Today we continue an advent series focusing on the gifts of Christmas. And we are tying this together with the advent candles that we light each week. Since today we light the candle of love, let’s spend some time diving a bit further into what this gift of love is all about in the Christmas season. Again this week we are using the book of Romans as our guide. I mentioned last week when we began this series the way in which I like the summary that the NIV version of the Bible gives to the book of Romans in its introduction to Romans. The NIV summarizes the message of Romans in this one sentence: “This letter presents theology in a logical, organized way and focuses on salvation as a gift from God, through grace, by the blood of Christ Jesus.” Yes, the apostle Paul writes the letter of Romans as logical theology. Yet within these chapters of theology there is a clear gospel message woven all throughout. Salvation as a gift from God, through grace, by the blood of Jesus Christ.

“This letter presents theology in a logical, organized way and focuses on salvation as a gift from God, through grace, by the blood of Christ Jesus.” —NIV introduction to Romans

The passage we will read today talks about this gospel message using the language of a gift. Even though Paul’s writing in Romans can appear heavy and theological, don’t get lost in that. At first glance, this passage might appear to be a heavy theological doctrine of sin and death—maybe you may even wonder why we would look at a passage like this during advent. However, within these words there is a message of God’s love given in the form of a gift.

Romans 5:12–21 (NIV)

Romans 5:12–21 NIV

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Clement Clark Moore published his poem A Visit from St Nicholas in a New York newspaper in 1823

God’s grace is a gift of love. We are familiar with gifts at Christmastime. It is a tradition that dates back centuries, even before Clement Clark Moore published his poem, A Visit from St Nicholas in a New York newspaper in 1823. You might know that poem by its more popular title based on the first line, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas. The stories and movies about Santa Clause that we know today really did not take shape until after Moore published that poem in 1823. Yet, St Nicholas was a real person—not a magical elf who lives at the North Pole. 

St Nicholas — 4th century monk who was known especially for his generosity to the poor

St Nicholas was a 4th century monk who was known especially for his generosity to the poor, and especially towards children. In the tradition of the Catholic Church, St Nicholas day is celebrated in December. As the tradition of celebrating St Nicholas Day passed from generation to generation, it took on some of its own local expressions. In Belgium and Germany, there were nuns who would deliver baskets of food and clothing on St Nicholas Day and leave those gifts on the doorsteps of people’s homes. In the Netherlands the dutch people commemorated it by having children leave their shoes out in the parlor at night, and wake the next morning to find those shoes filled with gifts.

even after the Reformation, dutch continued to commemorate St Nicholas Day (Sinterklaas) every December by giving gifts

During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, many of these Catholic celebrations of commemorating days to the saints fell away from tradition. But for whatever reason, even as strong as the Protestant Reformation was in the Netherlands, the dutch people continued to commemorate St Nicholas Day every December by giving gifts. By the way, the dutch translation for St Nicholas is SinterKlaas. Dutch immigrants took this tradition with them into the the American colonies back when what is now New York City was known as New Amsterdam. And it was over a hundred years later in that same city Clement Clark Moore took the Dutch SinterKlass tradition and turned it into Santa Clause with his now-famous poem ’Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Magi from the east bring gifts to Jesus

the giver of the gift — Magi willing to travel weeks (months??) to find Jesus no matter what it takes

Yet, even within the biblical Christmas story as we know it in the gospels there are gifts. Matthew’s gospel tells us the story of Magi who come from the east bringing gifts for Jesus. These gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gifts that the Magi bring tell us something. These are gifts of extreme value that tell us the Magi are expressing extravagant generosity in the gift they present to Jesus. We might lose sight of that in our day. Remember all that the Magi had to do in order to travel and find Jesus in the first place. You and I just login to Amazon Prime and click to have packages sent right to the doorstep. I can do all my Christmas shopping and delivery without ever having to leave my living room sofa. The Magi, however, stopped everything else they were doing and spent weeks—or even months—traveling to find Jesus in order to bring their gifts to him. These gifts tell us something about the giver. The Magi are dedicated to such extravagant generosity, they will go through whatever they have to in order to find a way to Jesus and give the gift they have.

the receiver of the gift — gold, frankincense, and myrrh are gifts for a king

The gift of the Magi not only tells us something about the ones giving the gift, it also tells us something about the one receiving the gift. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are not the kinds of gifts you give to just anybody. These gifts signify a place of special significance. Think of it as the kind of gift given when a couple gets engaged to be married. When two people develop a loving relationship to the point where one person presents the gift of a special ring to the other person, that is a gift that often carries a special designation. It is the kind of gift that says from one person to the other, I want you to be my spouse. It is a gift that gives a special designation to the one receiving the gift. It tells us something about not only the giver, but also the receiver. The gifts brought by the Magi to Jesus are the kind of gifts given to kings. In fact, Matthew tells us that when the Magi first come to Israel they are asking, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” The gift itself affirms that Jesus is a king.

But enough about Magi and St Nicholas and Christmas traditions of our gift-giving. Let’s take it back to what the apostle Paul says in Romans about the gift God gives through Jesus. In the same way, this is a gift that tells us something about both the giver of the gift as well as the ones receiving the gift.

Romans traces sin back to Adam & Eve to show sin extends to all humanity

the gift God provides is available to all humanity

This passage goes to great length to tell us how sin has collapsed our entire world. Paul traces it all the way back to the garden of Eden. Sin entered the world with the very first humans, Adam and Eve. From there the domino effect took off. Once the first domino tipped, all the rest of the dominos were destined to crash as well. Paul’s point in all of that through this passage is to remind us that the fallen sinfulness of our world extends to every single human since the time of Adam and Eve. It would take an enormously extravagant act to overcome an infestation of sin which has pervaded all of humanity. And this is precisely the gift that God gives.

Romans 5:17 (NIV)

Romans 5:17 NIV

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

God, as the giver of the gift, provides a gift of salvation that is so complete and so extensive that it can be received by all people who come to him in faith. This is a point Paul makes clear in this passage as well.

Romans 5:18 (NIV)

Romans 5:18 NIV

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.

ANYONE who comes to God in faith receives this gift

Those who come to God in faith receive this gift. There is no limited amount. It is not a sweepstakes with only one winner. It is not like winner concert tickets which are reserved for caller number ten. No. This gift of Christ’s righteousness given to us is total and complete. There is no such thing as being too far away from God that it cannot reach you. There is no such thing as carrying too horrible a past with too many failures. ANYONE who comes to God in faith receives this gift. Jesus himself tells us this in the gospels in one of the most well known verses in all the Bible.

John 3:16 (NIV)

John 3:16 NIV

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is God’s gift of love we celebrate at Christmas. It is Jesus giving himself for the world he loves. He goes on to say as much a few chapters later on John’s gospel.

John 15:13 (NIV)

John 15:13 NIV

13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

the giver of the gift — Jesus chooses to do whatever it takes to give himself as a gift of love (grace)

The gift of Christ’s righteousness given to us tells us something about the giver. It tells us that this is truly a gift of love from God. It is not an obligated gesture. There is nothing in which God is required or made to give this gift. God freely chooses to give this gift even though we—the ones receiving the gift—have no claim or merit for it on our own. You know we have a word for that, which we use all the time in church circles. It is called grace. That is what grace is. It is a gift freely given that is completed undeserved. God demonstrates his love for the world in a gift like that.

the receiver of the gift — the righteousness of Christ is exactly the gift we all need

But also this is a gift that tells us something about those who receive it. This gift that we are given by God is a gift that we need. That’s a point which Paul makes very clear in this passage today as well, isn’t it. Often times at Christmas we make a gift list. And I’ll admit that everything on my Christmas list is a want or a desire, but absolutely nothing on my Christmas list is an absolute necessity that I literally cannot live without. And also, pretty much anything on my Christmas list is something which I could just go out and get myself if I really wanted to. These things are rather universally true for everyone here. The gifts we receive from family and friends at Christmas are certainly nice and thoughtful and loving, that’s for sure. But let’s be honest that pretty much nothing of what we receive from others at Christmas counts as absolute necessities which we literally could not live without.

The gift of love we receive from God through Christ is not like that. The gift we receive from God is a gift which we absolutely need. Christ’s righteousness does not come with a gift receipt for returning or exchanging. There is never a situation in which any of us could ever say to God, “Oh, I already have righteousness on my own; no thanks, I don’t need righteousness from Christ; I’ll send it back.” None of us could ever say to God, “You know what, this righteousness from Christ is not my size; it’s not something I could ever wear because I don’t think it will fit me.” No one here could ever say, “It’s no big deal if I get Christ’s righteousness as a gift or not; I’ll just find a way to get it on my own.”

Nope. We are receivers of this gift from God because there is absolutely no other way we can get it unless God himself freely gives it; and God knows that. It is EXACTLY what we need. And that is something else we see in this gift of God’s love we receive at Christmas. It is a reminder for each one of us of just how much we need God’s love every single day. We cannot live without it.

May we praise God today and every day because we have received his gift of love given to us.