“See that you also excel in this grace of giving.” – 2 Corinthians 8:7
Remember O. Henry’s famous classic short story, The Gift of the Magi? Della and Jim were two lovebirds each determined to buy the other an extravagant gift for Christmas, but because of their meager income neither could afford it. So, to raise the money Della cropped off a huge chunk of her gorgeous brown hair, her most prized possession, and sold it for a tidy sum. Likewise, Jim hocked his precious gold watch, his most prized possession, an heirloom from his father and grandfather. But in a twist of irony, Della had used the money from her cropped hair to purchase a platinum fob chain for the watch Jim now no longer owned, and Jim had spent his pawnshop money on a set of decorative combs for Della’s beautiful brown hair which no longer hung down her back.
For several years I accompanied my friend Tommy on short term mission trips to Central America where we would do construction work to help improve some particular impoverished area. Each year at the end of the last day I noticed Tommy would take off his shoes, then meticulously clean them with a towel before quietly gifting them to one of the men he had befriended who happened to wear his size. The irony is that Tommy had the means, if he had chosen to do so, to purchase a whole truckload of brand new shoes and have them shipped into that village providing shoes for everyone. Yet, he chose to give a man his own shoes, a gift that might touch his heart as well as protect his feet.
When I think about Della’s and Jim’s extravagant gifts to each other, or Tommy departing that Honduran worksite barefoot so another man could have some shoes, I am reminded of the irony of God sending Jesus to earth in the form of a tiny infant born in a smelly sheep pen to a small town unwed teenage girl, when He could have sent him instead mounted on a white stallion as General Jesus leading legions of heavily armed angels who could have quickly straightened out that whole Roman empire mess.
So, how does one excel in the grace of giving? We can find the answer in O. Henry’s story, or Tommy’s humility in the way he gave away his shoes, but certainly in what Jesus taught and demonstrated during his time on earth; for money, power, and might only go so far, but it is love and sacrifice that changes hearts, and changed hearts change the world. Wishing you a Merry Christmas, and may God bless you in the New Year.