Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. — Philippians 2:5-7

There are many things that make a great gift great. One thoughtfully considers the recipient and gives a gift that is really needed. Lovely wrapping always helps a gift to be special. Great gifts are costly. If one does not spend a lot of money on a gift, one likely spends a lot of time on it and pours themselves into the gift in a tangible way. Today we commemorate the greatest gift of all time. We remember when God gave his only begotten Son to sinful humanity that they themselves might become children of God.

Many have a very hard time with this gift. To accept it means having to believe in the mystery of the Incarnation. It means accepting a miraculous birth from a young virgin mother. It means that God loved the world he made so much that he took on flesh and became one of us. Many can’t accept mysteries, miracles, and many can’t accept that God loves us so much even when we are so broken. Christmas for those who can’t accept these things is about the birth of a good man, the birth of a man that might even have had a “strong god consciousness.” For these folks, Christmas is all about the wrapping, the lights, the warm feelings. We remember a nice story about a birth in Bethlehem,  but it is a birth like any other. We are happy for Mary and Joseph, the biological parents of Jesus, but the gift meant little in meeting the ultimate needs of sinners, and it didn’t really cost God anything.

But for those who can accept the mystery of the Incarnation, there is a realization that the cost was beyond belief. We get a feel for it in Genesis when God asks Abraham to sacrifice “his son, his only whom he loves.” Abraham had waited 100 years for this child. His birth was miraculous. Isaac meant everything to Abraham. In the end, God provided a lamb for the sacrifice so that Isaac was spared. God would not make Isaac sacrifice his only beloved son. However, the lamb that replaced Isaac on the altar foreshadowed his own Son, his only Son, whom he loved, who would be sacrificed upon the cross. Abraham had loved Isaac for twelve years. When God sent his Son to take on flesh, he had known him forever. I can’t imagine the pain of that separation.

We tend to think Jesus got started in Bethlehem. How quickly we forget that he was with the Father from the beginning of creation and beyond that. He made the stars and hung them. Philippians states that though he was in the form of God he did not grasp it, but humbled himself. Jesus was not simply in the form of God, he was and is and will forever be God, coeternal with the Father and the Spirit. We sing songs about “movin’ on up.” Part of the mystery of the incarnation is the way Jesus “Came on down.” It is impossible to comprehend what Jesus gave up to be born as one of us in a manger. He sacrificed all the prerogatives of being God the creator and King of Kings to make himself the servant of all. For the Father and the Son, the cost of the Christmas gift was enormous.

The gift also gave us precisely what we need on an eternal spiritual level. We didn’t need another good man to show us how to behave, we needed a savior to redeem us from sin and death.  This Christmas I pray that we all might unwrap the best gift that we can receive. “To all that receive him, who believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God.” —John 1:12

Merry Christmas,

†Bp. Mark