For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8
What do you want most this Christmas? If you could receive anything as a gift, what would it be? I’d venture to say that most children want something material, like a certain toy or bike. Teens want the latest phone or tickets to a concert. Maybe this is because when we were kids, we thought only in material terms. Maybe this is because as kids we didn’t have money and relied on the money of our parents (or the generosity of Santa Claus) to get what we wanted. Now that we are adults, we have money to purchase many of the things we want. However, I find as I get older, the things I want most are the things money cannot buy. I want health, I want free time, I want forgiveness, I want to be noticed. I want to lessen stress.
Imagine if this was your last Christmas, what would you want? You might want a last trip somewhere. But think harder. You might want some quality time with your family one last time. But think even harder. If this was your last Christmas, if life was about to end in less than one month, the thing I’d want MOST of all would be God’s grace and mercy, to know that right after my last breath on earth, I’d get my first breath in heaven. That’s because EVERYTHING on earth is temporary. Everything material will get left behind. Everything emotional and sentimental will get left behind also—even our cherished families and friendships will end in the way that we know them.
The greatest gift that we can ever receive is the grace of God. Grace covers up imperfections, and allows ordinary people to become extraordinary. It’s what allows us to move from the ordinary life on earth to the extraordinary life of heaven. Grace is the gift that never ends. We know that we need faith in Jesus Christ to go to heaven. We know that we also need to live out that faith through work. But no amount of faith and work is enough. Why? Because even the most faithful person who does the greatest amount of Christian works has both diminished by sin. There is no perfect faith and there is no one who does good work 100% of the time. However, it is God’s grace that completes faith when it is lacking. It is God’s grace that covers up the sins that affect our work. This is why the greatest gift we can ever receive is God’s grace and the different ways that grace manifests itself in our lives.
There is something special about receiving God’s grace. I’ve mentioned the grace to go to heaven as the greatest gift and greatest manifestation of God’s grace. We can, however, also experience His grace in life today. Grace is a gift that can be given and enjoyed on any day of our lives. Because at the moment we receive it, we are temporarily removed from all the stresses and cares of life. There are stories of saints who have been wrongfully imprisoned, who kneel down in prayer in the darkness and coldness of a prison cell, and all of a sudden the cell is filled with God’s light, the cold and darkness is replaced with warmth, the fear is replaced with comfort and encouragement. That doesn’t mean that these saints were delivered from imprisonment and martyrdom. It means that they were comforted and strengthened to face their tests in the life and that living in this grace assured them that their suffering would lead to eternal life.
Those of us who are reading this message may not be held in cells facing execution. However, many of us find ourselves imprisoned by sadness, frustration, and stress based on our life circumstances. It is in these moments especially, when we should fall on our knees in prayer, and ask God to send His Holy Spirit on us, to comfort us, to enlighten us, and to strengthen us. Every time I pray, there is not a moment of this light. This is because many times my prayer is offered amidst distraction and lack of focus in my own mind. However, when I focus and concentrate, when I work to put aside all my earthly distractions while praying, many times I do feel enveloped by God’s light, and that is a gift. The same thing occurs when we worship, and when we partake of the sacraments. The majority of us do not have the opportunity to worship or commune with Christ daily. However, we should take advantage of every opportunity we can to stand in His grace in worship and to receive a dose of His grace in the sacraments, particularly Holy Communion, as often as we can.
Hopefully, we know the nine Fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. These are manifestations of God’s grace. What a gift to have joy. What a gift to have patience, or for others to show patience to us.
The Christmas season seems to bring on more obligations, more stress and less time for everyone. It seems almost counterintuitive to take even more time to be with God. In fact, many of us will spend less time. Spend time this season with God, so that you can receive the grace that comes through prayer and also through worship. During a recent confession, my Spiritual Father told me that the more time I spend in front of the altar, the more I will realize that God is in charge, and the more aware I will be of His graciousness towards me. I am also busy in this Christmas season, but I’m choosing this year to put aside more time to worship, more Divine Liturgies on the calendar and thus more opportunities to receive the Grace of God through Holy Communion.
Grace is the greatest gift we can receive and it is also the greatest gift we can give. God’s grace makes His forgiveness of us possible. When we “give grace” to others, that is how we can forgive them. We give our a God-like grace every time we make a gesture of love, joy, peace, patience, etc. So, in giving gifts to others, let us consider the gift of grace and giving it generously this Christmas season.
The gift I need the most is grace, from God and from others. And the greatest gift I can offer in return is showing grace. In I John 4:19, we read “We love, because He first loved us.” To this we can add, we offer grace to one another because He offers grace to us.
Lord, thank You for the gift of grace, bestowed upon me, even though many times I am unworthy to receive it. Please Lord continue to send Your grace upon me, to complete that which I lack, to cover my imperfections and to allow me, ordinary as I am, to become extraordinary. Help me to have the patience to offer grace to others, remembering that You have so generously offered it to me. Help me to remember the gift of Your grace, to receive it, to offer it and to desire it. Amen.
In this season of gift giving, let us not forget the gift of grace—to receive it, to give it, and to desire it.
