For God so loved the world that God Gave God’s only Son…

God Gave. It really is that simple! As we try to make sense out of our faith, to understand what it means to believe in God, it starts with these two words: God Gave. By starting here, we affirm that all good things begin as a gracious gift to us.

Creation – the world we enjoy that gives delight to the eye and physically sustains us – a Gift.
Community – the family and friends who enrich our lives with care and nurture– a Gift.
Vocation – the work we are able to do that grants meaning to our lives and builds a society – a Gift.
Emmanuel – Divine Love coming in human form to dwell with us that we might know God – a Gift.
The Commitment of God – that suffers with us and for us, even when we reject God – a Gift.
The “Yes” of God – that opens a tomb and conquers death – a Gift.
The Holy Spirit - to enliven, convict, comfort, and teach us – a Gift.
Faith – to transform us so that we may carry light into the world so that its brokenness might be made whole – a Gift.
Hope – that through Holy Imagination we might never be stuck in despair – a Gift.

God Gave. Created in God’s image, what could be more natural for us than to give? We give not because we want to get, but because we have already received. Once enemies of God, now friends because of Christ (according the Apostle Paul), it is not out of anything that we have done that causes these good gifts to come to us. It starts and ends with God’s initiative, God’s action, God’s purpose, God’s desire, and God’s grace. Because God gave, we respond. We too, become those who give.
This season prompts a response from us. How will we choose to live in the world that God Gave? What of our many gifts might we offer for the greater good, because God Gave? How might our work become that which gives glory to God, because God Gave? How might we be the presence of God in the world, because God Gave? What hope might we carry into places of despair, because God Gave? Will we share with others what God has given us, believing that is the very reason God Gave?
A child in a manger, born to poor parents, guarded by shepherds, adored by foreigners, hailed by the angels of heaven, the very essence of God in human form…A Gift, God Gave.