Christmas Day: Carols are sung...
Christmas Day: Carols are sung, scripture read, presents opened -- presents we give to
mark the supreme gift of Jesus. A gift is a free transfer of a possession from one person to
another. Something that belonged to me I grant to you. If you pay me for it, it's not a gift.
If it obligates you to me, it's not a gift.
This is the meaning of Jesus' life. Paul expresses it here in a number of ways: goodness,
loving-kindness, mercy, and grace. He piles up words to express God's unprompted,
unpaid-for actions toward us. Christ is a gift from beginning to end -- from his birth in