Christmas is about gifts. There are all kinds of gifts wrapped up for the holiday: toys, clothing, socks and underwear, computer games, jewelry and surprises like engagement rings. God gives a particular gift of love wrapped in the flesh of an infant. The birth of a child brings remarkable joys to life, but the joys cannot come to fruition without a steady and dutiful obligation to the child. The joys that we have with a child is forged by the way we take up our responsibilities that come with birth.

Every gift that we receive has a responsibility attached to it. The least responsibility is gratitude, and in the largest sense the receiver has the stewardship of the gift to consider. A gift always comes wrapped in some kind of responsibility. Responsibility in its proper proportion increases our joy. A lack of responsibility almost always discourages or diminishes joy. Wit the birth of Jesus; God presents a gift of love that calls forth responsibility. Seeing the gift of the infant Jesus as a responsibility that brings forth more joy is not so easy for us. We live in a culture that has expectations of gifts but that also shuns responsibilities. Gifts say thank you or carry a wish of health, blessings and love; but primarily gifts build community. Gifts build relationships; they are like the mortar between individuals. When a relationship develops between giving and receiving of two individuals a community is being advanced and a responsibility is created.

Today we celebrate that our creator wrapped his who purpose for us in the flesh of an infant. The mysterious gift that began with that infant is the gift of a relationship and a community with God. An infant cannot reach maturity without the family bearing its responsibility. Our faith, the most wonderful gift from God cannot reach its maturity without each of us doing our own responsible part. A child in your life gives a mystery that words cannot describe. Parent, godparent, relative or friend; a relationship with a child gives a gift for which there are no adequate words. The joy of receiving love, a hug, the pleasure of a smile, laughter of glee, the extension of our lives into another; these are mysterious gifts. And then there are the little benedictions of smiles, looks, touches that bring peace and calm.

God gives himself to us in the most joyous way any human can ever experience, the birth of an infant. That love can change, renew, and open our lives to receive healing and understanding. There is a reason that God’s gift comes to us as a helpless infant. It wakens us to our responsibilities. Nothing can happen with a newborn unless we become responsible to build a community of nurturing love with the child. If the flame of love and faith in Jesus is born in you, nothing much will happen with it unless you also accept the gift of responsibility that goes with it.

What I pray for this Christmas is that our hearts will be changed by the infant Jesus’ love and that we will be converted to the joy of our responsibility. When we become aware of our role in the relationship of God’s love we awaken to our responsibilities for creation, and when we act on that love to bring about healing, renewal, forgiveness and grace, joy is the result. Just as the vulnerable infant Jesus could not have matured to the adult who changed the fabric of our lives without his parents and others who shared responsibility for him, so the world waits for us, his family to take seriously our responsibilities for it – and all this so that we all may have more joy and our lives be more complete. When we are responsible for the gift of his love the joy that is possible in this world is magnified.

May it be that your joy magnifies the lives of others. Amen.