At the heart of the cosmos is generosity. And this is true because God is Triune. From eternity past unto all ages the Father has lavished love on the Son, and the Son has received that love and returned love to the Father, and as Augustine understood it, that love is so potent that it is a person in its own right, and that is the Holy Ghost. This mutual giving and receiving is one way to describe the essence of the godhead and is at least part of what is meant in 1 Jn. 4:16 when it says that “God is love.”

We see this in God’s dealings with man as well. The Father gives the Son to us, and the Son gives us to the Father. The Father bestows all glory and dominion on the Son, and the Son presents the Kingdom back to the Father. The Father and Son send out the Spirit, and the Spirit glorifies the Father and the Son.  

And we are gathered up into that. One of the deep mysteries of the gospel is that we are brought into the generosity of the Triune God: our grasping little miser-hearts are changed that we may reflect our most gloriously generous God.

This is of course present in the entirety of the Christian life, but it is fittingly emphasized in the celebration of Christmas. We give gifts not just because the Wise Men did or because it’s fun, but we give gifts because Christ has slain the dragon and brought us home to God. We give gifts because that is the essence of the divine life that has been given to us.

So as you prepare to celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God, and as you do so by giving gifts, remember that you are humming along with the melody that is at the foundation of the cosmos. And let covetousness and ingratitude and slothful selfishness have no place among us.