Exchange gifts

I think that the reason why people have a hard time accepting Christ as their Saviour is because of the title- exchange gifts. Early on, we were taught that nothing’s free in this world. During Christmas parties, we were supposed to buy another person a gift, expecting something in return. Have you observed that what we usually give is something we want for ourselves and oftentimes, the gift we receive usually exercises our “plastic” muscles? “Thank you kaayo sa gift ha!” but inwardly thinking of re-gifting the thing to others. That’s why the concept of “wish list” got traction lately so that we will actually like the gift given because we asked for it in the first place.

Exchange gifts taught us to be wary of actual gifts. If we receive something freely, we can’t help but look for strings attached. I once went to a restaurant with friends who just wanted to use the restroom. Uncomfortably sitting alone in a booth, I ordered bottled water even though I didn’t really need one. As my friends already finished using the rest room, we started to leave. The waiter ran after us, handing me the bottled water and the change. I told him to keep both and he looked at me as if I’m crazy- I mean, like head-to-toe assessment if I’m actually for real.

Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And it is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” Imagine that! Salvation through faith- nothing else required.

But being human, we can’t help but wonder if that’s all there is to it. We have a very difficult time accepting that salvation does not require anything else except faith. So we do good works. We have set standards, rules, and expectations that we think will make us worthy to be saved. We uphold meritocracy, not thinking that we are worthy of the gift unless we earn it. But this paradigm cheapens the sacrifice of Jesus and it lessens the impact of the gift. If you have to work for it, it’s not a gift but a compensation. That’s why some people choose not to receive the gift at all, thinking that since they did not receive the gift, they won’t have to work for it.

But the truth is, unless we receive the gift, nothing else counts. Unless we receive the gift, it will all be an uphill battle and hard-work. This is Psychology 101; external motivation vs. internal motivation. If a person is externally motivated, like when he is working for salvation, he will push hard, work harder, strive hardest thinking that the more he works, the greater his reward will be. Well, that’s not how salvation is. If you’re already saved, you can’t be any more saved. It’s not a scoreboard. Dili ka malapas sa langit! In contrast, an internally motivated person works regardless of the outcome. He comes to work early not because his boss tells him to; he gives not because he expects something; he loves without expecting to be loved in return; and he shares just because. That’s grace! A person does good works not because he expects to be saved but because he was saved that he does the good works. Instead of pushing, working, striving, all he does is being- being grateful that he has the opportunity to pay forward the kindness that has been done to him. For people who get this, reward is immaterial. They do what they do because they know that “Faith without works is nothing”. Notice that it is not “Works without faith” because faith has to come first.

Think of it this way, a good father never expects any of his children to pay him back but he does expect his children to lead a good life. Paying the father cent per cent for everything he has given is an insult, even if the child’s intention is to show his appreciation. The father did what he did because he is the father and not because of anything the children did. If a child leads a good life, the good father beams with pride because that was his reason all along- so that his children will be good as well.

If a person does not receive the gift- of grace, salvation, faith, the message of Jesus on the cross- he will continue to work for it as a wage. Remember in Genesis? God cursed man’s work because of The Fall, when the Nature of Sin crept up on humanity. Any work of man’s hands is cursed unless he receives the gift. It is because of the work curse that the concept of wages first came in to being. “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken; for you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Work hard, then eat bread. But Jesus also said, “Man shall not live by bread alone….” See, the product of man’s work is never enough. God Himself will not accept Man’s works because He Himself cursed it. The concept continues into Exodus 20:25 during the giving of the Ten Commandments, “And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.” Man’s tool, man’s work, is a profanity to God. Because of the curse, man’s work can only produce wages- “and the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

It’s real easy you know. The one who works for the wage says, “I serve in order to be saved.” The one who received the gift says, “I was saved to serve.”

(Aside: Funny enough, our neighbor is playing “The Gift” by Jim Brickman as I finish encoding this reflection. “Kaw gyud Lord!)