In the story Marcia read, Jackie's Gift: A True Story of Christmas, Hanukkah and Jackie Robinson by Sharon Robinson, the Robinson family noticed what their neighbors, the Satlows didn’t have, and sought to provide what was missing. To the Robinsons, it wouldn’t have been Christmas without a tree and ornaments. To the wise men who traveled from afar to pay homage to baby Jesus, nothing said Hosanna like frankincense, gold, and myrrh. If they had thought about it, or perhaps had been parents of a newborn themselves, they might have brought nappies or some sort of luxury swaddling—but they didn’t. They brought what they knew to be valuable, just as the Robinsons did.
The gifts of the Magi and the Robinson family expressed their affection. Jackie and Rachel Robinson hadn’t encountered many Jews and certainly had no exposure to Jewish practices or traditions. Thus they had no way of knowing Sarah Satlow’s orthodox parents would have plotzed at the sight of the tree. What they knew was the same commandment baby Jesus would learn and grow to teach all who followed him: From the 15th chapter, 7th verse of the book of Deuteronomy, “If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community … do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.”
That sensibility informed Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and perhaps inspired Rachel and Jackie Robinson to go out on Christmas Eve and get another tree, to choose from among their ornaments ones they would lend. And it is that spirit of offering what is most precious to us, that willingness, yea, that desire, to share it with others, that defines Christmas. For our brothers and sisters worshipping deep in the heart of the Christian tradition, Christmas celebrates the birth of a savior. Here, we lift up the salvific gift inherent in the spirit of generosity made available to all who heed it. We can go a step further than the Magi or the Robinsons. Like Mary and Joseph and the Satlows we can receive the gifts of our neighbors in the spirit in which they were given, even if they don’t fit the occasion. Yes, we can re-gift, but more importantly, we can see through to the heart of their intention and by acknowledging that, we give them what they meant to give us: what we all value—- to be cared about, to be recognized, to be appreciated.
So this Christmas, no matter what Santa brings, no matter how quickly you stash something into next year’s Yankee Swap pile, take a moment to consider your neighbors’ longing. Consider not just what you would want but what they need, and if you have no other point of reference than yourself, give that: give of your good heart and your kind soul, and remember what The Little Prince taught: that “it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” And perhaps less well known but no less true, “The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.”
When Sarah and Archie Satlow see in a tree not a symbol of Christ but the love he learned from the God of their understanding, and when Mary and Joseph recognize an expression of adoration in otherwise impractical gifts, they remind us how to find meaning that can save us by restoring us to love. Amen.
