Gift giving at Christmas time has become an almost univer­sal custom for Christians and non-Christians alike. Rather than being carried along by all of the surrounding decora­tions, commercialism and customs into thoughtlessly imitating the society around us, Christians need to ask themselves whether or how we should engage in this gift giving.

It might seem surprising that among the books of the Bible, that of Esther speaks of a custom of gift-giving becoming established among God's people. The text quoted above speaks of gift-giving to express the extreme joy of God's people for being delivered from death: For us the coming of Christ was the event that brought us such deliverance and has become the occasion of such celebration by gift-giving: Let us consider this Christmas gift-giving in the light of Esther 9:22 noting:

1. the custom,
2. the cause for it,
3. the character of Christian gift-giving and
4. a necessary caution in such giving.

The Custom of Gift-Giving⤒🔗

God's people had spent almost seventy years in exile far from their home land: Now not Babylon but Shushan, the Persian capital, controlled the world and ruled over them. (Persia was substantially the present Iran and its capital was 300 miles farther away from Palestine than Babylon: Ahasuerus was king and Esther had become his queen.)

The powerful enemy of God's people, Haman, had succeeded in getting a law passed that decreed that all of the Jews must die on the 15th day of the month Adar: Even though by Chapter 9 of the book, Haman had been removed and killed and Mordecai, Esther's uncle, was now chief advisor to the king, the law that all Jews must die was still in effect. Since the realm encom­passed the world from India to Ethiopia this law envisioned exterminating the whole Jewish race.

Behind the scene, Satan had sought through Haman's plotting, to destroy that people, because God had promised that Christ the Savior should be born in the family of Abraham. If this people were destroyed that promise of a Savior would not be fulfilled: But God had brought defeat to Haman and raised up Mordecai to obtain another law that would authorize the Jews, with government support (9:3), to defend themselves and destroy all who might venture to attack them. Accordingly the scheduled day of their execution was turned into a day of triumph. God's people were saved!

Mordecai wrote to all of God's people from India to Ethiopia that they should set aside two days at this time of each year to celebrate their deliverance — "that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions to one another, and gifts to the poor." Thus days of gift giving were begun to celebrate the deliverance the Lord had given to His people. (We find indications of similar celebration on their return from exile to the promised land in Nehemiah 8:10 and 12.)

The Cause for Gift-Giving←⤒🔗

The reason why God's people were to give gifts in this celebration is suggested by the explanation that these were "the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy." This suggests that a suitable motive for Christian celebration and giving is also the fact that the enemy who seeks to destroy us has been defeated in Christ's coming to save us: His birth in Bethlehem was His arrival to defeat Satan and deliver us: Thus Christ brings joy where there was no hope. "He breaks the power of cancelled sin; He sets the prisoner free." (Whereas in Christ's birth He began what He must do here to save us, in His death and resurrection He completed it: This would suggest the appropriateness for Christians of an Easter celebration that is even more exuberant than that of Christmas.)

Some Christians have felt that extravagant celebra­tion is inappropriate for Christians, but this text calling for God's people to celebrate their God-given deliverance with "feasting and joy" evidently corrects that misunderstanding.

The Character of Gift-Giving←⤒🔗

The directions given in the text for God's people's celebration indicate that this should be deliberately planned: "That they should make them days of feasting and joy." Let us consciously, deliberately set out to make our celebration Christian in character: There is no need for us to thoughtlessly copy the world: We don't have to sing its tunes. Why should any Chris­tian want to substitute a fictitious Santa Claus for the real Christ? Let our celebration be consciously Chris­tian: Let us celebrate Christ's coming in order that we might live!

The text speaks of "feasting" — that is enjoying good food and fellowship. It goes on to speak of sending "portions to one another and gifts to the poor:" While giving to one another, we need to remember especially those who are less abundantly blessed than we ourselves, the physically or spiritually poor, and the newcomer and stranger among us: (Let's not forget that our Lord said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me," Matthew 25:40).

A Word of Caution about Gift-Giving←⤒🔗

Both Christians and non-Christians may engage in gift-giving, but do so for different or even opposite reasons: Revelation 11:10 speaks of wicked people sending gifts to one another to express their joy because God's prophets had been killed: Although Christians may give gifts, gift-giving is not always Christian. History tells of Christmas celebrations in England which became so characterized by drunkenness and rioting that Parliament in 1644 forbade the celebrating of that holiday: Christmas celebrating can become debased when Christ is excluded from it.

Let us not forbid celebrating because others misdirect and abuse it. Let us celebrate as Christians: Let Christ be at the heart also of our customs of giving. Let our gift-giving, as everything else that we do, be done "in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). Let Him be the reason why we give — not because someone gave us something last year, but because He gave Himself for us. For us as Christians, "Jesus Christ is the reason why we live and why we give." Is He the reason why you live? Is He the reason why you give?