My wife Nancy and I received an unexpected delivery last week. A box of fruit came to our doorstep. We are grateful to be thought of in this generous way. The problem is that the package had no indication who the gift giver is- no name attached to the parcel at all.

This is, of course, the season of gift-giving. It’s not just Santa who has a list to check twice. Even the stingiest among us gets reasonably generous during Christmas. After all, Christmas is about the greatest gift of all: the birth of Jesus! However, most of us realize there are issues in the way our materialistic society emphasizes gift giving at Christmas. Extravagance can overtake reason; the pressure to find “just the right gift” can become almost obsessive; and if we’re not careful, gift buying easily crowds out our focus on the real gift we should celebrate: the birth of Mary’s child in Bethlehem.

This is also the season when many people feel the burdens of poverty, grief, loneliness, and abuse even more keenly than usual. If we get so busy with our own celebrating, parties, gatherings, shopping, and even church activities that we forget the pains of those around us; then we have missed the depth of the Christmas story, the significance of a child born to a peasant girl in a small, insignificant village in an oppressed society. The generosity of our spirits should not be only for those closest to us, co-workers, or neighbors living in our neighborhood. Jesus didn’t come just for those of us who have an abundant share of this world’s goods. Jesus said in John 10:10 that he, “…came that all might have life more abundantly.

I can’t send a thank you for that anonymous package that came to our doorstep. Maybe it’s a good reminder of two important things. First, ultimately I should be grateful to God for anything good in my life, even the gifts from others. As James 1:17 reminds us: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…”. I can only give because I have been given. Every good thing in my life is an outgrowth of God’s graciousness to me and anything I can offer someone is because God has blessed my life generously.

The second thing I would say is that true Christmas giving should include those who will never know that you are the giver. That anonymous package made me think about how some people will not have reason to celebrate unless you and I make sure that a gift of caring is made available to some who won’t know our names but will know that some person wanted Christmas to be a little better for them, who want them to know that the coming of the Christ Child is a sign that God hasn’t forgotten or forsaken them.

I love the simple message of a Christmas Eve candle-lighting service that reminds me that when I receive the light representing what John 1 calls the, “True Light that enlightens all humanity.” I am to share the light so that darkness is transformed by a beautiful glow. This December, share the Light so someone’s darkness can be changed by a warm glow that you make evident.

On behalf of the staff and the Board of the United Methodist Foundation for the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Annual Conference, I wish you a blessed and joyful Christmas and a 2026 filled God’s grace!


Rev. Dr. David Comperry
Field Staff Representative