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Receiving the Prophetic, Priestly and Royal Gift of Children

David A. Stosur



“It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts of the Apostles 20:35). This ancient adage, which Saint Paul attributed to Jesus, asserts the foundational values of generosity and selflessness that responsible parents want to instill in their children. Given its place in the Scriptures, it is highly esteemed as an unassailable truth of Christian life. But as is so often the case with such wisdom sayings, biblical or otherwise, there are hidden dangers in face-value interpretations. The word “blessed” here presumably stands for something which is itself being received, namely, God’s blessing of the giver. We are thus confronted with the paradox that one receives more in giving than in receiving.

It should give us further pause when we consider that this maxim is perhaps heard more often during the seasonal run-up to Christmas than at any other time during the year, and not only in churches. Department stores across the land and websites for shopping worldwide thrive on it being at least implied in their advertising and appropriated wholeheartedly by consumers during the remaining “shopping days” until Christmas. As we enter into the season of Advent and prepare for the great feasts of the Nativity and Epiphany during the Christmas season, questions about giving and receiving, which is more blessed, and what we want our children to learn about exchanging gifts ought to occupy us more than a little.

While parents and other adults strive to teach children to be cheerful givers, I suspect we often fail to learn from our children how to be gracious receivers. Being the “great ones,” we so easily overlook the Lord’s request to emulate the “little ones” to whom his kingdom belongs (see Matthew 18:3–5; Mark 10:13–16). We do well to reflect on this call at a time of gift-giving so dear to children, families and congregations, yet so threatened by our culture’s focus on consumer spending and the frenetic rush to meet the business deadlines and social obligations imposed by year’s end. Christian adults can learn something about receiving, in this great time of giving, by contemplating how children remind us of our true identity as they fulfill a prophetic role in Advent, a priestly role at Christmas, and a royal or “kingly” role at Epiphany.

The Prophetic Child: Receiving the Advent Gift
We often think of prophecy as a kind of magical capacity for fortune-telling, and we regard prophets as having a kind of inner crystal ball that allows them to gaze into the future. But the Judeo-Christian tradition understands prophecy not so much as fortune-telling but as “truth-telling,” inspired because of the prophet’s own relationship to God. Prophecy is not seeing ahead by leaping over the present to a future already fated; rather, it is reading the present signs of the times with the expectancy of a new and creative, free and unfolding plan into which God invites our participation. The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, so prominent in Advent, reminds the people of Israel that God’s future is different from the situation they have gotten themselves into by their hard-hearted injustice to the widow and orphan, and by their lack of imagination in thinking they could bribe the Lord with worthless offerings. They are called, instead, to a future of shalom, of God’s peace, in which they will beat their swords into plowshares, in which the wolf and the leopard will lie down with the lamb and the kid, and into which a little child will guide them.

When children prepare their lists for Santa or talk about what they will “get” for Christmas, we need to step back from the temptation to curb what we may perceive (project?) as greedy desire for more possessions. We should instead consider that they are imagining a future in which they anticipate “being gifted” by others with riches they have not deserved. We learn from them that such a creative vision is “in-spired” by the Spirit (who has spoken through the prophets), and from this flows their own generosity as they leave cookies for Santa. They know full well that this does not constitute an “advance payment” on gifts to be left for them under the tree, but a gracious gesture that anticipates their own joyful receptivity.

The Priestly Child: Receiving the Christmas Gift
Christmas, the Nativity of the Lord, is the celebration par excellence of the mystery of the Incarnation. The infancy narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke combine with the description in the Prologue of the Gospel of John to relate something unfathomable: the Word of God became flesh and made a dwelling with human beings; the infant child in the stable is the mediator between God and humanity, the Savior of the world. All humanity, even that taken up by the very Son of God, begins in infancy and vulnerability, in the physical reality of flesh and blood, and hence in the very real danger of death. The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the new and eternal High Priest who makes the old priesthood obsolete because he will die to show that death no longer holds us captive. The new Priest begins life as an infant, a “least one” whose very existence is a threat to, and threatened by, those who rule with earthly power. He is the true Christmas gift, showing that humanity, in the person of Jesus, mediates our relationship with God. Since all humanity begins in childhood, childhood is the beginning of this mediated divine life.

The infants we see in our homes and parishes are innocent, not because they are “sinless,” but because they are vulnerable to and completely reliant on others. All they can do—and they do it without hesitation—is cry out in need until their cries are answered. The children are the “mystagogues,” showing true supplication, receiving all they need and revealing what trust and dependence mean in their purest human form. When the babies’ needs are satisfied or when the toddlers’ eyes open wide with delight at the gifts that await, adults are showered with children’s priestly mediations of God’s own love for humanity. Their priesthood witnesses to how ours should begin: with eyes open and hearts receptive to the Mystery.

The Royal Child: Receiving the Epiphany Gift
The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the “manifestation” (in Greek, epiphaneia) of the Savior to the nations. Matthew’s Gospel (2:1–12) relates the story of how Magi from the east scrutinized the stars and journeyed to Jerusalem to pay homage to the newborn King. Popular imagination, fueled by images from the Hebrew Scriptures, transformed the figures of the Magi (plural form of Magus, a member of the priestly caste in ancient Persia) into kings, so that the feast became known in many lands as “Three Kings Day.” A tradition on this day (with many cultural variants) has children seeking to be the one whose slice of “Epiphany Cake” contains the hidden object (a bean or small toy)—whoever finds it receives a crown and is “king for a day.” It goes unstated, but Christians, who know that the Magi’s gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh presented to the infant “King of the Jews” (INRI) foreshadow not only his messianic kingship but his crucifixion, can perceive in the golden crown upon the child’s head also Jesus’ crown of thorns.

The famous holiday song, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne (Nashville, TN: Shawnee Press, 1962), elaborates on the way the Magi were able to read nature’s signs and follow the star by depicting the wind announcing the Good News to the lamb, who announces it to the shepherd, who announces it to the king, who announces it to the people everywhere: “Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king: ‘Do you know what I know?’” The Gospel is spread from the least to the greatest, and in this manner, all the nations are invited to behold the true King. “Pray for Peace, people everywhere!” The message of the infant King is a priestly message: “Pray!” and a prophetic message: “Peace!” Earthly kings can never seem to get enough, always needing to conquer more lands, vanquish more enemies, control more trade routes, enslave more peoples and prosper more themselves by sacrificing more lives. This one true King of all the nations will become the sacrifice and will put an end to death itself, reversing all royal expectations: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:4–5).

At their post-baptismal anointing we prayed that our children “may remain for ever members of Christ who is Priest, Prophet, and King.” In these Advent and Christmas seasons, may they lead us into the Mystery, and show us just how blessed it is to receive.

David Stosur, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Liturgy at St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry, Rochester, New York. His current research and writing focuses on the narrative elements of liturgy and liturgical theology.