• The Unspeakable Gift
More than thirty years ago, a dentist, from the Midwest, was taking me to the airport. He observed my five missing teeth. He told me that my smile “offended him!” Then, he offered to repair my teeth, if would fly there to get them repaired. He told me that he would do all the work “for free,” on one condition, that I would never give out his name. I agreed!
So I made four flights from California to Oklahoma. I spent a full day in the dentist’s chair, each trip. When he was finally done…
The dentist had fixed eleven teeth with crowns and bridges with custom crafted porcelain and expensive gold. I was just overwhelmed when I could run my fingers across all the new teeth in my mouth. He never charged me a dime. To this day, I have kept the promise to never reveal his name–a “giver,” who has remained anonymous, to this day.
Every Thanksgiving, our family will go around the table to share something for which we are thankful. I always mention how grateful I am for my mouthful of teeth. It is always hard to express my appreciation without getting very emotional. This was a gift that had a profound and lasting impact upon me. Words fail to express my appreciation for this anonymous gift.
Could there be such a gift that was so well designed, that when given, it would leave the recipient speechless? Could there ever be a gift that would defy verbal description? One such gift comes to mind, “Thanks be unto God for His Unspeakable Gift…Jesus!” (I Cor. 9:15) This means that God’s gift of Jesus is indescribable–mere words do not do it justice. God so uniquely met our needs with the gift of His Son that we fail to frame adequate words to express His profound impact in our lives. We are just speechless!
One can only be caught up in an emotional “sigh” of profound gratitude–with no utterance to convey the awesome wonder of it all. Yet we continue with our attempts at framing the wonder and the magnitude of the gift with “mere” words.
As a communicator of this gospel revelation, I still “conjure up” the impossible by suggesting inadequate verbal descriptions of the mysteries involving this gift. Someone told me of the gift; I accepted the gift; I embrace the gift; I carry the gift; I represent the gift; I attempt to share the gift. Some now receive this gift.
Since I have been “gifted,” I share in the greater responsibility to making the “gift” known to those who are in desperate need of it. Every attempt to frame the “mystery” of the wonderful gift seems futile, so at best, a simpler version is the best I can do. But the lost are so needy that they seem, at times, to respond with hunger for any “mere morsel” of an inadequate description of the marvels of the gift of salvation.
I think at times, they are responding to my misrepresentation of the real thing, if only the gift can be “described” better. Then I remember that to really describe the “gift,” that well, would remove the eternal wonder and render the gift as “describable.” The awe and the inexpressible wonder of the gift would be lost.
It would then be reduced to the “speak able” gift–something to utter.
The irony is that God has invested this “gift” in our mortal bodies, so that we can then share the “gift of eternal life” in Christ with others. As feeble as our efforts might be, we are left with all the good intentions. The commissioned task is to make this gift “known to all” who will hear our story. Therefore, to speak with “awe” about the “unspeakable” is like attempting the impossible, but I still try anyway.
You can assist me in this privilege. Your prayer support will enable me to share this profound gift to the children. My goal is to creatively illustrate the complexities of this salvation message, in terms kids (of all ages) can understand. Thanks for your support this year. Together we can make a difference. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift…Jesus!”
One Response to “• The Unspeakable Gift”
November 21st, 2007 at 7:41 pm
I am praying for that same kind of great gift. I am missing my front tooth but I have to get all of my teeth replaced due to loss of bone in my mouth.
Great story.
Leave a Comment