The Almost:
What gifts are you bringing to Jesus this Christmas? We have a real problem with gifts in the
world today. We have a problem
understanding what the right gifts to give are.
We have a bigger problem understanding what gifts we should receive and
the value of the gifts.
Let’s start with receiving gifts. How many of you made a Christmas list this
year? Give me some ideas of what you
asked for? Making a list of gifts we
want to receive can be very interesting because it can show what we put our
value in. Now I’m not going to stand
here and tell you that you are an evil person for having fun stuff on your
list, but let me re-visit the scene at my house a couple weeks ago. I told Caleb that he needed to make a
Christmas list because his grandma’s and grandpa’s were going to start asking
for it. So he proceeded to sit down with
a toy magazine and start writing things down.
I don’t even think he knew what some of the stuff he wrote down was, but
it said it was for an 8 year old so he put it on the paper. We ended up with a collage of toy
pictures.
Then on Sunday when we went to the Angel Tree was set
up. Our Angel Tree this year is made up
of several families with kids that go to your school. I pulled a tag off that was for a present for
an 8 year old girl. She wants
pajamas. This is where the gift
receiving problem comes in. I don’t know
the little girl who asked for the pajamas so I don’t know what her expectation
is about the pajamas, or if she even thinks that she will get them. I think she is going to be excited when she
gets them though. My son, on the other
hand, had no concerns about making a list of toys because he is used to getting
toys for Christmas. I’m sure that he
will be excited when he opens his presents, but it usually doesn’t last long. The perception when he made the list won’t
match the actual present.
I feel like the kid’s treatment of their Christmas presents
is lot like the way people feel about Jesus.
When we first realize that Jesus died for our sins we are really
excited, but the excitement isn’t the same for everyone and it often wears off. For the believer who has a lot of other great
things in their lives, or a lot of toys, the fact that Jesus died for us can
seem less significant. If life was good
before we followed Jesus then it just got a little better, so the excitement might
not last as long. If the person’s life
was pretty bad before they discovered Jesus then the excitement can be much
greater. This person went from having no
toys to having an amazing one. Finding
out that you can leave your sins at the cross instead of carrying around that
guilt could keep someone excited for years.
The two people received the same gift from God, but they don’t value it
the same way.
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son,f that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Getting back to talking about gifts, where does this whole
idea of giving gifts at Christmas come from?
9After they had heard the king, they went on their
way, and the star they had seen in the easte went
ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with
his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their
treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
These wise men possibly travelled thousands of miles to
present these gifts to the child. It probably took them over a year to get
there. Why would they have gone to such
great efforts just to give a gift? They
knew the Old Testament and understood that Jesus was the savior they had read
about. They brought these gifts as a
sign of worship. So how is gold,
incense, and myrrh a gift of worship? I
think we understand the gift of gold.
Most people would like receiving gold and it would be an appropriate
gift for a king. Incense could be a gift
for a spiritual being. Myrrh was a spice
used for a person that was going to die.
So it is possible that these gifts were a sign that these men understood
Jesus to be a king, a spiritual being, and that his death would be
celebrated. Were these gifts, besides
the gold, valuable? It’s hard to tell,
but I’m assuming that if one guy is travelling to give gold that the other two
with him aren’t coming with a little potpourri and a teaspoon of salt. These gifts were probably valuable. This brings us back to the song Little
Drummer Boy.
The Widow’s Offering
41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the
offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple
treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in
two very small copper coins,j worth only a fraction of a penny.k
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the
truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their
wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to
live on.”
The scripture is telling us that it isn’t about how much
your gift is worth, but what your gift is worth to you. We don’t know a lot about the wise men that
traveled to see Jesus, but it is likely they had enough money to go back home
and still get by. The little drummer boy
had nothing. The only thing he had was
his God given ability to play the drums.
He gave the baby Jesus the best gift possible because he used what God
gave him and did it to the best of his ability.
This Christmas season and beyond remember that the greatest
gift was given to us when Jesus arrived and the greatest gift we can give in
return is to do our best with the talents God gave us.
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