Christmas Eve 2009
A Child is Given
Luke 2:10-11
It seems this is the gift giving time of year. We work day and night to find the right gifts, wrap them in the right paper (or put them in a bag from last Christmas and try to salvage some paper for a birthday gift last month...), hide them in the right spot so no one finds them until Christmas day, and then we smile with joy as our loved ones open the gifts.
Sometimes, gifts are special too. I don't mean a package of meat from some steak company on the Internet or a gift card that puts all the pressure on the recipient to find the right gift, I mean those special gifts. I'm talking about those gift you remember for decades, not days.
Though I may have had many such gifts through the years, one stands out when I think of special gifts. It was July 1976. I remember having my birthday party in the driveway and my front yard. We had strung streamers between the posts of the carport. The actual carport had collapsed the winter before due to snow and ice but the poles were there. We had tables set up for the cake and gifts and a place in the dirt to play with trucks and Army Men. It was a six year old boys paradise. I don't remember what the cake looked like, I don't remember who was there. But I remember the gift.
Oh, I got lots of gifts, probably a model, maybe a cap gun, possibly a shirt or some pants, but after all the gifts had been unwrapped I noticed my dad was missing... then I saw him. Coming around the house with my brand new bicycle. It was a Spirit of '76 Huffy bicycle. It had red-white-and blue streamers coming out of the Ape-Hanger handlebars. It had a banana seat with a red-white-and blue pendent above it. It was my my own bicycle, not a hand-me down, not one that I shared, not one with training wheels. It was mine, a big boy bike.
It would have been the greatest memory of that day had it not been for one other thing... Smokey Joe showed up. Who is or was Smokey Joe? Well, Smokey Joe was a little Lynx Point Siamese kitten. I remember the little guy having to jump through the thick St. Augustine grass and almost disappearing every time it it landed in the grass. It was so cute and cuddly. I wanted to keep him. I wanted a cat. It would make the best gift, or so I thought. Except my sister was allergic to cats, my mom didn't like all the hair, and Dad didn't like all the damage they cause with their claws and cleaning up a litter box. So, my grandmother ended up with Smokey and I got to visit my birthday cat for the following 15 years.
You see, Smokey Joe was a great gift, the Bicycle was a great gift, and I'm sure all the other gifts were great too, but Smokey and the Bike were special, I remember them even now some 33 years later.
There are a few things we need to remember about good gifts, the best gifts, special gifts:
1.They always express the personality of the giver
2.They unfailingly meet a need or desire of the receiver
\ Let's think about those for a moment. I don't think it is any secret that I like to hunt and fish. So, I could give a gift to Renee that expressed my personality well if I gave her a new Diamond Archery Black Ice Compound Bow – Come on, it has 80% let of at 70 Lbs and shoots an arrow at 318fps. But, since Renee doesn't like hunting it would meet neither a need nor a desire of hers.
But the bike I was talking about. It expressed the personality of my parents and it met a desire of mine. It was a great gift.
3.There is something else about a really good gift too. You have to receive it. If you never accept the gift, if you never receive the gift, if you never take possession of the gift then it is never yours.
4. Finally, you have to open it. A gift, no matter how wonderfully wrapped, will never serve it's purpose if you don't unwrap it and discover it's purpose for your life.
In other words, a good gift says something about the one that gives it, means something to the one that is to receive it, has to be accepted, and must be unwrapped and made a part of the life of the recipient.
One Christmas-Eve an older gentleman was driving home after the Christmas-Eve Service at his church. It was bitterly cold and snowing but as he drove down the street he notices a young boy sitting on the curb shivering. He pulled up next to the boy and asked, “Is everything alright?, you need to get out of the cold or you're gonna freeze!” But the boy said, “I ca-ca-can't sir” the man told him he would take him anywhere he needed to go if he would just tell him where he lived. It confused the older man even more when the boy told him that he lived in the apartments behind him, some 50' away. “You don't understand,” the boy explained, “My daddy gave me $5 and this list to run across the street to the store, but it was so cold and the wind blew so hard I lost the $5. I've looked for it everywhere and can't find it.”
The gentleman smiled and said “oh, that's OK, just go tell your dad what happened and he'll give you another $5.”
“Mister, you don't know my Daddy, he's been drinkin' and he gets mean. I can't go home and tell him I lost his $5. He'll get real mad.”
So, the man took out his own wallet, gave the boy a $5 bill, walked him to the store, and helped him gather the milk, bread, and other couple of things. The total came to $4 and change. The man told the boy, “now you take that change back to your Daddy and give him what he wanted.” the boy smiled and started to run home but stopped, came back to the older man and hugged him around the leg and said, “Thank you, I wish you were my daddy.” and then ran on home.
That night that man drove around for several more blocks looking for any other little boys that might have lost $5. It seemed, if only for an instant, that he had found the perfect gift.
I know you are all smart enough to know that I'm not talking about Five Dollar Bills or the gifts that are under our trees at our homes tonight. Some of those gifts will be special and they will bring great joy for a while, others of them will be a disappointment as soon as they are opened. All of them will someday fade like the morning fog.
There is only one gift that is truly special. There is only one gift that will last forever. And that gift is not under a tree tonight. That is the gift that Isaiah spoke of some 2700 years ago when he predicted that “Unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” It is the gift of Jesus, a gift that certainly expresses the personality of the giver, it unfailingly meets a need of the receiver, it is a gift we must receive, and it is a gift that we must make a part of our life to realize the difference it can produce.
There is an Old Scottish Legend about a shepherd boy that was tending the sheep one day when he saw a beautiful flower in the field. He had never seen a flower like it so he bent over, picked it and took in its beautiful aroma. Just then the nearby mountain lifted up as if on hinges and revealed a treasure one could only dream of. There were jewels, and diamonds, and gold, and silver. The boy ran to the treasure and began picking up the most valuable items he could carry. Then a voice echoed through the caverns of the mountain, “Don't forget the best.” The boy looked around to see if there was anything better than what he had in his arms and, deciding that there wasn't he started to leave. Then the voice echoed again, “Don't forget the best”. The boy hesitated for a moment then ran from the mountain cavern with his arms loaded with treasures. As he cleared the mountain it crashed to the ground and he again heard the voice, “Don't forget the best – the flower you left inside.” At that moment the treasures in the boys arms turned to dust. He had forgotten the best, the flower, the key to the vault of treasures.
This Christmas, let us not forget the best. In the giving and receiving of gifts let us not forget that
A baby born one blessed silent night,
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives.
(Some of the stories and thoughts were inspired by Steve Halliday and Ed Young, "And He Shall Be Called... Everlasting Father... Rediscovering the First Christmas Gift."
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Anticipation
Luke 2:1-7
There are definite advantages to living in a small town. AND there are definite disadvantages to living in a small town. One advantage to living in a small town is that everyone knows everyone. One disadvantage to living in a small town is… everyone knows everyone.
Everyone in Marysvale knew Amy Williams. She had been born 17 years ago, crippled in body if not in spirit. No one had expected her to live, but she had. Everyone knew Amy, her hunched back and twisted spine were recognizable at a distance.
And here she sat by the Choir room door, agonizing over the audition for the communities Christmas program. “What am I doing here?” she thought, “I’ll never be chosen.”
This Christmas program was a community tradition, it had gone on so long that no one even knew when it had begun or even who had written it. Each year more people tried out for the play than there were parts and each year some had to be turned away. There were 12 choir parts, the angels, Mary, Joseph, the Angel of the Lord, the Inn Keeper, and a few Shepherds and Shepherd boys.
As Amy sat there, she through about leaving, she didn’t want to be rejected again, “I try not to care, but I do. I don’t want to be hurt anymore.” She thought to herself, “Mr. Simons will never choose me for a part. I just don’t fit. But at least I don’t have to audition in front of Mrs. Prendergast.”
Mrs. Prendergrast had been the music teacher at Marysvale High School for more than thirty years. She had cast, directed, and accompanied every pageant and production of the school and community for many of those thirty years. Three years earlier Amy had tried to audition for the Christmas program but Mrs. Prendergrast took one look at Amy’s misshapen body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. I don’t remember anywhere in the script where it calls for crippled girl.” Without singing a note Amy had been rejected. Hurt and humiliated she vowed never to try out again. Then… Mrs. Prendergrast retired.
The new Choral teacher, Mr. Simmons was the polar opposite of Mrs. Prendergrast. Oh, don’t get me wrong, he expected perfection and taught in just that way, but he also understood when perfection was not reached. He taught with love and compassion. He coached and corrected with kindness, and he himself sang with such power.
One day after class he asked Amy to try out for the program. That is the only reason she was even there. As she sat she thought about leaving and avoiding the pain of rejection, but she didn’t want to disappoint Mr. Simmons. As she struggled with what to do the door opened and she heard the words, “Amy, your next.”
After the audition Mr. Simmons said, “Thank you, Amy. The list will be posted tomorrow.” And with that Amy walked out of the Choir room, anticipating the rejection that was to come. For brief moments she would allow herself to speculate that she may have made it into the heavenly choir of angels, then reality would hit her in the face as she tried to move her deformed back. What chance did she have? Yet still she waited.
We’ve all been there in some degree or another. We know the waiting game:
Waiting on our final grades
Waiting for the proposal
Awaiting the birth of a child
Waiting on the test results from the doctor
Waiting on the call to come after the job interview
Anticipation… It has a sense of excitement, like a child watching as the gifts collect under the tree.
It also has a sense of anxiety… that not knowing what is to come, not knowing the answer.
This weekend I felt both senses of anticipation. You see, Friday we left after the school parties were all over to go to my moms for Christmas. There was the excitement of seeing family and the giving and receiving of gifts. But there was also the anxiety of things not being as the once where. You see, my dad died in 2003, my mom has remarried, and things just aren’t the same any more. There’s different family there now. New traditions. A different home. It just isn’t the same any more. And, I anticipate every holiday we spend together because of that.
But any anticipation, any excitement, any anxiety we feel for things like this fall far short of anything Mary and Joseph felt during the 40 weeks of her pregnancy with Jesus.
Remember, they were not yet wed.
Even Joseph shunned Mary when he found out she was pregnant. He loved her so he couldn’t have her stoned. Even though….
That is what the law called for, that she be stoned.
It took a visit from an angel for Joseph to be willing to believe the story - that the child she was carrying would be the Son of God.
The community shunned her; who in their right mind would believe a story like hers, that even though she was pregnant she was still a virgin.
Then, in the final weeks of the pregnancy she had to travel by donkey, across the rough barren land of Nazareth of Galilee, through Samaria and on to Bethlehem of Judea. It was a long and dangerous trip, especially for an expectant mother near the time of birth.
Think of Joseph, of what he endured. The snide remarks made behind his back about what he had done to her.
The questions of why he stayed with her if it wasn’t his fault.
Together they anticipated surviving in a culture that considered adultery and pre-marital relations as a crime punishable by death.
They anticipated the birth of Jesus
They anticipated raising the Son of God
How could they ever live up to the standard, to be the parents of the Messiah?
There was so much to anticipate.
And there was so much for Amy Williams to anticipate as well. Amy didn’t even want to go to school the next day. She just didn’t know how she could face Mr. Simmons after being rejected again. She didn’t want to see anyone or do anything; she just wanted to be left alone.
She avoided the choir room as long as she could but then Third-period choir rolled around and she would have to walk by the list to get to class. Timidly, fearfully, she looked at the list. The heavenly choir was listed at the bottom of the page. As she suspected, her name wasn’t there. “Rejected again!” She turned to enter the class when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her name at the top of the page. She, Amy Williams, had been chosen to sing the only solo in the entire play, she was to be the Angel of the Lord and sing to the Christ child.
After class Mr. Simmons told her he needed to talk to her about her part. He told her, “I don’t want to upset you but I need to stage your part a little differently this year.” Amy thought to herself, “Yeah, right off the stage, out of sight.”
But Mr. Simmons went on to explain that he wanted to have a pyramid build and have the 12 angels coming up and to have her at the top center of the pyramid above the Baby Jesus as she sang her part. All those years of pain welled up in her and exploded on Mr. Simmons. “You don’t want me center stage. I’ll ruin the show. I don’t fit in. Everyone will stare at me and it will ruin the show.”
But Mr. Simmons stopped her and told her that he had chosen her for the part because she deserved it, what she thought of herself was out of his control, but he wanted her to sing as the Angel of the Lord, and since the song the Angel of the Lord sings is the central meaning of the entire play, he wanted her front and center to sing it.
That night Amy made her decision, she would be in the play. The rehearsals were exhausting, her body ached each day after climbing up and down the pyramid but great joy filled her heart as well. She did fit in.
Once again, one of the advantages to living in a small town is that when there is a special event everyone comes and this Christmas program was no different. And so it was the Sunday before Christmas when the whole town of Marysvale attended the Christmas program. Amy Williams, broken in body but not in spirit, climbed to the top of the silver-white pyramid and with the true voice of an angel sang her heart out to the Christ child.
“What child is this who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?...”
Never had the angel sung more sweetly.
No one had realized how sick Amy really was because they were so used to seeing her broken body. No one even knew she went to the hospital the next morning
So, it was a real shock to the community when she died the next Tuesday. Her mother conveyed a last request from Amy to Mr. Simmons. Would he please sing at her funeral?
And so, on Christmas Eve two of Amy’s classmates helped Mr. Simmons from his wheelchair and supported him as he sang for a daughter of God, just as she had sung for the Son of God.
You see, sometimes we can anticipate what is to come. Other times we must simply receive that which comes our way.
Today, we await the celebration of the birth of our Savior. We sing songs together. We do good deeds for others. We gather with family and friends. And we anticipate the birth of the Christ child. But we also await Christ coming again. We can anticipate all we want. We can prepare our hearts by being in relationship with God through Christ, but in the end we must simply receive that which comes our way.
I hope today you will receive Christ, not just as a child but as the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and as a Savior. I pray you will receive the Son of God into your life today and everyday from this point forward.
Let us pray…
(The Story of Amy Williams came from: James, Bob and Kelli eds, Celebrate Christmas and the Beautiful Traditions of Advent, White Stone Books, Inc, pp 144-148.)
There are definite advantages to living in a small town. AND there are definite disadvantages to living in a small town. One advantage to living in a small town is that everyone knows everyone. One disadvantage to living in a small town is… everyone knows everyone.
Everyone in Marysvale knew Amy Williams. She had been born 17 years ago, crippled in body if not in spirit. No one had expected her to live, but she had. Everyone knew Amy, her hunched back and twisted spine were recognizable at a distance.
And here she sat by the Choir room door, agonizing over the audition for the communities Christmas program. “What am I doing here?” she thought, “I’ll never be chosen.”
This Christmas program was a community tradition, it had gone on so long that no one even knew when it had begun or even who had written it. Each year more people tried out for the play than there were parts and each year some had to be turned away. There were 12 choir parts, the angels, Mary, Joseph, the Angel of the Lord, the Inn Keeper, and a few Shepherds and Shepherd boys.
As Amy sat there, she through about leaving, she didn’t want to be rejected again, “I try not to care, but I do. I don’t want to be hurt anymore.” She thought to herself, “Mr. Simons will never choose me for a part. I just don’t fit. But at least I don’t have to audition in front of Mrs. Prendergast.”
Mrs. Prendergrast had been the music teacher at Marysvale High School for more than thirty years. She had cast, directed, and accompanied every pageant and production of the school and community for many of those thirty years. Three years earlier Amy had tried to audition for the Christmas program but Mrs. Prendergrast took one look at Amy’s misshapen body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. I don’t remember anywhere in the script where it calls for crippled girl.” Without singing a note Amy had been rejected. Hurt and humiliated she vowed never to try out again. Then… Mrs. Prendergrast retired.
The new Choral teacher, Mr. Simmons was the polar opposite of Mrs. Prendergrast. Oh, don’t get me wrong, he expected perfection and taught in just that way, but he also understood when perfection was not reached. He taught with love and compassion. He coached and corrected with kindness, and he himself sang with such power.
One day after class he asked Amy to try out for the program. That is the only reason she was even there. As she sat she thought about leaving and avoiding the pain of rejection, but she didn’t want to disappoint Mr. Simmons. As she struggled with what to do the door opened and she heard the words, “Amy, your next.”
After the audition Mr. Simmons said, “Thank you, Amy. The list will be posted tomorrow.” And with that Amy walked out of the Choir room, anticipating the rejection that was to come. For brief moments she would allow herself to speculate that she may have made it into the heavenly choir of angels, then reality would hit her in the face as she tried to move her deformed back. What chance did she have? Yet still she waited.
We’ve all been there in some degree or another. We know the waiting game:
Waiting on our final grades
Waiting for the proposal
Awaiting the birth of a child
Waiting on the test results from the doctor
Waiting on the call to come after the job interview
Anticipation… It has a sense of excitement, like a child watching as the gifts collect under the tree.
It also has a sense of anxiety… that not knowing what is to come, not knowing the answer.
This weekend I felt both senses of anticipation. You see, Friday we left after the school parties were all over to go to my moms for Christmas. There was the excitement of seeing family and the giving and receiving of gifts. But there was also the anxiety of things not being as the once where. You see, my dad died in 2003, my mom has remarried, and things just aren’t the same any more. There’s different family there now. New traditions. A different home. It just isn’t the same any more. And, I anticipate every holiday we spend together because of that.
But any anticipation, any excitement, any anxiety we feel for things like this fall far short of anything Mary and Joseph felt during the 40 weeks of her pregnancy with Jesus.
Remember, they were not yet wed.
Even Joseph shunned Mary when he found out she was pregnant. He loved her so he couldn’t have her stoned. Even though….
That is what the law called for, that she be stoned.
It took a visit from an angel for Joseph to be willing to believe the story - that the child she was carrying would be the Son of God.
The community shunned her; who in their right mind would believe a story like hers, that even though she was pregnant she was still a virgin.
Then, in the final weeks of the pregnancy she had to travel by donkey, across the rough barren land of Nazareth of Galilee, through Samaria and on to Bethlehem of Judea. It was a long and dangerous trip, especially for an expectant mother near the time of birth.
Think of Joseph, of what he endured. The snide remarks made behind his back about what he had done to her.
The questions of why he stayed with her if it wasn’t his fault.
Together they anticipated surviving in a culture that considered adultery and pre-marital relations as a crime punishable by death.
They anticipated the birth of Jesus
They anticipated raising the Son of God
How could they ever live up to the standard, to be the parents of the Messiah?
There was so much to anticipate.
And there was so much for Amy Williams to anticipate as well. Amy didn’t even want to go to school the next day. She just didn’t know how she could face Mr. Simmons after being rejected again. She didn’t want to see anyone or do anything; she just wanted to be left alone.
She avoided the choir room as long as she could but then Third-period choir rolled around and she would have to walk by the list to get to class. Timidly, fearfully, she looked at the list. The heavenly choir was listed at the bottom of the page. As she suspected, her name wasn’t there. “Rejected again!” She turned to enter the class when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her name at the top of the page. She, Amy Williams, had been chosen to sing the only solo in the entire play, she was to be the Angel of the Lord and sing to the Christ child.
After class Mr. Simmons told her he needed to talk to her about her part. He told her, “I don’t want to upset you but I need to stage your part a little differently this year.” Amy thought to herself, “Yeah, right off the stage, out of sight.”
But Mr. Simmons went on to explain that he wanted to have a pyramid build and have the 12 angels coming up and to have her at the top center of the pyramid above the Baby Jesus as she sang her part. All those years of pain welled up in her and exploded on Mr. Simmons. “You don’t want me center stage. I’ll ruin the show. I don’t fit in. Everyone will stare at me and it will ruin the show.”
But Mr. Simmons stopped her and told her that he had chosen her for the part because she deserved it, what she thought of herself was out of his control, but he wanted her to sing as the Angel of the Lord, and since the song the Angel of the Lord sings is the central meaning of the entire play, he wanted her front and center to sing it.
That night Amy made her decision, she would be in the play. The rehearsals were exhausting, her body ached each day after climbing up and down the pyramid but great joy filled her heart as well. She did fit in.
Once again, one of the advantages to living in a small town is that when there is a special event everyone comes and this Christmas program was no different. And so it was the Sunday before Christmas when the whole town of Marysvale attended the Christmas program. Amy Williams, broken in body but not in spirit, climbed to the top of the silver-white pyramid and with the true voice of an angel sang her heart out to the Christ child.
“What child is this who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?...”
Never had the angel sung more sweetly.
No one had realized how sick Amy really was because they were so used to seeing her broken body. No one even knew she went to the hospital the next morning
So, it was a real shock to the community when she died the next Tuesday. Her mother conveyed a last request from Amy to Mr. Simmons. Would he please sing at her funeral?
And so, on Christmas Eve two of Amy’s classmates helped Mr. Simmons from his wheelchair and supported him as he sang for a daughter of God, just as she had sung for the Son of God.
You see, sometimes we can anticipate what is to come. Other times we must simply receive that which comes our way.
Today, we await the celebration of the birth of our Savior. We sing songs together. We do good deeds for others. We gather with family and friends. And we anticipate the birth of the Christ child. But we also await Christ coming again. We can anticipate all we want. We can prepare our hearts by being in relationship with God through Christ, but in the end we must simply receive that which comes our way.
I hope today you will receive Christ, not just as a child but as the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and as a Savior. I pray you will receive the Son of God into your life today and everyday from this point forward.
Let us pray…
(The Story of Amy Williams came from: James, Bob and Kelli eds, Celebrate Christmas and the Beautiful Traditions of Advent, White Stone Books, Inc, pp 144-148.)
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Unexpected Gifts, Luke 1:26-38
Unexpected Gifts
Luke 1:26-38
Zack had served God his entire life. At this point he was what some would call an old man. He and his wife, Liz, had wanted children but it just didn't seem to be in the plans. They had prayed, they had dreamed, they had cried, but they didn't have any children. I guess at some point you finally give up. You finally accept your lot in life. You love your nieces and nephews, you love the kids in the neighborhood, you pour love into the children around.
Imagine the surprise when one day as Zack was at the altar performing his ministerial duties he heard the voice of an angel. Now that would be enough for me, I'd be passed out on the floor. Somehow Zack maintained his composure and heard the words of the angel Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.”
They had their child. John was a gift to them, a surprise gift, an unexpected gift. But John was more than that, he was the cousin to our Savior. Sometimes the greatest gifts are more than we could ever expect.
In reading today’s Scripture, I began to think of what makes a good gift. What qualities are in a gift that make it special? What are the characteristics of a gift that make it particularly endearing to the one who receives it? Here’s what today’s Scripture taught me, and maybe it will teach you something as well.
A good gift is unconditional. There are no strings attached - nothing is expected in return.
Did you know that when a man asks a woman to marry him and gives an engagement ring, the ring is a gift? The ring is not given in exchange for actually marrying the man. If the wedding is called off the woman is under no legal obligation to give the ring back. There might be an ethical responsibility, depending on the circumstances, but there is no legal one because it is a gift with no strings attached.
The government likes to define words, and it defines “gifts” as well. When you give to the church, you can’t receive anything in return or it’s not a gift, and therefore not tax deductible. Even the law recognizes that a gift is given without strings attached.
So, a good gift is one that is given without any conditions. Once the gift is given, it is wholly that person’s—to do with as they wish.
When you look at the Scripture for this morning, you see that Gabriel gives no conditions for rearing Jesus other than what to name him. Gabriel’s announcement doesn’t come with a long list of items that must happen or God will take Jesus back. There’s nothing like, “Ok, Mary, if you are going to be the one who raises the Son of God, you will have to make sure he wears sunscreen when he goes outside, childproof your home by putting a gate around your fireplace, and be certain that he says his prayers every night.”
You would think with the salvation of the world on the line that the Son of God would come with some kind of Divine Instruction Manual like, “Dieties in Diapers,” “How to Raise a Know-it-all,” or “How to Hide Birthday Gifts from Your Omniscient Child,” or “How to Discipline the Son of God.”
God is trusting Mary and Joseph to raise Jesus in such a way as to shape him into the kind of man who will understand that God will call him to sacrifice his life for the world. What a precious gift and awesome responsibility that is!
Another characteristic of a good gift is that it is surprising. The best gifts are those where you think to yourself, “I can’t believe they got that for me” or “I had no idea they knew I wanted that” or “I didn’t even know anyone made these things!”
I remember not long after Renee and I met, she knew I wanted a new bedspread. I lived in a rat hole with 4 other guys but I wanted my room to look nice. We both worked at Wal-Mart and there was a manly comforter set on clearance at the back of the store. I had no idea that she would get it for me, that is until she asked me to put something in the trunk of her car and there it was, my birthday gift a week before she planned to give it to me. Oops! Needless to say the surprise was ruined for my birthday but it was definitely unexpected and it was a great gift. Sometime the best gift is the one that is unexpected and unpredictable.
Listen again to Mary’s response to the news that she would bear the Son of God.
“How will this be…since I am a virgin?” There could be no greater surprise than being pregnant while still being a virgin! I would imagine that she would be on the verge of shock.
Think for a minute about Mary. She is just a few years older than my daughter Reagan.
She is just at that age when her whole life seems to be before her.
She is sitting at a small desk in her room, and she is staring blankly ahead at the wall.
She is stunned. She sits in disbelief.
She is going to have a baby.
Since she was old enough to talk, she has been waiting and dreaming. She has dreamed of what her life would be like. She has waited for the right man. She prayed for God to send her the right one.
Someone kind. Maybe even someone rich! Certainly someone who had a trade, who could provide.
She had dreamed of the wedding.
She waited for this man, the one selected for her, to respond to her father’s overture…
She dreamed of her friends celebrating with her.
…dreamed of all of the joy of that wedding day.
She must confess she had even dreamed of that wedding night…
In this moment, as she sits staring at the wall, all of those dreams are gone. She cannot avoid the reality. Surprise! She is going to have a baby.
What do you do when what you have prayed for, when what you have been waiting for, isn’t what comes your way at all? But instead, what comes your way is something altogether different, something outside your plans, something that you would never has asked for, never have waited for, never have prayed for. That must be you… You have been there somehow, sometime.
You prayed that the biopsy would come back negative, but it came back positive.
You prayed that your husband would be able to save your marriage, but he seems bent on leaving.
You prayed that the job offer would come, but instead the mailbox was empty.
Surely you’ve had those moments when you just wondered if God was even listening to you.
You see, the question, “how can this be, since I am a virgin,” is not simply a biological question of the angel, but rather a social one. The angel has described a scene in which Mary is a special one, to bear a special child… God is going to use her to do something magnificent.
Mary’s question is “If I turn up pregnant, and unmarried, how can that mean I have found favor with God? How can something magnificent and good and wonderful come out of this?”
And the angel replies: Nothing is impossible with God.
Now that is the real miracle of this story, is it not? Not just that God used a virgin; God used something that seemed like a tragedy and turned it into a victory. That is the way that God works.
Sometimes, our plan for our lives doesn’t work out. What comes down the pike is not just a surprise, but a gut wrenching surprise.
We have to recognize that maybe God can take our lives and work something else out with them…. Something altogether different than we had in mind.
The last thing that makes a really good gift is its value to the giver. The more the giver values the gift, the more the giver values the one he or she is giving it to.
Gift's don't have to be expensive to be valuable. A child takes the time to make a card or a coupon book or A father passes on a special pocket knife that belonged to his dad. Sometimes they can be expensive like a special ring given for a special reason. The point is, the value is not tied to the price, the value is about what it means to the giver and the receiver.
To put that in the context of our Scripture today, God’s greatest gift to us was what? Sure! His Son, which as Christians, we believe was the incarnation of God himself. That means that God values his relationship with us so much that he gave his very self to suffer and die on a cross for us. Does that put things in perspective?
Let me tell you about another Mary and Joseph…. Their names were Patrick and Ellen. They were no longer young; in fact, they were in their forties. But one day, Ellen turned up pregnant. They already had two children at home, and had resolved not to have any others, but they decided that this would be a great gift, this third child. You see, they had hit a rough spot in their marriage and maybe a new baby was just what they needed to smooth it out.
Sometime around the fourth month of the pregnancy, the doctors informed them that the baby was to be a boy, but there was a problem. This boy’s genetic material contained an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. He would have Down’s Syndrome.
Patrick and Ellen were heartbroken. How would they survive? How could their marriage survive?
Ellen traveled a lot for work, and it was difficult enough caring for their two children. What kind of effect would it have on them? What about her career? They argued a lot with God. They cried. They shouted out in anger. They refused to talk to anyone around them, because everything those friends said seemed like shallow platitudes.
By the time Jonathan was born, they had come to the decision that “it is what it is.” They would do their very best for Jonathan.
The family dynamic changed dramatically. Ellen quit her job, so that she could provide full time care for Jonathan. Patrick scaled back his hours so he could help out more. The family began some family counseling; they figured they were going to need it. Ellen became an advocate in the church and the school for children with special needs, helping to start a Sunday school program for Jonathan. The whole family discovered a new sense of focus, a new sense of direction, a new sense of purpose.
Later Patrick would say, “Jonathan is the best thing that ever happened to us. We thank God for him every single day.”
What a gift Jonathan was. A surprising gift, an Unexpected Gift. Yes, and sometimes a heartbreaking gift. Who would have thought that such a tragedy might become such a blessing...
But then again, nothing is impossible is God.
(Parts of this sermon came from sermon curriculum for the "Given" series put out by The Loft Church - The Woodlands UMC. Tom Pace and Tom Teekell of the Texas Annual Conference are to be credited with some of the stories of this sermon.)
Luke 1:26-38
Zack had served God his entire life. At this point he was what some would call an old man. He and his wife, Liz, had wanted children but it just didn't seem to be in the plans. They had prayed, they had dreamed, they had cried, but they didn't have any children. I guess at some point you finally give up. You finally accept your lot in life. You love your nieces and nephews, you love the kids in the neighborhood, you pour love into the children around.
Imagine the surprise when one day as Zack was at the altar performing his ministerial duties he heard the voice of an angel. Now that would be enough for me, I'd be passed out on the floor. Somehow Zack maintained his composure and heard the words of the angel Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.”
They had their child. John was a gift to them, a surprise gift, an unexpected gift. But John was more than that, he was the cousin to our Savior. Sometimes the greatest gifts are more than we could ever expect.
In reading today’s Scripture, I began to think of what makes a good gift. What qualities are in a gift that make it special? What are the characteristics of a gift that make it particularly endearing to the one who receives it? Here’s what today’s Scripture taught me, and maybe it will teach you something as well.
A good gift is unconditional. There are no strings attached - nothing is expected in return.
Did you know that when a man asks a woman to marry him and gives an engagement ring, the ring is a gift? The ring is not given in exchange for actually marrying the man. If the wedding is called off the woman is under no legal obligation to give the ring back. There might be an ethical responsibility, depending on the circumstances, but there is no legal one because it is a gift with no strings attached.
The government likes to define words, and it defines “gifts” as well. When you give to the church, you can’t receive anything in return or it’s not a gift, and therefore not tax deductible. Even the law recognizes that a gift is given without strings attached.
So, a good gift is one that is given without any conditions. Once the gift is given, it is wholly that person’s—to do with as they wish.
When you look at the Scripture for this morning, you see that Gabriel gives no conditions for rearing Jesus other than what to name him. Gabriel’s announcement doesn’t come with a long list of items that must happen or God will take Jesus back. There’s nothing like, “Ok, Mary, if you are going to be the one who raises the Son of God, you will have to make sure he wears sunscreen when he goes outside, childproof your home by putting a gate around your fireplace, and be certain that he says his prayers every night.”
You would think with the salvation of the world on the line that the Son of God would come with some kind of Divine Instruction Manual like, “Dieties in Diapers,” “How to Raise a Know-it-all,” or “How to Hide Birthday Gifts from Your Omniscient Child,” or “How to Discipline the Son of God.”
God is trusting Mary and Joseph to raise Jesus in such a way as to shape him into the kind of man who will understand that God will call him to sacrifice his life for the world. What a precious gift and awesome responsibility that is!
Another characteristic of a good gift is that it is surprising. The best gifts are those where you think to yourself, “I can’t believe they got that for me” or “I had no idea they knew I wanted that” or “I didn’t even know anyone made these things!”
I remember not long after Renee and I met, she knew I wanted a new bedspread. I lived in a rat hole with 4 other guys but I wanted my room to look nice. We both worked at Wal-Mart and there was a manly comforter set on clearance at the back of the store. I had no idea that she would get it for me, that is until she asked me to put something in the trunk of her car and there it was, my birthday gift a week before she planned to give it to me. Oops! Needless to say the surprise was ruined for my birthday but it was definitely unexpected and it was a great gift. Sometime the best gift is the one that is unexpected and unpredictable.
Listen again to Mary’s response to the news that she would bear the Son of God.
“How will this be…since I am a virgin?” There could be no greater surprise than being pregnant while still being a virgin! I would imagine that she would be on the verge of shock.
Think for a minute about Mary. She is just a few years older than my daughter Reagan.
She is just at that age when her whole life seems to be before her.
She is sitting at a small desk in her room, and she is staring blankly ahead at the wall.
She is stunned. She sits in disbelief.
She is going to have a baby.
Since she was old enough to talk, she has been waiting and dreaming. She has dreamed of what her life would be like. She has waited for the right man. She prayed for God to send her the right one.
Someone kind. Maybe even someone rich! Certainly someone who had a trade, who could provide.
She had dreamed of the wedding.
She waited for this man, the one selected for her, to respond to her father’s overture…
She dreamed of her friends celebrating with her.
…dreamed of all of the joy of that wedding day.
She must confess she had even dreamed of that wedding night…
In this moment, as she sits staring at the wall, all of those dreams are gone. She cannot avoid the reality. Surprise! She is going to have a baby.
What do you do when what you have prayed for, when what you have been waiting for, isn’t what comes your way at all? But instead, what comes your way is something altogether different, something outside your plans, something that you would never has asked for, never have waited for, never have prayed for. That must be you… You have been there somehow, sometime.
You prayed that the biopsy would come back negative, but it came back positive.
You prayed that your husband would be able to save your marriage, but he seems bent on leaving.
You prayed that the job offer would come, but instead the mailbox was empty.
Surely you’ve had those moments when you just wondered if God was even listening to you.
You see, the question, “how can this be, since I am a virgin,” is not simply a biological question of the angel, but rather a social one. The angel has described a scene in which Mary is a special one, to bear a special child… God is going to use her to do something magnificent.
Mary’s question is “If I turn up pregnant, and unmarried, how can that mean I have found favor with God? How can something magnificent and good and wonderful come out of this?”
And the angel replies: Nothing is impossible with God.
Now that is the real miracle of this story, is it not? Not just that God used a virgin; God used something that seemed like a tragedy and turned it into a victory. That is the way that God works.
Sometimes, our plan for our lives doesn’t work out. What comes down the pike is not just a surprise, but a gut wrenching surprise.
We have to recognize that maybe God can take our lives and work something else out with them…. Something altogether different than we had in mind.
The last thing that makes a really good gift is its value to the giver. The more the giver values the gift, the more the giver values the one he or she is giving it to.
Gift's don't have to be expensive to be valuable. A child takes the time to make a card or a coupon book or A father passes on a special pocket knife that belonged to his dad. Sometimes they can be expensive like a special ring given for a special reason. The point is, the value is not tied to the price, the value is about what it means to the giver and the receiver.
To put that in the context of our Scripture today, God’s greatest gift to us was what? Sure! His Son, which as Christians, we believe was the incarnation of God himself. That means that God values his relationship with us so much that he gave his very self to suffer and die on a cross for us. Does that put things in perspective?
Let me tell you about another Mary and Joseph…. Their names were Patrick and Ellen. They were no longer young; in fact, they were in their forties. But one day, Ellen turned up pregnant. They already had two children at home, and had resolved not to have any others, but they decided that this would be a great gift, this third child. You see, they had hit a rough spot in their marriage and maybe a new baby was just what they needed to smooth it out.
Sometime around the fourth month of the pregnancy, the doctors informed them that the baby was to be a boy, but there was a problem. This boy’s genetic material contained an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. He would have Down’s Syndrome.
Patrick and Ellen were heartbroken. How would they survive? How could their marriage survive?
Ellen traveled a lot for work, and it was difficult enough caring for their two children. What kind of effect would it have on them? What about her career? They argued a lot with God. They cried. They shouted out in anger. They refused to talk to anyone around them, because everything those friends said seemed like shallow platitudes.
By the time Jonathan was born, they had come to the decision that “it is what it is.” They would do their very best for Jonathan.
The family dynamic changed dramatically. Ellen quit her job, so that she could provide full time care for Jonathan. Patrick scaled back his hours so he could help out more. The family began some family counseling; they figured they were going to need it. Ellen became an advocate in the church and the school for children with special needs, helping to start a Sunday school program for Jonathan. The whole family discovered a new sense of focus, a new sense of direction, a new sense of purpose.
Later Patrick would say, “Jonathan is the best thing that ever happened to us. We thank God for him every single day.”
What a gift Jonathan was. A surprising gift, an Unexpected Gift. Yes, and sometimes a heartbreaking gift. Who would have thought that such a tragedy might become such a blessing...
But then again, nothing is impossible is God.
(Parts of this sermon came from sermon curriculum for the "Given" series put out by The Loft Church - The Woodlands UMC. Tom Pace and Tom Teekell of the Texas Annual Conference are to be credited with some of the stories of this sermon.)
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