December 2 ,2007
Matthew 2:1-12
Gift Giving
There are only 23 days left before Christmas, so I hope you have your Christmas list set. Normally it works this way in our house, Debbie asks me what I want for Christmas and I always give her the same answer, “You’re all I need baby.” Actually, I should try that one next year.
Really, I say, “I don’t need anything, so don’t get me anything.” She wants to buy me something, and honestly, deep down, I want a present too, but I’m not very helpful.
Joshua and Zachary are just about ready for Christmas. Whenever a commercial comes on they tell us that would be good for them. They also make lists of what they want. I want Joshua and Zachary to have fun, in fact, I want to have fun, I want all of us to have fun with Christmas, but is that the purpose of Christmas?
Yet, a focus for many of us at Christmas is on giving gifts. After all, what would Christmas be without giving gifts? So, what kinds of gifts are you giving and what are you wanting from others?
Every Christmas my goal is to take a fresh new look at the Christmas story. To find something new and refreshing. I found something in the story of the wise men. I’m impressed by the fact that their gift was personally given. These were wealthy men from Persia, today we call it Iraq, about 1,000 miles from Bethlehem. And they went through all the effort to deliver the gift to Jesus. We get to hear some of what they experienced on the journey . . . Matthew tells us - - - ‘they came to worship Jesus. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. And they came opened their treasures, presented gifts and fell down and worshiped Him.’ It was personally given.
The second thing I noticed is that it was properly given. When I say it was properly given, it was more than a gift and that’s what I want to talk about this morning. It was more than just gold, frankincense and myrrh. Its purpose was to bring worship, adoration, glory, honor and praise to Jesus.
There are lots of gifts we can give at Christmas time, but I want to focus on 3 kinds of gifts we usually give.
The first is called REGIFTING.
You know what I’m talking about. Most adults have been there and done it. But today we have a fancy word for this art called REGIFTING.
That’s right . . . regifting. If you do a google search you will come up with 154,000 hits for the word regifting. There are rules and ethics and tips you can find on the Internet.
For those of you who have not participated, it goes like this - - - you get that wonderful tie which is totally hideous and impractical, or maybe it’s a shirt which is on the ugly shirt dot com web site. But you say thank you with a smile, and you immediately begin to wonder who else could use this tie or shirt, or whatever it is. So, you file the item away, and at first chance you repackage it, only after considering that the person you give it to is not related to the person you got it from.
Another thing we do with gift giving is something I call a GIFT for a GIFT, GIFT.
Basically, a gift for a gift, gift occurs when we get a gift from somebody; we say, "Oh-oh, I didn’t get them anything, now, I’ve got to get them a gift because they gave me a gift. We figure out the cost of their gift, possibly it is a regifted gift; then we run to Wal-Mart, and buy a gift for about the same price. It’s called a gift for a gift, gift. And we’ve all given a gift for a gift, gift.
And you know what, the couple of days before Christmas, why do you think the stores are so crowded, 1,000’s of people are running to the stores because they just got a gift for a gift, gift and they have to get a gift for the person who gave them a gift, for the gift, gift.
It’s the same way with Christmas cards. Every time you get a late Christmas card, it’s probably because that person didn’t expect you to send them a card. Nothing’s worse then getting a Christmas card on Christmas Eve from somebody that wasn’t on your list.
A second style of gift giving is the gift for a favor gift.
This occurs when a person gives you a gift, not expecting a gift in return, but expecting you to do nice things or at least something for them. This person also loves to keep score. They love to have I.O.U.s. They’re the type of people, who if they loaned you $1, would hold it against you, because now you owe them.
People who practice the gift for a favor gift, are well adept to the giving a gift for a gift, gift. They have long memories of the value of the gift. Have you ever heard anybody say, “Oh, I got them something but they didn’t get me anything.” They keep score. And they will remind you about what they have done for you, but what you have not done for them.
Then, there’s a third kind of gift and it’s what I want to focus on. It’s a gift that the wise men teach us. It’s what I call a grace gift.
The best way to describe a grace gift is — it’s UNREPAYABLE. You can’t pay back a grace gift. That term, obviously comes from Jesus, who loves us so much He gives us eternal life which is a gift of God. It’s a grace gift — we don’t work for it, we can’t work for it and we could never, ever, repay it. So when we think of God, we think of grace and say, “I could never repay God for Jesus.”
While we can never repay God for the gift of grace given to us, we can give Grace Gifts to one another. And when we give grace gifts to one another, it is our way of serving God and showing our love for Him to others. A GRACE GIFT is immeasurable.
Let me mention a couple of ways to give grace gifts and a couple things about them.
Do you know some young children who are in need of love? You know their family situation, it’s not a good scene. Is there something you can do to help them know someone loves them in positive ways? Maybe it would be checking in on them and listening to them and hugging them. We all need to be listened to and hugged. Maybe it would be making cookies or some special treat. Could you take them to the store with you? None of these are expensive, but you’re communicating love and acceptance to someone. That type of gift can never be paid back.
I know people who knit and crochet for their families for an entire year. I know people who complete projects for the family . . . and every year the Christmas presents are projects they’ve worked on all year long. Many times our gifts are bought on the spur of the moment. Instead, maybe you could make something for someone. The point is, it’s from your hands to their heart.
Could you begin to mentor someone? Is there someone who has similar interests? Or someone who has needs and you can help by being a friend on life’s journey?
I don’t know what we’ve done with Christmas, but we need to turn this thing around. We need to quit running to the stores every time we think of somebody. We need to pass grace gifts to one another, gifts that will last. Let me tell you something else about these grace gifts.
They’re usually non-material. Give a togetherness gift.
Is there a way you could spend more time with your spouse, children, significant other or loved ones? I know I’m a total Scrooge when it comes to putting up Christmas decorations. Debbie expects it from me. I believe you should put up a tree on the 23rd and take it down on the 26th. Yea, I know “Bah humbug!” I do my ususal complaining, or I just keep quiet about everything. We are trying to get our Christmas decorations out and I need to learn to just quit complaining, because I am not going to win, in fact, I take away from Debbie and the boys, because it is one of Debbie’s favorite times of the year, and I need to just enjoy the time together.’
But maybe those are little grace gifts that we can give to our loved ones. More time without crabbing. More time just loving.
I have seen people in this church take in family members when there was a need — having parents, children or grandchildren come live with them. I know some who have allowed friends of the family to stay for extended visits. It changes your life dramatically, yet what a beautiful and wonderful gift of grace.
Grace gifts can also occur as a gift of service.
John Maxwell tells of a member of his church who had a great many emotional needs. One day the young man walked into his office, got out his Bible and said, “Pastor, let me read something to you.” And he read about how each part of the body of Christ is different and how we need each part. He said, “Pastor, you need me. My gift is helps. Would it be all right if I came to your office about once a week and the secretary could just give me a list of errands that I could do for you? I’d like to give you an afternoon once a week of my life.”
Maxwell said, ‘for the next seven years that guy would come by the office and go wash the car and do the dry cleaning. And I would hug him. He gave me something that I could never give him back. It was a grace gift.’
I’ve had a few plumbing problems and have had someone come and help me fix them. When it comes to these issues I am totally helpless. He knows what he’s doing, doesn’t complain about it, and we have wonderful conversations and he always fixes my problem. It’s a grace gift. You can’t pay that back. You just love it and accept it.
Some other things the wise men teach us are —
1. Give an unexpected gift to someone.
You see, no one would have expected the wise men to give this gift.
On coming to the house, they saw the child and worshiped him and presented him with gifts of gold and of frankincense and of myrrh. - - Matthew 2:11
They’re not Jews. They have nothing in this. They’ve studied the skies and believe the King of the Jews has been born. Talk about a surprise. Their visit was totally unexpected.
But aren’t the best gifts also the unexpected ones? Maybe somebody has done something for you, is there some way you can show them your appreciation? Think about it and do something unexpected for that person. Maybe do something unexpected for a loved one. Give them a grace gift. They don’t expect anything — and when they get it, it’s going to be a grace gift. It’s you doing something for somebody and you don’t expect anything in return.
We have experienced that here. So many of you helped clean and paint and fix up our home while we were moving in. You gave us food and helped by just being with us and showing us love. That’s a grace gift. It cannot be measured, there’s no way to measure it, yet it’s an amazing gift you gave to us.
We were overwhelmed at your support. We’ve experienced it since then with other forms of support. Some of the best gifts we receive, are unexpected.
The second thing I learned about the wise men is they gave with genuine joy
Matthew tells us “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”
They rejoiced when they saw Mary. This gift was burning in their hands and they wanted to give it to Mary and to Jesus.
Richard Foster wrote, “Giving with a glad and generous heart has a way of routing out the tough old miser within us. Even the poor need to know they can give. Just the very act of letting go of money or some other treasure does something within us. It destroys the demon . . . greed.”
When you give a present to someone this Christmas, don’t make it a gift for a gift, gift, give it with genuine joy.
Lastly, give a gift that will last.
Isn’t it amazing that after 2,000 years, people still know what gift the wise men gave? We read this passage once a year, but we remember their gift. Do you remember what you got last Christmas, or for your birthday? Give a gift that will last. And when I talk about a gift that will last, again, you can’t go down and buy one of those gifts. Those gifts wear out. They break, they get lost.
Instead, give the gift of good memories. Nothing like giving the gift of memories. Make sure this Christmas you do things that will create memories. Folks, one of the only things that’s ever going to last are great memories. Spend your time making memories with the people you love.
There’s another gift that will last and that’s a Godly heritage. The Bible teaches us it will bless you for generations. That kind of gift will last. Give the gift of Jesus to others. Don’t preach at anyone, but share your faith, your life and your story with those you love who don’t know Christ.
Those wise men weren’t about to go back home until they got those gifts to Jesus. They pressed through opposition. They pressed through time. I’m sure they were discouraged. I’m sure people said, "Turn back. You’re never going to find Him." And they said, ‘No, we want to give it now.’ The saddest thing in life and I’ve seen it happen over and over again is to see people look at their loved ones and wish for one day back where they could say something or do something.
You may say, “Oh, the gift I want to give is expensive.” Forget that expensive gift. The best gifts are from the heart. Don’t wait until your kids are grown. Go home and make some memories right now. Take a day off and play with your kids, whether they’re 21 months or 55. The most important thing you can give your family is your love.
I’m here to tell you that this Christmas I will do my best not to miss an opportunity to love and hug somebody. I am sure there some of you need to reach out, maybe even before Christmas, but do it, swallow your pride and give a grace gift.
That letter that you should have written, that phone call you should make. Hey, listen. This afternoon, go make it. Go give a hug, go love somebody.
THE MAGICAL ART OF GIFT GIVING. Is it really magical? Because it can disappear before our eyes if we don’t do it.
So, this Christmas BE A GRACE GIVER. Give gifts that makes a real difference, give the gift of Jesus through you. Let’s pray.
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EXTRA - not in sermon
The last thing I would say about gifts is —
Give that gift now. Don’t wait. Samuel Johnson said, “He who waits to do a great deed of good all at once will never do anything.” I believe that. Give your gift this Christmas. Don’t wait.
I found this story on the Internet —
“They were going to be all they wanted to be, tomorrow. None would be braver or kinder than they, tomorrow. A friend who was troubled and wearied they knew, would be glad for a lift and he needed it too, and on him they would call and see what they could do, tomorrow. Each morning they stacked up the letters they’d write, tomorrow. And thought of the folks that they would fill with delight, tomorrow. The greatest of people, they just might have been. The world would have opened it’s heart to them, but, in fact, they passed on and faded from view and all that they left when their living was through was a mountain of things that they intended to do, tomorrow."
