It’s almost that time of year; Christmas is only 8 days away and I know many of you, especially those with children, can hear the countdown each and every day. This is also the same time where we find those unseemly and unwanted gifts. You know the gifts I am talking about; a book about how to raise chimpanzees because your aunt Dorothy thought it might help in raising your children or the worst gift known to mankind; fruitcakes. An American Express survey about Christmas gifts found that the fruitcake was chosen most often (31%) from a list of "worst" holiday gifts. It even finished ahead of "no gift at all." When asked how to dispose of a bad gift, 30% would hide it in the closet, 21% would return it, and 19% would give it away. No one really wants a fruitcake. It’s pretty bad when getting no gift at all would have been better received than getting a fruitcake. However, I will say that receiving some of Mary Dean’s monkey bread for Christmas wouldn’t be too bad at all. (Hint, Hint) I remember that I once received a fancy box of fancy looking pens after helping a friend get home for Christmas from college. I thanked his mother for the gift and sent them on their way. It wouldn’t be until almost a year later that I actually tried to use one and can you guess what happened? It didn’t work. That made its way up to the top of my unwanted gifts list.
You always know which gift is the unwanted one too; it just doesn’t look the same as the others. It comes in some ancient wrapping paper from when your parents were children. It usually smells like it has been hidden in a moldy basement for a few weeks, and in many cases, takes the shape of a cake box. When you go to read who shipped it to you, you find old Aunt Dorothy’s name written all over it. You know she just wants to send you something to show that she cares; you just may wish (as I do) that it was something a little more edible or at least useful; maybe we can feed those fruitcakes to Gary’s dogs. We have our expectations too. We know what we want it to look like and what it should do.
Many of us have heard the story of the wise men who came to visit Jesus; I encourage you to find where it says three because no number is given but I can imagine that it was a much greater number than three. Here we see almost the same scene as we can see under the Christmas tree with Aunt Dorothy’s wonderful fruitcake. The other packages are beautifully wrapped with a nice bow on top and little tags with names on them while the fruitcake is crinkled and crumpled because of the shipping. Listen to the story of the wise men coming to baby Jesus. “Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On 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. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”
Among all the wonderful presents, lay baby Jesus. If you would have looked at that scene the glimmer of the gold and the costly amount for the spices would have bowled you over. The wise men truly were wise at least during this scene of history because they chose the strangely packaged gift from God instead of keeping the money they had brought. God had chosen quite an unusual way to send our Savior. Unfortunately, the wise men seem to be in the minority of people who would have anything to do with Jesus. His entire life was packaged roughly. Everyone around him, especially in the Jewish kingdom, was looking for something else. They wanted a king who would over-throw the Roman government and build a society on earth. Jesus’ entire life had a different packaging than the people wanted. His birth and his family posed a problem to them. He also lived his life counter-culturally. He didn’t go with the flow of society. The last and worst packaging his life wore came in the shape of a cross. As you all well know, you must unwrap a present to have what it offers. Today, let’s unwrap the life of Jesus and reap the benefits.
His Birth and His Family – Luke 1:35; 2:7, 24
Just like any unwanted gift, it comes in the most unusual way possible. God definitely chose an odd way to bring the Savior of the world down to us. Listen to what the angel in Luke 1 tells Mary about the child she will bear. “But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Am I the only one who doesn’t really get why God would send Jesus as a defenseless and helpless little baby? He would be totally dependent upon his parents for a huge portion of his life. Herod the Great even killed all the young boys in the area of Bethlehem so that he could get rid of Jesus. It’s possible that Jesus could have died as an infant. God chose to allow Godly and responsible parents to raise and protect him however. Now, I can’t help but think that soon enough I too will be responsible for a little child who will need my attention, affection, and protection. I think I understand why Jesus came as a baby now; he had to be human in every single way. His packaging may not have been what everyone expected but he had his reasons.
Beyond the obscurity of him just being born, the manner and place where he was born would be considered humiliating and degrading. He was born in a hay barn with animals. Actually to be more specific, he was born and then laid in a horse trough with some hay to make it softer. What a wonderful way for the Savior of the world to be born? How many of you would like to give birth in a place with no equipment, no real help (what can husbands do ya know?), no trained medical staff, etc. Mary had a couple horses, maybe some pigs, and a frantic husband to help her deliver the Savior of the world into the world. Unlike the thinking of many, Jesus was not born in a rich and noble household with midwives surrounding him. He wasn’t born with great anticipation by the majority of people and no one swooned after him except his mother and father. Again we find God’s choice of packaging to be odd and unexceptional by worldly standards.
His birth was definitely an odd one and so what his family or so the people would have thought. Joseph and Mary were good Jewish people who loved God and did their best for Him. However, they were nothing exceptional on the outside. They were normal Jews. He was a carpenter which meant he didn’t have much money. Luke 2:24 tells us that when they went to the temple to dedicate Jesus Christ and present Him to the priests, they brought along the sacrifice required of them. They made the lowest sacrifice possible. God had made a way for the poor to sacrifice if they did not have the rams or bulls needed. They were allowed to give up just a pair of doves or two young pigeons. His parents were extremely poor. Honestly, I am not sure that many married couples start out as anything better than poor. Can you remember when you first married and what little you had and did? I know that Amy and I had our first Christmas with almost nothing to give each other but it was still a happy one because we had each other. The people wanted a conquering ruler to come and save them but instead God packaged Jesus as a little baby, born in a barn, and place him in the hands of poor but God-fearing people.
His Counter-Cultural Life -
Jesus went against the cultural values of the time in which he lived. He took a stand against many of the same problems which we face today; money, sex, selfishness, pride. He had no love for any of the sins that mankind and society purported to be the ultimate way of living. Jesus’ teaching bout these issues is very plain and simple. About money he says that you cannot serve two masters; you will either serve money or you will serve God. In the same verses he reminds us that what we have on earth here, you cannot take with you. However, if you place your effort in building spiritual strength, you will have treasure in heaven. Jesus never says you can’t have money and never once says that you cannot enjoy the money you have. He loves you and gives you a sincere warning that the money you have and rely on will sooner or later deceive you. If you think it can bail you out of an emotional situation, then you have a great problem on your hands.
He definitely spoke out against sex before marriage. The view back then and the view today of the issue of sexual immorality are the exact same: don’t hamper my fun. Lines like “It doesn’t hurt anyone” and “It’s my business so keep out” usually accompany this type of behavior. However, both are false according to God and reality. If you are married and struggle with pornography or just a bad habit of looking at other women, your marriage will be in danger. It doesn’t just hurt you but also your wife who will be devastated and your children who will not understand why you and your wife are separating. Sexual immorality, by which I mean anything sexual outside of marriage, destroys the good of a healthy marital relationship. It loses meaning and in the end gives a false view of how the marital relationship works. Your wife suddenly has to compete with the models and trash you see on the computer and on T.V. God is not a kill joy but does all this to protect us. He set down the laws and prohibited sexual immorality for our benefit. Just like today, this type of thinking goes totally against culture.
Parents, we too must be counter-culture. One columnist put it this way. “Sooner or later; most Americans become card-carrying members of the counterculture. This is not an underground holdout of Hippies. No beads are required. All you need to join is a child. At some point between Lamaze and PTA, it becomes clear that one of your main jobs as a parent is to counter the culture. What the media deliver to children by the masses, you are expected to rebut one at a time. But it occurs to me now that the call for "parental responsibility" is increasing in direct proportion to the irresponsibility of the marketplace. Parents are expected to protect their children from an increasingly hostile environment. Are the kids being sold junk food? Just say no. Is TV bad? Turn it off. Are there messages about sex, drugs, violence all around? Counter the culture. Mothers and fathers are expected to screen virtually every aspect of their children’s lives. To check the ratings on the movies, to read the labels on the CDs, to find out if there’s MTV in the house next door. All the while keeping in touch with school and in their free time, earning a living.” – Ellen Goodman. Jesus came in a most unusual wrapper. He was the exact opposite of most everyone in his time. He countered almost everyone and everything to set the record straight. The people did not like him for it and if you counter the culture your kids may not like it but at least you know you have protected them.
His Cross Defeating Finish –
This is probably the best part of the gift named Jesus Christ. The little baby wrapped up in a manger has finally grown up and finds himself at the end of his mission. He has preached, taught, healed, and rebuked for three and ½ years until he finally found himself carrying a piece of lumber on his back down a long road to a place called Golgotha or the place of the skulls. He was a gift most unwanted. Listen to what one medical doctor provided as a physical description of the crucifixion Jesus faced.
“What is crucifixion? A medical doctor provides a physical description: The cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted man is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and movement. The cross is then lifted into place. The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. The victim is now crucified. As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain--the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail through his feet. Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet. As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath. Finally carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is now almost over--the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level--the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues--the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through is tissues. . .Finally he can allow his body to die.
All this the Bible records with the simple words, "And they crucified Him." (Mark 15:24). What wondrous love is this?” (Adapted from C. Truman Davis, M.D. in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Vol. 8. )
Jesus was a gift most unwanted. His final packaging had to be ugliest present in history. His entire life was out of the ordinary and never followed a single way we thought it should be and yet He continued to live it anyway. What a wonderful gift for us to receive, all we have to do is take it. It has been unwrapped and now you have heard it for all it is worth. Jesus Christ came to earth as a child, lived his live against the world, and then died to save it. Will you accept this wonderful gift from God? Will you accept the gift of His Son and eternal life? Remember the love aunt Dorothy had when she sent you that fruit cake. Maybe we shouldn’t feed it to Gary’s dogs. Maybe we should appreciate how much love went into that gift. I encourage you to remember Jesus Christ’s gift on the cross. If you don’t know him, let me introduce you to him. (INVITATION TIME). He was the world’s unwanted gift. Will you reject him too?
