RE-GIFTING GRACE
John 3:16
I want to begin this evening with some group interaction. Turn to the person next to you and answer this question: “What kinds of things have disappeared in the last ten years?” Or to ask it another way: “What every-day-kind-of-stuff has become extinct in the last decade?” Give your neighbor one answer for that question.
Here are six things that have disappeared in the last decade…
* Big phone books – people are using the web for phone numbers now
* Lick-able stamps – this is a good change.
* Foldable maps – thanks to MapQuest, GPS, and SmartPhones they are mostly a thing of the past.
* Floppy disks – this one disk can only hold about half of one mp3 song.
* Cassettes – sales have gone from a high of 442 million in 1990 to just 250,000.
* VCR’s – like cassettes they are all but a thing of the past.
* The National Hockey League. Ouch! I know I just poured salt in the wound for some of you but I could not help but get a dig in this eternal strike they are having. I couldn’t resist.
This Christmas has been a blockbuster year for technology gifts. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 80% of adults said they intended to purchase some type of technology as a gift this year, the highest number ever.
That ties into an article I read that said, “Ten Years from Now: iPhones will Be Antiques.” The article says that ten years ago, we would have been blown away by a cell phone with far more computing power and memory than the average PC had in 1999…Ten years from now, the iPhone and its ilk will be antiques. Over the next decade, the evolution of computing and the Internet will produce faster, increasingly intelligent devices…The 2000s saw Google become one of the world’s most powerful companies because it helped us get a grip on the sprawling content of the Web. What we will need next, however, is a company that doesn’t just organize data. Google, or the next Google, will have to synthesize all that information and help us understand what it all means.
While there’s no way I can even come close to synthesizing all the information that’s out there, I do want to take a stab at synthesizing the impact of the story of Christmas.
At its heart, Christmas means that no matter what else will disappear in the next decade, God’s love will last forever.
Over the past few weeks I have suggested that our gift-giving can emulate God’s gift giving in three simple ways:
1. God’s gift giving meets human need
2. God’s gift giving is memorable
3. God’s gift giving is meaningful
I also told you that the Christmas story tells us that there were a few things in particular that God wanted to accomplish with the gift of His Son. This evening I want to unpack some of those “Christmas objectives.”
1. GOD WANTED THE GIFT OF HIS SON TO BE A “PERSONAL GIFT.”
In Luke 2:11-12 the angels tell the shepherds: “to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”
I understand that the gift of Jesus transcends times and cultures. But before it can do anything on a global scale it must for do something in me.
“The Gift” will impact the world only after it transforms me, you, and indeed the church. God’s gift is personal – very personal.
2. GOD WANTED THE GIFT OF HIS SON TO BRING PEACE TO TROUBLED HEARTS AND A TROUBLED WORLD
Again, the angels’ proclamation to the shepherds is pertinent. In Luke 2:14 the angels tell us : “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
We have seen our share of troubled hearts this Christmas season. We do not need to rehearse the global anecdotes that show peace has yet to reach its potential.
Dr. Miroslav Volf and Rev. Mike Huckabee were correct a week or so back when they said that the answer to our violence and unrest begins with changed hearts not simply changed laws.
God’s gift of His Son can bring peace in its many manifestations.
3. GOD WANTED THE GIFT OF HIS SON TO FILL HIS PEOPLE WITH JOY.
Again, the angels’ proclamation to the shepherds is pertinent. Luke 2:10 says, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people”
Joy is an indication of the presence of the living God.
“Immanuel” (God with us) will bring joy.
4. GOD WANTED THE GIFT OF HIS SON TO BRING DELIVERANCE FROM SIN’S GRIP & CONSEQUENCES.
In Joseph’s dream the angel tells him, “She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21)
All of these objectives are motivated by love are they not?
Love has everything to do with Christmas because that’s what’s behind the sending of the Savior.
Love came at Christmas.
In a few months I will begin a sermon series called “The Misunderstood God.” It is a sermon series from 1 Corinthians 13 (the chapter on love). I am going to address some common myths that people hold about God. Myths like God is “hair trigger God” or an “Angry God” or a “Distant God” or “List-Keeping God” and in each case I think you will discover that 1 Cor. 13’s description of agape love (which is what God is) shows Him to be something wholly other than the myths we perpetuate.
Let me share with you a Christmas truth about love that can revitalize your life.
Are you ready for it? Here it is. There’s not one person in this sanctuary today that is not loved by God. God loves you with an out-of-this-world kind of love – you can’t do anything to earn it and you can’t do anything to get more of it. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or what you’re thinking about doing because God has this passionate people-thing going on. 1 John 4:9: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”
Let me share that Christmas truth another way God loves you just the way you are, but He doesn’t want you to stay the way you are. So He has sent His son to redeem you … to make you whole.
No matter what else will disappear in the next decade, God’s love will last forever.
When Tim Tebow was quarterback for the Florida Gators and playing in the National Championship Game, he had “John 3:16” written in the eye black under his eyes. Amazingly, 90 million people Googled this reference to find out what it says. This verse is “Pure Genius” so let it soak in as I read it slowly: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
I see two parts to this verse…God’s giving and our receiving.
1. God loved the world so much that He gave His Son. That’s the birth of Jesus. That is the gift which:
{1} meets your need
{2} is memorable and
{3} is meaningful
2. That whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life. That’s the second birth. We believe, therefore we live.
It is in this receiving of God’s gift that we find, peace, joy and pardon for sin.
In the carol, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” one line really stands out to me: “Born to raise the sons of earth; born to give them second birth.” Just as each of us have been born once physically, so too, we need to be born spiritually as Jesus says in John 3:3: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Let me ask you a question: Is it easier to give gifts or to receive them? It’s hard for some of us to receive a gift. It’s simply awkward for us. The same is true when it comes to receiving a gift from God too. We think we have to earn it or somehow deserve it. John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
You see, Christmas becomes truly Christmas when we truly receive the Christmas gift that God offers.
God’s love will last forever and you may respond and receive His love this evening. What a great time to receive his gift of salvation … on Christmas Eve. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The sweet baby in the cradle came to be our sin substitute on the cross and it’s the love of God that made all this happen.
WRAP-UP:
BECOME A RE-GIFTER
Let me close by asking you one more question. It’s confession time … How many of you have ever “re-gifted” an item?
I want to encourage you to “re-gift” the gift of Jesus. Not because you did not like the gift but because you liked it so much you want others to have it too.
He has given you peace, joy, and pardon for sin. Why not re-gift that for others this season?
Here’s a few ways you can do that. They all fall under the Advent Conspiracy point for this week: Love all. This is the fourth element in our Advent Conspiracy rubric of Worship Fully, Spend less, Give More and … Love All.
I want you to extend and expand the boundaries of those you love.
1. Why not let someone new in on the circle of your love – maybe even someone to whom you have been refusing love. Who do you just walk by? Is there anyone you’re ignoring? Step out of your comfort zone and reach out to someone new. Extend the reach of your love by enlarging your circle of friends.
2. What better way to show the power of God’s love and pardon than to forgive someone yourself? That’s a great gift to receive. Can you think of a better way to re-gift God’s forgiveness than to extend it to someone else?
3. How about making a point to extend a loving gesture to someone you do not even know. We are going to help you with this in a few minutes by receiving an offering for the persecuted church. It’s time for us to reach out to the hungry and the thirsty and the cold and the sick and the imprisoned. In Matthew 25, Jesus says that He takes these acts of compassion very personally, for when we minister to the least of these, we minister to Him.
Are you guys up for this challenge? I believe you are. Because no matter what else disappears this next decade, God’s love will last forever.
Merry Christmas!
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Special note: The idea for this series and some content comes from a book by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, and Greg Holder called, “Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?”
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
