12.24.20 Romans 8:32
32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?
There was once a little girl in child care who had spent about an hour meticulously coloring a card to give to her mother. When her mother came to pick her up, she gave her mother the card, but the mother barely glanced at it and stuffed it into her purse saying to her daughter, “Let’s go!” The childcare worker had seen all of the time and effort that the little girl had put into that card. She wanted to grab the mother by the throat for how she treated the gift. It wasn’t that the card was worth a lot of money, but it was the time, effort and love that went into the card. This Christmas, we see the greatest gift that God took time and effort into giving us. We don’t want to take it for granted. We cherish this gift.
The Greatest Gift of Jesus
There are different ways of giving, right? It’s easy to look at the cost or the amount of the gift. But there’s also the gifts that are thought out - the ones that fit just right - that aren’t so much about money. My mother in law bought me a Catholic Catechism once. She was Lutheran, but she knew that it would be helpful for me in my ministry to know what the Catholics actually taught. She thought about the gift, and I appreciated it. The gift of Jesus has been thought out by God. It’s just what we need.
Sometimes gifts are given for selfish reasons, in order to get something back from the one you’re giving it to. Perhaps a man would buy a woman a big ring in hopes that she would feel obligated to say “yes” to his proposal. Homer Simpson once bought his wife a bowling ball with his name on it, in hopes that she wouldn’t want it so that he could keep it and use it. The gift of Jesus is not for selfish reasons. There’s nothing and no one more selfless.
Since we live in a finite world with finite time and finite resources, it is often the case that if you choose to give to one person, it means that another person can’t have that gift. If two people are vying for one person’s time or attention, jealousy occurs. It becomes a competition. We don’t have to worry about that with God. He’s not bound by time or space. He can give all of us the personal attention we need.
Sometimes we also try to give too much, to the point where we have to pay the price down the road for gifts we couldn’t afford to give. We can become slaves to debt because of our generous donations. Giving can be a tricky thing. People can just want too much of us. Think of the Santa Baby song. She asks for a Sable, a light blue convertible, a yacht, a platinum mine, a duplex and checks, and one other thing, a ring. If I were Santa I would have skipped that house that night. But God has EVERYTHING, right? He can’t outgive Himself because He has EVERYTHING!
All of the problems that come with gift giving: God isn’t limited by any of them. But doesn’t that cheapen it too, like the rich uncle who can afford to give his son anything he wants? Might we tend to take His gifts for granted and just expect it of Him? The rich uncle has to think more about what he will give - to make sure that it’s not thought of as a quick and easy gift that has no thought or effort into it.
Think then about the gift of Christmas. Remember what Jesus asked in Mark 8? What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? What good would it be if God gave us riches and health when it comes to our salvation? How many times did Jesus remind us that all of the goods of this world only rust and die? So God gave us a much greater gift than money or health. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all. What does that mean that He didn’t “spare” his own Son, but “gave him up.” We KNOW what that means. He not only gave Him to us in the crib. He gave Him for us on the CROSS. The gift is not ONLY in the fact that He took on flesh, but also what He DID with that flesh. Without the cross, the crib means NOTHING.
Think about this gift in terms of a relationship, the eternal relationship of the Father with the Son. From a human perspective, relationships are built over time. When you have time with someone you get to know them better. You have similar experiences and you then share those experiences. I think of the classic documentary on the Band of Brothers who had been trudging through Europe during World War 2. They became bonded together through their battles and hardships. Now shift your thinking to the relationship of the Father with the Son. It is a perfect relationship. They worked in tandem, along with the Holy Spirit, as One, being One, throughout the history of the world. The Trinity worked together in Creation. They worked together in the calling of Abraham and the establishment of the Jews in the Promised Land. They had caused the rising and falling of nations, all to set the stage for the day that Jesus would come into this world to save the world. They witnessed the heartbreak of the rejection of the Israelites, but also the joy of repentance and faith not only in His people but also in those throughout the world. This is an eternal relationship between the Father and the Son.
God decided to send His Son into our world of time, under our days and years. His Son decided to live and breathe among us. Talk about a personal gift! He decided to take on flesh to be with us. More than that, in order to establish a relationship with us, He sacrificed His own relationship with His Son. It’s the only way it could be done! The God who has been in unity and harmony for eternity, went through a moment in time of disunity on the cross, when the Father abandoned the Son. How painful! Why? All so that our sins could be paid for! All so that He could find reason to accept us back into His presence and re-establish a relationship with us - through sacrificial love - by faith. What a terrible gift to give for the Father and the Son: to have to go through that: but how precious to us? All so that He could call us his sons and daughters once again!
It used to be a tradition at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary for professors to share their most memorable Christmas stories at Christmas time. Prof. Becker shared the story about the first Christmas they were going to have with his newborn son. They were so excited about it. They went in to wake him up on Christmas morning . . . only to find his son had died, on Christmas of all days. As Professor Becker shared the story with his students he then added, “It was then that I knew how much God loved me, that he was WILLING to give up His Son for me.” And for you too. Jesus is your gift too this Christmas.
Have you had a miserable Christmas? A miserable year? Is the gift of Jesus enough to get you through it? Don’t worry, because that’s not ALL God gives you. Paul says. Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him? Paul says that our generous God will give you ALL THINGS along with him! Do you mean ANYTHING I want Paul? That’s what he says, “ALL THINGS.”
“Oh! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Paul!” We might become like Spaulding from the old classic movie Caddyshack. “I want a hamburger. I want a cheeseburger. I want french fries!” But what does his father say? “You’ll get nothing and like it!” Let’s get more serious. “I want my mom back, my spouse back. I want my health back. I want my hope back. Where’s that Paul?” Do God just slam the door on His promise? “You’ll get nothing and like it!”
You have to take everything in context. Notice what comes at the end of the sentence - that God will give us all things ALONG WITH HIM. That’s kind of an important phrase, don’t you think? Without Him - without Jesus - what kind of a gift is it? What good is good health without Jesus? What good is a million dollars without Jesus? If someone gave you a baby jogger but you didn’t have a baby, what good would the jogger do you? Why would you ask for one without a baby to go in it? It’s like asking for a hamburger without the meat. What good is it? Anyone who loves hamburgers needs to have the beef in there, and any realist will tell you that tofu is no good. It’s gotta have the beef. So there’s a rider on this promise - everything that we get - comes along WITH HIM - with JESUS. If you don’t want JESUS along with the gift, then the gift means nothing, right?
When I have Jesus I have forgiveness. I have mercy. I have life. I have hope. I have a future in heaven - with eternal happiness. Jesus has a way of changing our priorities and our loves. Everything I love in this world, I see as a gift from Jesus. Everything that I enjoy, I look at as fleeting and temporary. I realize that if I want to have a truly lasting relationship - into eternity with people - that I will need Jesus and so will they. If I want to know what love is, dedication, sacrifice, priorities, I need Jesus at the center of it. He needs to be in the baby carriage, otherwise the carriage is useless.
The problem comes when Jesus isn’t enough, when we get too attached to His gifts INSTEAD of the Giver or WITHOUT the Giver. When you read the Bible you HAVE to look at context. This promise is written in a context of SUFFERING, especially with our own sinful flesh. In Romans 7 Paul wrote about how we are slaves to our body of sin. We struggle against the desires that rage within us. We struggle against sickness. We struggle against death and despair too. If you think about it, it’s not just the struggle against Covid or the lockdowns that are hurting us. It’s not only the sickness and the death that it causes. It’s what goes on in HERE, in our MIND! How we struggle with thoughts of abandonment. How the ugly thoughts of, “God hates me” come raging through our thoughts and emotions. The feelings of loneliness, wondering if God has abandoned us. There’s more than physical suffering. There’s mental and spiritual suffering too.
It’s in the midst of all of this suffering that Paul wrote these words, Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him? So what KIND of things is God promising you? Whatever you NEED to keep Jesus! Those extra gifts, they may be Covid. They may be feelings of sorrow and despair. Why would they be gifts from God? When they take us BACK to the WORD and BACK to the SACRAMENT. It may not be FUN for God to give us what we need, but He loves us too much to give us anything less.
When all of the peripherals of this life are gone - forget about the color of the baby stroller. Forget about the wheels. Forget about the drink holder. Forget about the pathway. Stop in your tracks. Open up the baby basket. See Jesus. He’s the gift. All of these other things that God “gives” you - miserable or wonderful - are meant to focus you on Jesus. He will graciously give you EVERYTHING in order to give you Jesus. That’s how much God loves you! Imagine if, for instance, you bought your child a new case for a new I-phone. What would they naturally think and want? The ACTUAL I-phone! So all of God’s gifts are meant to point us to Jesus! Without Him, we can’t enjoy ANYTHING. But with Him, we can at least appreciate everything.
On this Christmas Eve we come together to see God’s gift in a manger. Humanly speaking, the Gift looks small. The Gift looks fragile. The Gift looks dirty and maybe even a little disappointing. But after what we heard today, I pray you don’t look at this Gift and say, “That’s it?” Rather, look at this Gift and say “That’s it! That’s exactly what I need. That’s God’s gift of love and forgiveness and life to me, all in that little bundle of flesh named Jesus. That’s the Greatest Gift!” Amen.
