Blessed Broken Given, Week 4: Why God Doesn’t Do Gift Cards
Good morning. Please open your Bibles to Luke 24
I once heard that a “coincidence” is when God does something but chooses to remain anonymous. Well, I’m not sure I can go along with that, because I think whenever God is at work He deserves the glory and He seeks His own glory. So I’m not going to call it a coincidence that we are finishing up our series called “Blessed, Broken, Given” on the same day that we begin the season of Advent, in which we celebrate God giving His one and only Son to the world.
Because this is the season of giving. Thursday we began the countdown of how many shopping days there are until Christmas.
My brother wrote a great blog post this past week as we were reflecting on our family tradition of “Thanksmas.” And he reminded me that when our family did our gift exchange, we made the decision to ban gift cards.
Now, I may step on some toes here, because I know lots of people love giving and receiving gift cards. The United States will spend nearly $171 billion on gift cards this year. I actually found out this week that Alabama is the most popular state for gift cards (29.3% of Alabamians said they would prefer getting a gift card for Christmas). They’re easy. They’re convenient. They don’t even have to be for any particular store. And If you don’t know the person you’re giving the gift card to very well, you can just do a Visa gift card, and the recipient can use it anywhere he or she wants. And that’s good because you don’t have to know what they’re allergic to, or what sports team they like, or anything about them. You can avoid those embarrassing “what size do you wear” type questions.
So if you want to remember your favorite server at Chappy’s? Gift card.
If you are doing something for your mailman (or mail woman, or femaleman, or whatever the politically correct term is)? Gift card.
If you’re doing something for your pastor? Starbucks gift card. 100%.
But here’s why my family banned gift cards. We banned gift cards because we knew it would force us to have at least one meaningful conversation with a random family member every year. See, Jacksons aren’t really stellar at communication, but we knew we’d have at least one phone call with whoever’s name we drew for Thanksmas (Hey, nephew, this is James… Jackson.) We also knew that if we made up our minds ahead of time that gift cards weren’t going to be an option, it would force us to pay attention to what the person on the receiving end of our gift really needed. It would be harder. We would have to fight crowds at an actual store. And (gasp!) rather than just send something through the mail, we might actually have to show up and be face to face with the person who would receive the gift.
The gift card ban made it harder, but it also made it more personal. Just like it was designed to.
Sometimes, a gift card communicates that you don’t know someone well enough to know what they need, and you’re too busy to find out, so you figure you’ll just let them decide for themselves.
And the truth is, sometimes when we are on the receiving end of a gift card, we jump immediately to how we can use this card to get what we want, and we kind of bypass the relationship we have with the person who gave it.
As we transition from Thanksgiving to Advent, I want to talk about why God doesn’t do gift cards. He doesn’t give us the option of just deciding for ourselves what we think we need, and just creating a Messiah that is going to fit our agenda. And he definitely didn’t just phone it in. When God gave His only Son for our salvation, that means that Jesus came face to face with humanity. He lived with us before he died for us.
Our Scripture for this morning is Luke 24, starting in verse 13. I invite you to turn there.
Here’s the scene: It’s resurrection Sunday. That morning, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus and some other women went to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty. Two angels appeared to the women and told them that Jesus had risen from the grave. They ran back, told Peter, who ran back to the tomb (Luke’s gospel doesn’t mention it, but we know from other gospel accounts that Peter and John went together), and they also found it empty.
So we don’t know exactly when on that day the events of verses 13-35 happened, but we know it’s late enough in the day for the report to have gotten beyond just the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples. Let’s read the word together:
13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
Let’s take a minute to think about these two disciples. They probably aren’t any of THE disciples. We know that one of them is named Cleopas. So they aren’t part of the inner circle.
In a few verses from here we know that they “had been hoping that Jesus was going to be the one who would redeem Israel. Israel at this time was living under Roman occupation. Hopes were high that a political Messiah was going to rise up who would overthrow the Roman government and restore Israel to the glory it had under King David. Not even the twelve disciples truly understood what Jesus was all about. Last week we talked about how even up to the time Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, they were arguing amongst themselves as to who would sit at Jesus right and left when He ruled over Israel. I really believe that when Peter lashed out with his sword and cut off the servant’s ear in the Garden, that he was still expecting there to be a violent insurrection.
Instead, Peter, along with all of Jesus’ other followers, watched their leader be beaten and mocked, spit upon, scourged, and ultimately crucified, without ever even speaking a word against the hated Romans.
So on Sunday afternoon, these two disciples are on the road to Emmaus, and they have some questions. If Jesus really was the Messiah, then he definitely wasn’t the Messiah they had in mind. They are discouraged. They are disillusioned. And it’s at this point that the resurrected Jesus joins them.
15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
By the way, nobody really knows what it means that “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Some people think Jesus did something supernatural to disguise His appearance from them. But for any of you that have been through grief this year, it’s not all that hard to understand, is it? When you’re hurting, and confused, and disillusioned, it can be hard to recognize Jesus, isn’t it? Even when He’s been walking with you every step of the way, it’s easy to forget He’s there. But He is:
1. Jesus walks where we walk.
He didn’t say “Come over here” or “Come to Me” or “Come follow Me.” He said all those things the first time around, but not this time. This time, when faith had been shattered, when hopes had been badly broken, He came to them. He Himself joins us on the journey. Unlike a gift card that can just be sent through the mail, Jesus delivers the gift of Himself. In person.
2. Jesus listens to us.
Notice the first question Jesus asks. “Hey, what are you guys talking about?” I love this scene! Look at verse 17: The Bible says that these two disciples just stand there, their faces downcast. One of them, Cleopas, says,
Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
In other words, “Have you been under a rock for the past three days?” Jesus is like, “Well… KINDA!”
But then, in verse 19, Jesus says,
19 And he said to them, “What things?”
Jesus knows “What things.” He’s the main character of “what things.” And He could very easily have said, “Oh, you mean the crucifixion. Guess what, guys—that was me. I’m back. It’s all good. What’s for lunch?”
But just like a great friend or family member that takes the time to hear from you about what you want for Christmas, Jesus listened to the disciples. And now, focus in on what these two disciples say to Jesus, because it’s going to illustrate point 3:
3. When we don’t know what we need, we can be disappointed with what we get.
And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”
Do you hear the disappointment? The disillusionment?
Remember, they were expecting a military Messiah who would come and overthrow the Romans. Instead, they get a crucified rabbi who kept saying things like “My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36)
Peace I give to you, not as the world gives (John 14:27)
In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
Imagine you’re an 8 year old and you’ve asked for the newest video game system. Instead, you find a four year, full ride scholarship to Harvard. You don’t have any idea that what you actually have is way more valuable than a PS5. All you understand is that you didn’t get what you asked for. And that’s where these disciples are. They sound a little bit like kids who had asked for a PlayStation 5 and didn’t find it under the tree.
And honestly, that’s where we are too. We keep looking for a Messiah who’s going to bring back the good old days, when there was prayer in schools, and no legalized abortion, and everyone went to church, and Republicans were in the White House, and gas was less than $1 a gallon.
But none of those things are what Jesus came to do. Jesus came to establish a kingdom that is not of this world. Where its citizens play by different rules, because they have different allegiances. And just like these two disciples, maybe our biggest need in today’s politicized, divided culture, where we decide we’re victims of persecution every time an election doesn’t go our way, is to see what Scripture actually teaches about who Jesus is.
4. God knew exactly what we needed, and He gave us Himself.
In the next few verses, Jesus opens their eyes to what the Bible says He came to do.
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Jesus pointed to Himself as the culmination of God’s saving story. He explained to them from the law and the prophets how it had been prophesied that the Messiah would have to suffer and then be raised up. They had been reading the Scriptures wrong.
Verse 28:
28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,
Do you ever wonder why Jesus acted like He was going farther? Maybe He wanted to see if they were curious enough, awake enough, hungry enough to know more about who He was. So He waited. And He wasn’t disappointed:
29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
Remember, they still don’t know who He is. This is hospitality to a stranger. But I want you to pay attention to something amazing. These guys don’t just invite Jesus into their home as a guest. They invite Him in, and put Him in charge! Let me show you what I mean:
30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
This is the third time Jesus handles bread in the gospel of Luke. It’s the third time we see the pattern of blessing the bread, breaking the bread, and giving the bread. But have you ever asked yourself why He was doing it in the first place in this situation? Think about your Thanksgiving meal this past Thursday. Think about who said the blessing? Wasn’t it the head of whoever’s house you were in? That’s usually the way we do it.
But in this story, it’s Jesus—the guest, the stranger—who offers the blessing. In Jewish culture, the host always says the blessing. The guest never does. Yet here was this strange stranger talking as if the Scriptures were all about Him and acting as if the table and the meal were His to bless.
This is the gospel. The gospel is about inviting Jesus into your life, not as a guest, not as a stranger, but as the head of the home. Its not just giving Jesus a seat at the table, but it’s giving Him the seat at the head of the table. Saying, Lord Jesus, you run this show.
When the disciples did that, look what happened:
31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Jesus gave the greatest gift of all. He gave Himself, in relationship. Don’t miss verse 35. He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Yes, they needed more information. They needed clarity on what Scripture meant. But don’t miss the fact that they still did not recognize Jesus until He was at the table with Him.
They still did not recognize Him until they put Him in charge. Then their eyes were opened.
And can I point out one more thing to you? Verse 33 says they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. Their relationship with the risen Jesus gave them courage. It gave them boldness. They had been going away from Jerusalem because of their disillusionment and pain. Now, they can’t wait to get back to Jerusalem.
This is what a personal relationship with Jesus does for us. It turns everything around.
Let me close by giving you one more fact about gift cards. Did you know that at any given time, about 20% of gift cards that have been given haven’t been redeemed yet. The average American has over $100 of unredeemed gift cards just lying around.
Sadly, that’s an accurate picture of the gift of salvation. God is offering you salvation from your sins. Eternal life with him. Some people have never heard that good news. Other people have heard it, but have never taken the time to redeem that gift. You still see Jesus as a guest in your life, but not the Lord of your life. You welcome him at the table, but you haven’t put him at the head of the table.
Have you been given a gift that you’ve never redeemed? You can redeem that gift card this morning. Maybe this year Christmas will actually mean something because you understand what it’s about. Redeem the gift that has been given you today.
Let us pray together.
