In the new Veggie Tales movie,
the Lord of the Beans
which is an excellent movie by the way
The main character,
Toto Baggypants
discovers that each one of us
have been given a gift
a gift from God
But it is up to us
what we do with it
and how we use it
Tonight we have come together
to celebrate the greatest gift
ever given
A gift greater than any gift
we will open tomorrow
A gift that is truly one size fits all,
it never needs batteries
and it is free of charge
And that is of course,
the gift God gave the world
on that first Christmas night
The gift of his only Son
the Messiah
Christ Jesus our Lord
And the gift of Jesus Christ
is truly the gift
that keeps on given
In Christ Jesus,
God gave us the gift of Emmanuel
Which means God is always with us
no matter where we go
or what we do
or what happens
through Jesus Christ
God is right beside us
Hearing our prayers
forgiving our sins
guiding us through any
and all problems
We are never alone
we are never left to figure
this world out on our own
but through the birth of the baby Jesus
God is always
and will always be with us
Jesus showed the world
that God is not confined to a building
though sometimes we treat him that way
But if you want to know where God is
just look around
because he is with us
**The gift of Jesus Christ also
assure us that God’s light
will always shine in our hearts
and in our lives
Showing us God’s path,
revealing God’s love
and illuminating which right from wrong
Through the light of God
we can always see hope and joy
in the darkest of situations
because we know our God is
is working in the midst of it
**The gift of Jesus Christ
on the first Christmas
showed us just how much
God truly does love us
That we have a God
that loves us so much
that he was willing
to send his only Son
Down from heaven into our world
to save us
Jesus shows us
that our God loves unconditionally
and yes, he expects certain things from us
But when we fall short
when we slip
when we get turned in the wrong direction
God loves us so much
that he will forgive us
allow us to make a U-turn
and put us back on the right track
**And of course,
through the gift of God’s only Son
We have been given the gift of eternal life,
the hope of the messianic banquet
the promise of heaven
so that we know
no matter what happens
to us in this world
Whether sickness
accident
or anything else you can ever imagine
Our hope and our future
have been bought and paid for
We know that our future belongs to God
and is guaranteed for all of those who believe
in his eternal Kingdom
where we will spend eternity
in God’s glory
**That gift we received from God
on the first Christmas
the gift of Jesus Christ our Lord
Is truly a remarkable gift,
a gift we should celebrate
not just at Christmas time
but year round
However,
as Toto told us
receiving the gift is just half of it
what we do with it is up to us
So what are we going to do with it?
are we going to leave this place
any differently than we came?
Are we just going to put the gift of
Jesus Christ back into closet
with the rest of the Christmas decorations
and pull him back out next year?
What are we going to do
with the greatest gift ever given?
We see in the Christmas story
many different characters
who react in many different ways
to the birth of Christ
First, we have the Shepherds
who after the angels visit them
they immediately walked away
from what they were doing
to come find the true peace
that only Jesus offers
The Shepherds left their jobs
they left their sheep
they left their way of lives
to find the true peace
that comes in God’s Christmas
present to the world
We see more and more people
in our society struggling
looking in all kind of places
to try to find peace and joy
in jobs
in money
in material possessions
in relationships
and the list goes on and on
But true peace,
the peace the surpasses all understanding
can only be found in the manger
as the Shepherds showed us
So perhaps
we should take a lesson from the Shepherds
and away from whatever we are doing
to find the Messiah
the only true peace
Jobs,
Money
relationships
etc
they are important,
but they do not offer us peace
joy and hope
That is found in only one place
and the Shepherds realized
it was not in the field
but it was in the presence
of the new born Christ
So we could use it like the Shepherds did
We have the Wisemen
who traveled from a great distance
to offer Christ their best
Gold, Frankincense and Mur
They found joy and excitement
in giving God
the best they had
so that it could be used
to help in some many ways
Too often in the Church
we give God our leftovers
what is leftover after we buy
what we want
do what we want
and live how we want
And if there is anything else left,
well, we might give it to God
unless something else comes up
Christmas shows us
that God did not give us his leftovers
but he gave us the his best
his only
in the form of Jesus Christ
And out of thanks and love
we should return our best to him
the wise men show us
that giving Christ our best
so he can use it
multiple it
and make it a blessing
Is what Christmas is all about,
but it is also brings us
and more joy than you
we can even begin to imagine
So we could use this gift
how the Wise Men used it
But then there is also
the Inn Keeper
who tells Mary and Joseph
I am sorry,
but there is no room for you here
And again,
too often that is what we do as Christians
we love
help
and care for people at Christmas
We treat people with respect
we share the gift we have been given
we aren’t afraid to give of our time
We put Christ first on his birthday
but then as soon as Christmas is over
Christ
love for our neighbor
generosity
etc.
goes back into the closest
with the rest of the Christmas decorations
We tell God
I am sorry
there is no room for you here
I loved you in December
and Christmas was a blast
but as for the rest of my life
there is just no room for you here
Jesus wasn’t sent just to give us eternal life
or to bring rules into our world
but Christ came to show us love
give us joy
and make our lives easier
And that is the gift
that we put back into the closet
And we wonder why
there are so many lost and unhappy
people in our society right now
For Christians
Christmas shouldn’t just be celebrated once a year
because through the gift of Jesus Christ
God is in our lives 365 days of the year
So that everyday of our lives
God is standing right next to us
offering us a new start
a new change
a new life
Christmas is not about presents
or trees
or poinsettias
or hymns
It is about letting the Christ who came into this world
come into our hearts
so that we can come to know
God’s unconditional love
and share it with the world around us
Christmas should not just be celebrated,
but it should also be something we live
As Toto Baggypants learned
we all have been given a gift
and tonight we celebrate
the greatest gift ever given
God himself coming to reside in our world
in our lives
and in our hearts
So how are we going to use it?
What are we going to do with it?
