Christmas Gifts
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)
This lesson was originally presented in PowerPoint format to a High School student ministry. If you have questions or would like a copy of the original PowerPoint, send me an email at robert.fox@alltel.com
[Christmas Gifts]
Slide image: office gift exchange – good gifts and bad gifts
Slide text: If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)
How many of you have seen the advertisement for the movie “Black Christmas”? It’s getting a lot of media attention and a lot of people are pretty upset by the topic and timing – a horror movie in a Christmas setting released on Christmas. People are saying that it is offensive, because it violates the whole spirit of the season – that this is not what Christmas is about. Personally, while I agree in principle, I prefer to vote with my feet. If you don’t like a movie, don’t go see it.
What really bothers me about this, though, is not the people who made the movie, but the people are complaining about it. You see, if they just said “The movie is offensive and contrary to everything Christmas is about,” then I would probably agree with them, but then these same people go on to say “Christmas is about giving presents, Santa elves and reindeer, decorating houses, holiday shopping – that’s the reason for the season.” What?
I think Christmas is just all mixed up. The world has forgotten what Christmas is all about. If I asked you about the meaning of Christmas, hopefully you would know that I would not be looking for answers like Santa and elves, shopping and presents, or holiday meals and decorating houses. We get caught up in that, but of course, that’s not the real meaning of Christmas. Christmas is not about gifts, but about “The Gift” – God himself being born as a human in order to live a sinless life among us and die for our sins in our place. The greatest gift. The kind of gift that God gives.
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)
That’s what we’re going to talk about today – the kind of gifts that God gives.
At my office this week we had a potluck and gift exchange. There are about 30 of us in my department, and it was really interesting to see the different gifts and people’s reactions to them. It was one of those things where you take turns, and each person can choose to open a new gift or take one from someone that has already been unwrapped. Some gifts were really popular and got “stolen” several times like dartboards, chocolate, and blankets. Some gifts were real bombs, and couldn’t be unloaded, like candles.
There was a self-heating coffee mug that is in it’s third year of re-gifting – kind of a tradition, now. No one wants it – the only way to get rid of it is to wrap it up and bring it back next year.
That’s me just after I picked a package and unwrapped it – to find the satin Santa shorts and hat. My buddy Jerry Wild, who is 6’8” and used to work for the CIA, got candles. The next person to choose stole my shorts, and I wound up going home with a s’mores-making kit. No one wanted Jerry’s candles.
Face it, some people are good gifters, and some people aren’t. I know when I was growing up, I could expect a really cool gift from my uncle Wendell, but my grandmother would always give me something really embarrassing. Like a lime green and dark brown crocheted blanket. With orange flowers. Be still my heart. Do you have relatives like that?
Now here’s a video of a young man who got a gift he was excited about. [clip of boy getting Nintendo 64 at Christmas and going nuts – download on internet at http://www.ebaumsworld.com/2006/04/n64.html ]
I hate to say it, but God is not what the world would call a good gifter. God showers us with gifts, but he rarely gives things like an XBox or a Barnes and Noble gift card. God gives tough gifts. Gifts that most people would rather not have, if the truth be told. God’s gifts to us have a way of interrupting our lives and messing up our carefully-laid plans.
The nativity story opens up the lives of Joseph and Mary to let us look at how God’s gift affected them. Think about this. As we talked about last week, both Mary and Joseph were honored by the New Testament authors for trying to live morally pure lives in an morally bankrupt world. That was not any easier, or any more popular at that time for them than it is for you today. They believed they had found in each other someone who could walk that lonely road, together, sharing their convictions, their dreams. They were no doubt excited about their wedding plans and their future together. They were imagining their quiet little home and their little family.
However, after having remained relatively silent for 400 years, God shattered the plans of Joseph and Mary with a Gift. That gift (Christ) threw the doors wide open and revealed the heart and character of God and his love for us.
Those kinds of gifts are hard to give, because any gift you give to someone you love reveals your character to them – you are giving a piece of yourself. I mean, its fairly easy to buy a gift for someone you aren’t that close to, but it is incredibly stressful to try to pick out the perfect gift for the people you care about the most. Why? Because the gift you give tells about you.
Those kinds of gifts are hard to receive, because someone is pouring themselves into your life. Most of the time, we would prefer cash to relationships.
[Gifts reveal the character of the giver]
Slide graphic – someone holding out a gift. Silly religion themed gifts like “life of Jesus tie” or “prayer kneepads”
Slide text –
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him will not die, but will have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Your gifts reveal your character. It seems odd, but when you give someone a gift, no matter how carefully you choose it to be just perfect for that person, the gift reveals more about you than it does about them. Remember the movie “A Walk to Remember”? The character of the young man in this movie gave the young girl several gifts. Gifts that he had thought very hard about and selected especially for the girl – a temporary tattoo, a trip to the state line, and a telescope. What is really odd about that is that, although these gifts were selected entirely for the girl, not for him, the gifts themselves tell far more about him than they do about the girl. They tell that she was important to him, that he wanted her dreams to come true, that he wanted to protect and care for her. They tell how he felt about her, how far he was willing to go for her, what he was will to sacrifice.
This is true about all real gifts – they tell more about the giver than the receiver. It’s certainly true about the kind of gifts God gives.
There was once a young girl named Hattie Wiatt, who visited a church near her home in Philadelphia, and asked to attend Sunday School. But she was told there was no room for her.
The young girl fell ill, and died within two years. Under her pillow they found her life-savings – 57 pennies, wrapped in a note explaining that it was to be donated to God’s temple toward expanding the facilities.
The newspapers carried the story, and within five years the fund she started had grown to $250,000. The fund, still growing today, has been used to build Temple College, Temple Hospital, and Temple Baptist Church, seating 3,300 people, with a Sunday school so large that no one will be turned away ever again.
Hattie wanted to make sure that the church always had room for those who came. Hattie’s gift revealed where her heart was. That’s true of every gift you give, and true of the gifts you don’t give. And it’s true of the gifts God gives.
When God became human, he did it for one purpose; he was born to die in our place. He voluntarily limited himself into human form, lived a sacrificial life among us, showing us every day how much he loved us, then wrapped it all up by doing what he came to do – suffering and dying on the Cross. That’s what Christmas is all about – God loving us so much that he died in our place - as his gift to us.
This was exactly the perfect gift for us, something we didn’t deserve but desperately needed. Something we couldn’t get for ourselves. But even though this gift was designed especially for you and me, it really tells more about God than it tells about us. How much he loves us. How much he is willing to sacrifice for us, even though we don’t deserve it, could never earn it – he gave it to us.
How many of you are going to give at least one Christmas present this year? As Christians, we give gifts this season to honor the Gift that God gave. How much have you really stopped to think about the gift that God gave the world? That is the reason for the season.
What kind of gifts are you going to give? How much thought have you put into getting something that is absolutely perfect for the person you are getting it for? What is the gift you are giving say about your character? Does your gift reflect the real spirit of Christmas?
[God Chooses You for his Gifts]
Slide Graphic: dove descending on a wrapped gift
Slide Text:
Not because you are high-profile
Not because you ask for it
Not because you deserve it
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)
But because of his love for you
The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.” (1 Kings 13:7)
Think for a minute about why God would give a gift of any kind to anyone who ever lived. I mean, God himself. Doesn’t he have other things to do? What would you do if you woke up on Christmas morning and found a present under the tree with a tag that said it was to you, from God?
When God decided to give the gift of the Christ child to Mary and Joseph, they weren’t chosen because they were famous. They were so totally unimportant, so anonymous. Hardly anyone in the world even knew they existed, and few of the people who did know them probably cared. They weren’t exactly celebrities.
There weren’t chosen because they asked for it. If they were asking for anything, it was probably just the opposite of what God gave them. They probably just wanted to be left alone to live out their lives together.
They didn’t earn the gift. The Bible says Mary “found favor with God” – that she was “full of grace.” That means “she was given something wonderful that she didn’t deserve”. She did not earn the right to carry the Christ child. She, like Joseph, was living a righteous life, trying to honor God with their lives – a rarity in any age. God chose to honor them because of the lives they were trying to live, but that still doesn’t mean they deserved this, that they had earned the right and forced God to pay out. The gift was pure grace – underserved riches.
God himself looked down on these two kids and CHOSE THEM for this. Not because they were celebrities, not because they asked for it, and not because they earned it. He chose them purely out of his love for them.
Mary and Joseph were loved by God, but so are you. He loves you today in the same way he loved Mary and Joseph then.
• Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)
He doesn’t love you because you are a celebrity, or because you deserve it
• For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)
He doesn’t give you gifts because you ask for them or earn them, he gives you gifts out of love. The whole reason we are celebrating this Christmas holiday is to honor God, not so much for the gift he gave Mary and Joseph, but to honor God because that very same gift, Jesus Christ, was given to us also. God chose Joseph and Mary, but he also chose you. Have you ever stopped to think about it like that? Think about a manger scene – shepherds, cows, sheep, donkeys, straw, the whole thing. Think about the child in the manger – God himself made human flesh for no other purpose than to die for our sins. Have you ever considered that this Christmas scene is supposed to remind us of the greatest gift you will ever get? The gift of God’s love for you.
The apostle Paul looked at Jesus and said, "I can’t describe Him. All I can do is fall on my knees and thank God for His indescribable gift."
I went to my daughter Aly’s choir recital a week ago. I noticed at the end of the program, the last song was Handel’s Messiah. Does anyone know the story about what happened the first time that song was presented? George Frederick Handle wrote the complete Messiah in just a few weeks. The greatest choral music ever written just poured out of head complete. When the choir was first practicing it, they asked Mister Handel if he had any input to give them on their performance. He said it was wonderful, absolutely stunning. But one thing… when they get to the Hallelujah chorus… sing it louder. Sing it louder. The next night the choir, true to his instruction, poured it on during the Hallelujah chorus. When they asked him about it afterward, he praised their efforts and told them how wonderful they were, but asked again, if, when they got to the Hallelujah chorus, they would sing it louder. The third night, they sang it as loud as humanly possible, and when they got the same advice from Handle, the choral director told him that, if he wanted to hear the chorus sung in the manner worthy of the subject, he would have to wait until he arrived in heaven, to be greeted by the angelic choirs.
The Messiah was first presented to a royal audience. When they arrived at the Hallelujah chorus, you may remember that it opens with “Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” While they were not likely to be thrown in jail or anything, it was not great form to make the theme of your whole chorus words to the effect that, “Hey, king – you don’t reign here – God does.” Just as they sang these words, the king leaped to his feet. People were probably wondering just what he was going to do. What he did was, he stood for the entire chorus – a shocking violation of protocol. The king sits. Everyone else stands. But in this case, the king himself stood in honor and recognition that there is a greater king who reigns over even him. From that day to this, it has been tradition to stand for the Hallelujah Chorus.
When Ali’s program cam to a conclusion and the combined junior and senior choirs as well as the band joined together for the Hallelujah Chorus, every person in the auditorium stood.
The Hallelujah chorus is sung at Christmas to honor the gift God gave to the world – “For unto us a child is born”
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift”.
[Getting a Gift Challenges you]
Slide graphic: a cheap rhinestone bracelet and a half-empty bottle of cheap perfume
Slide text: For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)
When God gives a gift, it always comes as a challenge. You either have to accept the gift or reject it. Accepting a gift from God isn’t a simple thing like taking an envelope full of money someone gives you. It’s more like accepting the gift of a puppy. Accepting a gift from God means accepting the responsibility that comes with it.
Mary and Joseph weren’t given a puppy, they were given a child – one who was God made flesh. To Mary and Joseph, accepting God’s gift meant setting aside all their plans they had made for their life together and stepping up to the responsibility of raising Jesus Christ, of providing a safe place for him to become what he was meant to be. Accepting the shame that was heaped upon them as the community assumed they had conceived a child before they were married. Imagine the responsibility! You are their age – imagine if an angel told you that you would bear a son who would be God himself, and you would have to raise him, protect him, teach him, keep him safe. Wow! That’s responsibility.
Many people reject the Gifts God gives, because they don’t want to shoulder the burden of responsibility that comes with it. That’s why I say the world doesn’t consider God to be a good gifter – his gifts are hard to accept.
(The following is based on an illustration given by Wayne Rice, in his book “Hot illustrations for Youth Groups”)
I heard a story once about a teacher named Mrs. Thompson. Of course, she told her class she had no favorites, but of course, she did, and, of course, she had her least favorites. Her least favorite of all was a young boy named Teddy Stallard. The boy was slow, never seemed to be able to pay attention. He didn’t cut up, but he was just never really all there. Mrs. Thompson found that she derived pleasure from every X she marked, a little to firmly, on his papers, and that she wrote the F at the top of his papers with a little too much flourish. She was ashamed of herself, but there it was.
She knew she shouldn’t feel this way. She had his folder.
• 1st grade – Teddy is very bright and shows promise, but poor home situation
• 2nd grade – Teddy could do better, but mother seriously ill and father taking no interest in him
• 3rd grade – Teddy is a good boy, but too serious and a slow learner, his mother died this year
• 4th grade – Teddy is very slow, but well behaved. Father is uninvolved
At Christmas, all the kids brought in a present for the teacher. Teddy’s was crudely wrapped in stained paper patched with far too much scotch tape. When she opened it, a rhinestone bracelet with several of the stones missing fell out, along with a half-empty bottle of cheap perfume.
The kids started to snicker, but Mrs Thompson quickly put on the bracelet and held it up for all to see, then dabbed a little of the perfume on her wrists and let them smell. Taking their queue from her, they ooohed and aaahed appropriately.
When school was over and the other kids left, Teddy slowly came over and told her he was glad she liked his presents. She smelled just like his mother and his mother’s bracelet look real nice on Mrs. Thompson, too.
The next day the children found a different Mrs. Thompson, one with a much more loving attitude, committed to making a difference in the children’s lives that would live on after she was gone. Committed to filling their lives with love and acceptance, especially the slow ones like Teddy – the ones whose lives were empty of love.
When Teddy graduated from High school, he wrote Mrs. Thompson a note, thanking her for the difference she had made in his life and telling her he was graduating second in his class. Four years later, she got another note of thanks as he graduated first in his class at the university. Finally, she received a note letting her know he had just graduated from medical school and wanted to let her know he could not have made it but for the love and support he had received from her. He was getting married to a wonderful girl, and wanted Mrs Thompson to come to the wedding and sit in the place where his mother would have sat if she were still alive. “You see”, he told her, “my father died this year and you are the only family I have now”
Teddy Stallard had given Mrs. Thompson a gift from his heart, a gift that revealed a lot about him – what was important to him. He had lost his mother. He wanted someone to love, and someone to love him. Mrs. Thompson had a choice to make. She could reject the gift, take the easy road, and laugh with the other children at the tattered rhinestone bracelet and half-empty cheap perfume, or she could accept the gift and the responsibility that came with it.
At Christmas we put out little nativity scenes and celebrate the gift of Christ that God to Mary and Joseph. But we forget that he gave that gift to you to. You can accept it or reject it. But if you accept it, it means accepting the responsibility that comes with it – the responsibility of living a life worthy of the love that was behind the gift. Just like Mary and Joseph, accepting this gift means giving up the plans you had made for your life and living a life dedicated to walking this challenging path God sets before you.
[Giving a gift challenges you]
Slide graphic: children square dancing. Vietnamese orphanage.
Slide text:
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)
When God gave himself to the world, I don’t suppose he had to struggle. His love for us is perfect. But for us, when we give, when we really give, we are also giving of ourselves. For us, that isn’t easy. We don’t like to give ourselves away.
I can’t remember if I’ve told you this story before or not.
Daniel Taylor, author of “Letters to My Children,” tells about a time when he was in the sixth grade. At that time, how was an All American. He was smart, athletic, and popular – everything a young boy could want. Things went downhill fast after he entered junior high, but in the sixth grade, he was at the top of the A list.
On thing that they had to do in sixth grade at their school was to learn to square dance. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the way they did it was, all the boys came to the front of the class while the girls sat in their desks. Then, one by one, each boy would choose a girl, who would come up and stand beside him for the dance lesson.
The boys hated it, of course, but think how much worse it must have been for the girls, especially Mary. Mary was not especially pretty, nor was she the smartest or funniest girl in the class. In fact, she had had polio as a child, and had difficulty with the muscles in her right arm and leg. And, to be honest, she was a little overweight. Mary was always the last to be chosen.
This went on for a while, until the teacher took Daniel aside one day and told him that the next dance lesson, he should pick Mary. Daniel said that he might as well have been told to fly to Mars by flapping his arms – the idea was so strange he couldn’t even wrap his head around it. Then, to top it all off, the teacher told him that this was what Jesus would do.
The next day, Daniel prayed that he would be last to choose, that way, he could pick Mary without sacrificing any of his hard-won reputation. But, of course, the teacher asked Daniel first of all. “Daniel, who do you pick?”
Daniel had to make a choice. Several of the prettier, more popular girls were looking in his direction. Mary was not – she new she had a while before anyone selected her. He said it seemed like someone else was speaking across the room, when he heard himself say “I choose Mary.”
Mary’s head snapped around, as did everyone else’s in the class, including the boys. Her face was red with embarrassment, but also with pride and joy. When she walked up to take his arm, she looked just like a princess.
Daniel is an adult now, and hasn’t seen Mary in years. He doesn’t know what her life has been like, but he hopes that she remembers fondly at least one day in sixth grade. Daniel knows he does.
Giving a real gift means giving yourself. Daniel had to risk a lot to give himself to Mary. If you ever dig down and give yourself, then you will probably be scared to death what people will think about what you are doing. If you have never been scared of what people will think, then I submit that you have never had the courage and generosity to give yourself to someone. And any other gift, really, is no real gift at all.
There is a story that comes out of the Vietnam War that reminds me of the love of God. A Vietnamese orphanage had been struck by artillery rounds and a small girl lay bleeding from shrapnel wounds. When American medics arrived on the scene they realized that she needed a blood transfusion as quickly as possible. They were somehow able to find an orphan boy who had the same blood type as the girl. Despite the fact that they could not speak Vietnamese, the medics were able to communicate to the boy that they needed to transfer some of his blood to the little girl.
They laid the boy on a mat and the medics were soon beginning to draw blood from his arm. The little guy lay as stiff as a board and after a moment his body began to shake and tears came streaming down his face. Just then a Vietnamese nurse arrived and the medics, thinking they were hurting the boy, asked her to find out what was wrong.
The nurse talked quietly to him and, with eyes wide she told them, “He thinks you’re going to take all of his blood and put it into the girl.” “Does he understand that if we did that he would die?” they asked. “Yes,” she said. “”But why would he be willing to do that?” they asked.
The nurse once again spoke to the boy and turning back with tears in her eyes she reported, “He said, ‘Because she’s my friend.’”
Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Giving a real gift is risky. It means giving of yourself.
[Christmas is The Season of Soap … I mean Hope]
Slide Graphic: Soap, wrapped up in a bow
Slide text: Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
So, we’ve spent all morning talking about Christmas gifts. The nature of giving a true gift, a gift from your heart, and the challenge of accepting a real gift, and the responsibility that comes with it. We talked about how our God gives gifts, not because you are well known, deserving, or because you ask – he chose to give his gifts to you out of pure, perfect love.
So we talked about motive, about the cost and the responsibility, but one last thing I want to bring up is the nature of the Christmas gift itself.
Before we start, let me ask what kind of gift you are hoping for this Christmas. What is it you want? A Wii? A Car? A Job?
Don’t be naïve, there are, no doubt, people in our church, perhaps even in this room, who are hoping for something else. People who are hoping that that they will have enough money to pay the bills. People who are hoping that their father will stop drinking or that the abuse will end. People who are hoping the cancer will go away. Some of our friends over on East Washington are just hoping the will be alive come spring.
If Christmas were just about Santa and decorating houses, then it would be nothing but pain and irritation to these people. A total waste of time and energy. They don’t want a holiday – they want hope.
THAT’S what Christmas is about! The gift was Christ, and the nature of the gift was hope. Without Christ, the world would be lost. Not only would every day of life be misery, but there would be no hope of anything better when we die, because we are all guilty of having chosen to separate ourselves from God. There is no way for us to restore what we have lost.
But through God’s Christmas gift to the world, Christ came to earth and offered himself as payment for our crimes. He restored us. He restored our hope. And hope, ladies and gentlemen, is what we desperately want this Christmas. Hope of a better life – now and in the next world.
God gave you this gift out of love for you. Psalms says he loved you desperately before you were even born. But he’s not asking you to just believe in the gift. He’s asking you to accept it. And, as we talked about, accepting a true gift means accepting the responsibility that comes with it. Just like Mrs. Thompson and the rhinestone bracelet. Just like Mary and Joseph and the Christ-child.
The responsibility that comes with accepting the gift of Christ is the responsibility to give up your own plans and live the life demanded by the gift, in this case, accepting God’s gift of restoring hope to the world means living a life walking with Christ, putting that hope to practice every day. Living with that hope inside you, impacting everything you do.
(this is a pretty cool illustration. The materials cost less than $3, and, though it was originally intended more for Junior high, it actually is pretty fascinating for all ages, including senior high and adults. Everyone likes to blow things up!)
Let me give you a visual. Another science experiment. Here’s two bars of soap. One is Zest – think of it as the world’s vision for a life in pursuit of personal pleasure. The other is Ivory – think about it as God’s vision for a morally pure life. It even says right here on the side – “100% Pure”
(have a volunteer unwrap a bar of each kind of soap and put them in a large, clear container. I used a 5-gallon storage bin from our church kitchen. The bin is originally empty except for the soap, but I pour in about six pitchers of water while I’m talking about the “tides of life rising around you”. Ivory floats, Zest does not.)
Now, lets try a couple of things. First, water. Think about this water as the difficulties life. Trying to pay all the bills with not enough money. Making yourself be responsible and go to work when you would rather go to the lake and forget about it all. Paying for braces for your kids instead of getting a ski boat for yourself. All your life you struggle trying desperately to do all the right things with too little resources. This isn’t the life you imagined – this isn’t fun – this is trying to just hang on another day. This is trying to keep from drowning. What kind of life will keep you afloat? Oddly enough, it isn’t a life lived seeking personal pleasure. That’s just not good enough when the waters rise. There is no hope in a life lived in pursuit of pleasure. Believe me, when you are feeling overwhelmed, drowning in the details of life, what you need most is hope. There was a movie once, called “Hope Floats.” It’s true. The hope that God gave us will keep you afloat, but you have to accept the gift and take it inside you, live the life demanded by a restoration with God.
(now have a volunteer unwrap another bar of each type of soap and put them in a small bowl each. Put them both in a microwave at the same time and turn it on high for about a minute and a half. Make sure the microwave is one that lights up and you can see things through the door while they cook. The Zest just gets soft. The ivory foams and grows to several times its original size.)
Next, let’s heat things up. Think about this microwave as those things that go way beyond the day-to-day troubles of life. I’m talking about tragedy striking. A drive-by shooting of someone you love. I’m talking about discovering you have cancer. I’m talking about emotional and physical abuse, or someone in your family who has and alcohol or drug problem. Those things we talked about earlier that people are hoping to overcome this Christmas. Tragedy that comes like fire to burn you up. When the fire comes, you will either melt down, or grow and be transformed. It’s the hope inside you that makes the difference.
You see, there’s something different about Ivory than about any other kind of soap. Once, a long time ago, a factory worker at a soap-making plant fell asleep and left a machine on far too long. This particular machine was responsible for mixing up all the ingredients in the soap while it was still liquid. Left on too long, the machine actually began to whip the liquid. Just like making eggs into meringue, if you whip the liquid too long, you begin to mix in air, tiny bubbles. Ivory is full of microscopic air bubbles. These bubbles keep the soap afloat. These bubbles expand when heated.
These bubbles are like hope. Hope keeps you afloat when the waters of life threaten to drown you. Hope transforms you when tragedy strikes and threaten to consume you.
May we all receive the gift of hope this Christmas.
[prayer]
• Father, thank you, thank you, thank you for the gift you gave to Mary and Joseph. Help us realize that this same gift was given to us..
• You gave yourself, born as a frail human, to live a perfect life among us, showing us every day how much you love us, and finally suffering and dying on the cross in our place to restore us to you.
• Help us remember this season that this is the gift we are celebrating – a gift we could never afford to give ourselves.
• Thank you for what this gift shows us, how much you love us, how far you would go, how much you would sacrifice.
• Help us remember as Christians that we celebrate your gift to us by giving each other gifts that open up our hearts and show each other how much we love each other. Help us take the risks of giving real gifts – of giving ourselves.
• Help us accept the responsibility that comes with receiving real gifts.
• Help us realize that you want more from us than to believe in your gift – you want us to accept it. And by accepting it, accept the responsibility that comes with it. Like Mary and Joseph, putting aside our own plans and living a life controlled by Christ.
