Christmas Eve: He Gave us Himself

Scripture Readings

WWTW

Intro- The Drum set

When I was about 13 or 14, I was wandering in the kitchen of my childhood home and I saw a notepad sitting out on the counter.

And because I’m super nebby (that’s an authentic Pittsburgh word) I took a quick peek.

And I saw two words super clearly:

Christmas list.

Drum set.

My heart went a flutter!

I’d wanted a drum set more than anything in the world at this point, and there it was.

Clear evidence that the gift was coming my way!

So of course, I had to play it cool.

I didn’t let on that I saw the list.

Christmas morning came, and when we came down the stairs there was no drumset under the tree.

This was a momentary setback, but again, stay cool.

Because I also noticed that my sister had way more gifts than I did that year, and my parents were especially dedicated to making things fair and balanced so as to avoid world war three.

So maybe there was something else, something bigger, waiting for me somewhere else.

Then Dad asked me to go downstairs and get something, and that’s when I saw it.

The bright white drum set that I’ve always wanted.

Miss matched cymbals.

No name brand on the kit.

But oh my word…exactly what I’ve always wanted!

I played that drum set for more hours than I can imagine.

Eventually I bought a new drum kit as I got more serious, and in a unique turn in the story, I gave the original white drum set to Beulah.

I spent a fair amount of time when I came back as pastor looking for it around here, and the other day I found what I think is the only remaining piece.

Just a hi hat clutch.

But still, it serves as a reminder of one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given at Christmas.

Did it ruin Christmas?

Nope!

Just because we know how the story ends doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy it while it’s happening.

Even if you know what gift is coming, if it’s the right gift, the anticipation can actually be an enhancement to the gift.

What makes a good gift

I needed that. (Gifts of Necessity)

Last year, I got a gift that has been successfully tempting fate.

After that particularly gnarly snow storm, I told my parents that I wanted a snow blower, and they got me one.

I say it’s tempting fate, because ever since they gave it to me, it’s been sitting in the box in the basement.

I keep saying I’ll build it when the weather report says we’re going to get slammed, and so far as long as it sits in the box we’ve been dry as a bone in winter time.

So in the box it will stay!

While a snow blower might not sound like the most interesting gift, if you knew my driveway…

This is the very definition of a gift of necessity.

I have a need, and someone in my life knows me enough to give me what I need to meet that need.

I wanted that. (Gifts of Desire)

This is almost every gift on a child’s list right now, and the reason why they will roll their eyes if you got them socks.

Socks are a gift of necessity.

That new playstation they’ve had their eye on, that’s a gift of desire.

It might not be something you need, but it’s something that will bring profound joy and excitement.

It shows you know me. (Gifts of Relationship)

A few years ago I started collecting watches.

I don’t know, I just got in to the way they work and the different movements and features you can get with different kinds of watches.

Sarah got me this gift, a wooden watch that has the back engraved.

It’s engraved with a little bit of an inside joke between us, so if you stop at the back and say hi to the pastor I’ll tell you the story! :)

But this gift fits in a different category all together.

Lord knows at the point that Sarah gave it to me, I didn’t need another watch, I have oodles.

And I didn’t even really know that I wanted a wooden watch, truth be told when she gave it to me I didn’t know they existed.

But this watch shows that Sarah was thinking about me, that she knows me well, and that she loves me.

That’s the best kind of gift, don’t you think?

The Greatest Gift- Jesus

Christians lots of times will talk about the gifts God gives us.

Sometimes we talk about gifts of necessity, like the different talents God gives us or that surprise bit of cash that gets us to the next paycheck.

Sometimes we talk about gifts of desire, like “God if you’d only give me that new BMW I’ve had my eye on…”

And even from time to time we talk about relational gifts from God, like visions or dreams that we might come across in our day to day lives.

But tonight of all nights, I want to talk about the gift.

When God thought about all that we needed.

When God thought about all that we wanted.

When God thought about how to make sure we know that God knows us…

God gave us himself.

The word became flesh and blood and dwelt among us.

Or as one translator put it, God took on flesh and blood and moved in to the neighborhood.

Christ is the gift of God for all of us.

And it turns out that gift checks all the boxes.

We needed Him

From almost the moment the world was created, it was broken.

When God made a perfect world for us to live in, we decided we could do things much better on our own thank you very much.

And try however we might to put things back the way they go, you and I and the rest of the world are just incapable of repairing that relationship between God and us, and between us and the rest of the world.

And the further and further we get from God as our source of life, the more death we experience until our ultimate demise.

Jesus came to do for us what we absolutely can’t do for ourselves.

Jesus came to teach us the right way to live, a life marked by grace and forgiveness and love and mercy and generosity.

Jesus came to teach us that God is ultimately for us, and not against us, and that the Pharisees in the world who would tell us otherwise are dead wrong.

And ultimately, Jesus came to die the death we deserved, and then to rise to the life that God offers us as a gift.

None of that could we have done on our own.

Jesus is a gift of necessity for us.

We wanted Him

Even if we don’t know that we want to put language to it, we all want a closer and tighter relationship with God in Christ.

I hear this all the time when people complain about politics.

What they’re really complaining about is the broken and fractured relationships we were designed for.

What they’re really complaining about is their need for Jesus.

I hear this all the time when people complain about the Church.

What they’re really complaining about (rightly so sometimes if we have ears to listen) is that the Church kind of stopped representing Jesus a little while ago.

What they’re really complaining about is their need for Jesus.

And like any good gift of desire, a relationship with Jesus should and will be full of joy!

Yes a life of faith includes coming to church, but not from a place of obligation.

We come to church to meet with church, and meet with Christ.

Yes a life of faith includes discipline and study, but not just for the sake of discipline of and study.

If anything, this world badly wants to rob us of our joy with distractions and fear and anger mongering.

It takes discipline to stay in the joy of knowing Christ, and Christ knowing us.

And because this gift is a relationship, joy is a two way street!

Christ takes way more joy in us than we do in him.

Christ is always in our corner.

Christ is always rooting us on.

Christ is always smiling over our efforts.

Christ is always quick to forgive our mistakes.

The gift shows he knows us.

Anyone who presents God as some distant, uncaring being in the sky is missing the point.

Christ came to us so that God could know the full range of human experience.

Christ knew what it was like to cry for his milk.

Christ knew what it was like to have his diaper changed.

Christ knew what it was like to have his heart broken.

Christ knew what it was like to have no one believe in him.

Christ knew what it was like to celebrate with friends around the campfire.

Christ knew what it was like to love family and friends.

What we have come to know as humans, Christ knows.

There’s nothing that you can go through that Jesus himself did not experience on some level.

Christ knows you, deeply, passionately, and personally.

When God wants to give a gift, God’s not content to give in one category.

God gives us himself in Christ because we need him.

God gives us himself in Christ because we desire him.

God gives us himself in Christ because he knows us.

Maybe this is the first time you’ve heard this story, or maybe you’ve been hearing it for years.

Like catching the drum set on a Christmas list, knowing what’s coming doesn’t ruin the magic of the gift.

If this is new to you, that’s fantastic. Come talk to me after the service!

If this is an old old story, something you’ve grown up with since you were a kid, don’t imagine there aren’t any surprises left.

Christ’s working on all of our hearts, regardless of how many times we’ve heard this story.

You don’t have to do anything to get this gift.

So many religions of the world, including a couple of lesser versions of this one, are about what we have to do to get to the divine.

Christmas flips the script.

Christmas tells us that God comes to us.

Christmas tells us that God becomes like us so that we can become like him.

Christmas tells us that even lowly shepherds can be the heralds of good news.

Christmas tells us that you don’t have to do anything at all to earn this gift, it’s already yours.

And nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing you do can ever take it away from you.

You are made new in Christ.

You are set free in Christ.

You are accepted in Christ.

You are loved in Christ.