The Gift that keeps on Giving

Intro

I want to start a 2 part Christmas series with you all exploring some simple and yet profound meanings about what it really means when we talk about Jesus Christ coming into the world. As I mentioned last week, it is all too easy to get caught up in the busyness of this season and drawn into ‘doing’ too much and before you know it, the New Year has come around and you hardly thought about the Christmas message at all. The beauty of these times of the year is that it is an opportunity that God gives you to reflect on who He is. That is what God is drawing you into this year… He is inviting you to see a deeper level of His heart this Christmas in a way that you may have never known.

I want to talk this morning about the idea that Christmas is “The gift that keeps on giving.”

Sermon Archives and I Can only Imagine Stories

A couple of weeks ago I was up in Hamilton for an event and while I was up there, I saw that on my particular bible software that I use, they had almost half price off particular sermon archives from certain preachers of the past. One of my favourite preachers had his sermons on there from 1989-2017, but it was always too much money. Even when it was half price, it still seemed like a huge amount of money to spend on a bunch of sermons. However, I rang my wonderful wife Rebecca while I was up there and was just mentioning this in passing to her and out of nowhere, she just simply said to me… “Well, why don’t you just buy them? I mean we have a little bit of savings there and then you’ve got them for life…” Can you imagine what I did next? I hung up the phone as fast as I could and bought them before she could change her mind! No seriously… I went on to buy those sermons and have been reading them when I can, and they have blessed me so much already! Essentially, my wife gave me a gift that will keep on giving in many years to come. Not only to me personally through reading, but also to others through friendships and mentoring etc.

There’s a movie called ‘I can only imagine’ about the lead singer from a Christian band named ‘Mercy Me’. In the movie the guy has a horrible upbringing and relationship with his Dad. He can’t stand him… His Dad hated the fact that his son wanted to pursue singing instead of sports and let him know that every day. Then later on in life, his Dad found the Lord and started to have a better relationship with his son because of it. However, he quickly finds out that he has a terminal cancer and not long left to live. Once he passed away, he left his son $600 a month for 10 years and told him to go and chase his dreams as a singer… On the very last month that those 10 years ran out, his song ‘I can only imagine’ became number 1 in America on Christian radio charts and all around the world. This Dad’s gift of $600 a month for 10 years was a gift that kept on giving.

Everybody loves a good gift… but some of the greatest gifts that you can ever receive are the gifts that continue to give beyond the event itself. What we have to understand about Christmas is that it is no different. The story and the message of Christmas is about God’s gift that keeps on giving even now, a couple of thousand years later. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of reading the Christmas story (any of the bible actually), and thinking that it is just something that happened historically years ago that I can learn about now. And although that is true, it is far greater than that. It is a gift that was given years and years ago, but its implications are life changing for us STILL today.

And so, I want us to look this morning at the idea of God’s precious gifts through Christ becoming a man all those years ago and how they dramatically impact our lives today. Now, no matter how many Christmas’ you’ve celebrated over the years, if you are willing to open your heart to God again and soften your mind to Him, I believe He can reveal a fresh perspective of Christmas to you this year.

PRAY

We’re going to expand 3 ideas this morning about God’s gifts that He keeps on giving to us through Christmas.

Those ideas are…

God’s gift of Joy.

God’s gift of Peace.

God’s gift is Free.

1. God’s gift of Joy

Luke 2:8–14 (NIV)

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

So, here we have a bunch of shepherds who are just minding their own business… literally. An Angel of the Lord comes to them and they are absolutely terrified. I mean, here are some shepherds who don’t really have a lot of excitement in their day to day world. They just make sure that their sheep are safe and that nothing attacks them at night or on the roads when they have to travel etc. And then all of a sudden, an Angel appears to them. That’s like going from 0-100km within 2 seconds. They’re terrified! Then, the Angel shares with them that the Saviour of the world has been born and will bring GREAT JOY to ALL PEOPLE.

So what is Joy? And why does Christmas mean that we can have Joy in the midst of whatever we face throughout our lives?

Well, many people get this whole concept of joy mixed up with happiness. Although happiness is a fruit of joy, joy in itself is not just constantly being bubbly and cheerful all the time. We all have different personalities… Some are quite extroverted, and others are more introverted. But this doesn’t mean certain people have more Joy just because they are more extroverted, or less joy because they are somewhat more to themselves. The difference between joy and happiness is not how happy you may appear to be, but rather where you place your focus, your confidence and your contentment in life.

James 1:2–4 (NIV)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James is saying to his listeners that when you are facing trials of many kinds… Consider it PURE JOY. He didn’t say to them, “try and find the silver lining in your trial”, He essentially said “REJOICE!” Why? Because God hasn’t forgotten you. He is producing something in you and through you that is going to make you more like Him! James is saying that trials and suffering show that God hasn’t forgotten you and that He is still working in your life! Rejoice in that fact! How many of us focus on our problems or our suffering instead of looking to our Saviour who is right there with us in the midst of them! James is encouraging people to remain joyful through whatever may come in life by focussing on the right thing. Placing your focus and confidence not on the trial itself, but on what our God is doing.

Isn’t it interesting that the Angel appeared to the Shepherds at night in the midst of darkness. During the night, in the midst of utter darkness, an Angel of the Lord told the Shepherds to direct their attention to Christ. I think that is a fitting picture for our own lives also. In every season that we go through, easy or hard, when we direct our attention and focus toward Christ the Saviour, we have a pure and complete joy.

You might be thinking… Well can I really experience this joy? I’m not all that special and I’m just your average Joe Blogs who goes to work each day at a mundane job and there isn’t much excitement in my life… Would God really desire to give ME this joy? Think about the Shepherds for a moment… A shepherd was someone who wasn’t very ‘special’ at all. They were just your average farmer who went about their business and weren’t overly ‘known’ by others. Yet, it was THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE, that were some of the VERY FIRST people God revealed His message of JOY to.

Do you feel like a shepherd? Maybe you feel un-noticed at home as a stay at home parent? Or that you are slightly looked past in the hospital ward. Or that you are nothing overly ’special’. If that’s you… Take heart. God’s message of JOY is for ALL PEOPLE as the passage says… and that includes YOU. You can have His gift of Joy this Christmas.

2. God’s gift of Peace

Isaiah 9:6–7 (NIV)

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

This passage, as we well know, is a prophecy in the Old testament about Jesus and His birth. I’m going to dig a little deeper in a couple of weeks time about the context of this passage, but for now, I just want to highlight a couple of things. The first being how Christ here is described as the ‘Prince of peace’. Now… What is a Prince? A prince is someone of royalty. Someone who rules. Someone of very high standing and whom you honour and serve. This is something very important to understand as Christians. Jesus is described in many ways throughout the whole Bible. Many of these ways seem to catch our attention as Christians. We love to call him our friend, our wonderful counselor, our Everlasting Father, our Mighty God. These are all important ways we are to view Christ in our lives. But the real test in our culture today is not so much whether you call God your friend… But whether He is your Prince… Your KING. You see, because if God is only your friend and your counselor but He is not your Ruler, then you will never truly know His peace throughout your life. Paul says in…

Philippians 4:6–7 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So Paul is not telling the Philippians here that everything is going to be a breeze and the way you know God’s peace is by having an easy life. He is saying that IN EVERY SITUATION, present your requests to God… In EVERY SITUATION. In other words… Submit everything in your life to Him as your King, your ruler, your Prince. THEN, and only then, you will know His peace in ways that you couldn’t even comprehend before.

Jesus Christ chose to be born in one of the most hostile cultures the world has ever seen. So much pressure from the Romans, so many troubles going on all around… Fleeing a king Herod that was trying to kill him as a boy, becoming a refugee in a foreign land… And yet in the midst of all this… The Prince of Peace was born. You know what that means? You can know His peace throughout your whole life IF you submit to Him as not only your friend and Saviour… But your Lord and Prince.

Duck swimming on water picture

Have you ever been at a pond or a lake and just sat and watched the ducks floating by? It is a pretty peaceful picture isn’t it? It’s quite a beautiful thing to just watch a duck gliding through the peaceful water on a still calm day. But what is really going on as that duck glides through the water? Beneath the surface of the water, its feet are frantically kicking so it can stay afloat and move to where it needs to go. This is kind of like the peace of God in our lives as Christians… Although there are things in life that seem to be chaotic and frantic, when we submit to Christ as our Prince of Peace, He glides us on through because His peace surpasses our understanding.

The second thing I will briefly say about that passage from Isaiah is that it mentions that His government and Peace will have no end. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving and He has a fresh peace for you here today no matter what you are going through.

3. God’s gift is Free

John 3:16 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Our culture loves free things don’t we? Free samples at the supermarket, free taste testers at the ice cream shop, (Some of us love that a bit too much like my Dad…) Free trials on subscriptions… Etc. We love to take things that are free because it doesn’t cost us anything. However, do you know what people aren’t so good at? Receiving a gift that is outrageously expensive… If someone helped you with a couple of mortgage repayments when times were tough, you may be a bit embarrassed or apprehensive at first, but eventually you would probably receive the other persons kind offer of help. However, if that same person came and saw you struggling to pay your mortgage, and therefore offered to Pay off the whole thing for you… A lot of us would argue with that person. “No no no. It’s far too much. I can’t let you do that.” (Some of you wouldn’t mind at all haha) Why do we do that? Because we realise that the cost is far too high for someone else to take for us. We don’t want to burden someone else with our debts, we don’t want to receive too much from others. We can be really bad at receiving.

Grandad Lyn Macdonald’s story

I remember when I was younger and My family went through the Macdonald’s drive through in two separate cars. My family were in the front car, and I was in the back car with my Grandad who was driving. My Grandad and my Dad were the types to argue about who paid for meals… Not in a bad way but in a generous way. Anyway, I remember my Grandad telling me as a 10 year old boy to jump out of the car and run ahead in the drive through to pay for all the meals before my Dad could. I said NO WAY AM I DOING THAT! He got quite grumpy with me and it was the only time I ever saw him get a bit angry and say in a stern voice… “GET OUT OF THE CAR AND GO AND PAY FOR THE MEALS.” “NO” I said stubbornly. He then sighed and that was that.

How many of us, have that same unwilling attitude towards God’s generosity? God loved the world SO MUCH this Christmas that He GAVE. He gave His Son Jesus freely to us to save us from our sins and set us free. A FREE GIFT! Yet many of us are unwilling to receive it! We think we are somewhat good enough and don’t need saving… Or somewhat too bad and couldn’t possibly be saved… In either situation… God’s gift is FREE this Christmas! Receive it freely!

Christmas Tree Family Story

When I was a teenager and in my early 20’s, I used to sell Christmas trees for my brother in law in Wellington. I would sit in a container by the orange needle at the airport and wait for hundreds of people to come through each year and buy their perfect tree. We had some incredibly good looking trees every year. None of these branchy looking ones you see, these were premium grown and cut ones from all over the country. Anyway, I will always remember 1 particular family who would come through every single year I was there. They would come dressed up in Christmas costumes pile out of the car to find their perfect tree. The only difference between this family and all the other families is that they always came seeking the ugliest tree they could find. They would ask me every year; “Where’s the ugliest tree you’ve got!” I even had a year where there were no ugly trees so I had to make one ugly for them. It was their little family tradition. I always tried to give them a discount because it was such a horrible tree, but they never let me. They always insisted on paying FULL PRICE for the ugliest tree there.

Do you know what God does with us? He sent us His Son at Christmas because He looked at you… DESPITE all of your failures and flaws and imperfections… and said… You are worth it. I will pay FULL PRICE.

Because you know, Although God’s gifts toward us through Christ are free this Christmas… Nothing in life is really free. Everything comes at a cost.

Breaking a beautiful and expensive glass jar

If you go into someones house and pick up an incredibly expensive crystal glass jar that they own and all of a sudden it slips through your hands… 2 things have to happen. Either you pay for a new one or the owner says, “don’t worry about it.” Either way there is a cost and someone has to pay. Either you have to pay for a new one, or the owner has to absorb the debt instead.

Although Christmas shows us that God gave his Son… and from that we have Joy and Peace and so many other wonderful gifts that keep on giving to us every day… It came at a cost. That cost was the cross. But that cost was worth the journey in God’s eyes so that He could bring you home.

Do you feel inadequate this Christmas? Do you think that God surely couldn’t love you because of all that you’ve done? Think again. Because the God of the universe journeyed from Heavens Throne to a Stable Trough in order to show you how far He was willing to go to bring you home.

Don’t forget that. Receive His free gifts again this Christmas… Because He doesn’t stop giving.

Let’s Pray