The Gift of God

Introduction

What’s the best gift you’ve ever gotten?

One of my favorite gifts I got as a kid was this 2 foot-tall Optimus Prime. It was awesome! I could turn it into a truck and back into Optimus Prime and dunk on all my brother’s toys. I played with it everyday for like a month. About a year later, we had a garage sale, and my mom sold my Optimus Prime and I was SO MAD at her. So I confronted her. “Mom, what’s the deal?” She said, well, you haven’t played with it in like a year, so I figured it was fine.” And it was true. I had loved it, but, like most things, eventually I moved on and forgot about it.

So much of Christmas is about the gifts. Even though we know it shouldn’t be. I mean, think about basically every Christmas movie ever. The message is: Christmas isn’t about the gifts. But still, companies blow up advertising their stuff and we make lists and tackle people on Black Friday to get gifts. And I don’t know, maybe there’s no way out of it. But I want to talk this week and next about the kind of gifts God wants to give us. Because God is the best gift-giver in the world.

Jesus wants to give you a gift

Jesus & the Samaritan Woman

Jesus & the Samaritan Woman

There’s a story in the Bible where Jesus offers a woman a gift from God. He has been preaching in Judea (Southern Israel where Jerusalem is) and was heading back to Galilee (his hometown area) and went through Samaria, which was a region his people didn’t really like. He went to a well there and met a woman who was getting water. He asked her for a drink. She’s confused, because he’s not really supposed to be talking to her. He’s from a different social group than he is. But Jesus, instead of answering her question about why he’s talking to her, begins talking about the gift of God.

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The woman is like YOOO that’s amazing. Think about what I could do if I didn’t have to come here and draw water and I could just like have water all the time. Basically, she totally misses Jesus’ point. It’s not literal water. It’s about life—true life.

Have you ever thought you were going to get one gift and instead got something better?

The woman goes on to ask Jesus a question about worship. “Should we worship the Father here or there?” Again, she’s missing the point. Jesus says, “It’s time not to worship in a specific place, but in SPIRIT and in TRUTH.” And he goes on to say, “I am the Messiah.”

The Gift is God himself

So, here’s what happens: Jesus says he wants to give the woman a gift of living water. What is this living water? Jesus is talking metaphorically, even though she doesn’t get it. He’s talking about God’s Spirit. When she asks Jesus about how to worship, he says that it is time to worship in spirit and truth because God is Spirit. We don’t have to worship in the temple or on a mountain; we can worship anywhere because God goes with us in his Spirit.

What would you say is the biggest technological invention of the 21st century is? My guess: smartphones. The internet was a crazy awesome invention, but at first, you had to go to a specific place to use it. You had to go to a library or a school, or your “computer room” to get access to all the information you needed. Then, the iPhone came out, and there was satellite data, and you could take the internet with you everywhere. That’s what Jesus is saying. He’s saying that you don’t need to go to church, or to your prayer room to access God, he goes with you everywhere you do!

That’s the gift of God: God himself. And that’s really what we’re celebrating at Christmas—not just Jesus’ birthday, but the gift that he has given us, that God himself came to earth, the Messiah, and his life, death, and resurrection gave us access to God’s spirit, to have a real relationship with him ALL THE TIME, EVERYWHERE.

The Gift of God Keeps Giving Life

The Gift of God Keeps Giving Life

Jesus explains that when he gives this gift, it keeps on giving. If we drink from the water of Jesus, if we live in the presence of God, it changes us, and it keeps giving us more and more of God forever! It grows into ETERNAL LIFE.

My parents got us a waffle-maker for our wedding. Best gift ever, because it keeps giving. That waffle-maker creates incredible chocolate chips waffles that I get to taste forever (or at least until it breaks). It’s like that old saying, if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he’ll eat forever. God wants to give you a gift that you won’t just enjoy today or for the next few months, but an eternal gift, one that will live in you FOREVER.

ACCEPT & LIVE the Gift

So, what do we do with this gift? First, we accept it! If somebody gives you a gift, you don’t reject it. You accept it. God is offering you the gift of himself, so accept him! I’m not sure where you are with Jesus, but everyone at some point needs to decide to follow Jesus (to give their life to him). Do it! Baptisms are coming up. Decide to follow him forever and show everyone in baptism.

Secondly, live the gift. Have you ever done this: your grandma bought you a sweater or a poster or something, and she’s coming over so you wear it (even if you don’t like it)? You want them to see you using the gift because it shows them your gratitude. God has given you his presence. Use it. Live in it. Spend time with God. Think about him. Talk to him. Love him.