Advent 4th Sunday: My Gift For The King

Light the Advent Candle

The countdown is on!

Only 5 more days until Christmas! Maybe some of us have already had our Christmas celebrations.

But Christmas is traditionally the day when we as kids would rush out to the living room to the corner where the gifts were placed.

Picking up the packages and shaking them, trying to figure out what was inside of them.

Trying not to wake up mom and dad, but kind of hoping that they would wake up so that we could rip into our presents.

Looking back over my 49 Christmases, I don’t remember very many of them specifically, or the presents that I got.

But there are a couple that stand out for some reason.

The first one that I remember clearly is, I believe, 1975. I got my first Bible that year.

KJV, red letter edition

6 pages with pictures in it.

I loved that Bible. I still have it in a box somewhere.

Another one that I remember clearly is 1981. I had just turned 10 that year. That’s the year I got my first watch.

A cheap digital Timex watch with two functions: date and time.

But to me, it was one of the best ever presents.

You remember the excitement.

The kids know what I’m talking about. Even us adults maybe still feel that way about Christmas

As a kid, as you think about Christmas, you tend to think a lot about, “I wonder what I’m going to get for Christmas this year”.

That’s probably natural. We as parents do try to teach our kids to be generous,

Because we as people are, by our sinful nature, “me focused”.

What makes ME happy?

What makes ME feel good?

We want to GET

But as we get older and more mature, that should probably change.

And I’m finding that it is for me

I’m finding that as Christmas approaches, my mind is occupied not with, “what am I going to GET for Christmas”, but “What am I going to GIVE for Christmas.”

Heidi asked me the other day what I want for Christmas. I honestly didn’t know. I couldn’t think of anything.

But what in the world am I going to GIVE my wife and my kids and my parents for Christmas?

Some people seem to be naturals at giving gifts.

But the fact is, I find gift-giving a little complicated.

What do people like?

What do people want or need?

What if they don’t like it?

Is this too much like last year’s gift?

Maybe you can identify with that a little bit. And maybe

And maybe there’s always that “one person”. I have to get a gift for this person and I don’t really know what they like.

Or maybe you feel like you have to get that person something really expensive and you are just flat broke this year.

What am I going to do?

Maybe you feel that way when it comes to Jesus as well.

You love Jesus with all of your heart and you want to give your very best for Him.

And you read stories like the one about these magi who traveled hundreds of miles to find this king who had been born

And they brought him gifts fitting for a King.

And you think, “I don’t have anything like that. I’m barely able to pay my bills and put food on the table, much less be so extravagant with my money!

What could I possibly GIVE to Jesus that would be equal to what these Magi did?

Or maybe you look at what you can do. If I don’t have much money, maybe there is something that I can DO for Jesus that would show Him how much I love Him.

But then you think, “But I’m not very talented.”

I can’t play basketball like Tanner

I can’t play guitar and fiddle and Dobro and mandolin like Alvin

I can’t preach like Perry

I can’t teach like Leon

I can’t play piano like Racine and Maria

What ever am I going to give King Jesus? I’m not very rich, and I’m not very talented.

Well, do you know what?

There’s really good news.

Jesus is not very complicated in regard to the things that He likes to get for Christmas.

There’s only one thing that He really wants. And you can give the same thing to Him over and over again, and He will love it each time.

All that He really wants is my heart

What? You mean this thing inside of me that thumps away?

No!

What it really means when we say that Jesus wants our heart is, Jesus wants all of me!

All He really wants is ALL of me!

Thinking about this is maybe makes us feel relieved and worried all at the same time.

We are relieved because really it’s a pretty simple gift. It’s not like we have to go out shopping for lots of different gifts for Jesus.

It’s just ONE gift.

And for those of us who really aren’t that rich or that talented, maybe it’s a relief because if He just wants me, then maybe He doesn’t really care so much that I don’t have money or many abilities.

But we are worried because it’s a really BIG gift.

And maybe we don’t quite grasp what it means, even though when we talk about becoming a Christian, we talk about giving our hearts to Jesus.

What does it mean to give our heart to Jesus?

Well, when we are talking about giving our heart to something or somebody, we are talking about what motivates us.

We are talking about what drives us and what motivates us in our lives

And sometimes it helps to understand what something means by taking a glimpse at what the opposite is.

And for what we are talking about today, there are somethings which keep people from giving their hearts to Jesus.

Or maybe makes them try to give only a little bit of their heart to Jesus.

And it’s these things that are mentioned in 1 John 2:

There are a couple of verses in 1 John

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Now what do these verses have to do with giving our heart to Jesus?

The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pride of life. These are what many people are motivated by. Maybe even some people who call themselves Christians, if they are really honest, are actually motivated by these things

The desires of the flesh: Those things which make me feel good

Could be food

It might be the desire to be comfortable.

We spend our lives chasing the desire to take care of our bodies and just feeling good about ourselves

The desires of the eyes: Those things that which look good

For men, it might be that new car or truck, that new gun, that new house. Sadly, in too many cases, that other woman

For women, it might be new clothes, new jewelry. Sadly, in too many cases, that other relationship

For many people, their hearts are tied up in chasing what looks good to them

The pride of life: our accomplishments that we can brag about

Today we are told to be all that you can be.

We are told that you can do anything if you try hard enough.

People want to do significant things, things that will make people sit up and take notice of them

Things that will help them feel like they have done something worthwhile in their lives.

This is what life looks like for people who have not given their hearts to Jesus.

What if it’s the opposite for those who HAVE given their hearts to Jesus?

What if, instead of chasing after what our flesh wants, we pursue what Jesus wants and allow Him to satisfy us?

Jesus has the Water of Life and He is the Living Bread

He said, “Above anything else, seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”

What things? Food and clothes.

The things that our body wants and needs

The things that we tend to spend our lives trying to make sure that we have

Seek Jesus and His Kingdom above everything else.

That means that every day we ask Him to show us what He wants and what He likes.

And Jesus said, “If I know how to clothe the flowers and feed the birds, don’t you think that I know how to take care of you too?”

What if giving my heart to Jesus means that I say, “LORD, I’m going to follow you where ever you take me. I don’t know how I will afford to put food on the table or clothes on our backs, but I want YOU more than those things. So, I’m going to follow you!”

I would say that a person like that has given their heart to Jesus!

What if, instead of chasing after what looks good to us (the desires of our eyes), we ask Him to open our spiritual eyes.

So that we can see Him. So that we can see more of His beauty and His holiness

So that we live more and more in awe of who we have seen Him to be

So that we live in a way that says, I’m living in the presence of Jesus 24/7!

Hebrews tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

Lord, open my spiritual eyes, so that I can see what you are doing in my life and in the lives of others

So that I can understand better who you are and what you look like

So that we can see others the way that Jesus sees them

And in so doing, it changes the way that we treat them, the way that we care for them, the way that we respond to them?

I would say, a person who lives with their spiritual eyes open has given their heart to Jesus.

What if, instead of bragging about what we have done, we brag about what Jesus has done?

Jeremiah 9:23–24 (ESV)

23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Do you brag about who your God is and what He has done?

Apostle Paul didn’t mind doing a little bragging. But what did he brag about?

He says in a couple of places, “Hey, if I’m going to boast in anything, I’m going to boast in my weaknesses.”

Why? Because it gives him the chance to boast about how strong Jesus is

In 1 and 2 Corinthians, Paul says, “If you are going to boast, boast in the Lord”

This is not the message that you hear in our world today.

Today it’s all about what YOU can do.

How strong you are, how smart you are, and all the amazing things that YOU have done or can do.

I would say, that you can tell when someone has given their heart to Jesus because you often hear them talking about what God has done

They are clearly not that concerned about their own abilities or lack of abilities

But they just can’t get done talking and bragging about how great God is and what He has done in their lives

So what are you going to give to Jesus this Christmas?

Give Him the best thing of all.

Give Him ALL of you! Give Him your heart.

What can I give him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man I would do my part, Yet what I can I give Him — Give my heart.