Waht Gift do You Give Jesus?

What Gift do You Give Jesus?

By Pastor Gary Wayne

In our culture, gift giving, and Christmas just go together.

Max Lucado - Open letter to wives from Husbands.

As we read our text for today, I want to ask you to think about the different gifts that were offered to Jesus on this first Christmas day.

Text: Luke 2:1-20

What gift did Joseph give Jesus?
What was the gift Mary gave?
What about the shepherds – what did they give?
How about the little drummer boy? Just kidding - I’m fairly certain he wasn’t there.
We didn’t read this account which is in Matthew 2, what did the Magi give later when Jesus was a child?

What about the Angels – what did they offer?

This is one gift that is interesting to me. The Angles gave worship.
Ver.13-14
On the surface their gift seems shallow considering how we think the King of Kings should be worshiped.

Had humans orchestrated this angelic event, it would have lasted for way too long, and the main event would have been downplayed.

"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
That’s it, they worshiped.
Shouldn’t they have done something more SPECTULAR?
More practical? Mary could have used a bed; Jesus could have used a decent place to be born with a crib.
These were angels - couldn’t they have done better?

But then again these were angels – they knew Jesus better than anyone on Earth.
Those who knew Him best, gave Him worship!

According to scripture, at this very moment, heaven is filled with the sound of worship. Surrounding the thrown of God, are angels who worship our 24/7.
According to Isaiah 6, the very door posts shake with the sound.

I wonder if the importance of worship is almost lost on our understanding.

What offerings did Solomon give when dedicating the temple? 144,000 animals.
2Ch 7:5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats.

Just a question – do you think this impressed God?
Maybe – we don’t know – but ponder with me the value God placed on the worship the angels gave.

Now let’s turn the corner a bit and talk about us.

Joh 4:23-24 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

God is seeking worshipers.
Note – this isn’t saying He is seeking worship, but worshipers.

One of the meanings to the word worship – to ascribe worth or value.
Any time you ascribe worth or value to God – you worship.
Whey we say things like – “God You are worthy.” We are declaring His value.
Whenever you schedule into your calendar time for prayer, you are declaring God’s value – worship.
When you mentally tune into the Christian Radio and listen – to preaching / teaching, to worship music, you are ascribing value to God.

When you sit down with the Word of God to read or memorize His words – you are worshiping.
When you purpose to focus on God during different parts of your day – Worship.

According to Biblical Hebrew explanation of worship, worship is how you live your life every day – every part put together, not just one moment caught on video for social media.
Worship happens at home, on the job, driving down to the post office, etc.
Sometimes it has been known to happen at churches on Sunday morning.

What worship do you give that has God’s attention?
Church attendance? How boisterous you are when you sing?
How much you give in offerings – sacrificial giving?

What is worship in God’s definition, not ours?

What happens when the people of God have worship as their priority?

What is the gift your life is giving to God this Christmas?

Max Lucado - Open letter to wives from Husbands.
Dear ladies, we know you mean well, we know you think you know best. But enough is enough. We have suffered in silence for too long. Having shared our pain with each other we husbands, hereby step out of the shadows and we open up our hearts. This year as you shop for our Christmas gift, please don’t buy us what we need. We know we need to smell better. And look nicer. We know you like us in warm pajamas and new underwear. But we do not know what to say when we open these gifts. How can you fake enthusiasm over house slippers? How can you look happy holding a nose hair trimmer?
We’ve lied long enough for the sake of integrity on Christmas morning, we offer this guidance. As you look at any potential gift, ask yourself these questions.

Can he play with it? Does it swing, bounce, shuffle, cast or roll? Can you find on it a trigger, grip, ripcord or stick shift? Does it consume oil or dog food? Does it have a big screen and remote control? If it does, buy it. It doesn’t matter if he already has one, this is not time to be practical.

When considering an item of men’s apparel, ask yourself, is it brown and green and rain resistant? You can’t lose with any garment that is. But realizing that many women prefer to shop anywhere except the hunting department, we offer these two questions. Does it make him look cute? Does it make him look like a hunk? If the clothing makes him look cute, drop it immediately. If it makes him look like a hunk, buy two.

When all else fails, ask this – can he eat it? Note: the question is not, would you eat it? Or do other humans eat it? Or is it edible? Don’t occupy yourself with trivialities. The question is: can he eat it? If the answer is yes, consider yourself on safe ground. In closing we extend this offer.

If you will buy us what we want, we will do the same for you. And without revealing any details, we will tell you this – a large vacuum cleaner company has offered us a group discount. And you thought we were insensitive. No need to thank us, Your Husbands.