1.
Please pray
with me. May the words of my mouth and
the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and
our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word this glorious
Christmas Day is taken from John 1:1-18 and is entitled, “A Christmas Gift Card,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
What should a
Christmas sermon be? Over the years, I’ve answered that question in a variety
of ways, and I’ve heard it answered in a variety of ways by other pastors. But,
I must say I haven’t always been satisfied with the sermons these various
answers produced. Trying to recall them now, I realize that many were trying to
tell the hearer how to have a good and meaningful Christmas. That strikes me
now like putting the owner’s manual on the top of your gift and insisting that
the recipient read the manual, and who in their right mind reads the owner’s
manual to anything these days.
3.
No, it seems
to me a Christmas sermon should itself be a gift. Then, again, that’s not quite
right either. As precious as the good news proclaimed this morning must be, the
sermon shouldn’t give the hearer the impression that this is it, that this
sermon is the whole gift of Christmas.
4.
What, then,
should the sermon be? It should be a gift card! No, not the ‘couldn’t think of anything to get you,’
use it once and throw it away, kind of gift card, but the actual card that
comes on a gift and tells you who’s giving and who’s to receive the gift.
That’s it! A gift card. But, gift cards do more than that. I’m thinking of the
kind of gift cards that show how much thought and time has gone into the gift.
They’re beautiful, but in a way, that only adds more joy to the real gift. I’m
thinking of the kind of gift card you add when you know this may not be exactly
what the person was expecting, so you want him to know what you were thinking
when you chose this just for him.
5.
Yes,
that’s it! There’s my sermon! So here it is:
Here is a Christmas gift card for
you. Merry Christmas! I know you think you get the same thing every
year. But, I want you to know that a lot of thought has gone into the gift you’re
about to receive. The selection of this gift began when there was no “when”
yet, in a time before time. The Gospel
of John chapter 1 begins by saying, “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Maybe, I’ve already said too much. Yes,
your gift is a word, but it’s the Word
before all words. It’s a Word that saw eye-to-eye with God, a Word himself God.
6.
“How can a
word be a gift?” you ask. “What gift,” I
ask you, “isn’t a word? What gift isn’t an expression of love, admiration, hope,
or joy? Why do all the advertisers say, ‘Give
the gift that says . . . ,’ if gifts aren’t, more than just words? Oh,
don’t doubt it for a moment. The Giver of every good and perfect gift knows how
to choose for you.”
7.
John 1:2-3
says, “[The Word] was in the beginning
with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing
made that was made.” Please pay
close attention so you’ll know what it is you’re receiving in this gift. If you
had within your grasp the agent through which all things came into being, a
magic wand of wonder, if you could speak into being anything you could imagine
as being, what would you make? What would be for you the perfect gift?
8.
John 1:4-5
says, “In him was life, and the life was
the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it.” I’m not trying to
confuse you. Well, maybe a little. How can a word be life and light? How can
one gift be all three? Have just a little more patience, and you’ll see!
9.
John
continues, “The true light, which gives
light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the
world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own,
and his own people did not receive him.” (vv 9–11) You’ll have noticed that
I haven’t included a “gift receipt.” Sadly, there have been those to whom this
precious gift has been given who refused to accept it. But there’s no
possibility of return here. This gift is for all, just as it is for you. To
paraphrase a very wise man: “It’s not
that many who’ve opened the gift have then been disappointed in it; rather,
being disappointed that this was all they should be receiving, they left it
unopened.” Unopened. Unrecognized. Unknown. Unwelcomed. Unloved. Unimaginable
tragedy! Please finish reading this card and then take the time to open this
gift carefully. Take the time to get to know all this gift contains, all that
it brings to you. Please don’t tuck it away in some corner of the closet still
in its wrappings. Please open it and see what it can do.
10.
John
continues, “But to all who did receive
him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who
were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man,
but of God. And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from
the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . For from his fullness we have all
received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is
at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (vv 12–14, 16–18) Am I showing poor taste if I include reviews
of the gift you’ve yet to open? I hope it won’t diminish your joy if I tell you
that those who’ve received this gift have found in it no less than new birth.
11.
My gift card
has grown long, and I fear I’ve already said too much. I hope, though, that,
filled with the true and Holy Spirit of Christmas, you aren’t thinking, “I knew it. It’s what I get every year!” But,
I hope your fingers are twitching with excitement as you say to yourself, “Yes! It’s the only gift I ever want, and
it’s my gift again this year!”
12.
So, set the
card aside and open the gift again, but know it as never before! Receive a gift
from the fullness of God himself. Grace and truth, life and light, all is yours
in the gift your Father has prepared and given, before time, for all time! And
this gift has a name, and his name is Jesus Christ. He who has been with God
since the beginning, who died on the cross for you and rose from the dead, is
with you now and forever. Hear again the gift of this Word in preaching, hymn,
and carol. For you! This day! A Savior! Jesus Christ. Know him and in him know
your Father, for he alone is the way to know the Father. He alone is the Word
from above, the Word in the beginning, the Word of life forever, the true and
gracious Word, that makes known to you the love of your Father, whose gift he
is.
13.
What was on
your wish list this year? Not the one you shared with family and friends, not
the one you posted on Amazon or Facebook. The one hidden deep within your
heart, the one you dared not show a soul, the one you barely dared peek at
yourself. What was on that list? Hope? It’s here. The joy you lost so many
years ago? It’s here. Freedom from the oppression of worry or doubt,
hopelessness and emptiness? It’s here. New birth? New identity? The chance to
start over from the beginning? A life that will have meaning and purpose? A new
life that will know no end? It’s here. It’s all here in this Word that comes
from the Father, filled with grace and truth. It’s here in the Word that is
this Christmas feast already prepared for you to come, take, eat, and drink. It’s
in the Word that fills the hearts of the brothers and sisters who surround you
here and in the hearts of the loved ones who will gather around tree and table,
by firelight, singing and praying, laughing and playing, to celebrate this gift
with you today and in the days to come. It’s here in the Word that the darkness
can never master. It’s here in the Word that never fails. Amen. And now may the gift of this Word wrap
you up in the
peace and security of your Father’s embrace. Amen.
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