Unwrap the Gift

(This sermon was delivered this evening, December 24, 2008 at the Christmas Eve Worship Service for Aldersgate and Mt. Washington United Methodist Churches in North Baltimore.)

Luke 2:1-7; Matthew 2:7-12

The reciprocal nature of the Christmas holiday season is found most vividly in the giving and receiving of gifts. The season has been termed by some the season for giving. And if the truth is told, it is also the season when many persons expect to receive.

This act of giving and receiving will be played out from house to house. On Christmas morning, children across the land will share in the ritual act of rushing to the Christmas tree, looking under the tree, finding those gifts that have been placed there for them, and beginning to unwrap their gifts. Young faces will be filled with wonder and joy, as they unwrap their gifts and discover what has been given to them.

These acts of gift-giving, while offering joy to some, should also lead us to reflect upon the very commercialism that has come to so permeate the season, the materialism that has come to consume so much of our collective conscious during Advent and Christmas. This type of "affluenza" – which Marion Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund describes in terms of "us having too much that is worth too little" – in some ways has become even more pronounced in the economic down-turn that affects us all today.

It seems that at the birth of Jesus, the world was similarly uncertain about its future as we are today. In the light of this, there was a certain buzz afloat as to the significance of the birth of this child. The magi – the wise men from the East – had observed – they had seen the Lord’s star at its magnificent and glorious rising. In this star, the wise men were convinced that they had witnessed a marvelous sign of the birth of the Messiah – the Savior of the world - and they wanted to pay him homage. And so as they entered the house where Jesus was, they opened their treasure chests and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:7-12)

What significance does this have for us today? I believe the birth of Christ and our celebration of Christmas help to remind us of the ways in which God has broken into history in the unlikely person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born into poverty, uneducated, and unconnected to the established social and political order of his day. He was a “nobody” - an unlikely Savior he was.

That Jesus was born poor and homeless, that his earthly father was a working class man and his mother was unmarried – a single parent - offers us a cause for pause and reflection in the light of the relative elaborateness of the season of Christmas for so many.

That, according to Luke’s account - Jesus was born in a manger, and that his mother wrapped him - not in fine clothing but in swaddling clothing, gives us cause for pausing yet again to reflect upon who it is that we worship, who it is that we follow, who it is we seek to imitate, and who it is that we celebrate during this season.

And so it is that we might take a few moments amidst the hustle and bustle – amidst the hurriedness of the season to reflect upon the real meaning of Christ. What do all the signs of the season mean to us? What do all of the candles, and lights, and gifts really mean? How have we stopped to pay homage to Jesus? What hope does Christ bring to our fractured world today? Where do we see signs of the presence of the Messiah in our lives – in our world today?

The gift that is Christ is one that if are to really unwrap it, helps us to see that he is for the poor among us – for he was poor. If we unwrap the gift that is Christ, we discover that he is for the immigrants and exiles among us because he was born to travelers. If we unwrap the gift that is Christ, we see the unfolding of the reality that he is for the bound, as he came to set at liberty those who were bound.

If we are to unwrap the gift that is Christ, we find one who healed the sick and fed the hungry in his day. He ate with sinners and blessed untouchables – lepers and those who were demon-possessed.

If we are to unwrap the gift that is Christ, we’ll realize that he calls us to live in solidarity with those who will sleep outdoors on our city’s streets tonight, with the estimated 20 million children who live without adequate health-care, with children who will awaken tomorrow with no food to eat, let alone gifts under the Christmas tree.

Unwrap the Gift. I am reminded of the story of a little boy who one year decided that what he wanted for Christmas was a wagon. In each of the days leading up to Christmas, the little boy would pass by a church where there was a statue of Jesus in front of the church. Everyday, the boy would pass by, and he would pray, “Jesus if you give me a wagon for Christmas, I will give you a ride… Jesus, if you give me a wagon, I promise, that I will give you a ride.”

Well, on Christmas, the little boy went downstairs, and under the tree… he found the wagon that he had prayed to Jesus for.

And so the boy went outside with his wagon… As he was riding, a police officer stopped the boy and said to him, “We have a report that a statue of Jesus is missing from the church down the street, and I notice that you have one in your wagon.” The boy said to the police officer, “Sir, I’m just keeping the promise I made to Jesus that I would give him a ride.”

I believe we are like the little boy, and we owe Jesus a ride for the gifts not only that he has given to us, but for the gift that he is to us.

Unwrap the Gift. And so it is that the real gift of Christmas is Christ. And when we unwrap this gift, we discover real peace amidst a warring world. We find true joy amidst joy that often feels vapid and false. We find hope in the face of the apparent insurmountabilities and utter despair of life.

And ultimately, the gift of Christ is our redemption. (Titus 2:14) This is what would lead Job in the midst of his own despair to declare, “I know that my redeemer lives.” (Job19:25) In these days of uncertainty and fear, Christ makes real claims upon the church, our communities and the world, and real claims on each of our lives.

These are days when most stores offer instant rebates for many of the things that we have bought. In days past, I can remember my grandmother collecting S&H Green Stamps for the things she would buy… When she had collected enough green stamps, she would go to the store to cash in the stamps - redeem them - for something she had been waiting to buy.

Ultimately, that is what Christ has done for us. He came into the world, and has entered into our lives to be our redemption. He came to buy us back, to redeem us, and claim us for God. This is really the gift that we unwrap during this season, Christ, our redeemer, Christ, the redeemer of the world.