The Gift-Giving God

It would take some doing to assemble a more deplorable, disreputable rogue's gallery than the one we find listed in our Gospel lesson for today. Tiberius, Pilate and Herod were notorious for their cruelties and their treacheries and their callous disregard for others. Tiberius was hated and mistrusted by his own political cronies. He finally even resorted to trumpted-up treason trials to keep his opponents in line. Pilate was known for playing both ends against the middle -- which meant cheating his Roman bosses and abusing, at the same time, his Judean subjects. Herod was insanely paranoid and ended up having three of his own sons and one of his wives executed because he suspected them of plotting against him.

Now, to add to this, the religious leaders weren't much better. Annas, the high priest, was hardly more than a mouthpiece of the Roman authorities, having sold out any of the moral persuasiveness his position once held. He did better at getting his family appointed to the Temple priesthood by the Roman leaders -- like five sons and his son-in-law Caiaphas -- than he did at preserving the integrity of a religious institution.

In the areas of politics, religion and economics, any 1st century Palestinian would eagerly have said, "It was the worst of times." For the Jewish people felt there was no hope for them. No prophet of God had been on the scene for ages, and it appeared as if the mighty strengths of the Roman rule would remain unchallenged for ages to come. It appeared as if there wasn't going to be any light at the end of the tunnel. But it was into the midst of these tough tyrants and tired spirits that God sent his most miraculous and unexpected gift -- Jesus.

Of course, Advent is the season when we prepare ourselves for this gift that God has for each of us -- the gift of Jesus at Christmas. Advent is not only a time of remembering what gifts we should give in Christ's name to those we love. It is also a time of remembering and looking forward to the gift God gave in our names and for our sakes -- the gift of Christ.

James 1:17 asserts -- Every generous act of giving, every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." Jesus' coming is the light coming into the world. As in the time of the 1st century, 2,000 years ago, they needed light and a Savior, so, today, do we need the gift of the Christ child in our world of woes. During Advent we prepare our homes by decorating them with lights, whether they be on our trees, on our windows or candles on our tables. They remind us of the gift of the Creator -- the Light that shines in the darkness which the darkness could not overcome. We are preparing for the light of the world.

Luke's Gospel lesson for today tells us that the word of God is heralded by John, the son of Zechariah, who comes to the world from the wilderness. John, Jesus' cousin through Elizabeth and Mary, was anointed for ministry through the prophet Isaiah -- "A voice from the wilderness is crying, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight . . ." Through John's ministry of proclamation and the call to repentance, I view a God who cares for this world and is seeking to draw it closer to him. I view a God of love who is involved with his creation. John's coming was to set the stage for the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the gift to bring about reconciliation between the world and God, to heal the brokenness of this world, to make the pathway straight for God, our King.

When I think about the coming gift of Jesus, I am reminded of the gift of Mary and Joseph. Their gift to us was their obedient preparation. God prepared Mary, and Mary prepared Joseph for the birth of the Christ child. Because their hearts were open and obedient to God's will and call, it was their arms that God chose to embrace and cuddle the Christ child. It would be their hands that God chose to wrap the infant Jesus in swaddling clothes to keep him safe. I remember, through their obedience and preparing that Jesus comes. I am reminded that I, myself, am called to prepare, by being open to the way God calls me to live out my life and to be obedient to his calling.

As I prepare during Advent I am reminded of the coming gift of the shepherds. They brought to Jesus and to me the gift of winder. The first people to see Jesus were simple, smelly, uneducated men who were occupied with daily tasks, but were not preoccupied with temporal things. Wonder touched their hearts and minds as they heard the angel. And they arose and went to Bethlehem bearing their gift of wonder. Their hands were empty, but their hearts were full of awe. Through the shepherds as I prepare for Christmas, I am reminded to look and see the wonder of the gift God is giving us. As I prepare I focus less on the material and more on the coming Savior of the world.

It is our sense of wonder and awe in the face of God's gift of Christ that enables us to follow in the footsteps of the shepherds and proclaim the good news that Christ as come and is coming into our world.

Stephen Shadeeg is an Arizona businessman, the father of four children, who told a wonderful story of a particular Christmas morning. He said they had a rule at their house that none of the children could to down to see gifts under the tree until the rest of the family was awake and they could all go together.

The year David was 7, he came bounding into their bedroom at 4:30 a.m., his face glowing with excitement, his mouth running at about 90 miles an hour. "Daddy! Mother! Come quick! I saw it!"

As they wiped the sleep from their eyes, both he and his wife knew what had happened. The rule had been broken. David had already discovered the new bicycle that he had been wanting for two years. They felt cheated that he had rushed ahead and they had missed seeing his discovery, but it was Christmas, after all, and they couldn't scold him for being overanxious.

They climbed out of bed, pulled on their robes and slippers, and David rook them by the hands, dragging them down the hall. They woke the rest of the children, and with all the family in tow, David led them down the stairs and through the darkened living room toward a window on the eastern side of the house, totally oblivious of the bicycle which sat unnoticed bedside the tree. He pointed his little finger to the eastern sky and said, "Look! The Star of Bethlehem! I've seen the star!"

When we think of gifts at Christmas we are most likely to think of the wise men who followed the star. Indeed, as I prepare during this season of Advent, I also remember the gift of the wise men -- their gift of excellence. The wisemen arrived late, after Mary and Joseph had taken Jesus home to Nazareth. They did not make it to his birthplace. These men, however, brought the most treasured gifts of their day -- gold, frankincense and myrrh. They offered excellence, not what was left over after all other obligations had been performed. Their gifts demonstrated that it is the best of our talents and our treasures that every wise person is to offer Christ. I prepare to give God in Christ my best talents as he comes into our world.

And, finally, as I prepare during this Advent season, I express my joy. The joy is over the impending coming of Jesus. I am reminded of Luke 2:10 -- "Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." To our world that cries out in all of its confusion, pain and perversion for salvation, the baby Jesus brings the gift of good news and, with it, joy. In the worst of times, this tiny baby born 2000 years ago, even today offers the best of truth. In the worst of times God does the best of things. With the gift of God in Christ, we are being gifted with a pathway to God. As we prepare, as we search for gifts for those we love, let us remember that the greatest gifts of Christmas were not physical, but spiritual. Let us share these gifts with one another: the gifts of light, proclamation, obedience, preparation, wonder, excellence and joy.

Amen.