The Christmas Gift

One of the key traditions of Christmas is the giving and receiving of presents.
But how easy is it these days to buy the perfect present? To give a gift that is truly worth giving?

Gifts worth Giving?

One of the key traditions of Christmas is the giving and receiving of presents.

But how easy is it these days to buy the perfect present? To give a gift that is truly worth giving?

Perhaps you could give a gift of something practical that you see someone needs? I remember as a child noticing that we needed a new toilet roll holder, so I bought my dad one for his birthday! It was a practical gift, but I am sure if one of my children bought me a toilet roll holder I would not be well pleased!!

What about alcohol? A couple of years ago, I thoughtlessly bought Claire, a Christmas present of a bottle of wine – only to be reminded that she is tea-total!

It is hard to buy a gift that is truly worth giving, especially for adults. Probably most of you are better at it than me, but I think it is genuinely becoming harder.

Technology does not help. Whereas in the past you could buy young people, toys, books or perhaps some kind of craft making kit, now days none of these have much interest for youngsters or even adults who spend much of their free time glued to their smart phones.

Is there such a thing as a meaningful Christmas present anymore? Or should we just enjoy the wrapping and unwrapping of presents and the joy of giving and receiving and forget about whether the gifts are any good.

Is there meaning in the Christmas Message

Perhaps that’s what you feel about church at Christmas. You enjoy singing the old familiar carols and hearing the story of the nativity recounted again. It lifts the spirits at this time of year. In other words you love the wrapping paper of the Christian Christmas, but you do not think there is a meaningful gift at its heart. Perhaps you think the stories are like fairy tales, based on superstitions and ignorance that we as modern people have grown out of.

But, although I may be rubbish at buying a decent Christmas present, I passionately believe, that at the heart of the Christian Christmas is a gift that is truly meaningful and worthwhile. This age old story has far more to offer than the technological progress of our modern age.

After all where has technology brought us? By all accounts mental health has nose-dived since the introduction of mobile phones and social media. Technology can be used for good, but much of it is designed to capture our attention, so that others can make money from it.

In contrast, the evidence is that religion is good for us. In a survey carried out in the UK in September of this year, it was discovered that those of faith are more resilient or happier, than atheists and other non-religious people.

Those who regularly attended religious services were “notably more likely to report positive psychological well-being and mental health outcomes when compared to those who either occasionally or never attend such services.”

Maybe, the gift at the heart of the Christian Christmas has more to offer than you realise?

Christmas: God’s Gift

And unlike fairy tales, the Christmas story is not about human heroes and villains, but about God’s gift. The human characters merely respond and react to what God is doing:

Mary agrees to be the bearer of this special child.

Joseph heeds the instruction of the angel to accept that Mary is pregnant with God’s saviour.

The Shepherds respond to the message of the angels about a wonderful new child being born by finding out whether it was true and rejoicing that it is.

The Wise Men come with gifts, but only as a way of honouring, the one they understand to be God’s newborn king.

The whole story revolves around the birth of a helpless tiny baby that is nonetheless constantly described as being something new and wonderful. They act in the way they do, because they understand that this is not a meaningless gift, but one really worth giving. But why does this baby of all babies mean so much?

The Gift worth Giving: Re-birth & Renewal

A few months ago, my oldest son went for a job interview to be a technician in a university, using very advanced machinery to analyse people’s DNA. During the interview, they asked him a question: “What would you do if an error message appeared on one of the machines and you did not know what to do and there was no-one around to help you?” After some thought, he responded hesitantly, “Turn it off and on again?” It was the right answer! He got the job.

With computers, phones and other complicated gadgets or machines. One of the best strategies to try to sort out the problem, is to turn it off and on again. 90% of the time that is the fix that works!

But what about the problem of the human race? Humanity as a whole seems bent on the destruction of the planet we live on, especially with the growing threat of human caused climate change. We long for peace, but seem incapable of achieving it in a permanent manner. Indeed, wars and conflict are on the increase. And despite our progress in health, science and technology, we are lonelier, less happy and less mentally well than ever. It seems that as humans we need to be turned off and on again. We need a restart, a rebirth, a renewal.

In the Bible is a letter written by Paul to his friend Titus. In it he summarises what is so powerful about the gift of Jesus and why this is a gift that really matters:

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” ( Titus 3:4-7)

This is why the virgin birth matters. In order to achieve a rebirth from a world of corruption and death, the human race needed a reboot. Jesus was that reboot. Born of a woman, a true human, but born also from God, not inheriting the corruption of the human race, but creating the possibility of a new start a new beginning.

And we can become part of this new start, but the power of the Holy Spirit that God brings. We can be made children of God, part of Jesus’s new family, so that we can be transformed into the people God always meant us to be and share in Jesus’ inheritance of eternal life. This is the gift that Christians celebrate at Christmas. Not a meaningless outdated gift, but one that has power to offer hope of rebirth and renewal.

This Christmas, will you unwrap the message contained in the carols and Christmas readings and discover for yourself the most important and most meaningful gift ever given? Will you choose to follow Jesus?