Northside Church - Sydney
Gift Ideas: For the One who has Everything
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. You know, I reckon it's in the eyes. You can tell in the eyes if you're giving the right gift to somebody. Think you can. Let me give you an example, from my own life, OK? Wow! Gold-class movie tickets! Fantastic! All those movies that are coming out! Contrast that with a Ryobi power drill! Oh, wow! A car cleaning kit! We're a little brushed for the dashboard! Fantastic! Thank you! With contrast that with a fifty dollar bunning voucher! Bunning voucher! How do you know? You can tell I'm not really in the practical stuff. OK, so look, I think it's in the eyes. Now, look, please don't push that too hard. You might have others who, I tend to get excited about gifts, as you can see, but don't take that too far. It may not be the case necessarily in your family, but look, here's the thing, guys. The men from the East, the so-called wise men, they got it right, and it's great when you get it right. It's great when you know you've given the right gift, and it's great when you receive the right gift. Would you agree? This is something very special about that moment. These guys, these wise men, they got it right. Not that they would have received any acknowledgement from the baby, necessarily. Maybe received a bit of acknowledgement from the parents, hopefully. But their gifts reflect a profound awareness and understanding of who it was they were dealing with. Gold, frankincense, and mer. Each of these symbolises an aspect of Jesus' identity. Each one reminds us of the reason why he came to earth, gold, the gift for a ruler. That's the way it was in the ancient world, and even today, gold plays a part in the thinking of royalty, as reflected in the amount of gold that you see in palaces, like Buckingham Palace and other palaces of Europe and around Asia, it's all gold. I think it's fair to say that the ancient Israelites were obsessed with gold. In Exodus 36, there's a very detailed description of what was called the Tent of Meeting. It was where they housed the Ark of the Covenant during the wilderness wanderings. In verse 34 of Exodus 36, they covered the frames with gold, and they fitted them with gold rings to hold the crossbars, which were also covered with gold. It's just gold, gold, gold, all the way through the description of this place. And then in 2 Chronicles around chapter 4, there are details of the temple that was constructed by Solomon and everything, including the doors of the Holy of Holies. The Bible says it was overlaid with gold, even the hinges and the doors were gold. And in one of the most lavish references to gold in the whole of the New Testament, and once again in 2 Chronicles around chapter 9, it's when the Queen of Shiba visits Solomon. And as was the case in those days of visiting dignitary, we try to impress the king of the land. And the Queen of Shiba brings a raft of gifts for Solomon, including the Bible says four tons of gold. That was very much designed to impress. We really like you over in Shiba, and his little gift for you. I don't know how much gold was involved in the gift to Jesus. But friends, what we do know is that it was an acknowledgement that he would be known as the King of the Jews, sure, but also as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And this gift, whether they realized it or not, it was an acknowledgement of his kingship. And like any king, Jesus is to be obeyed. But unlike many of the harsh tyrannical kings that had preceded him and that have lived since the time when Jesus was here in an earthly sense, obedience to Jesus Christ is not an oppressive, restrictive experience. It is in fact the key to freedom. The Apostle John picks up on this very theme in his first epistle, the fifth chapter, reading verses two and three. Look at this. This is how we know that we love God's children. It is by loving God and obeying his commands. For our love for God means that we obey his commands and his commands are not too hard for us. Friends, you get that. His commands are not too hard for us. In other words, they're not burdensome. It's by no means a reference to the sort of, to some sort of easy, like anything goes kind of lifestyle in Christ on the contrary, the moral and the ethical demands of the gospel are very challenging. But when we're in sync with Jesus Christ, when we're allowing him to shape our attitudes, our actions, our thinking, our responses to the needs we see around us, the task of obedience under those conditions is not arduous. It becomes an honor. It becomes a great source of joy. This is the meaning of the words of Jesus when he said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is life," recorded in Matthew, chapter 11, verse 30. It's not a reference to the, to the lightning of the load. It's a reference to the fit of the yoke. Now you can tell from my earlier references, I know very little if anything about farming or anything practical for that matter, but I do know that in parts of the world where they still use oxen and other animals to pull big loads, it's imperative for the yoke to fit snugly and comfortably because only in that way can the animal really pull the heavy loads. If the yoke is not a close, comfortable fit, if there are burrs or sharp edges, in any way that's going to restrict the animal, then even the lightest load will seem heavy because it'll be painful. And so Jesus is essentially saying, "Look, my commands, my moral and ethical imperatives, my standards in discipleship, they're not intended to be harsh and restrictive. They are in fact meant to fit you in such a way as to allow for maximum freedom, as to allow for maximum capacity to bear heavy loads when you're called upon to do so." Jesus is also saying, "Even when you find yourself with a heavy load of stress or disappointment or grief or pain or loss, it will appear lighter. That low will appear lighter as you handle it my way, in accordance with my laws for effective living." His commands are not too hard for us, says John. Yes, the Christ child received the gift of gold because he was destined to rule in our hearts and in our lives. But his sovereignty is the key to coping with life's strains and stresses and challenges. As are you living under the Lordship, under the kingship of Jesus Christ today? Is your life aligned to his plan and his purpose? Are you living in obedience to his will for your life? It's the only way. The only way to experience the peace, the joy, the freedom, the life that this book talks about so much. What about the second gift presented to Jesus? It was the gift for a deity, for one who is divine. You see, frankincense was used in worship. It was a form of incense, frankincense. And whether they realized it or not, Jesus was God, and this is the wise men, rather, they were acknowledging whether they realized that or not that Jesus was God in human form. He was not only to be obeyed as a king, as a ruler within the hearts and lives of people, he was to be worshipped as the son of God. Now, of course, in today's multicultural, pluralistic society, many find the notion of Jesus as God's only son to be a little unpalatable. A great teacher, yes, a moral example, yes, a prophet, maybe even the greatest prophet who ever lived, yes, but to call him the son of God, that's a little bit exclusivist. That's a little bit presumptuous, isn't it? And yet that's the timeless message which we, as the Church of Jesus Christ, have been promoting and declaring for all these years. That's the unmistakable witness of this book, the holy Scriptures. That's the testimony of countless numbers of followers over 2,000 years of history. Based on statements from Jesus like John 10, 30, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, or John 14, 9, "I am the Father of one," or Colossians 1, 15, Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. I mean, the Scriptures are very clear as to the identity of Jesus Christ. And this is the truth which lies at the very heart of the Christmas season, Emmanuel. God with us, what the theologians call the paradox of the incarnation, God among us in human form, God becoming one of us to save us. And what's our response to this indescribable act of grace, humility, love on the part of God? Well, I think Paul captures it powerfully and succinctly in Romans 12.1. He challenges us to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship we should offer. Friends of Frank and Sense offered that Jesus was a powerful symbol, that He is God, and He is to be worshipped. Not so ceremony and ritual, but really, essentially, through the presentation of our lives in service and in commitment to His cause. And the Christian sense as disciples, our worship is not so much something we do. It's who we are. That's the nature of true worship. And so the greatest impact that you and I can have on people's lives this Christmas is not in the expansiveness of the gifts we give them. Not in the number of services that we may attend over this season, rather it's in the extent to which we allow our lives to reflect the love, the grace, the justice, the mercy of the one whom we worship in spirit and in truth, the divine one. The final gift, Mer, well, it was the gift for a healer. Because, see, Mer was a form of ointment that you applied in the ancient world to somebody who was sick. It was part of the anointing process. And so in presenting Mer to Jesus, these wise men, again, whether they realize that or not, were acknowledging Jesus as the great healer. Now, of course, much has been made of Jesus as the healer, because throughout His ministry and in the Gospels are recorded countless incidents of how He healed various diseases and various ailments. The friends, there's a much broader dimension to the healing ministry of Jesus. Because you see, most of the world's ills are not physical, they are spiritual, they are emotional, things like hatred, prejudice, injustice, inequality, oppression, exploitation, and these destructive human traits, these manifest themselves when people are out of relationship with God. They manifest themselves when people move away from God's blueprint for effective and harmonious living, when they're estranged from God. And that's us in our natural state. That's humankind. That's the human condition because of the fall estranged from God. But, of course, Jesus came to heal that wound. Jesus came to heal the greatest wound of all. Only He could do it. Paul described this truth in a powerful way in Ephesians 2. He says, "It is by God's grace we've been saved through faith, it is not the result of our own efforts. It's God's gift." Guys, these words represent Jesus' greatest act of healing. The healing of the gap between a holy God and His fallen creation. And this is the act of healing. This is the act of salvation. This act represents the greatest gift given at Christmas. You know, getting the gift right at Christmas is a wonderful thing when you know you've got it right, and you've received it and it's right. It's fantastic. Well, these wise men got it right. Gold, the gift for a ruler, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, frankincense for a deity, Jesus, son of God, Merphora Hila, Jesus Christ, the healer of our estrangement from God. Friends, you know, when you think about how complicated and how commercialized we've made Christmas, when you think about all the political correctness associated with Christmas, when you consider how we're drifted so far from the original, it can sort of really tug at your heart. When you brush away all the hype and all the catalogs and all the stuff that goes on at a shopping center, it really comes down to simple gift giving. And I think Paul captures this beautifully, contrasting how the world sees Christmas and how it really is, how the world sees the gift of Jesus, and how it really is. He captures it beautifully in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21, and this is from the message. I think it really picks it up beautifully. The world and all its fancy wisdom doesn't have a clue when it comes to knowing God. Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom, all wrapped up in one. I think that's it. Guys, the message for me, the message for you, for all of us is simply this, please. When you're wrapping up your gift, your gifts this Christmas, as many of you know dads still have to do, when you're wrapping up your gifts, just simply remember the greatest gift that has been given is Jesus, but also the greatest gift that we can give to Him is ourselves. Is that your resolution for this Christmas? Is that your resolution for 2013? It's scary. None of us ever know exactly where it's going to lead, but that's the greatest gift we can give to God at this Christmas time. It's the greatest gift we can give to, at any level, the gift of ourselves. It's bound free, shall we?