“You'll have to admit that Jesus' birth isn't foremost in their tinsel-intoxicated minds.”
No matter which way you slice the Christmas turkey, Christmas is really about presents. Don't look at me that way! You know it's true. Admit it, we'll all feel better!
Oh, we try to downplay the gift thing: Non-Christians speak about peace and good will and family; Christians talk about faith and the Incarnation. That's fine, but talk to any eight-year-old kid, church going or not, and you'll know that Christmas means presents. Even if they're enlightened enough to know that Jesus is the reason for the season, you'll have to admit that Jesus' birth isn't foremost in their tinsel-intoxicated minds. It isn't Jesus's birth that captures their imagination as they make a half-hearted attempt to stay in bed until seven in the morning. Nor is it their ponderings of "God in flesh appearing" that makes them wonder if dad forgot to buy batteries again this year.
Let's be honest and admit that Christmas and presents go together. If you're not convinced, one trip to the mall between now and Christmas should do the trick! Well, guess what? It doesn't bother me that gifts are associated with Christmas. I think it fitting that gifts be given. After all, wasn't the greatest gift of all, the gift of Jesus, our inspiration for Christmas in the first place?
I know what you're thinking, cause I've thought it before myself. If Christmas is Jesus' birthday, why does He get the short end of the Christmas stocking? That is a good question! Jesus should always be at the top of our gift-giving list! But then again, what do you give someone who created all the stars in the sky - socks, or slippers? A Flintstone necktie just doesn't seem fitting for the One who conquered sin and death. Neither does soap on a rope, even though cleanliness is next to godliness!
Well, what would you say if I told you that I know of a way that you could make this Christmas the best Christmas ever - for both you and the Lord and your church? What if I told you that the Christmas card I have up my sleeve includes you receiving the biggest presents of your life? There are literally thousands of gifts waiting for you this moment. Some have been kicking around for a dogs' age! Some have been waiting for you to unwrap Christmas after Christmas after Christmas, but you never bothered to pick them up! Interested? Intrigued? Confused? Maybe you're starting to think this is an infomercial, but trust me, it isn't! However, if you act now, we'll throw in a . . .
Seriously, the best gift you can give Jesus this Christmas is the opportunity to give you blessing, upon blessing, upon blessing, with a heaping order of blessing on the side. Before you cast me into the great abyss for preaching a "prosperity gospel", hear me out! Billy Graham once said, "Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask." Think about that for a moment? What does he mean by that? Simply put, God is trying to empower His people. He is trying to give us the victory, the conviction, the confidence and the power to live lives that bring Him the greatest glory. He desires to inspire His people to say "wow!", with every breath. He desires to give us everything we need to win the war and save the lost. It's been written on His list of things to do, since the day the Church was born. But recently, we just haven't been asking like we should!
You remember that the Church was born out of a great present-giving party, don't you? Read Acts chapter two! The Holy Spirit came with great power. Peter, enabled by the Holy Spirit, preached his first sermon and, boy, was it a doozy! God gave the Church a birthday present of 3,000 souls that day as they believed, repented and were baptized (Acts 2:41). People were convicted. People were crying out to Paul and the others, "What must we do?" Now that's what I call a great present! All through Acts we have presents given to the Church. The Apostles spoke with boldness; people responded; the church was thriving in a pluralistic world where people didn't care about the truth. Humm . . . The Church grew in leaps and bounds surrounded by a world with rampant sin and fleeting morality. Imagine!
How would you like to see your Church grow like that? How would you like your life to shine like that? How would you like people (including you) responding to your preachers' message by giving themselves whole-heartedly to God? How would you like to see friends and family coming to know the Lord? All you have to do is ask. All you have to do is start praying, and believing. It's as simple as that. Grab a few friends and begin praying and just try and prove me wrong! I double-dog dare ya!
"Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask." Isn't it time you started picking up your share? Isn't it time that you bother to ask? Now, you tell me, what better gift can you give Jesus, your church, or yourself?
"You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it." (Jam 4:2, NLT)