Above you'll find the audio of my homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Here are the scriptures I preached on - and the text of my homily follows below.
So what do you think you're getting for
Christmas this year? Not what you’re getting for others - but on
Christmas morning, what do you think you might find under the tree tagged for you?
Or maybe you don't put up a tree anymore.
Or maybe you no longer exchange gifts with others. Or perhaps you no longer
have others with whom to exchange gifts.
Or maybe the kind of person who tells
everybody, "Don't get me anything for Christmas - I have everything I need!”
All of you above notwithstanding: suppose
on Christmas morning, you wake up and find this on your kitchen table:
You probably can't see it - but there’s a tag
here - and it says, "To you from God.”
A Christmas gift to you from God...
You know, at this time of year, I often try
to remind folks that it's Jesus' birthday. He should get the
presents - not us. But I don't think I'm reversing that caution if I suggest
that Jesus just might have a gift for you, and a gift for me, a
gift for each of us.
You often hear folks say that the first
Christmas gifts were the gold frankincense and myrrh that the Magi gave the
child Jesus after following the Christmas star to Bethlehem.
They're wrong.
The first, the original Christmas gift,
came from God to us - and the gift was precious indeed. God gave us his only
begotten Son. Jesus himself was the first Christmas gift. And Jesus
himself was a great and generous giver of gifts.
He gave us the gospel - the good news of
his father's love for us.
He gave us a new commandment that we love
and care for one another - at least as much as we love and care for ourselves.
He gave us a new teaching on how to live
with each other: in our families, in a community, in society, in the whole
world - a teaching filled with truth and wisdom and sacrifice.
And in the end, Jesus gave us everything he
had out of love for us. He gave his life for us on the cross. And in his
suffering, in his dying and his rising, he gave us the gift of hope - hope for
eternal life.
And after he rose from the dead, he gave us
another gift - the gift of his Spirit - the spirit to live in our hearts and
our minds to shape our desires, our affections, our choices.
Jesus is the original gift that keeps on
giving.
And that's why I'm so sure that under the
tree - or on your kitchen table - or in your heart - Jesus has a gift for each
of you and for me, this Christmas.
And his gift to each of us will be the best
gift we'll receive because nobody knows better than Jesus exactly what each of
us needs for Christmas.
(Jesus also knows exactly what each of us
might want for Christmas - but what we need and what we want
are sometimes two different things. And Jesus knows the difference much better
than we do.)
- So if what you need this Christmas is a
gift of peace and harmony in your family, Jesus has that in stock.
- Do you need a gift of peace of mind?
Jesus has that in every possible model and color.
- Do you need the gift of companionship?
That gift has already arrived! He's already by your side waiting to keep you
company, to talk with you, to comfort and console you.
- Perhaps you need the gift of relief
from worry and fear? He's got that in small, medium, large, extra-large,
extra-tall, and extra-wide – that’s for me.
- Do you need the gift of forgiveness?
Jesus has that in one size fits all - except this time, it really does
fit everybody.
- Do
you need the gifts of faith, hope, and love? No other supplier offers
these in the exquisite priceless quality that Jesus offers.
And in all of these gifts, there's free
delivery. No hidden costs, no taxes, no shipping or
handling charges. All of these gifts are insured and guaranteed by
the Creator of the world, the Creator of all things visible and invisible.
Sound too good to be true?
Well, there is, right on this box here, on
the bottom - a little fine print.
This gift requires some assembly - which means once you receive your gift
from Jesus, you have to work with him to put it together in your own life and
circumstances.
More fine print. This gift does not come
with batteries. Gifts from Jesus require that you supply some personal
energy for that gift to function in your life.
Oh, and there’s this: for two or three
or more players. Gifts from Jesus are meant to be shared. The invite and
require the participation of others in our lives.
Oh, and it also says here, No Returns.
You see, Jesus really does know what we need - and he doesn't
expect us to exchange what he gives for something we want. (And
I'm pretty sure he asks us to trust him on this.)
And finally, this odd note: Gift must be
unwrapped before using. It seems like common sense, huh? But you see, Jesus’
gifts won't matter or work or please us - if we don't unwrap them and start to use
and share them. Many of us have received gifts, talents, and blessings
that have sat unopened for years - under a little Christmas tree in our hearts…
Well, that's the fine print. But in very large,
bold print tonight, the prophet Isaiah told us what I just preached: that
God has a gift for us for each of us, and that gift is Emmanuel, which means God
is with us.
Emmanuel, the promised one, the Messiah,
the anointed, the King of Kings, the Prince of peace, the one
who will come and make all things well.
In the Gospel, Joseph was about to receive
a gift - the gift of Mary's child -who was not his own child. That was
the fine print Joseph had to read - on a gift that he didn't quite
understand, a gift he wasn't sure he wanted or needed, a gift he was (at least
at first) slow to accept.
But a gift which he came to love and adore.
Sometimes you and I have a hard time
believing that “God has a gift for me.”
Finding the gift that God has for me, accepting the gift that
God is handing to me; opening, using, and sharing the gift that comes
from God's own heart and hands - into my heart and hands. Even tagged with my
own name!
If any of us here find it difficult to
believe all of this, then let's pray and ask Jesus to help us see that what he
gives us may not be the gift we want, but it will always be the gift
we need.
Jesus gave us the gift of his life on the Cross:
once, for all. But every time we gather at his table, at this altar, he offers
us his gift - again. The gift of his life, his healing, his mercy, his
presence and his peace.
As he does in every other gift he offers us: in the Eucharist, Jesus gives us himself, with all his love – because he
truly is, the Gift, the Giver, who keeps on giving.
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