Rev. David Holwick Christmas Eve
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 24, 2013
Matthew 2:9-11
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I. What will you get for Christmas?
A. Bigger means better.
1) Celeste is getting a 25-pound gift from me.
2) She got me one that weighs ounces.
a) I know, because I purchased it myself.
3) It is a good thing she doesn't want gifts measured in units
of 200 milligrams, otherwise known as carats.
B. Christmas is a big business.
1) On Black Friday weekend alone we spent $60 billion.
a) Over $2 billion is spent on wrapping paper.
2) Shoppers around the country say they are planning to spend
an average of $801 for gifts this holiday season.
a) Inflation-adjusted, it is way off the peak in 2001.
b) But we still spend half-a-trillion dollars during the
holiday.
II. We get it all wrong.
A. Only one person got gifts at the first Christmas.
1) The baby Jesus got all the presents.
2) It was good stuff, too - very expensive treasure.
3) And instead of UPS delivering it overnight, they spent weeks
(months?) plodding through deserts and mountain ranges.
4) They put great value on the one they were honoring.
B. Everyone else was excited at what God was doing.
1) The shepherds, mentioned in Luke's gospel, are only told
their savior has been born.
2) They saw the baby Jesus as God's gift to them, and that
was enough.
a) They needed a savior and God had provided him.
b) The shepherds gave Jesus adoration - and publicity.
III. What will you give to Jesus?
A. You can give him your treasure.
1) It is more than putting money in an offering plate in
a church, as we did tonight.
a) We should be generous throughout our lives.
b) If you have been touched by God, he will give you
this desire.
c) Gallup Poll: religious states tend to be the most
generous.
2) Examples:
a) I was going into Shoprite today and saw a man put a few
dollars in the Salvation Army kettle.
b) Chuck Feeney, who was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey,
made a fortune through duty-free shops at airports.
In 1988, Forbes magazine listed him as the 23rd richest
man in America.
But he wasn't - a few years previous to this, he gave
all his money to a charitable foundation.
He did it secretly.
He lives modestly - he doesn't even own a house or
a car.
His foundation gives away $400 million a year.
#35581
B. You can give him your time.
1) People are awfully busy these days, especially during
December.
2) But how much of what we do really matters?
a) You spend hours on your fantasy football, or watching
TV.
b) There's nothing wrong with that - but what impact does
it have for eternity?
3) Do something with lasting significance.
a) It can be a simple thing like setting up a schedule
to visit an elderly neighbor.
b) Volunteering in church, such as using your vast wisdom
to teach children about the Bible.
c) Start a prayer group during the lunch hour where you
work.
C. You can give him your heart.
1) Jesus did more than grow up to give wonderful teachings
about God.
a) He proclaimed that he had a special relationship with
God - he was God's Son.
b) And he told them he would lay down his life as a
sacrifice for their sins.
c) He wants you to do more than accept these facts.
1> He wants you to make a commitment to him.
2> Ask him to be your savior, and change anything in
your life that does not honor him.
2) Have you done this?
a) Christmas is not complete until you have.
b) But when you have, you will receive the best Christmas
gift of all.
In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian
Department of Education to teach morals and ethics in the
public schools.
They were also invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire
and police departments and a large orphanage.
The orphanage had about 100 boys and girls who had been abused,
abandoned, and left in the care of the government-run institution.
Near the end of the holiday season the Americans had an opportunity
to tell these orphans, for the first time, the traditional
story of Christmas.
They told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem.
Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the
baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.
Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in
amazement as they listened.
Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.
Completing the story, the Americans gave the children three small
pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger.
Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins
one of the Americans had brought with him.
No colored paper was available in the city.
Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully
laid strips in the manger for straw.
Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown, were used
for the baby's blanket.
A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt they had brought from the
United States.
The orphans were busy assembling their manger as the Americans
walked among them to see if they needed any help.
All went well until one of the Americans, Will Fish, got to a table
where little Misha sat.
He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project.
As Will looked at the little boy's manger, he was startled to see
not one, but two babies in the manger.
Quickly, he called for the translator to ask the boy why there were
two babies in the manger.
Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed
manger scene, Misha began to repeat the story very seriously.
For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once,
he related the events accurately until he came to the part where
Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger.
Then Misha started to wing it.
"And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and
asked me if I had a place to stay.
I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any
place to stay.
Then Jesus told me I could stay with Him.
But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give
Him like everybody else did.
But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what
I had that maybe I could use for a gift.
I thought maybe if I kept Him warm, that would be a good gift.
"So I asked Jesus, 'If I keep You warm, will that be a good enough
gift?'
Jesus told me, 'If you keep Me warm, that will be the best gift
anybody ever gave Me.'
I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and He told me
I could stay with Him - for always."
As little Misha finished his story, his tears splashed down his
young cheeks.
Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and
his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.
The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon him.
Someone who would stay with him - for always! #17192
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#17192 “Two Babies In a Manger,” Will Fish (attributed in some sources);
email submitted by Mike Conroy, Ledgewood Baptist Church of
Ledgewood, New Jersey, May 19, 2002.
#35581 “He Wasn't Rich After All,” David Holwick, with facts drawn from
"The Secret Billionaire Giveaway," by Paul Gallagher,
www.reuters.com, September 21, 2007.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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