Christmas Gifts (Matthew 2:7-12)
Gary McManus, 12/09/2018Part of the Christmas series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
December 9, 2018
2nd Sunday in Advent Matthew 2:7-12
The gift of giving. . .
Christmas/Advent. . .two reports of Jesus’ birth:
Matthew and Luke, each with its own emphasis.
Chapter 2: Matthew is telling that
these Magi were . . foreigners.
They were foreigners by place—
not from around here.
--They were foreigners by occupation
--They were foreigners in this situation
--They were foreigners by faith. . .PAGANS
What about the gifts of the wisemen?
Next week we talk about the gifts the magi
brought to give to Jesus.
Today . . .we talk about gift giving—
our gift giving, here in America.
Christmas giving is out of hand, isn’t it?
The Puritans banned Christmas!
In the 21st Century, we have had the culture
wars in America, . . .Christians lost that one.
See Stephen Nissenbaum,“The Battle for Christmas”
also: David Kyle Johnson, The Myths That Stole
Christmas: Seven Misconceptions That Hijacked
the Holiday (and How We Can Take It Back).
You know the story of 20th Century America.
The Churches of America did not protest this march to what was considered a higher standard of living. Only later was there backlash against conspicuous consumption.
Where are we now in America? We have no bearings and no boundaries. Americans remain generous.
Take another look at Matthew 2:11
We notice first that this giving is a
part of worshiping . . .isn’t it?
Were the gifts OFFERINGS?
The word “offering” is in the Bible
over 600 times.
Pastor is not scholar enough to claim
that is what Matthew intended, BUT
the word CAN be understood that way.
Genesis 4: Cain and Able make offerings
to God.
The Apostle Paul gave perspective on giving:
(1 Corinthians 13)
Jesus taught more than once about our giving. . .
(Luke 6:32-36)
Many gifts--certainly parent to child
meet the very definition of gift—given freely,
openly, with an open heart and we pray they
are loving hearts. . .
loving hearts that knew that they were touched
in love through Jesus first.
(The GIFT of Jesus.)
Amen.
Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
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« The Magi Were Foreigners | None | They Bowed Down and Worshipped Him » |