On this sixth day of Christmas, I invite us to linger a little longer with the birth story of Jesus. We hear it this morning from the gospel of Matthew – a much different version than Luke’s story. There are no shepherds that visit, and the only angel conversation is with Joseph and not Mary. But there is still a sense of wonder and mystery – God doing a new thing.
Matthew 1:18-25
“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.”
This morning I invite us to think about Gifts. I know the sermon title says Christmas Gifts, but is there a particular gift from any season, or no season at all, that stands out in your mind? Whether it is a gift you received or one you gave, is there a present that has had a lasting impact on you? And what about the gift or the occasion made it memorable?
(The congregation was invited to share examples of such gifts. Mentioned were the gift of a cup passed down from 1850 from grandmother to daughter to granddaughter that epitomized love; receiving a college acceptance letter with scholarship money that affirmed this student’s skills and hard work; the gift of the vote for marriage equality in Maine and standing on the courthouse steps at midnight as the law was about to take effect with people sharing wedding cupcakes, rose corsages, bottles of soap bubbles and celebrating with the first same sex couple to wed; and the gift of an unexpected, out of character, extremely expensive plane ticket to attend a family reunion.)
Now consider along with the ones we have mentioned, Joseph’s gift: the gift of trust in the angel’s words, acceptance of a reality not of his own choosing or devising, having his world turned upside down but embracing it anyway. To say it another way – Joseph’s gift was his willingness to give up control or having life be exactly as he had planned.
Then think of the gift of the baby Jesus – the incredible and mysterious gift of the intimacy and nearness of God – God who now lives among us as one of us; God who even as we are held close in the tenderness and strength of the divine embrace, knows what it is like to be as helpless and needy as an infant.
These are the gifts of Christmas – unexpected grace, trust and willing acceptance, prophetic witness, divine love that takes human form, the willingness to give of oneself. These and so much more are what you and I have been given through the gift of Jesus’ birth. Gifts that fit perfectly, that have no need to be exchanged or returned; gifts that will never break or need batteries or wear out or become obsolete. Gifts I hope and pray we will go on using and needing and loving long after the tree is taken down and decorations put away until next year. For these gifts of the Christ child are not just for Christmas but for the whole year through.
There is another gift, however, that I want to suggest we receive from God as this calendar year draws to a close and the new year begins on Tuesday. It has to do with a ‘tale’ I once heard about the elves giving a gift to Santa. As the story is told, once the Christmas rush was over and everyone was rested up, the elves wanted to give a gift to Santa. They figured he had never had a gift before and since he was always giving gifts to others, he deserved one himself. But they had no idea what to give him. They pondered for days to no avail. They asked Mrs. Santa but she wasn’t much help either. Finally they came up with a brilliant idea and calling Santa to the workshop, they presented him with a large, beautifully wrapped present.
Well, Santa was very embarrassed. Having never received a gift before, he didn’t know what to do, and he certainly did not know how to receive graciously. He hemmed and hawed, shuffled his feet, and kept saying: “You shouldn’t have”; all the things we utter when someone has taken us by surprise and embarrassed us. But at last, his protestations ended. And very carefully so as to not tear any of the wrapping, Santa opened the box, lifted the cover and looked eagerly inside. Except, there was absolutely nothing there! The box was bare.
The elves had given him an empty box?!
No, the elves didn’t give Santa just an empty box. In actuality, what they gave him was the gift of emptiness. The gift of possibility, the gift of being able to receive whatever he needed from another, the willingness to make a space for an infinite number of ideas and perspectives and dreams that are different from our own.
I pray for you this final gift from God – the gift of emptiness, the gift of being open and expectant, receptive to whatever 2013 holds and wherever your journey leads. May you find blessing and even more gifts along the way.
Amen.