A Christmas Gift to God
By Rev. Dr. Leroy Johnson, 9th Episcopal District (This article will appear in an upcoming Christian Index.)
Christmas is the most popular and best known of all national and international holidays. It began as the time of year that heathens paid homage to their gods. In this vein, many, many years ago, the Christian Church decided to say a mass in recognition of their God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and they called it a ‘Christ Mass.’ This ‘Christ Mass’ subsequently overshadowed all of the heathen’s celebrations and grew into the major international Christmas recognition that we know today.
Without question, Jesus is God’s greatest gift to the world. Brother John nailed it in the third chapter, and the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of his Gospel when he said: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
In as much as God so loved us that He gave to us (the world) His greatest gift, shouldn’t we likewise so love God that we give to Him our greatest gift? Remember, God’s gift of Jesus is a tangible expression of His love for us. We, then, must FIRST learn to love God, in order to express our love for Him! Accordingly, our first gift to God at Christmas should be our love!
Brother Moses expresses it so well in his closing commands to Israel in chapter six of Deuteronomy, verses four through seven, when he said: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” What a beautiful and reverent way to learn to develop a genuine, lasting love for God.
But, let’s not stop with just one gift; we should be generous in our giving to God. Hasn’t He abundantly provided for us, more than we can ever ask or need? Our second gift to God at Christmas should be our service. Our service to God is basically, but not limited to, our time, talent and treasury. It takes time to grow and develop in the Lord: which is why Brother Peter said (II Peter 3:18) “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” Failure to give God our due treasury is detrimental to both God and our selves. Why? Thanks for asking! The answer is clearly stated by Brother Malachi in chapter three of his book, verses eighth through tenth. He says: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” The meaning is that when individuals or nations fail to honor God with their tithes and offerings, they rob God of the opportunity to give them the blessings that He has in store for them. Tithes and offerings are like a combination lock: they open God’s storehouse as nothing else can. That is why verse ten directs: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Our third gift to God should be our witness. In spite of circumstances, whether good, bad or indifferent, we should give God a positive witness. Nothing should stop us from sharing with everyone we meet the good news about our God, and what He’s done for each of us. When Job was at his lowest level, he had a high level witness for God. In chapter nineteen, verses 25-27, Job said: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” That Christian of Christians, Brother Paul, gave one of the most powerful witnesses to the Philippian Church in chapter three, verses 13 and 14, when he said: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Won’t you let your witness be one of your gifts to God.
Henceforth, may your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be while.