Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this wonderful season of seasons when we pause and ponder about the wonders of our Savior's birth. Praise the Lord that we can share and serve, receive and give, work and worship, and visit and declare the glories of His grace and love. The Lord blessed us with full soul and heart during the weekend, with the Living Nativity, Handel's Messiah, preparing and serving the meal for the needy in our area, gathering for a banquet and singing of Christmas carols, the worship time yesterday, the choir presenting the Cantata, the gifting to the children, and the reception with food and fellowship.
Praise the Lord for all His gifts. As we were celebrating in giving and receiving here at home, the Lord blessed us with over $5000.00 which is being sent to the persecuted Christians in Orissa , India. We will be providing food and clothing for the refugee camp( They are celebrating their second Christmas in the refugee capm) and for the children in the children's home, and give some support to some local Evangelists who are proclaiming the good news under difficult circumstances. Praise the Lord for your participation through your gifts. It is a great thrill to serve the Lord around the corner and around the globe. John Wesley said, "The World is our parish".
What is Christmas all about? Along with the Scriptures I love to read Dickens’s "A Christmas Carol", in which an ugly spirited man finds that “it is more blessed to give than receive” (Acts 20:35). We meet Scroog, the miser, and become acquainted with all of his miserly ways. We encounter Scrooge rejecting pleas for food for the hungry, Scrooge to cheap to buy coal for Bob Cratchet’s fire, and Scrooge being warned by Marley’s ghost about the greed he forged in life which will curse him with an eternity of sorrow. Yet, there is another side to the story of Scrooge that is easy to miss. That is, Scrooge is not simply a miser, but he is utterly miserable. Not only is he unable to give, but he is unable to receive. Year after year, his only living kin, Fred, invites him to share in Christmas dinner and family love, and every year Scrooge refuses. Scrooge must learn the lesson of joyful sharing, but Scrooge must also learn what so many adults need to learn—that sometimes it is as blessed to receive as it is to give!
For some reason, it is often difficult for adults to receive gifts. Christmas is certainly about giving. We celebrate God giving Jesus to be our Savior. But Christmas is more than giving gifts; it is also about receiving gifts in general, and one simple gift in particular. Christmas is about opening our hands to receive the gift of God’s love in Jesus Christ.
One of the readings for yesterday was the Magnificat, as it is recorded in Luke 1.
Mary was the recipient of an incredible gift: God gave Mary the gift of being the mother of Jesus, the very Son of God. Her response was beautiful, “Be it unto me according to your word.” It was as if she opened her hands to receive God’s gift of love, peace, hope, and joy to the world. God offers his gift of love in Jesus Christ to the whole world, but there are some who will not receive that gift. As Mary thought about the precious gift of God’s love he offered to her, she burst aflame with praise. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” She could not help but praise God for what God had done, but then she realized that not every one would receive God’s love and mercy. “His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” God’s mercy is for everyone who will receive it—that is what Mary is saying. The sad truth, however, is that there are those who have closed themselves off from receiving God’s love. Their hands are not reaching to receive, but are closed.
There are those who consider themselves too smart to need God. Imagine these people with their arms folded across their chests, protecting themselves from God’s love. Praising God, Mary said, “He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts”. There are those whose hearts are closed to anything that cannot be proven to their satisfaction. For them, faith is unreasonable, and so receiving God’s love is impossible. Carl Sagan was certainly like that. Belief in God, any god, could not measure up to his scientific standard. Carl Sagan ,who taught at Cornell University and died at a very early age, once said, "I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking." Sagan was so incredibly open to the wonders of the cosmos, his arms were wide open to receive facts and evidence, but when it came to faith his arms were folded tightly across his chest. His intellectual pride closed him off from the love of God. He could not allow himself to receive God’s mercy.
There are those who consider themselves too powerful to need God. Mary, in her song of praise, said “God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly”. The problem with the powerful is that they believe they have no need for God. It is no coincidence that faith in Christ is fastest growing in developing countries where the vast majority of people are powerless to affect positive change in their lives. All over the world, where people are oppressed, the Christian faith is growing and churches cannot be built fast enough. However, in the powerful west, thousands of churches are being closed every year. Receiving the gift of Jesus as Savior means surrendering to the love of God, but the powerful do not like to raise their hands in surrender. Instead, they prefer to raise their hands in a fist of power. It’s not power that is the problem, but it is the belief that because one is powerful that one has no need for God. Hands clenched in a fist cannot receive God’s love.
There are many who have a difficult time receiving the mercy and love of God, such as those who are too comfortable to feel a need for God. Mary sang out that God “has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty”. If you are not hungry, food doesn’t look good to you. There are some who will not receive the gift of God’s mercy and love. You cannot accept God’s love if your hands are folded across your chest in pride. You cannot accept God’s mercy if your hands are clenched in power. You can only receive a gift when your hands are open.
Yesterday, we were able to give gifts to the children. We had collected over 60 gifts that were given. Children are eager to receive gifts with hands open. That is why they are able to accept gifts so easily. There’s nothing holding them back, and they want it all. That is the picture for us today. We can only receive God’s love when we reach out to God with arms and hands wide open. That is how God wants us to come to Him. He desires that we come with arms outstretched and hands open to receive. God desires us to take the gift of love in Jesus Christ that he offers us. The well of God’s love can never run dry. His mercy knows no limit. There is an endless supply of God’s grace.
Christmas is about giving because Christmas is about God giving us his Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior. But Christmas is also about receiving God’s gift. Let us open our hands, reaching out to God, and accept His love and mercy. When we do, we will join Mary in her song, and shout out, "My soul magnifies the Lord"
In Christ our Saviour and Lord,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHMAQKSJFhI
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