December 14, 2003

Third Sunday of Advent

Luke 3:7-18

Do You Really Want to Unwrap This?

(a combined Children’s Message and sermon)

      Allison is going to share a reading with us, a poem of hope, written by Susie Best.  It‘s called, “Miracle Dreams”:

That night when in Judean skies
The mystic star dispensed its light,
A blind man moved about in sleep
And dreamed that he had sight.

That night when shepherds heard the song
Of host angelic choiring near,
A deaf man moved in slumber's spell
And dreamed that he could hear.

That night when in the cattle stall
Slept child and mother, cheek by jowl,
A crippled man moved his twisted limbs
And dreamed that he was whole.

That night when o'er the newborn Babe
The tender Mary rose to lean,
A loathsome leper smiled in sleep
And dreamed that he was clean.

That night when to the mother's breast
The little King was held secure,
A harlot slept a happy sleep
and dreamed that she was pure.

That night when in the manger lay
The Sanctified who came to save,
A man moved in the sleep of death
And dreamed there was no grave.

     What is this poem about?  Did Jesus fulfill the hopes of the people who dreamed these dreams?

     Christmas is all about gifts, the first and most important one being the gift God gave the world.  What was that gift?

     Because God loves the world, he gave us Jesus.  What are some of the things Jesus did when he was in the world?  Jesus taught people about God and shared God’s love with them.  Jesus healed many people, too.  He helped their dreams come true.

     God’s love is a gift for us today, too.  What are some of the ways God loves us?  We know God’s love through the love of God’s people, people like parents or grandparents or friends.  Love is the best gift of all.  Love came when Jesus was born on the first Christmas and it keeps on coming to us today.

     Do you think we are supposed to keep it all to ourselves?  Sometimes we might want to!  When we get a really great present, we might not want to share it.  Were you ever selfish with a favorite toy?  Grown-up people are sometimes selfish with their toys, too. 

     Now, I’d like you to hear something from the Bible, the words of John the Baptist telling people how to get ready for the coming of the Savior, how to get ready for Jesus.  This reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 3, verse 10-11:

And the crowd asked John, “What then shall we do?”  And he answered them, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.

     What is John the Baptist saying here?

     God loves us very much and has given us Jesus, but when we open this gift of Christmas, we find it’s not just about us!  There is no place for selfishness here.  When we open this gift, we open our hearts and minds to the needs of people like those in the poem Allison read, like the people who needed coats and food that John the Baptist talked about, like the people we served yesterday at our Community Dinner.  When we open the gift of Christmas we find hope for ourselves, but it never stops there because the hope we find we must also share.

     Can you share hope with other people?  How can you do this?  Is this something you really want to do?  Do you really want to unwrap this gift of Christmas if it means sharing?  Why? 

     God’s love makes the world a better place - what a great gift!  And just think, it comes to you and because of the things you can say and do, it comes to other people, too!  When you unwrap God’s gift of Christmas and receive and enjoy the love, it’s a wonderful thing.  And when you choose not to keep it all for yourself, but share it with others, you are like a Christmas gift for them.  Imagine that!  You can be a Christmas present!   No batteries needed - all you need to do is share God’s love, the love Jesus shared.