A Present with no Wrap

This morning we are reading from Matthew chapter 11, verses 20 through to the end of the chapter.

Matthew 11:20

So 11 verse 20.

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?

You will be brought down to Hades, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom,

it would have remained until this day.

But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.

At that time, Jesus declared,

I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wires and understanding

and revealed them to the little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

And no one knows the Son except the Father.

And no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is life.

Well, let's pray first before we start.

Almighty God, we are so thankful that we can have this opportunity to come together,

to listen to your word, to worship you,

to spend time with one another.

We thank you for such a privilege,

and so thank you for even greater things that is to happen

as we await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

and the coming of the new city.

Thank you, Lord.

We ask that you may help us today in worshipping you in spirit and in truth.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay, so because it's Christmas,

that's why I chose this title,

A Present with No Wrap.

Have you ever received a present which was not wrapped up in some way?

I've always think that it's a waste of time

and material to wrap presents up

because we are going to throw those papers away.

Scientists estimates that every year during this time of the year,

in the United States alone,

there's five million tons of waste

because of gift wraps and packaging.

It's quite a lot of waste that the world is producing.

But then I think about it.

I sense that we do feel embarrassed to receive a present

that is not wrapped up in some way.

So what is the function of the gift wrap?

Why do we have this wrap?

So I can think of two things.

I mean, it could be more than that.

First of all, you can reveal the intention of the giver.

So the way that the gift is wrapped up,

you know whether the gift is given to you with delight

or whether it was an obligation.

It depends on how it is packaged up.

On the other hand,

the gift wrap can also conceal the embarrassment of the giver.

That is, in particular in Chinese culture,

we give anbaos as presents.

So anbaos are just small red brackets.

It's red paper envelopes with money inside.

When I was young,

I looked forward to Chinese New Year

because I never had any money from my parents during the year.

So there's only time of the year

that I would receive money that would belong to myself.

So people who were a generation older than I was

would give me anbaos.

I remember that some of our relatives were quite poor,

so they couldn't afford to give much.

They could give the smallest note,

this $1 a note.

And it is quite embarrassing

if I open the anbaos.

Sure, I suppose it's quite embarrassing for them.

But because we are not supposed to open the anbaos

until the New Year period is over,

so it saves them in that embarrassment.

And so, yeah,

the gift wrap can, first of all,

reveal the intention of the giver.

Also, it can conceal the embarrassment of the giver.

During my younger time,

the anbaos were just plain red envelopes.

But now they become so commercialized

that these envelopes come in elaborate designs and qualities.

So sometimes the envelopes they sell

could be more expensive than the money that it contains.

And so that's how the packaging has been changing.

So the elaborate wrapping of a present

has gradually replaced the value of the present.

So instead of showing how much the givers value the recipients,

the attractive wrappings of anbaos envelopes

are now telling how the recipients value the givers.

So with the advancement of technologies,

we have learned more and more new ways

to show others how valuable we are.

We live in a generation that sees and treasures

mostly what is on the surface.

So from makeups to cosmetic surgery,

fashions to sports,

from titles to positions,

they are all for keeping up with appearance.

So there are just recent articles there.

The package has become the message.

So it's just talking about how the world has changed.

So now if you buy an iPhone or any phone,

the package itself is very important.

And then you look at YouTube,

there are people who say unboxing the thing.

So the box itself has become very important.

Or in the supermarket,

if you look at all the products,

just like cleaning,

toilet cleaning products they sell,

if you don't know which one to buy,

you're more likely to buy one that is most attractive.

It doesn't matter what the content is.

And so that is how the world has become.

So when I'm in Malaysia,

the fact that I am a doctor,

I have a title,

that makes it easier for me to preach in churches

because it's easier for the church leaders

to invite someone who has a title to be a guest speaker.

So people are being invited to listen to me

because I have a title.

You might think that the Asians were shallow

in the assessment of a person trusting just in the titles.

That's my titles can be my covering.

They don't know about my heart.

Okay.

So that is in Asia.

But in Australia,

so even though we do not care so much about titles,

but we adore,

we care more about even more superficial things.

You can notice that on the television,

who gets interviewed,

who gets the talk to influence the society

is people who are very good in sports

or people who are very good in singing or acting.

They become the opinion leaders.

They become the one who is in the community.

And that is all still occurring,

external things that we are looking at.

So we have learned to wrap ourselves up

with our achievements or appearance.

We also learned to wrap ourselves up

and expand our behaviors with signs.

So when you see that there's an unusual crime committed,

the news station would invite some experts

to explain why such an event happened.

So a professor so-and-so would explain

to relate the criminal's childhood experience,

past traumatic exposures,

and present circumstances,

to explain why they act like that.

there are no more bad people.

Everyone is a victim of something

that causes them to do something against the law.

It is true that we can all be victims at times,

but we have to remember that Jesus was the ultimate victim,

and we can see how he lived.

He did not make use of his victimhood

to cover himself up.

He remained righteous and kind.

So just a brief introduction.

Just to say that we have learned to cover ourselves up

with different gift wraps,

either our achievements,

appearance,

or victimhood.

Why do I choose victimhood as one of them

and there are more of them?

Because I just see so many patients

who are in a state of just dysfunctioning,

and their excuses are usually the victimhood.

Yes, no doubt.

There are lots of victims.

A lot of people are abused as they were young

or even as old.

But then if they keep living under the victimhood,

their life will always be miserable.

It's hard to help them.

And that is so common.

That's why I mentioned that.

It's one of the coverings that we use.

So we'll go to Matthew 11.

We'll start to 20 to 24 first.

So we're talking about Jesus

who was walking in Palestine

among the Israelites.

The generation of people there

have become quite sophisticated.

They are more learned,

or at least they have the Pharisees

and people who are learned

and can explain things better

by the time Jesus came.

So Jesus said,

if the miracles that he performed

had been done in Tyre,

Sidon,

and Sodom,

the people of these cities

would have repented

of their sinful ways.

So Tyre and Sidon

were Gentile cities

that coexisted with Israel

for many years.

Sodom

was a city

that was long gone.

It was a thousand years ago

when it was destroyed by God

because it's been a sinful city.

So these cities

were pagan cities,

or Gentile cities.

They did not know God.

But Jesus said

they would have repented

if Jesus had performed

miracles among them.

The people of

Chorazin,

Bethsaida,

and Kaplanon

saw the miracles,

but they did not repent.

Jesus warned

that they would

suffer a harsher judgment

than the people of Tyre,

Sidon,

and Sodom.

Why would the people

of Israel,

the Israelite cities,

suffer a more serious judgment

than the former cities?

I think you can think of

at least two reasons.

One,

because they have been given

the law and the prophets.

They were told to expect

the coming of the Messiah,

and they were told

what the Messiah would do.

And number two,

because the coming

of the kingdom of God

had been proclaimed to them

there and then

by John the Baptist,

by Jesus himself,

by Jesus' disciples.

So they were

given the information,

and they were given

the warning,

they were given

the invitation,

and they ignored Jesus.

Why did they

ignore Jesus?

Why did they

distrust Jesus

despite the mighty

words done by him?

I think one of the

things is that

because they had religion,

unlike other cities,

the pagan cities

didn't have organized religion,

but they have

organized religion.

Religion became

their identity.

Their leaders

wrap themselves up

with religion.

So their speeches,

their prayers,

their conduct,

they all portray

what was

respectable

in the community.

Jesus and

John the Baptist

did not behave

as their leaders did.

And so

Jesus and

John the Baptist

did not fit

into their

mold,

their idea

of what God

is like.

So,

if

Jesus had

performed

these miracles

in the barbaric

cities of Tyre,

Sidon,

and Sodom,

these people

would fear him

and listen to him.

But in the

civilized city

of

Tauracin,

Bethsaida,

Cabernet,

people there

had already

formed their

idea about

what God

would look like.

They had

created God

in their own

image.

Jesus'

miracle

might be

useful to

them,

but Jesus'

words were

a threat

to their

religious

wrapping.

They did

not want

Jesus to

remove

their

wrapping

and reveal

what was

inside

their

hearts.

Our

wrappings

are very

fragile.

We try

our best

to protect

this

wrapping

because

we think

our

identities

are dependent

on them.

I'll just

give you an

example of

what's

happening

just recently

just at

the moment.

In recent

months,

Netflix

started a

dating show

called

Sexy Beast.

I'm not

sure anybody

watch it?

No?

Sorry.

I have not

watched it

either.

I don't

even have

Netflix.

I got

my information

from an

article in

the

Atlantic

Magazine

dated

29th

October.

It was

written by

Megan

Garber.

She wrote

about how

reality TV

has become

absurd to

the extreme.

This show

claims that

when it comes

to dating,

we all go

for looks

first.

In this

show,

everyone looks

as weird as

possible.

So the

role of the

makeup or

camouflage is

to stop

participants from

choosing a

partner based

on his or

her look.

the show's

premise is

correct in

recognizing that

we are more

than our

looks.

If you decide

on a spouse

just based on

looks, we

will be in

for a big

shock after

we get

married.

But the

show's

solution is

both dishonest

and wrong.

Dishonest

because all

the participants

would review

their looks

at the end.

So would

they choose

someone who

is not

attractive to

take part in

the show?

I doubt it.

Wrong because

regardless of

what wrapping

you use to

cover up a

person, he

or she is

not going to

reveal their

hearts in a

show like

this.

So Megan

Garber concludes,

Sexy beast

confuses

spectacle for

interestingness.

Its ultimate

feeling though is

that it confuses

appearance with

identity.

I was

surprised by

Megan Garber's

insight into

the problem

we are facing.

The problem

of identity

in the

eye generation

about dignity

in a digital

space and

about the

meaning of

our existence.

She said

sexy beast

confuses the

external wrapping

with the

present or

the person

inside.

Putting another

layer of gift

wrap on the

present does

not usually

help revealing

the identity

of the

present.

person.

We cannot

know a

person by

his or

her external

appearance.

We cannot

even know

ourselves by

our external

appearance or

achievements.

So during

the time of

Jesus,

Nicodemus

visited him

at night.

Being a well-known

and respected

religious leader,

Nicodemus did

not want to

be seen with

Jesus publicly.

Privately,

Nicodemus sensed

that his

religious training

and achievement

did not give

him peace

in his heart.

His religious

wrapping

gained him

respect but

did not give

him rest.

In fact,

he became more

restless and

uncertain about

himself.

So he was

hoping Jesus

could help

him.

Andre

Agassi,

the eighth-time

Grand Slam

winner,

wrote in his

autobiography,

the name of

the book is

called Open,

Now that I

have won a

Slam,

I know

something that

very few

people on

earth are

permitted to

know.

A win does

not feel as

good as

loss feels

bad,

and the

good feeling

doesn't last

as long as

the bad

not even

close.

vast majority

of tennis

players would

never win

any title,

but even

for those

few who

managed to

win all

the titles,

they would

find that

their achievements

were not

enough to

define them,

to give

them a

satisfying

identity.

Throughout

history,

people have

been struggling

to be happy,

and suspect

that most

of the

participants

in Sassy

Beast were

not there

to seek

their identity,

they were

there to

have fun.

However,

our concern

of fun

points to

the emptiness

and restness

of our

hearts.

Our

man-mixed

world

has invented

many ways

to help

cover up

the

pregnancy

inside our

hearts.

Religion

is one

of them,

occupations,

what we

do to

occupy our

time,

drugs and

alcohol,

gambling,

games,

phonography,

sports,

and all

sorts of

therapies.

We think

that we

are wise

and full

of knowledge.

We think

we know

how to

deal with

our sense

of loss

and

meaninglessness.

To the

wise and

learned,

the message

of the

cross belongs

to the

fools.

Only fools

who believe

that there

is such a

thing as

sin,

and that

the creator

God will

need to

send his

son to

die on

the cross

for the

redemption

of our

sins.

In

Matthew

11,

25-26,

we are

told what

Jesus'

identity

is.

In

verse 25,

Jesus

declared,

I thank

you,

Father,

Lord of

heaven and

earth,

that you

have

hidden

these

things from

the wise

and the

understanding

and revealed

them to

little

children.

God

is

sovereign.

Why did

Jesus

thank God

for hiding

the truth

from the

wise and

the learned

or the

understanding?

Because

God was

affirming

Jesus'

sovereignty.

Jesus is

equal to

God.

He said,

no one

knows the

son except

the father,

and no one

knows the

father except

the son.

It is only

when Jesus

is sovereign

that we

can worship

him and

put our

trust in

him.

It is

only when

Jesus is

sovereign that

he can offer

us life and

he can call

us to

him.

The wise

and the

learned cannot

in any

way frustrate

the will

of Jesus.

Jesus is

the Lord

of Lords

and the

King of

Kings.

Jesus does

not use

worldly

qualifications

or attractive

external

appearance to

define himself,

nor does

he make

use of

his victim

hope to

defend

himself.

For those

who have

ears to

hear,

the identity

of Jesus

is planned

it is

only when

we see

who Jesus

is,

we could

come before

him with

humility.

And if

we do not

come before

Jesus in

humility,

we are not

coming to

him at

all.

He is

not there

to beg

people to

believe him.

He is

there to

decide who

will believe

him.

He calls

those whom

he has

chosen.

How does

Jesus call

those who

have chosen?

then we

come to

Matthew 11

28-30.

In

verse 28,

Jesus said,

come to

me,

all who

labor and

are heavy

laden,

and I

will give

you rest.

So when

does Jesus

do this?

When does

Jesus call

us?

I think

when these

two things

happen,

one,

when he

reveals the

ugliness of

our hearts,

two,

when he

reveals his

own beauty

to us.

Jesus knows

that our

hearts are

restless.

He wants

us to

find rest

for our

hearts.

From birth

to death,

we labor

for one

thing or

another.

Our

hearts are

usually full

of burdens.

What are

some of the

burdens that

we carry

every day?

we can

mention any

number of

burdens.

I'll mention

five.

One is

about

livelihood,

so we

worry about

having enough

money to

live, to

pay our

bills, to

pay for

children's

education,

and so

on.

Two is

about our

health,

sickness and

death.

we worry

about those.

Three is

about

disappointments.

We

struggle with

that.

Things that

we expect

to happen

doesn't

take place,

or people

that we

expect to

behave in

one way

and not.

And so

we have

disappointments

every day.

Four,

relationship

problem.

that's

very common

relationship.

The closer

we are to

someone,

the easier

we get

hurt.

And day

to day,

we struggle

with that.

Five is

religion itself.

And that is,

I suppose,

the main thing

among the

Jews,

Israelites at

that time.

To them,

the law

is a heavy

burden.

They can't

fulfill it.

They know

they have

to.

So those

who think

that they

have,

like the

Pharisees,

they become

proud.

Those who

think that

they couldn't

do it,

they become

despair.

there.

So it

is difficult

to live

in this

world so

much.

Burden,

so much

restlessness

in our

heart.

But what

I have just

mentioned are

only the

outer

wrappings of

a deeper

problem in

our hearts.

We usually

try to

resolve the

outer

wrappings,

blaming others

for our

circumstances,

for our

struggles.

We cannot

see beyond

these wrappings

to realize

that there is

a deeper

problem.

The deeper

problem is

that I'm

a rebel

against God

and I'm

living under

God's

judgment.

If you

remember

Genesis

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

when God

put the

curse or

the judgment

on Adam

and Eve,

so both

Adam and

Eve would

go through

hard times

in some

way.

The woman

would labor

for childbirth,

men would

labor,

to produce

a living.

That is

a very

basic

problem

that we

are facing

that needs

first to

be resolved.

In God's

mercy,

He uncovers

those or

remove those

outer

wrappings and

let us see

what is

inside our

hearts.

When God

does that,

we will see

the wickedness

and foolishness

in our

hearts.

We will

realize that

we are the

main cause

of the

breakdowns of

relationships.

of our

disappointments,

our lack

of faith,

our desire

to validate

ourselves.

We can

think of

many,

many things.

Why?

It's not

other people

or circumstances

so much.

It's more

our own

desire and

expectation

and our

selfish,

self-centeredness.

It's causing

a lot of

the struggles

that we're

facing.

we thank

God that

He does

not leave

us without

our way

out.

At the

same time,

we are

convicted

of our

own

wickedness

and

foolishness.

God also

opened our

eyes to

see Jesus.

And we

see a

person who

is pure

and gentle,

a person

who is

loving and

just,

a person

who is

humble

and

unyielding,

a person

who has

a purpose

and a

hope,

a person

who has

no deceit

and is

full of

grace and

truth.

A person

who came

to the

world

without

any

wrapping

of

physical

attraction,

position,

or

qualifications,

a person

who gave

up the

last bit

of his

own

identity

and

dignity

to die

on the

cross.

Do you

know that?

To die

on the

cross

is more

than pain.

It's

shame.

He died

naked

publicly.

So he

became

a

non-entity

basically.

He's

not a

person

on the

cross.

But he

gives that

up too

so that

we might

find

identity

and

dignity

in him.

When we

first see

Jesus,

he might

become

offensive

to us.

I hope

that he

does

in some

way.

So

reflecting

on why

he

believes

in

Jesus,

the

poet

W.H.

Orden

wrote,

I

believe

because

he

fulfills

none

of my

dreams.

I

believe

because

he

fulfills

none

of my

dreams.

Because

he

is in

every

respect

the

opposite

of what

he

would

be

if I

could

have

made

him

in my

own

image.

Why

Jesus

and not

Socrates

or Buddha

or Confucius

or Muhammad?

none

of the

others

arose

all

sides

of my

being

to cry

crucify

him.

I

hope

that

when we

see the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

he's

offensive

to us

in some

way.

But

when he

does

that

to me

I

will

need

to

choose

either

to

crucify

him

or

to

crucify

me.

There's

no

two

ways.

You

can't

be

one

or

the

other

you

have

to

choose.

Jesus'

invitation

is

given

to

those

who

know

nothing

good

dwells

in

them.

To

those

who

have

seen

what

is

good

in

Jesus

and

know

they

can

never

be

like

him.

Paul

in

Romans

7

18

and

19

said

For

I

have

decided

to

do

what

is

right

but

not

the

ability

to

carry

out.

For

I

do

not

do

the

good

I

want

but

the

evil

I

do

not

want

is

what

I

keep

on

doing.

Jesus'

invitation

is like

a

present

with

no

wrap.

There's

no

wrap.

There's

no

name

on

the

wrap.

There's

no

name.

How

do

you

know

that

it's

for

you?

You

know

the

present

is

for

you

when

your

eyes

open

to

see

the

weakness

in

your

heart

and

when

you

can

see

that

your

one

that

you

but

it

is

because

of

your

pride,

your

foolishness

or

your

covetousness.

Jesus'

invitation

to

present

with

wrap,

you

can

see

what

he

is

offering.

He

wants

you

to

follow

him

and

not

your

own

ways.

He

wants

you

to

seek

first

his

kingdom

and

his

righteousness

and

not

your

own.

He

wants

you

to

accept

the

burden

of

the

cross.

He

wants

you

to

have

rest.

you

to

come

to

him

because

he

is

useful

or

pitiful.

Jesus

wants

you

to

come

to

him

because

he

is

beautiful.

He

wants

to

give

you

his

beauty.

He

wants

to

give

you

rest.

When

we

see

that

there

is

nothing

good

in

us

and

see

that

all

that

is

good

is

in

Jesus,

Jesus

is

then

inviting

us

to

follow

him.

In

Jesus

Christ

we

will

receive

grace

upon

grace.

The

first

grace

helps

us

to

follow

Jesus

to

the

cross

nailing

our

own

weakness

to

the

cross.

The

second

grace

is

being

given

the

beauty

of

Jesus

Christ.

God

can

look

at

us

and

see

a

beauty

that

is

not

our

own.

We

can

come

before

God

and

relate

to

him

as

our

father.

The

third

grace

is

being

given

the

Holy

Spirit

to

live

out

the

beauty

of

Jesus.

Yes,

there

will

still

be

struggles

when

we

follow

Jesus,

a

different

kind

of

struggle.

In

the

past,

we

struggled

restlessly

because

we

did

not

have

a

hope,

we

did

not

have

any

vision.

Now

we

struggle

restfully.

We

will

struggle

with

our

old

sinful

nature,

but

we

know

that

Jesus

has

overcome.

We

can

face

accusation

from

the

devil

that

we

are

still

bad

inside

our

heart.

We

can

answer

such

accusation

by

saying,

I

know

I

am

worse

than

you

think,

but

it

is

no

longer

I

live.

It

is

Christ

who

lives

in

me.

We

still

may

struggle

with

broken

relationship,

but

the

struggle

is

not

to

vindicate

ourselves,

the

struggle

is

to

love

others

like

Jesus

did

to

us.

When

I

prepared

for

this

sermon,

I

have

some

difficulty

deciding

whether

the

title

of this

sermon,

a

gift

with

no

wrap

or

a

present

with

no

wrap.

Gift

sounds

better,

but

I

choose

present

because

the

offer

is

the

presence

of

a

person,

the

God

man,

Jesus

Christ.

It

may

sound

kinder

if I

tell you

that it

is

okay

if

you

decline

his

offer,

if

you

decline

his

imitation,

but

it's

not

really

kind

for

me

to

say

so

for

two

reasons.

One,

this

is

the

Do you

want

real

happiness?

You

may

labour

or

you

like

to

get

it.

You

can

never

find

it

unless

you

first

follow

Jesus

and

take

his

yoke

upon

you.

Come

to

Jesus.

He

is

gentle

and

lowly.

He

does

not

laugh

at

our

foolishness,

nor

does

he

belittle

our