Presents or Presence?

Have you ever been disappointed by the gifts you received at Christmas?

Don't all raise your hands.

I hope you've never been as disappointed as the gentleman I'm going to tell you about.

It seems that one year a husband was quite puzzled when he received a burial

plot from his wife as a Christmas gift.

The next year he was disappointed when he received nothing from his wife.

So he said to her, my feelings are really hurt because you didn't get me anything

For Christmas this year And she said Well my feelings Have been hurt All year

Because you haven't used The gift I gave you last year,

Of course, then there's the one about the little boy who paid a visit to Santa

in the department store and presented him with a list of requests,

a bicycle, a train, a bat and ball, a rocket set, and an airplane.

Santa was impressed at how prepared the little boy was, and he said to him,

Thanks for the list, young man.

I'll check between now and Christmas to see whether you've been a good boy this

year or a bad boy. The little boy reached over and grabbed the list from Santa's

hand and said, No, never mind. I'll settle for a bicycle.

When Christmas is about presents, we can sometimes be disappointed, can't we?

This morning I want to talk about presents or presents.

Three six-year-old boys were playing the parts of the wise men in their church

Christmas program As they came to Mary and Joseph at the stable,

the first boy presented his gift and said, I bring gold.

The second boy presented his gift and said, I bring myrrh.

And the third boy laid his gift down in front of the manger and said, and Frank sent this.

We're going to read from Matthew chapter 2, verses 1 through 11.

Matthew 2:1–11

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,

Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?

We saw his star when it rose, and have come to worship him.

When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the

law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written.

But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah.

And by no means least among the rulers of Judah, what few will come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel?

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the child.

As soon as you find him, report to me so that I too may go and worship him.

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had

seen when it rose, went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary,

and they bowed down and worshipped him.

Then they opened their treasures and prevented him with the gifts of gold,

frankincense, and myrrh. So let's face it.

Most of us like to receive presents, and I would also say that most of us like

to give presents and to see the reactions on the faces of our spouse and children

when they receive their gifts.

We want to please our family, and so we buy, and we buy, and we buy,

and we charge, and we charge, and we charge, and we pay for it over the next

42 years, something like that.

Yet, what do you think pleased the Lord most? Was it the presence of gold,

myrrh, and frankincense that the Magi brought, or was it their presence with the Christ?

That counted the most. Now, don't get me wrong, and don't worry, women.

I'm not going to try to tell your husbands that they don't need to buy you anything

this year, but I do want us to realize that our presence is more important than presence.

Ask the men and women serving in our military what they would like to have for

Christmas, and all along with peace around the world, most of them would want

a ticket home to spend Christmas with their families.

Ask their spouses and children the same questions, and you would probably get the same answer.

And ask the thousands and thousands of children in orphanages and foster homes

what they would like to have this Christmas, and they would probably respond

that they would like to have a family of their own.

We can give our children, our family, and our friends lots of different kinds

of presents this Christmas, but nothing will compare to our presents.

So let's look at the kinds of presents we can share with each other this year.

First of all, you can give them the presence of our Lord, and in so doing,

at Christmastime, we can share his presence in the cradle.

One little girl came home from Sunday

school and proudly said that she had memorized a verse from the Bible,

and when her parents asked what she had learned, she quoted John 3.16 like this,

For God so loved the world that he gave his only forgotten son.

When the Lord looks at the way Christmas is being celebrated this day,

I wonder if he doesn't feel forgotten.

We have the Christmas trees all lit up and decorations all over the landscape, but where is Christ?

In our schools now, children have winter break instead of Christmas break for

fear of offending somebody.

Nativity scenes have been banned from Christmas displays on government property for the same fear.

And in the Christmas parade in one city in Colorado,

the participants were banned from having or wearing any symbols of Christ in

the Christmas parade and were banned from singing Christmas carols because others

were offended by such a display of Christianity.

At the same time, in the same parade, there were Muslim celebrations of Ramadan,

African-American symbols of Kwanzaa, Jewish symbols of Hanukkah,

Druid symbols of the winter solstice, and even gay rights marchers.

I guess it's okay if Christians are offended.

Even in the Festival of Lights display in East Peoria, Illinois,

which is what Hanukkah is called, you will see light displays of whales,

trains, cars, toy soldiers, skiers, and the Starship Enterprise.

But I can't honestly remember when we lived there and went through the display,

I can't honestly remember seeing

the Christ child in any of the lighted displays there in that display.

If there is such a display in the Festival of the Lights in East Peoria,

Illinois, it's very small and very minimal.

You know, I'm almost to the point of agreeing with my cousin,

who I very, very rarely agree with because it's pretty hard.

My cousin has some very liberal ideas, and I very rarely agree with him.

But in responding to the news of that parade in Colorado, he said,

you know, the non-Christians have taken over Christmas so much and have removed

any reference to Christ that maybe we should cancel the holiday.

The only reason they get the day off from work and the only reason it was established

as a national holiday was to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Maybe we should demand that Christmas be canceled as a national holiday and

that the banks and the schools and the post offices and the government offices

and the unionized business and the Congress must all remain open for business on Christmas.

Why should they get Christmas off if it isn't for Christmas?

This year, we need to make it clear what the reason for the season really is.

The greatest present that we can give to our children, our families,

and our friends is to share with them the presence of the Lord.

As we enter Christmas week, if we're going to celebrate Christmas,

let's make it all about Jesus.

After all, that's what Emmanuel means. God's presence is with us.

We can give gifts that will soon be lost or forgotten or broken,

or we can share the presence of the Lord, which is the gift that will last throughout eternity.

This year, as you gather around the tree or as you have your family get together,

why not take out the Word of God and tell them the old, old story?

Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.

Tell how the angels in chorus sang as they welcomed his birth.

Glory to God in the highest, peace and good tidings to earth.

Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.

So let's make certain that our families celebrate the birth of Christ,

which was God's entrance into the world as a baby to become the Savior of all mankind.

And then when sharing the presence of our Lord. We must share his presence on the cross.

A lady went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping with her two young children.

After many hours of looking at row upon row of toys and everything else imaginable,

and after hours of hearing both of her children begging for everything they

saw on those shelves—you guys never do that, right, kids?—.

She finally made it to the elevator with her two boys.

Well, two kids. I don't remember if it was boys or girls.

She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday time of the year,

overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming,

taste all the holiday food, eat all the treats.

By the way, somebody left some treats outside my door earlier,

so I'm looking forward to that. get that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list.

Make sure we have the same amount of gifts for each of our children,

and they cost exactly the same.

Make sure we don't forget anyone on our Christmas card list,

and the presence of pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent

us a card so as not to slight anyone. Do you ever feel that pressure?

Finally, the elevator doors opened, and this woman discovered that there was

already a crowd of people in the elevator.

She pushed her way into the elevator with her two kids, pulled them in with

her, along with their bags of purchases.

When the door closed, she couldn't take it anymore and stated,

whoever started this whole Christmas gift, Christmas thing, should be found

strung up And hung from the back of the elevator Everyone heard a quiet,

calm voice respond Don't worry, man We've already crucified him.

The cradle without the cross means nothing. Some people are content as long

as the baby stays in the manger. It's really cutesy, you know?

But we must remember that what makes Christmas so special, what makes God's

coming to earth as a man so special, is his presence on the cross.

Jesus came to die. God gave us a gift, and that gift was his son to die for our sin.

It was foreordained before the creation of the world that God's Son would go to the cross.

Think about that. God knew before he created man what man was going to do and

that God was going to have to send his own Son, his own self,

to be the sacrifice for our sin.

That's exactly what he was born to do.

That's what Christmas is all about. It's about the unfathomable,

unconditional love of God. And when sharing the presence of our Lord,

we must share the presence after the cemetery.

The story does not end at the cradle, nor does it end at the cross.

Thank God. The cross would have accomplished nothing if Jesus had remained buried in the cemetery.

Tell of the cross where they nailed him, writhing in anguish and pain.

Tell of the grave where they laid him

tell how he liveth again sing with me tell of the tell me the story of Jesus

write on my heart every word tell me the story most precious precious that never has been heard.

Love in that story so tender, clearly than ever I see. Stay,

let me weep while you whisper.

Love paid the ransom for me.

Tell me the story of Jesus. Write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.

A little girl stood outside a store, staring through the window glass.

Tears ran down her cheeks as

she looked at the picture inside of Jesus hanging on the cross in agony.

A man happened by and stopped to see if the little girl was all right.

He too began looking at the picture in the window.

Soon, he put his head down and began to walk away.

But as he did, the little girl called out to him, Wait a minute, mister.

Don't be sad. I think you need to know this. He rose again, and he still lives.

The babe in the manger grew up and went to the cross. He died giving himself

a ransom for all the world to buy us back from evil.

And praise God, he rose again and still lives.

Jesus is alive, and he's alive forevermore.

And when sharing the presence of our Lord, we can share his presence in the clouds.

The good news after about Christmas doesn't end,

at the cradle, nor at the cross, not even in the cemetery, but one day Jesus

will return in the clouds and we will be with the Lord forever.

This Christmas, we can share the anticipation of Christ's coming presence to

be with us again, to take us with him, to be with the Father.

There's another type of presence that you can share with your loved ones,

and that is you could give them the presence of your love.

If you are to ask young children what they would prefer, as I did with kids

time, what would they like to get for Christmas?

What would they prefer if they would prefer a new bicycle or an hour playing with their mom and dad?

Most of them would immediately respond, give me the bike.

But 20 years from now, the thing that will mean the most to them and be remembered

the most will be your presence with them and the fun they remember having just

laughing around the dinner table or playing games together.

And I know that my daughters remember these things about our life, their life growing up.

The times that we had at the dinner table or just in the house or wherever we

were going where laughter filled the place.

And I can just imagine, I can just about guarantee that your kids will remember

very few of the gifts that you gave them.

In fact, when you ask the kids what their favorite gift was,

really a lot of them couldn't remember what their favorite one was.

Autumn's answer was, so far. I like that.

So give them your attention. One of the biggest weaknesses as parents and as

spouses is in the area of listening.

I mean, we can lay down the law, set the record straight, let them know when

they are out of out of line, and yet we can be failures if we don't give them

our attention and listen to them when they need for us to hear.

Our children need for us to look at them, to listen to their stories,

to watch their performances.

They need our attention. And if they don't get it from us one day,

they'll probably get it from someone they shouldn't.

I remember in Peoria, Illinois, when one of the little girls from our community,

our neighborhood, asked Bethany, my daughter and I, if we would come to her

volleyball games, junior high volleyball game that week. And so we did.

We found out that this little girl lived in a house with about 15 other people.

And her mom and nobody ever came to her games to watch her play.

And when Bethany and I showed up and sat up in the stands, she came running

up there and threw a hug around our neck and said, I knew you would be here.

We need to be there for our kids, and we need to give them our affection.

Let your home be filled with love. Love for the Lord, love for your spouse,

and love for your children.

Man, it has been said that the greatest gift that we can give to our children

is to truly love their mother and honor their mother.

Let your children know that you love each other and that you love them.

Christmas is about the love of God. Let's make certain that our kids experience

the love of God in our homes and know that well.

And by all means, give them your approval.

Many are the homes where the children are constantly criticized.

Educators among us know that. Isn't it true that parents are pretty quick to

notice when their children mess things up or disobey, and yet what they need

most of all is our approval when they do things right, and our encouragement even when they fail.

I remember reading a story about a lady who was taking her children to see their grandmother.

She told them as they drove over

to make sure that they cleaned their feet off before they're entering

the house because grandma just had new carpet installed

and she was very proud of it the family

arrived at grandma's and the children were careful to wipe their feet soon after

arriving grandma gave them some kool-aid and cookies and the mother warned the

children not to take it into the living room onto the new carpet but the little

boy forgot and the little boy soon wandered off, ventured off into the living room.

And as soon as he, you can, and as you can probably guess, he spilled his red

Kool-Aid all over grandma's new carpet.

The little boy was so scared. He tried wiping it off with his shirt tail, but that didn't work.

It only smeared it in and messed up his shirt. So soon he began to cry.

Grandma quickly came over to his side and little boy told her how sorry he was

that he had spilled his Kool-Aid.

Grandma looked at him and picked him up and held him and said,

that's okay, honey. I'll get you some more.

Now, that grandma had her priorities straight.

She knew that her little grandson was much more valuable than that carpet.

And she knew that what he needed most was not scolding, but a hug and love.

Remember the things that are most important.

Buy your children presents this Christmas, but make sure they know the presence

of your love. and give them the presence of your leadership.

Our families and our children desperately need leadership.

Not only are homes outside the church being crushed, but Christian homes are under assault as well.

We must become spiritual warriors

within our homes, praying for our kids and fighting off the enemy.

The enemy is just not our enemies, he's theirs. And what good will it do if

we try to lead people in our churches but lose our children.

And we need to lead by illustration and example.

Our children will not always do as we say, but they will always,

almost always do as we do. It is true that more is caught than is taught.

We need to be our children's role models and heroes.

For the most part, the sports figures and celebrities of our day are pretty

pitiful of being role models, don't you think?

Parents, we must illustrate living an authentic life to our children.

We need to have contagious Christian lives so our kids catch it.

They need to learn right from wrong by watching our example.

As believers, we must lead our families by being examples, and we must walk the talk.

We need to lead by involvement. If you've ever gone to any youth sporting activities

or school activities, you've probably been appalled at how many kids have parents

who never attend their events.

One of the biggest handicaps our educators have is the task and the lack of

positive parental involvement.

It is vitally important that we be involved in the lives of our kids and our grandkids.

We need to know what's going on in their lives, who their friends are,

where they're going, and what they'll be doing when they get there.

I remember living, again, in Peoria, an inner city area, and our daughter's

friends at school, we'd oftentimes have them over to our place just to know

what they were doing and be with

them and let them know that they can have somebody they can trust, too.

Is oftentimes these kids would grow up in homes where moms and dads were never

present, and they needed to know what it was like.

We need to lead by instruction. After we have modeled a right life and been

involved in their lives, then we have permission to instruct our children.

We need to instruct them in the matters of the Lord.

When we have all of those other things in place, we will have permission to make instruction.

In fact, this last week in school, So we had one of the classes I was in,

some of the boys were saying every vulgar word imaginable.

And I've had relationship with these guys, experience and let them know that

I give them boundaries, but I care for them as well.

And I just said to them, I said, listen, guys, I said, all of these words that

you're saying, let me ask you, do they make you look more intelligent?

I wouldn't have had the ability to say that to them if I didn't have the position

of being in their lives like Liz does and other teachers do.

I wouldn't have that ability, that permission to be able to speak into their

lives if they didn't know that I care for them like the other teachers do.

In order to instruct, we must be instructed. How well do we know the Word of God?

Do we know it well enough to pass its teaching along to our kids and our grandkids?

If our children are to learn about the love of God and his ways,

they must learn it from us.

They don't learn it from the PlayStation, sorry, Colin, or from Hollywood or

from television, nor from their peers. They learn it from us.

And we need to lead by intercession. We need the Lord's help in this matter of leadership.

How long has it been or how often do you pray for your children?

How often do you intercede before the Lord's throne for a child?

When I was a young man and involved in a life that was destructive,

there's always one thing I could count on.

I know that my mom and dad were praying desperately for me.

Friends, I hope that we have not lost the prayer of intercession for the spiritual

well-being of our loved ones and ourselves.

There's another song, and I'm not going to sing it to you because my voice is quickly going out.

How long has it been since you talked with the Lord and told him your deep hidden secrets?

How long have you prayed?

How long have you stayed on your knees till the light shone through?

How long have we spent praying for the needs of this world, for our kids,

for our families, until God answered that?

And even beyond. Marjorie Talcott was married and had one child during the Great Depression.

The family managed to scrape their way through, but as Christmas approached

one year, Marjorie and her husband were disappointed. They would not be able

to buy any gifts for each other.

A week before Christmas, they explained to their six-year-old boy,

Pete, that there would be no store-bought presents this Christmas,

but I'll tell you what we can do, said Pete's father.

We can make pictures of the presents we'd like to give each other. That was a busy week.

Marjorie and her husband set to work. Christmas Day arrived,

and the family rose to find their skimpy little tree had been made magnificent

by the picture presents they had decorated it with.

There was luxury beyond imagination in those pictures, a black limousine and

red speed vault for dad, a diamond bracelet and a coat, a fur coat for mom,

and a camping tent and swimming pool for Peter.

Then Pete pulled out his presents, a crayon drawing present of a man,

a woman, and a child with their arms around each other laughing.

Under the picture was just one word, us.

Years later, Marjorie wrote that it was the richest, most satisfying Christmas they ever had.

It was the present-less Christmas to remind Marjorie that her family had what

Christmas was all about, the gift of us.

I wonder what will you be giving your family this Christmas?

Will it be presents or presents?

Still yet, I wonder what you will be giving Christ this Christmas.

Will it be your presents or your presence this Christmas?

What the Christ of Christmas desires most this year is to have our presence

with him in a personal relationship.

This morning as we close our worship service, I would invite you to come into

the presence of God by accepting him as your Lord and Savior,

if you have not done so, or by renewing that relationship even this morning.

So let's pray in closing. Heavenly Father, as we close this Christmas Sunday

morning service, we thank you that your presence is with us,

and we ask that we could have our presence with you and in you.

In Jesus' name, amen.