Remembering the greatest gift at Christmas
Tonight I watched the Little Drummer Boy again. I am always humbled that a small destitute boy brings the only thing he has to the newborn Savior, the playing of his drum. I remember years ago at the end of a Christmas program an elderly lady gushing about the message that night. Her only disappointment was that we left out her favorite part of the Christmas story — you guessed it — the Little Drummer Boy. I refrained from asking which gospel contains this story. It isn’t in the Bible. And as much as I like it, there is a distinct error in the message contained in the story. The boy comes to play his drum not for love of the newborn Christ child, but in hope that the baby will do something about his injured lamb. And the lamb is healed.
Our Advent candle this Sunday symbolizes love, a sacrificial love of God for sinful mankind. It is God coming or pursuing us; taking on flesh and giving Himself as the payment for our sins. The idea that we make deals with God, I will do this and then You do this for me is not true nor biblical. God is love, but not like the world supposes. If God is love, then He should . . . Or if God really loves me, then He will take care of . . . If God loves me, He sure has a funny way of showing it. God’s love is not ours to manipulate by our demands or our behavior. God has already demonstrated His love in the most extravagant manner possible. (Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.) It is not our place to demand or expect more or additional expressions of God’s love. Instead it is time for our response to such a great love toward us.
All of us would be offend if we sacrificed and purchased Christmas gifts for someone, only to have him or her demand more or expect additional ones from us on the 26th. May this Christmas we live out I John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loves us.” Merry Christmas!
Pressing on…
Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor
