The Perfect Gift
Galatians 4: 1-7
John Grishom’s book “Skipping Christmas” is about a man that got tired of all the hoopla surrounding Christmas. He decided to skip all the decorations and celebrations, much to the consternation of his neighbors and friends. His book reminds me of the man who got tired of all the frantic haste and commercialism associated with Christmas and decided not to go along with the crowd. As a part of his protest he decided not to send Christmas cards. For the first two weeks of December all went well, but as the mail brought him cards with greetings from friends and family he began to feel guilty about sending no cards. Finally, a few days before Christmas he couldn't stand it any longer. He rushed to the store and grabbed the only box of cards still on the shelf. He bought it, purchased stamps, went home and addressed cards frantically all evening. He addressed 49 cards. He had one card left over which he tossed on the table on his way to mail the cards. The next day it occurred to him that he had addressed and signed all those cards but had not actually read what the card said. So, he grabbed the left over card and took a look. This is what it said:
"This cheery card has come to say: A gift from us is on the way."
Now comes the frantic “have to” gift shopping. When we “have to” do something the stress generally relieves us from all creativity. But, when we “get to” do something all of our creative energy is free to flow.
God did not “have to” create the world. The beauty, splendor and precision of the universe are evidence of God’s “get to” creativity. And, when the world became corrupted and lost to the power of sin, God did not “have to” redeem the world. He chose to do so. And God, with his creativity flowing through his “get to” decision, made the choice of the Perfect Gift.
Galatians 4: 1-7
John Grishom’s book “Skipping Christmas” is about a man that got tired of all the hoopla surrounding Christmas. He decided to skip all the decorations and celebrations, much to the consternation of his neighbors and friends. His book reminds me of the man who got tired of all the frantic haste and commercialism associated with Christmas and decided not to go along with the crowd. As a part of his protest he decided not to send Christmas cards. For the first two weeks of December all went well, but as the mail brought him cards with greetings from friends and family he began to feel guilty about sending no cards. Finally, a few days before Christmas he couldn't stand it any longer. He rushed to the store and grabbed the only box of cards still on the shelf. He bought it, purchased stamps, went home and addressed cards frantically all evening. He addressed 49 cards. He had one card left over which he tossed on the table on his way to mail the cards. The next day it occurred to him that he had addressed and signed all those cards but had not actually read what the card said. So, he grabbed the left over card and took a look. This is what it said:
"This cheery card has come to say: A gift from us is on the way."
Now comes the frantic “have to” gift shopping. When we “have to” do something the stress generally relieves us from all creativity. But, when we “get to” do something all of our creative energy is free to flow.
God did not “have to” create the world. The beauty, splendor and precision of the universe are evidence of God’s “get to” creativity. And, when the world became corrupted and lost to the power of sin, God did not “have to” redeem the world. He chose to do so. And God, with his creativity flowing through his “get to” decision, made the choice of the Perfect Gift.
Galatians 4: 4-5 “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.”
Many people have refused God’s gift because they thought what the world really needed was a strong military leader, or political leader. Or perhaps they choose not to accept God’s gift because they are caught up in the thinking that all we need is more education, good government and good habits to save ourselves.
God’s gift is so simple, yet so profound. He offers salvation to us one at a time, so that we can then become the people of God. As the people of God, with our lives transformed by God’s grace we then become witnesses of God’s glory to the world and lead even more to receive God’s gift of life. Together we become co-laborers with Christ for the Kingdom of God. That, I believe is the true hope of the world. But, it is so simple that many people, caught up in their frantic lives, often do not see God’s gift.
A friend recently shared this with me.
A Violinist in the Metro
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Perhaps we are missing God’s Perfect Gift.
