Christ Notes - February 9, 2012

In December, just before Christmas, I took my children shopping for Christmas gifts.  This was a first.  It isn’t that my children didn’t have experience with presents.  They know perfectly well the meaning of a box wrapped in shiny paper and colorful ribbon.  Many have passed through their hands.  They have not, however, done the choosing, the wrapping, the labeling or the putting under the tree.  Being on the giving end of the gifts was a new thing.

So, wanting them to learn about this new experience, I packed each one into the car on separate occasions and headed for the dollar store.  I wanted them to learn to pick out presents for family members, then we would wrap them and put them under the tree.   We had some success, if limited.  I can’t say that they fully understood the process and what it was all about.  I’m fairly certain that the Tinkerbell puzzle wasn’t really meant for Daddy.  But I do hope that every year, as we go through the ritual of choosing and wrapping gifts, they will begin to learn the joy that can come from giving them.

When we are young, the fun of gifts is receiving them – waiting anxiously to rip through the paper and see what new wonderful thing we have gotten.  When we get older, however, we realize that the real joy comes from the giving – choosing that wonderful thing for someone we care about, and watching as they open it and use it in a way that brings happiness.

I imagine this is how God feels offering gifts to us.

Everyone has gifts.  We talked about it a few weeks ago in worship as we shared the story of Stone Soup.  Everyone has something to contribute to the feast we call Christian community; the banquet we call worship.  If we are pleased to see a loved one use a gift we have carefully picked out for them, imagine how God delights in our use of the gifts which have been given to us.

On Sunday, February 19, we are going to have a Service of Gifts as our worship service.  What is a Service of Gifts?  It will look like something like a talent show, but instead of entertaining an audience, we will be using our gifts to worship God.  You have gifts.  They may or may not easily translate to a worship setting, but we would like to honor God with them in our service of gifts.  Sign up or learn more by contacting the church office.

Share your gifts.

Blessings

Rev. Nancy