Ruth was frustrated with her husband. He had never given her a Christmas gift that she didn't have to exchange. Every year she would tell him what she wanted, and every year he would give her something else. “Listen to me!” she snapped. “This year I want you to give me cold, hard, cash!” On Christmas morning, Ruth was completely surprised to discover that her husband had finally given her what she had asked for. He presented her with a glass fruit jar filled with nickels and water that he had prepared in their freezer.

Christmas is a time of gift giving. What are the real gifts God gives through the Christmas story?

It would take some doing to assemble a more disreputable rogue's gallery than the one listed in Luke's gospel. Tiberius, Pilate and Herod were notorious for their cruelties, their treacheries and their callous disregard for others. Tiberius was despised and mistrusted by his own political party and finally resorted to trumped-up treason trials to keep his opponents in order. Pilate was renowned for cheating his Roman bosses and abusing his Judean subjects. Herod was insanely paranoid and ended up having three of his own sons and one of his wives executed because he suspected them of plotting against him.

The religious leaders weren't much better. Annas, the high priest, was hardly more than a puppet of the Roman authorities, having sold out any moral persuasiveness his position might have still held. He did better at getting his family appointed to the temple priesthood by the Roman bosses, five sons and his son-in-law Caiaphas, than he did at preserving the integrity of a religious institution.

In politics, religion and economics, almost any first-century Palestinian would have readily agreed it was "the worst of times." For the Jewish people, there would seem to have been no hope. No prophet of God had been on the scene for 400 years, and it appeared as if the unshakable strength of Roman rule would remainunchallenged for ages to come. Any faithful, first-century, Jew might have readily agreed with the recent cynic who quipped, "Due to the current financial crisis, the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off." But it was into the midst of these tough tyrants that God sent God's most miraculous and unexpected gift: Jesus.

Christmas is not only a time of remembering what gifts we should give in Christ's name to those we love. It is also a time of remembering the gift God gave in our names and for our sakes - the gift of Christ. What are some of God's gifts that come to us through the Christmas story?

1. The first Christmas gift is the gift of Jesus, the light of the world. God began the custom of giving. James 1:17 asserts, "Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." So the first Christmas gift given is the gift from God. His present is Jesus, the light of the world. Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness of our lives. For the light of the world, the gift of the Father of Lights, is Jesus. John 1:4-5 proclaims, "In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." Our Christmas decorations of lights, whether they be electric bulbs on our tree or candles on our table, remind us of the gift of the Creator _ the light of the world. The incarnation of God in a baby is the gospel's affirmation of the invasion into human darkness of the light of the world.

2. The second Christmas gift is the gift of Mary and Joseph. Their present was obedient preparation. God had prepared Mary, and Mary had prepared Joseph for the birth of the Christ child. Because their hearts were open and obedient to God's will and call, it was their arms that God chose to embrace and cuddle the Christ child. It was their hands that God chose to wrap the infant Jesus in swaddling clothes to keep him safe.

3. The third Christmas gift is the gift of the shepherds. They brought to the Christ child a very precious present - the gift of wonder. The first people to see Jesus were simple, smelly, uneducated men who were occupied with ordinary tasks. Wonder touched their hearts and minds when they heard the angel, and they arose and went to Bethlehem bearing their gift of wonder. Unlike the Magi, who came with regal gifts, the shepherds probably came empty-handed. These simple men of the fields hurried to Bethlehem with nothing but their wonder to give. Their hands were empty, but their hearts were full of awe. It is our sense of wonder and
awe in the face of God's glorious gift of Christ that emboldens us to follow in the shepherds' footsteps and
proclaim the good news that Christ has come into our world. Thankfully the gift of wonder is contagious. In the words of Luke, those who heard the shepherds "wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds" (2:18 KJV).

4. The fourth Christmas gift is the gift of the wise men - the gift of excellence. Contrary to what you see in paintings, the wise men did not come to Jesus' birthplace. They arrived late, after Mary and Joseph had brought Jesus home to Nazareth. These magi, or wise men, brought the child Jesus the most treasured gifts of their day - gold, frankincense and myrrh. They offered the gift of excellence, not what was left over after other obligations had been performed. Their gifts demonstrated that it is the best of our talents and our treasures that every wise man and woman will offer to Christ.

Finally, the fifth Christmas gift is the gift of the baby Jesus himself, the gift of joy. Over and over again in the gospel accounts of Christmas, you come across the word "joy." It is in the angelic announcement: "Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10 KJV). To a world crying out in all its confusion, pain and perversion for salvation, the baby Jesus brought the gift of good news, and with it, joy. In the "worst of times," this tiny baby offered the best of truth. In the worst of times, God does the best of things.

In Christ, we have been gifted with the pathway to God, the route to fulfillment in life, the light which shines to illumine our steps toward God. Teilhard de Chardin asserted that "If we have faith, then everything about us begins to gleam." The gift of the baby Jesus was this gift of gleaming truth. As you search for presents for those you love, remember that the greatest presents of Christmas are not physical, but spiritual. In all your celebrations take this journey to Bethlehem and share these spiritual gifts of light, obedient preparation,
wonder, excellence and the joy of truth.

Merry Christmas,

Dr Chuck Terrill