Christ Lutheran Church: Welcome

Present to Gift - February 11, 2007

Present to Gift

John 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:1-12

February 11, 2007

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

Well, let me begin by apologizing to all of you since I am NOT the preacher whom you might have expected.  Our youth director, Vicki Pieper, had planned to deliver the sermon, but she did such a good job last time that I was afraid of being replaced.  So, I replaced her with myself.  No, actually Vicki had graciously offered to prepare the sermon in order to free me up a little bit to enjoy my daughter's wedding this weekend.  But Vicki's dad became critically ill and was rushed into the emergency room in Fargo.  I ordered Vicki to forget the sermon and go be with her dad.  So, our prayers are with Vicki, her dad and the rest of her family.

But Vicki is the one who chose the focus for this morning's sermon and scriptures.  She chose the concept of GIFTS.  How neat IS it that I get to preach about gifts the day after my daughter's wedding!  In fact, after worship today, we get to participate in the gift opening.  I'll probably get to be in charge of wrapping recycling.  But that is not why Vicki planned to talk about gifts.  She wanted to talk about gifts because that will be the theme of the program this summer at Camp Wapogasset.  This is where our kids will be learning some things about gifts that we all would do well to remember.

First off, we might make a distinction here between "presents" and "gifts".  We usually confuse the two.  I am so glad that our church camp is going to be focusing on the business of gifts, because what we have been teaching our kids about all their lives is presents.  Where have we been doing most of this teaching?  At their birthday parties.  In front of the Christmas tree.  And what have they learned?  That presents are about them, and that presents are there to make them happy.  And that's good as far as presents go...

...which is why we need to give more attention to the business of gifts.  We are followers of Jesus and Jesus was less about presents and more about gifts.  If the Three Wise Men brought Him three presents, we would probably be singing about rattles, blankies and booties rather than gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Have you ever wondered about how weird gold, frankincense and myrrh were to give a baby?  What's a baby going to do with gold, or smelly smoke, or stuff they used for dead people?!  As presents, these would have been ridiculous.

But these were not presents.  They were gifts.  From a Christian perspective, a gift is a special trust that is given for the good of others.  It is not always a fun thing.  It is a special capability for a special responsibility.  In the professional clergy it is referred to as a Call.  Baby Jesus was given gold because He would become King of the Jews.  He was given frankincense because He was God.  He was given myrrh because He was born to die for us.  Theses were not presents.  They were gifts.

In the twelfth chapter of his first letter to the new Christians in Corinth, Greece, the apostle Paul explained what a gift is when he wrote, "There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. ...The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others," (Contemporary English Version).

Again, the Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.  Last Wednesday evening I shared with my confirmation students what Indiana Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy said right after his tam won the Superbowl.  "I'm proud to be the first African-American coach to win this," Dungy said during the trophy ceremony.  [Then he referred to the Head Coach of the team he had just defeated].  "But again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-American but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord's way.   We're more proud of that."

"There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. ...The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others."  Tony Dungy was given a gift - a special trust that was far more than just about him.  And when he could have been expected to take it all for himself, he used it to serve others.

As I mentioned, it has been less than twenty-four hours since I was granted a special gift of being able to conduct the wedding for my youngest daughter.  Many times yesterday God drew my thoughts back to the very first miracle which Jesus ever performed - at a wedding of all places, in a little village called Cana.  That is where Jesus turned water into wine.  I think you could call that ability a special gift.  And I know a lot of people who would LOVE to be able to pull that one off...for themselves.  Jesus did it for others, to save a groom from humiliation at his hour of joy.

Three years later He performed another miracle with wine, on the night before He died - not to save us from humiliation, but to save us from our sins, to save us from death - when He raised the cup and promised, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood which is shed for you, which is shed for all people, and which is shed for the forgiveness of sins."  And that miracle is repeated before this altar every Sunday and it will be again in ten minutes from now  THAT is a gift.  Not to be kept to ourselves, but to be shared with anyone and everyone you bring to Jesus.

Amen.  May it be so!