The Sunday Sermonette – The Greatest Christmas Gift.
One of the greatest joys of Christmas is shared memories. I enjoy hearing Christmas stories from my family and friends. The excitement in their voices as they carefully unwrap their memories is truly heartwarming. As they do, the moment overflows with loving Christmas traditions, precious memories, and the magic of the season.
Now that Mom and Dad are Home and it’s just me, I especially love hearing people talk about their childhood Christmas memories. How they enjoyed wrapping packages for their family and friends. How they carefully put the “angel hair” on the tree, because it was made of spun glass.
They mention waiting for their mom to put a Christmas record on the high-fi, for their dad to make eggnog, and for the smells of spruce, cinnamon, cornbread dressing, and succulent turkey to fill the house. But most of all, they remembered the gifts under the tree, wondering which ones were theirs. I was no exception.
The Christmas morning when I was ten is acid-etched in my memory. Because I was an only child, there were always many gifts under the tree with my name on them. Seeing the gifts that morning, I raced across the highly polished floor of our living room at 5204 Greater Avenue in Biloxi. I came to a slip-sliding halt in my footed Christmas jammies when I saw a package wrapped in Howdy Doody Christmas paper. It had my name on it.
I didn’t let Hoody Doody stop me from ripping the paper from the package, tearing off its lid, and snatching away the tissue wrapped around a little grey elephant. Taking it out of the box, I saw an on/off switch. I switched it on, and the little elephant’s head began bobbing up and down. Still, another wonder awaited me.
Dad, reading the directions, filled a cup with sweet-smelling liquid. Then, wonder of wonders, the little elephant put its trunk in the liquid, lifted its head, and bubbles came out of its trunk. I was thrilled, dancing around in the bubbles with gleeful delight! I was equally delighted when Mom and Dad told me who gave me “Jumbo the Bubble Blowing Elephant.” None other than my sweet Granny from D’Lo!
I still have Jumbo, but his bubble-blowing days are long gone. I pull him out each Christmas from his box, where he resides all year. He’s faded, but the memories he conjures are not. As a child, on that Christmas morning long ago, I told Mom and Dad that Jumbo was the greatest Christmas gift I’d ever received. However, there is one gift that is greater than that!
In the Book of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes about the supremacy of love. He states that in life, faith and hope are great ‘gifts.’ But the greatest gift of all is love. Other manmade gifts, like Jumbo, rust, fade and lose purpose and functionality. But love—the forgiving love of Jesus, the eternal love of Father God, and the love of our fellowman—endures. It’s a beacon of hope that never fades, even in the darkest times, and it’s the true essence of the greatest Christmas gift.
Come Christmas morning, which is just around the corner, please remember that love is not only the greatest gift we can receive but also the greatest gift we can give. As you open your gifts, please remember this. Let’s make this Christmas a celebration of love, a time to share our love with those around us, as Jesus and God instruct us to do. Let’s not just receive love but also share it abundantly. Merry Christmas!
Ponder this and go forth.