His Indescribable Gift

The following is a transcript of my Christmas message to the ladies of Northeast Bible Chapel in Colorado Springs.  What you can't see in the words, is their gym, filled with beautiful individually decorated tables, the best china, women and girls in their fanciest Christmas clothes and hats, me included!  

The other flavor you won't get is when, in the middle of the message, I NEARLY fell off the stage!!  It was actually only a narrow (2.5 feet) platform and not very long (4.5 feet).  They had introduced me as someone they appreciated because of my enthusiasm--so....when one foot went off the back of the stage, I instinctively slapped both arms against the wall, which turned out to be only 18 inches behind me and declared that it was simply my enthusiasm coming out!!

Before the tea started, I carried the big beautiful gold box below around the room.  Inside there were 20 smaller boxes wrapped and each with a label.  I introduced myself and handed a box to various girls and women all over the room.  When it came time, they were to stand and read the label on their box.  After the tea, I invited them to open their little box and find a tiny gift meant to remind them of His Indescribable Gift!

His Indescribable Gift! 

Some of you know that my husband and I lived in Ecuador for 20 years.  During those years we learned to appreciate and adopt many of their customs and traditions.  But, there were a few Ecuadorian traditions that took me a while to appreciate.

One was what the poor children would do starting a week or two before Christmas. In Ecuador most homes and apartment buildings are surrounded by a wall or tall fence. They would come to our gate and ring the doorbell, shouting, “Regale una Navidad!!” which literally means, “Give me a Christmas!”  Our first year there, I felt judgmental about a culture that has children begging for goodies…then I remembered that Americans do it too on Halloween. So, my dilemma was…How could I REALLY give them a Christmas? Something that lasts longer than candy or a few coins?   

I asked around to find out what other foreigners were doing—one family would tell all the kids to come back for a party on December 23. That afternoon our friends would hold a large gathering with a little program, share the Christmas story, play some games and music. They served the children food and sent them home with some goodies.

I didn’t have the bandwidth or emotional stamina to do that—we had small children, I had a very busy husband, a jam-packed ministry schedule and a very weak body.  To be honest with you, I struggled with guilt about it. 

So, what COULD we manage? While our kids and I prepared generous bags of candy and cookies, I prayed over the bags asking God to touch the families that these goodies would go to. Sometimes we included a small tract explaining the meaning of Christmas and we gave the bags out to anyone who came to our door, including the garbage men—praying that the love of God in us and the fragrance of Jesus that the Bible talks about would touch each one.  Oh, to be able to “Give Christmas” to everyone! 

This past summer my husband and I took a week to see some National Parks that are within driving distance from home.  We spent the night in Grand Junction and the next morning headed into Colorado National Monument.  As we came around every corner, incredible panoramas stretched out before us.  It was stunning! About a half hour after entering the park, I realized that my vocabulary was severely limited.  At every turn the view was more overwhelming than the previous one.  The beauty absolutely took our breath away and the word “stunning” just wasn’t cutting it anymore! 

The next five days as we explored Moab, the Colorado River and Arches National Park, I continually bumped up against the poverty of our language to express the over-the-top beauty that we were trying to take in. The pictures we took were a disappointment because we were trying to freeze and hold on to a multi-dimensional experience.  How do you capture the way your breath catches in your throat when grandeur stretches out before you?!  What words can you use to paint the wonder to your family and friends who aren’t there with you to experience it?!?!

It is INDESCRIBABLE!

And…the privilege we have today is to take a few minutes to consider the most indescribable, wonderful, transformational gift that has ever been offered to you! Let’s think about what it really means to “Regalar Una Navidad”–To give a Christmas. 

I’ve got a big, beautiful box here.  Let’s imagine it represents that most indescribable gift that we celebrate at Christmas time.

The Bible refers to God’s Indescribable Gift in 2 Corinthians 9:15—I looked up the verse in multiple translations to see the different words used for this amazing gift. 

These are the words:  Inexpressible (ESV); Unspeakable (ASV, KJV); Indescribable (NASB, NIV, NKJV); Too wonderful for words (NLT); His gift-no language can praise it enough! (MSG)

The Bible says that Jesus, and what He offers to the world—to us—is God’s indescribable gift.

And a relationship with Jesus, God’s gift, entails so much more! So, what does this indescribable gift include?

(The 20 girls/ladies stand and read the label on their tiny boxes)...

Jesus Himself (John 4:10); God’s Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)

Righteousness—made spiritually clean (Romans 5:17)

Eternal Life (Romans 6:23); Salvation (Ephesians 2:8)

God’s Grace (Eph. 3:7; Eph. 4:7); A New Heart (Ezekiel 36:26)

Strength to the Weary (Isaiah 40:29); He gives Life (John 6:33)

Victory (I Cor. 15:57); The Fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22)

Peace (John 14:27); Light (Psalm 119:130); Joy (John 15:11)

Patience (Galatians 5:22); Kindness (Galatians 5:22)

Goodness (Galatians 5:22); Forgiveness (Isaiah 6:7)

I know if we had time, you would come up with plenty more. 

These are just a few of the many things the Bible tells us that we receive WHEN WE ACCEPT GOD’S INDESCRIBABLE GIFT. 

In the book of James (1:17) we are told that EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT comes from God. So maybe a good question to ask is WHY accept this indescribable gift? Why would we want it?

At the beginning of the Book, the story that we all know of Adam and Eve, mankind chose to trust a serpent in the bushes rather than the God who created them and met with them in the cool of the day.  If you boil it down, the temptation that the serpent dangled in front of them was to be independently self-empowered, in control-apart from God. 

That’s haunted us human beings down through the ages. That desire to be self-empowered is called sin.  And God hates sin with a pure hatred because it separates us from Him, just as Adam and Eve were separated from Him, once they chose the serpent’s way, and had to leave the paradise of the Garden of Eden. We have ALL sinned-it’s hereditary!

The beautiful thing is that even though God hates sin, He LOVES us and LONGS for relationship with us.  Think of a father whose child has cancer—the father HATES the cancer that is killing his child, but desperately loves and cherishes his little one.

In the same way, our sin, that God hates, brings out “His holy longing, His holy love and holy tenderness” (quote from Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland pg. 70) and the gift He holds out to us is His forgiveness of what separates us from God!  Jesus says, “Whoever comes to me, I will in NO WISE (or to use more contemporary language), NEVER EVER send away” John 6:37.

AND because He hates sin but NOT you! He offers YOU the indescribable gift. 

Another Ecuadorian Christmas custom is what they call the “Novena”.  The last few evenings leading up to Christmas, families gather around a skeleton nativity scene with only a stable and an empty manger.  Each night they read a bit about the Christmas story and add pieces to the Nativity scene. One night the shepherds arrive, another night the animals.  The Wise men and Joseph and Mary are all placed around the empty manager.  The manger stays that way until Christmas eve.  I’ve often thought that the empty manger could be a picture of many hearts at Christmas time.  All the pieces of Christmas are there, but THE REASON FOR IT IS ABSENT!

We all know that in order for a gift to be ours, we have to accept it from the giver and open it…

Have you accepted the indescribable gift?  It’s yours for the asking!  All you have to do is tell God that you WANT His loving offering of forgiveness from the sin that keeps you from relationship with Him!  There could be no better gift!

Imagine if those poor children from the most poverty-stricken parts of Ecuador, came to my door, asked for me to “give them a Christmas” and took it home without ever opening it? It wouldn’t benefit them at all. 

There may be some here who have done just that.  You’ve accepted God’s gift of forgiveness, but it sits on a shelf in your heart without your opening it and experiencing the many gifts that God is waiting to pour out on you—many more than those we named today.  I challenge you to ask God to help you open yourself up to more of what He wants to offer you!  He’s eagerly waiting for you to do that, but He’s not going to force you!  Listen to this quote from a wonderful woman of God, “I never knew how empty my soul was ‘til it was filled.” (Macrina Wiederkehr, A Tree Full of Angels pg. 113)

In Ecuador when the kids asked for a Christmas from us, it was really important to me that they look up from the hand that gave it to them to the giver (in most cases it was me or our kids) and say “Thank You”.

Let’s do that right now—Thank the Giver of this Indescribable gift.  With heads bowed:

The best way you can thank God for His Indescribable Gift is to accept Him—Tell Him that you accept Him, if you’ve never done so before. 

Maybe you’ve only been admiring the packaging of His indescribable gift, you may want to tell Him that you want to experience more of what His gift entails. And for those of you who have been enjoying many facets of His indescribable gift, tell Him you want more of Him.  I do that often. It’s God’s joy to respond to those requests!

Lord, THANK YOU for the Indescribable Gift that we celebrate this Christmas, for the life and love He represents, thank you for giving us Christmas!

In Jesus Name Amen.