December 25, 2023 – Christmas Text: Romans 5:15-17
Dear Friends in Christ,
I am well known around my house as one who makes the remnants of Christmas disappear quickly. The wrapping paper gets put in a trash bag. I take all my gifts and put them where they need to be. Tags are cut off of clothes and either put in the laundry or I see if I can get one wear out of them before washing. Socks and ties go to the appropriate places. Then a bag is put together and set by the stairs because those gifts need to go to my office. Christmas? Who had Christmas here?
What about you? Are you like me and you don’t like clutter? Or do revel in the clutter and the paper everywhere for this one day? Do you place your gifts under the tree and not put them away until the new year? Well, my sermon advice is going against my grain, but you will understand by the end of . . .
“DON’T PUT THE GIFTS AWAY”
In our text we have the words “free gift” mentioned five times. Do you think Paul is trying to get through to us here? I think so to. The “free gift” is the one that we don’t put away. It’s stays with us forever. No box. No closet. No drawer. It is a part of who we are.
Let’s take a closer look. “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through the one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.” The free gift is God’s grace in Christ. Why is it needed? Because of the one man’s trespass, and that man was Adam. His sin is our sin. But another man, Jesus Christ gave us the greater gift that “abounded for many.”
We are a broken people. Our once-perfect tie with God in the Garden of Eden was broken long ago. At times our lives can be a shattered mess. A broken marriage. Kids breaking away from the church. A disease that splits our nice little life apart. How can all of this be put back together again? The incarnation of a baby in a manger who as a man mends our broken hearts when He dies on the cross for our missteps. As our text says, instead of the trespass bringing condemnation, the free gift brings justification. Jesus brought the broken relationship of God and man back together again. Don’t put that gift away. Enjoy it every day that you awaken. Celebrate it when life looks a little dark. Remember the light – the light of Christ that shines for you. An eternal union that Christ made possible for God and man.
One reason we don’t put the gifts away is because life is not over. I heard a doctor recently tell a patient who has disease in his body that they want him to live. Enjoy life. Life is in front of you, this no death sentence. Verse 17 echoes the same thing, “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” The free gift of righteousness is Christ’s work in death and resurrection. Even though we have death in front of us, it is the gateway to an eternity with Christ.
At this time of year, we think of loved ones not with us. We miss them, but that falls on our heart. Their gift of eternity is not put away. They are enjoying no more broken pieces, no wars or rumors of wars, no Pope going off the rails, no infighting around the Christmas tree. They are the blessed. That is the same gift we carry around with us. Christ unwrapped it and gave it to us free. How can we not be thankful for the hope that we have?
Don’t put the gifts away. Christmas isn’t over, it really has just begun. A Blessed Christmas to all of you.
Amen.