The Box

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

December 21, 2014

The Fourth Sunday in Advent

The Box

Isaiah 11:1-5

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide by what his ears hear;

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,

and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

Empty boxes, torn wrapping paper,

red, green, and white bows everywhere.

It was hard to see the floor for all the paper.

The children were mesmerized by their toys;

parents and grandparents admired their own gifts.

After the chaos of the grand opening,

a sense of calm prevailed.

A carol played quietly in the background,

“Glory to the new born king.”

It was the little girl who spotted the box.

It was still under the tree,

almost hidden behind it.

She crawled under the branches to retrieve it

and once she had it,

she stood up and showed the box to the others,

“Look –there’s one more present!”

The box appeared to be a perfect cube,

about a foot in height, depth, and width.

It was wrapped in bright red paper

patterned with green holly leaves;

it was tied with a green ribbon

and topped with a beautiful bow.

The little girl turned the box around and over,

and examined every inch of it.

“There’s no tag to tell who it’s for,

or who it’s from!” she said.

Her mother walked across the room

and looked at the box,

“It’s not from me – I don’t recall seeing it before.”

The father said the same thing;

so did the grandparents.

They all looked quizzically at one another.

Where did the box come from?

Who was it for?

Suddenly the little boy burst out,

“I wanna open it – let me open it!

Then we can see what’s inside.

Maybe there’s a card or something in the box!”

The mother handed the box to the little boy,

who didn’t hesitate a moment

before he started tearing at the wrappings,

paper flying everywhere.

Seconds later, the wrappings torn away,

the boy held up a simple white box

for all to see.

There were no markings on it anywhere –

nothing to tell what store the box came from,

and no tag on it to tell them

who the box was for,

or who it was from.

“Open the box!” shouted the little girl.

She grabbed the top of the box

and lifted it away

as her brother held the bottom.

They both looked into the box

and then in perfect unison

turned to their parents,

their faces filled with disappointment:

“IT’S EMPTY!

THERE’S NOTHING IN IT!”

The mother took the box,

and as she set aside under the tree,

said in a soothing voice,

“It was probably just a mistake –

one of us probably wrapped

an empty box by mistake.”

The children looked at one another;

They didn’t seem satisfied with the answer.

They were sure Santa’s elves

had a quality control system

that would never let an empty box

find its way under a Christmas tree.

                 

But then father stood up and said,

“It’s time to get this room cleaned up,

and then you kids need to get dressed

before the others arrive.”

They picked up all the wrappings, the bows,

and all the boxes,

and took them out to the recycling bin;

all, with one exception.

They left the empty white box under the tree –

the box open,

the top next to it.

Later in the day,

the family was gathered around the table

enjoying a wonderful Christmas dinner.

Ham and turkey and potatoes and gravy

and beans and salads,

platters and plates clattering rhythmically.

Everyone was eating, talking,…laughing;

joy filled the room

as music played,

a choir singing, “Let every heart prepare him room.”

Suddenly the little boy shouted out,

“I know who the box is for!

It’s for Jesus!

It’s his birthday.

He should get a present!”

His sister rolled her eyes and said to him,

“How could it be a present for Jesus?

It was just an empty box.

What kind of a birthday present is that?”

The little boy was not going to be discouraged

or dissuaded.

He ran into the other room,

grabbed the box,

and brought it back to the table.

He pushed aside the bowl of mashed potatoes,

and placed the box next to the green bean casserole.

“It’s an empty box for us to fill,” he said.

“It’s a box for us to give Jesus a present,

each of us.

We’re supposed to put something in the box.

All of us,

a present for Jesus.”

All the adults around the table looked at one another,

wondering how to respond to the little boy,

wondering what to do.

The little boy beamed as he said,

“I’ll go first.

I know what I want to give Jesus.

And then you each give Jesus a present,

Each of you put your present in the box.”

What do you suppose the little boy put in the box?

What do you suppose he gave Jesus?

What do you suppose the adults did?

Did they go along with the little boy,

or did they turn their attention to

dessert and coffee?

A few weeks ago,

I talked with our children about

hanging a stocking for Jesus.

We talked about what to put in the stocking.

We agreed that Jesus wasn’t interested in a football,

or a video game,

or a bicycle.

We talked about the gifts that we thought

Jesus would like:

love,

friendship,

goodness,

kindness,

peace,

compassion.

The Wise Men brought Jesus gifts fit for a king:

gold, frankincense and myrrh.

But we don’t need to give Jesus gifts like that.

Who doesn’t know the song,

“The Little Drummer Boy”

with its “pa rum pum pum pum.”

The little drummer said to the newborn baby,

“I am a poor boy, too,

with no gift to bring…

Shall I play for you?”

And the boy played,

played his drum as his gift,

played his best

for the baby lying in the manger.

The beautiful carol, “In the Bleak MidWinter”

follows the same thread:

“What I have, I give him:

my heart, my heart.”

Christmas is Jesus’ birthday,

and we should hang a stocking for him.

Even better,

we should have a birthday box for him,

a box in which we each offer our gifts to Jesus:

our hearts,

our best,

our lives,

our selves.

“… see—I am bringing you good news of great joy

for all the people:

to you is born this day … a Savior,

who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

(Luke 2:10)

These are the words the angel spoke to the shepherds;

these are the words God’s angel speaks to us, now,        

telling us of the gift we’ve received:

“to you,

each of you,

all of you,

is born the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord.”

How will you respond to the gift given you?

What gift will you offer in return?

And not just on Thursday,

but each day, all through the year.

Do you remember what Ebenezer Scrooge

promised near the end of the story:

“I will honor Christmas in my heart,

and try to keep it all the year.”

                 

What will you put in the box?

Will your gift be Forgiveness?

Kindness?

Compassion?

Generosity?

Tolerance?

        

Will you remember that sharing your gift with another,

be it friend, stranger, or even enemy,

will be sharing your gift with Jesus?

We have received “grace upon grace”

(John 1:16)  
in the gift given us by God

on that first Christmas day;

Now it is our turn,

yours and mine,

to offer our gifts,

our birthday presents,

to our Lord Jesus Christ.

What will your gift be?

What will you put in the box?

AMEN