A gift that lasts

The full text of my Christmas sermon...

Do you know what you are getting for Christmas?

Apparently nearly a third of us buy our own Christmas presents each year. Well, I guess that means we can’t blame anyone else when we don’t get what we want! Ever find that – you spend weeks hunting for presents for other people, days getting ready for Christmas, hours wrapping the presents, but it only takes a few minutes to be disappointed by what you get? I mean, just think about it, how many of the presents that you got last year can you remember today? What about from the year before? That’s the sad truth about Christmas presents isn’t it – very few of them are actually memorable and most of them leave us feeling somewhat disappointed?

Do you ever feel like that?

Barry Humphries, is famous for being Dame Edna. In his autobiography he writes:

“I always wanted more, I never had enough milk or money or socks or sex or holidays or first editions or real friends or free meals or neck ties or applause or unconditional love. Of course I have had more than my fair share of these things but they always left with a vague feeling of un-fulfilment, where is the rest?”

We may not have analysed it, but how many of us have ever talked about feeling disapointed, or have simply wondered out loud, “there must be more to life than this”. And it’s not just Christmas that brings out these feelings, we all have a deep need to be satisfied. We all believe that fulfilment is out there if only we knew where. And that’s the problem. Being satisfied in life is dependent on what we feed on.

Now, I don’t know if you do this, but at the Vicarage Christmas is a time when we get out little bowls of sweets and Twiglets and nuts, and they are there for you to snack on all day. But the problem with this is no matter how many sweets or crisps or nibbles you eat you will never be full and so you will just keep on eating! Snacking takes the edge off your hunger but it never satisfies you. And spiritually speaking, many people go through life snacking and it means they are never satisfied.

One of the things we look to is pleasure, such as the pleasure we get from travelling – but there’s a reason why it’s called being bitten by the travel bug – its addictive. Ask anyone who has looked for fulfilment by trying to see the world and just after they have told you about all the amazing places they have been, they will tell you where they want to go next. There is always somewhere else they want to go.

So, some hunger and thirst for far away places, and others hunger and thirst after love. We think to ourselves if only I can find Mr Right, or Miss Right then I will be happy, if only I can find true love then I will be satisfied. Others hunger and thirst after wealth, materialism, stuff. So life is a constant striving after bigger, newer more modern things. But if we ever stop to think about it then we all know that things don’t satisfy us. We all know that’s its great for that moment when we get something new, but it soon fades, and there’s always something else.

Like blind beggars in dustbin we hunger and thirst after many different things, but they will not satisfy us.

Do you remember the Rolling Stones song – “I can’t get no satisfaction”? Well that’s what I am talking about – its that constant craving for the next thing, and as hard as we may try we will never have enough presents, we will never have enough excitement, we will never have money.

We will never be truly satisfied.

You see this is how many of us feel: as if there is something missing from our lives. And the reason for this empty feeling inside us is that we are looking for satisfaction in the wrong places. The things which we desire are often good things but as 'things' they are never really good enough. It’s like trying to satisfy your hunger by eating the packet, but ignoring the cornflakes. If we mistake material things for the real thing then we will always be hungry. As C.S. Lewis said,

"These are only like the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have never heard, news from a country we have not visited".

No matter how hard we try these ‘things’ will never fill the hole we have in our lives. This is something that St Augustine understood. More than fifteen hundred years ago he wrote, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you”.

We can never have enough to satisfy us, we can never work hard enough, we can never earn enough or own enough – we can never fill this hole in us. Only God can.

And my friends, the good news of tonight is that satisfaction is available here, and it’s free for all. And it starts with the baby in the manger. It starts with recognising that we are not alone in this world, and that we don’t have to continually strive for everything, for God came to us. But this is only the beginning: it starts with the baby in the manger but it ends with the cross. The cross is the reason is that Jesus was born, the reason that God came to us. For it is here, and not in the manger, that we see our real Saviour. In his death and resurrection we find forgiveness, we find peace with God, and we find purpose and meaning for our lives. It is only at the foot of the cross that we will find satisfaction in this life.There is no joy like knowing God forgives you; there is no peace like knowing your eternal future is secure; there is no love like being loved by God.

There is no satisfaction unless it is God who satisfies you, and that’s the gift that he offers to us all this Christmas.

So, this Christmas, as you are opening your Christmas presents enjoy them and I hope you get what you really want. But remember that, as good as they are, they are never really good enough. Don't mistake material things for the real gift this Christmas. And if you don't get what you wanted then don't worry because you didn't really need it anyway. Let your desire be for God who will really make a difference. Let him satisfy you this Christmas, more than presents or friends or family can ever do.

Have a happy, blessed and full Christmas, in Jesus’ name.