H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
11 December 2005
CHOOSING THE GIFT
John 4:7-14
I first saw an upside-down Christmas tree several years ago in a year-round Christmas shop. The
tree was decorated with the usual lights and ornaments, but it hung upside-down, suspended from the
ceiling. It was an eye-catching display, but I never expected the idea to catch on with families. Apparently,
I was wrong.
Lately I’ve run across several ads for the upside-down tree. For instance, a retail company in New
York offers an upside-down seven-foot tree pre-lit with over 800 lights for the low, low price of $599.95.
With express shipping options, there’s probably still time for you to be the first on your street with an
upside-down Christmas tree.
Maybe you wonder why anyone would want an upside-down Christmas tree. Aside from the novelty,
the chief selling point seems to be that the upside-down tree leaves more room for gifts underneath.
With all the big branches near the ceiling and the crown pointing to the floor, you can stack a lot more
loot under this tree.
If you’re waiting for me to rage against this latest innovation in materialism, I’ll have to disappoint you.
Frankly, I love the notion of making room to receive more for Christmas. In my humble opinion, most of
us settle for far too little at Christmastime. That’s why so many people collapse on Christmas afternoon
exhausted and dispirited. They’ve been to dozens of parties; they’ve added four or five pounds from
indulging in cookies and eggnog; the house is decorated from rooftop to basement, the credit cards are
maxed out; shiny, new gifts are stacked everywhere… So why this nagging, deflating sense of
disappointment? What could possibly be missing?
We always end up disappointed when we settle for less than God wants us to have, and what God
wants to give us is the Friend who never misunderstands, the Savior who never forsakes, the Lord who
never fails. The challenge at this time of year is finding just the right present for the right person. God
has done that to perfection. God knows exactly the gift we need more than anything else in life. It’s a
shame so many of us have our sights set on lesser gifts.
I remember a story about a man who captures a leprechaun and demands that the little elf reveal his
treasure trove. The leprechaun leads his captor to the sheer stone face of a mountain and says, “Pick
that red flower growing among the rocks and touch the mountain with it.” The man does so, and at the
touch of the blossom the cliff face splits and opens magically to reveal a vast cavern filled with riches
beyond human imagining.
“According to the rules of magic, you can take anything you want,” the leprechaun said. “But don’t
forget the best.”
The man rushes in, grabs an earn filled with ancient silver coins and starts to lug it out of the cave, but
the leprechaun calls to him, “Don’t forget the best!” The man tosses the silver aside and seizes a chest
overflowing with gold doubloons. It’s so heavy, he can only drag it toward the cave mouth. The
leprechaun shakes his head and says again, “Help your self. Just don’t forget the best.”
Half-mad with greed, the man spies a heap of precious stones. He fills both hands with rubies and
brings them out of the cave into the sunlight so he can judge their worth. At this, the leprechaun roars
with laughter, and over his laughter the man can hear the sound of stone grinding against stone. He
spins just in time to see the cliff closing and inside the cavern, disappearing from sight, discarded on
the floor, is the red flower, the magic flower that is the key to the whole treasure trove.
“It never fails,” the leprechaun says just before he vanishes. “They always forget the best.”
The man is left with a double handful of jewels, a fine treasure indeed, but so little compared to what
he might have had. For the rest of his life, he is haunted by what he left behind because he forgot about
the best.
It reminds me of the woman who met Jesus at the well one day. Jesus asked her for a drink and the
woman said, “I can hardly believe a proper Jew like you is asking for water from a Samaritan like me.”
And Jesus said to her, “If only you knew the gift God has for you, you would ask me for a drink and I
would give you living water.”
“You don’t even have a bucket for the well. How will you give me a drink?”
“The water I give never runs out,” said Jesus, “and you’ll never be thirsty again.”
Completely missing the point, the woman said, “Oh, give me this living water so I won’t have to come
here to the well everyday and haul water through the streets.”
What funny, tragic, human irony! Jesus offers this woman the gift of eternal life and she’s ready to
settle for indoor plumbing. The Savior of the world holds out his hand to her; in that hand is grace and
forgiveness, wholeness, peace and joy, and all this woman can think about is running water in her
kitchen.
It’s a recurring story in Scripture. The wealthy young man chooses the riches of his bank account over
the riches of following Christ. King Herod Agrippa hears the good news of Jesus and says to Paul, “You
almost persuade me to be a Christian.” Almost, but not quite. In the end Agrippa values a Roman crown
more than a heavenly one.
So it goes, then and now. Always the temptation to fill our hands with bright baubles while we forget
the best—which brings us back to the upside-down Christmas tree. Do I really think hanging a tree
upside-down from the ceiling will bless your Christmas? No, but the notion behind the upside-down tree
makes wonderful sense. Making more room to receive—that could be a blessing, more room to receive
what God wants to give us. Turning our back on novelties that always leave us craving more and feasting
instead upon the Bread of life—that could change our Christmas; that could change our lives.
I like opening presents as much as you do. I love getting and giving gifts with people I love. I hope I
don’t sound like the Grinch with a heart two sizes too small. In fact, I pray for just the opposite—a heart
big enough to receive more of God’s love, more of God’s grace, more of God’s Son.
While you’re choosing the right gifts for others this year, choose the right gift for yourself, too, the
perfect gift that only God can give you. Why settle for less, when you can have the best?
Soli Deo Gloria!