"Present Face"

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to preach at a neutral puplit in Sydney, Nebraska.  I just now am getting the opportunity to post a copy of that sermon here.

Before the sermon, I delivered a children's sermon to the 15 or so kids there that morning.  I lined them all up facing the congregation and had them close their eyes and open their hands to receive a gift.  I had bought packages of salt and pepper and sweet and low, and even a can of potted meat.  Then I asked them to open their eyes.  The looks on their faces were hysterical.  The congregation got a good look at what a "present face" looks like.  And we discussed how giving a gift isn't really very nice, if we know the person won't like it...

Matthew 2:1-12 The Visit of the Wise Men

“Thank you for not hugging me.” The relief and the gratitude in my sister’s voice when she said that one night, was a strange joy to witness as an older brother. Our college ministry group took time one night to take the Love Languages survey, a tool from the book The Five Love Languages. When we were done, we all had a greater insight into how each of us best received love from others. If you’re unfamiliar with the Love Languages, it refers to how you best feel loved by others, whether through quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, gifts or physical touch. It also tells you what sorts of things do not feel like love to you. For me, hours of quality time have always spoken volumes to me, while words of affirmation and gifts have always been less important.

For my sister, physical touch makes her uncomfortable. Our campus ministry… was full of huggers. It was a part of the culture, long-ingrained. And as Presbyterians, “we’ve always done it this way!” it didn’t occur to us that maybe it wasn’t what everyone wanted. When we shared our results, my sister had the chance to explain that she’d always been uncomfortable with hugs and she’d feel far more loved having her personal space respected and warm, “how was your day?” extended to her. The first time someone had the opportunity to hug her and didn’t, I saw my little sister breathe a huge sigh of relief, smile and offer a sincere thank you. She… felt… loved. The look on her face? Priceless.

We all react differently to different gifts of love, offered by others. We react to hugs, to acts of service, intrusion into our personal space and time, to gifts. I often wish I had a camera to capture each face made as my youth open white elephant gifts each year. The reactions to something totally unexpected or unwanted is always amusing to me as the leader, and not just to me. One late night show host encouraged parents to give their kids a horrible early Christmas present and video their reactions for YouTube. The results were hysterical. And a duo of comedian musicians known as Garfunkel and Oates recorded a YouTube smash hit song known as… Present Face.

In the song, the duo sings about that face we all make and try to hide when we receive an unwanted gift. As they say…

Your smile is frozen open

There’s a crazed look in your eye

You overflow with compliments

While trying to deny

That you loathe the gift you opened

Though you try to keep your grace

Your scary grin is frozen

Don’t you know you’ve got a case... of… Present Face.

They go on to describe how we all get disappointed from time to time and when we get let down, most of us do a lousy job of covering it up. Graciousness is not second nature, nor is gratefulness. And we justify this, perhaps rightly so sometimes. If only they knew me better. They’d know what to get me. Or at least what NOT to. Right? It’s ok, you can admit it. You’re in church. ;-) God knows.

And that brings us to it. What is it God desires? The wise men of the first century… it had just changed over that night… the big BC/AD change over… and everyone was still getting used to it... ;-) Those wise men showed up with the gifts we all know so well. Nowhere in scripture does it ever say there were only three wise men. We assume that because of all the songs and because there were three types of gifts. But perhaps there were several kings bearing gold. It’s impossible to know now. But in the words of Garfunkel and Oates… “Baby Jesus got some gold… which most infants prefer… but I bet he got the Present Face with frankincense and myrrh.” And… with his birthday and Christmas both being on the 25th… “it must not have been fun to open combination gifts.”

It’s a silly a line, but it does point out how strange the gifts were to us as people of the 21st century. What use has a baby for gold and what on earth are frankincense and myrrh? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were common gifts to royalty, and especially in the case of Jesus, the frankincense represented his priestly role and anointing, while likely myrrh represented a foreshadowing of his death and embalming. They brought what would honor a king. And the part we often forget, that also seems odd when we turn our attention to it… they fell down and worshipped… a child. And while this may have been or looked odd… it was what God desired and still does… adoration and the best of what we have to offer, our riches… not our leftovers.

How often do the things we say, the way we represent God, the amount of attention or joy we show in worship, in prayer, in our daily lives, in our gifts to God in our treasures and time show a lack of effort? How often do we give God a bad case of Present Face?

The familiar song, Little Drummer Boy, was written in the Great Depression, when a tale of someone offering a homemade gift with all the love they had, was a common one.

The wonderful lesson we teach our children in that song is that the gift of song given so enthusiastically and lovingly by the drummer boy is no less worthy a gift to the child king. But the lesson we can also learn as adults is that the gifts given by the wise men are no less worthy than that of the boy and his drum. They have given the best they have to offer, given their time to search and have bowed before him. Our gifts are between us and God, but they are a testimony to all who witness what and how we give. They are an example to our children, our peers, to nonbelievers who question and believers who need encouragement.

I carry canned food in my car for the homeless. I try to find what is on sale so I can buy lots of it, but I won’t buy anything I wouldn’t want myself. I have a strong suspicion that God’s present face looks a lot like a homeless teenage girl when you give her a can of store brand cream of spinach soup. When church choir becomes a chore instead of a joy... When delivering communion to someone homebound becomes an extra commitment keeping you from your Sunday football… When giving to the church or your charity is the first item you look to trim when you have a big expensive toy in mind… When we continue to do and give what is expected, but not out of joy or because it’s the best, or it’s what God actually wants of us… I challenge you to try to ignore the sneaking suspicion you’ve give God a case of… Present Face.

I can’t tell you how many young adults I’ve spoken to who have told me the best gift their parents ever gave them was to quit smoking, to quit drinking, or to take them to church every week or to drive them to completing a degree or gain a skill or deepen an appreciation of something beautiful or worthwhile, to open their eyes to people in need. And how marvelous a gift is to our creator and sustainer to gift our children, our brothers and sisters in this world with the gift ourselves in love and sincerity that points to the glory of the one who sends us. At every turn in the ministry of Christ and in his final words and Great Commission, he admonishes his disciples, his followers, those he encounters and us… to love one another… to love the people in our lives more fully and more boldly, to know and make known the love of Christ.

If you’ve seen the recent adaptation of Les Miserables or have ever seen an older version or read the novel, you know the line… to love another is to see the face of God. And when you do, that face is not… a Present Face… for it is the greatest gift we can give.

The Gift of the Magi is a well-known Christmas classic novel. My favorite adaptation is the Sesame Street Christmas special from my childhood. In it, Ernie gives up his most prized possession, Rubber Ducky, in order to buy a cigar box for Burt to house his prized paperclip collection from Mr. Hooper. Naturally, unbeknownst to Ernie, Burt trades Mr. Hooper his prized paperclip collection for a soap dish for Ernie’s Rubber Ducky. On Christmas Eve, they are both so eager to see the look on their dear friend’s face, they dive into their gifts. And their faces drop when they realize what they’ve each given and that they can’t make one another happy. That’s when Mr. Hooper arrives. Mr. Hooper, like Jesus and his family… is Jewish. He arrives with a present for each of them. Naturally… it’s Rubber Ducky and the paperclip collection. After the confusion dissipates and deep gratitude sets in, they turn realizing they don’t have anything for Mr. Hooper. And Mr. Hooper beams. Seeing the two of them give the possession most dear to each of them in order to bring joy to the person most dear to them is all the gift Mr. Hooper needs. And I believe so it is with God. When we seek with all our hearts, with all we have and all we are… we turn to find God beaming… devoid of present face, we have given the greatest of gifts… the gift of the magi.