CHRISTMAS MESSAGE. Christian Example Better Than Gifts

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31548, 9 December 1967, Page 5

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE. Christian Example Better Than Gifts

(By the

Most Rev. F. D. COGGAN.

Archbishop of York)

“What shall we give him for Christmas?” The question crops up again and again—and with increasing urgency as December 25 draws near.

Some gifts, if we are frank, are made for reasons of just plain good business—the firm must keep the customers happy. Others are made to keep private friendships in repair—we have not written to old Jones for a year; better send him a little gift.

But within the family circle—and Christmas is above all else a family occasion—pres-ent-giving is a more serious affair and a more worthwhile one.

Young John and Mary' start it early in life. There are whispered consultations between juniors and seniors, and what does it matter if there has to be an advance from father if father is to get a present from junior? It all comes out right in the end, and a good time is had by all. 1 am thinking, however, of parents’ gifts to youngsters as they grow up. Beginning with a stocking full of exciting odds and ends, they grow as the years pass—now it may be a pair of football boots, now a radio set or a watch, now a bicycle or even a car. The funny thing is that the pleasure derived from the gift cannot always be measured by its cost. In fact, very often a comparatively inexpensive gift gives more pleasure to a young person than a very costly gift which be cannot yet appreciate. But when they grow up, and can look back over the years and over the gifts made to them by their parents, what is it they will value most? I believe it will not necessarily be things at all. Well, that takes a bit of explaining. Serenity

Here is young John. He is 21. He has got a girl in tow, and maybe it will not be long before there is a wedding. Presents again! Lots of them, for they have got to set up a new -home and they’ll need help. But a home consists of

more than carpets, pots and pans, radio and TV, silver and glass. It is built on the values the couple have learnt—the invisible gifts they have been given—during their formative years in the homes of their parents. Let me illustrate the kindof thing I have in mind. Sup- ' pose young John has grown up in a home where father and mother- are clearly in love with one another and faithful to one another; where there is a combination of love and kindly discipline which makes for serenity and stability; where Christian standards are lived by, and as much care is taken over the cleanliness of the mental food the children get as over their bodily food; where family worship is as regular as family meals, and the name of Christ is loved and honoured. If John has grown up in a home like that, he will find that his parents have given him a present, intangible, it is true, but of far more value than anything money can buy. It is the example of parents proud and thankful to be active followers of Jesus Christ. With that kind of example given him, John can found his own home—and the prospects are good. When he comes to think things over, he’ll thank his parents for a Christian home and a Christian example more than if they’d given him a cheque for £lO,OOO.

After all, the Christmas story takes us back to a home where a Boy grew up in the ways of God. We don’t know much about Joseph, but we know enough about the Mother of Jesus to be able to estimate what her life and example meant to her Son. She was one whose great ambition was to do the will of God as He disclosed it to her. I have no doubt at all that it was at her knees that Jesus

learnt to pray. From her He got His earliest'lessons about God and His love.

In the example of her life He saw what a lovely thing it was to live life committed to God. So it was that as He grew in body and mind. He grew also in the love of God and of those who knew Him. Mary gave to Jesus a present of inestimable value. No Time And as she gave it she came to understand that He was God’s greatest present to men “God’s unspeakable gift” as St Paul called Him. Before we can give to our children the kind of intangible, invisible gift I’ve been writing about we must receive from God the gift which He offers. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only' Son.” That was the greatest gift ever made to men. The tragedy is that, just as at His first coming many took no notice of Him, idly passed Him by, or openly rejected Him, so today many “have no time” to receive God’s gift. They do not know what they are missing. “This is life eternal,” St John wrote, “to know Thee the only God and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent.” The beginning of that life is in the here and now. We do not wait till after death to have it. It begins when God’s gift is humbly and thankfully received, when Christ’s love and forgiveness are accepted, and His standards lived by in the power of His Spirit. Then our home begins to become like the Nazareth home. Then, the Gift having been received, we are in a position to give to our youngsters the priceless present of a Christian example and a Christian home. They’ll bless us for it.—Copyright, 1967. Central Press Features.