What Gift Do You Bring?

     When we were church planters in Montana, I began to direct drama's for church and fell in love with it. When we moved to Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, I put together and directed a drama team and participated in many of the skits and dramas my self. One year we did a Christmas drama where the people of Jesus' life brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Some gifts were wonderful and some were not so great. The skit began with the following words spoken by the narrator:
     This is a birthday party, a most unusual birthday party. That is the guest of honor, there in the manger, a very, very young Hebrew child. No one knows it now, but He only has thirty-three years of life ahead of him. His mother there is quite young, 15. This is her first child, you know. She is only a simple, uncomplicated peasant girl, caught up in a unique time in history. The magnitude of it at the least overwhelms her at times. Her husband there is a good man, who cares deeply about his young wife and is aware of his responsibility toward this unique child. Those gifts you see were brought by some wise and holy men who came a long way to pay homage to this child. They said a star showed them the way, but I think they found him with their hearts, too. Others will be quests at this birthday party and will be bringing gifts as they come.
     After each of the characters came and brought their gifts the narrator ended with these words:
So....this is his birthday party….Those are his gifts…..These are the quests of his lifetime. But they aren’t all the guests, for you are invited to this birthday party, too. What gift have you brought? Is it toleration, as the innkeeper? Loyalty, as John the Baptist? Compassion, as the little boy with the fish and bread or devotion as Mary Magdalene?....Perhaps it’s comfort, as Martha, or even love, as Mary of Bethany brought. Could yours be a brother, as Andrew, or the service of Peter? Maybe it’s rejection, as the rich young ruler, or condemnation and enmity, as the priest, or snares and false pride, as the Pharisee. Might it be the trust of the centurion, the gratitude of the leper, or the changed life of Zacchaeus? Or, perhaps, the hidden homage of Nicodemus, the betrayal of Judas, the death of Herod, the cross of suffering of Pilate. It might be the belief of the thief on the cross…or perhaps the temporary tomb of Joseph of Arimathea…You may not intend to do it, but when you come to his manger, you bring a gift. What is your gift?
     These words have stayed in my heart and my mind for years. I was the narrator and when you memorize parts, you tend to remember it. I remember each player walking in and giving their gifts to Jesus and then the question, What is your gift? We do not get a choice. We will bring a gift. It may not be a gift given with intention and it may not be a gift we are proud of. If Jesus looked at your life so far, and claimed a gift from you today, what would it be? Are you pleased with it? Live you life as a sacrificial gift to the Lord. You will stand before Him one day. Do you want to be empty handed?

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Romans 12:1 (the Message)