You must pay close attention to what [the prophets] wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place--until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. II Peter 1:19b

Gifts

            Gifts. At this time of year, gifts and all the questions related to them are on our minds. When and where will we shop--Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday? Or maybe we'll use Amazon, that river of goods that, like its namesake in South America, discharges the largest volume of choices. So overwhelming! And of course, there's the overwhelming question of what to buy for each person on our list. We want to find the perfect gift, the gift that says to its receiver, "I know you," and "I love you." The gift that, like the pink tool kit we gave our six-year-old granddaughter, Zoe, for her birthday, makes the receiver's eyes light up and elicits an excited, "Ahhh! It's just what I wanted!" It's such a good feeling to get it right.

            The opposite is also true; it's a terrible feeling to get it wrong. One way I've "gotten it wrong" in the past is by assuming someone wants what I want. It's like that whole love languages thing. We get it wrong when, instead of listening to learn what makes another person feel loved, we show love only in the way we want to be loved. For instance, it's a demonstration of love when Mark rubs my aching feet after a long day. Mark's feet, however, are so sensitive, it would be a demonstration of something less than love if I did the same. I'd have to chase him down and tackle him to even get to his feet in the first place!

            We reveal our level of listening by the gifts we give.

            In ancient times, Belshazzar, the king of Persia, got it wrong. Really wrong. We should cut him some slack, I suppose, because he'd just had the terrifying experience of seeing a disembodied hand scrawl a message on the wall of his banquet hall. Something like that could throw anyone off, especially someone as inebriated as Belshazzar was at the time.

            So, King Belshazzar had a three-word message on his wall, and he was desparate to have it interpreted. Enter the queen mother who remembered a Hebrew, formerly named Daniel, who had accurately interpreted dreams for the previous king, Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was found and brought before the frantic king who had been made even more foolish than ever by fear. Addressing Daniel, Belshazzar said:

I am told you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom (Daniel 5: 16).

            Silly king. What had he just done? He'd offered Daniel the gifts that he, Belshazzar, would have wanted for himself--rich apparel, royal honor, and political power.

            You can learn a lot about someone from the gifts they offer.

            What was Daniel's response to this offer of wealth and power?

            "Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means" (vs. 17).

            You can learn a lot about a person by the gifts they want, or in Daniel's case, don't want.             What gift did Daniel want to give Belshazzar? The gift of wisdom. Before interpreting the words on the wall, Daniel recalled to the proud Belshazzar the ways in which God had humbled the previous king, Nebuchadnezzar, when "his heart and mind [had been] puffed up with arrogance." After recounting the whole sad history of Nebuchadnezzar's rapid fall from sanity and power, Daniel ended with these words:

You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. . . . [Y]ou have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! (Daniel 5: 22 &24).

            Following this, Daniel gave the promised interpretation, which let's just say was not good news for Belshazzar. What did Belshazzar do? Had he been listening to anything Daniel said?

            Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his             neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom (Daniel 5:29).

            Nope. He hadn't been listening at all. We reveal our level of listening by the gifts we give.

            Two thousand years ago, the God who also gives us the breath of life and controls our destiny, gave us the best gift of all in the form of a tiny baby boy named Jesus. Jesus was the gift from God that said, "I've been listening." "I know you." "I love you."

            You can learn a lot about Someone from the gifts they offer.

            We can learn a lot about ourselves from the gifts we want.

            Will we, once again this Christmas season, rejoice in the miracle of the Promised One's birth? Will our eyes light up? Will we exclaim, "Ahhh! He's just what I wanted!"

Daye Phillippo

December 2017