Christmas in Miletus

When Paul met with the Ephesian elders in Miletus, he called them to remember Jesus' words, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Jesus perfectly embodied these words in His earthly life. And this Christmas season, we are called to remember that He is blessed because He gave Himself for us and to us.


Transcription (automatically-generated):

You. The Christmas season is such a busy time of year for so many people for so many different reasons. It can get so busy that we can often miss out on the opportunity to quiet ourselves long enough so that we can fix our hearts and minds on the singular reason why Christmas exists. Christmas, if it is anything, is a time to reflect on and remember the day that Jesus Christ was born into this world. That's what Christmas is.

It's remembering the birth of Jesus. Now, this act of remembering who Jesus is and what he came to do for us was on the forefront of the apostle Paul's mind when he was wrapping up his final message to the elders of Ephesus, recorded for us at the end of Acts chapter 20. These church elders met with Paul in Miletus, where Paul shared some words with them in person for the very last time. He recounted the way that he gave himself to serve the church while he was with them. He warned these elders to be on guard for false teachers that were going to come into the church.

He exhorted these elders to shepherd the church well. He revealed that this would be the last time that any of them would see him again this side of heaven. And he wrapped up his message to them by sharing a quote from Jesus found in verse 35, where Paul reminds them that Jesus said these words, it's more blessed to give than it is to receive. It's better for us to give than for us to get. There's more joy, peace, satisfaction, and life found in giving compared to getting.

That's what Jesus said, and that's what Paul reminded the Ephesian elders that day in Miletus. And it's what we're being reminded of today as we reflect on these words of Jesus during this Christmas season 2000 years later. It's more blessed to give than it is to receive. Now, this statement about the blessed nature of giving is true simply because it came from Jesus's mouth. Everything Jesus says is trustworthy because of who he is.

He is God. And whatever God says, you can take it to the bank. So that means where the giving of one's life away is practiced, blessing from heaven is experienced. The more one gives of themselves, the more that person is blessed. It's an incredible, life-changing reality that Jesus reveals to us in these words of his.

But this declaration from Jesus concerning the blessedness found in the act of giving is so much more profound than we realize when we consider that Jesus not only spoke these words to us, but he perfectly demonstrated these very words to us. Think about it. Who has ever given more to someone else than God has given to us. Isn't this what Christians remember when we celebrate Christmas every year? God gave something to us.

God gave us the gift of himself. God gave us God at Christmas. We revel in the display of generosity that God showered upon the world. When our heavenly Father gave us the gift of his only begotten son, God gave us himself. When Jesus Christ was born into this world.

God in human flesh. God with us. Emmanuel, think about the extravagant nature of this gift now. The precedent was already established back in the Garden of Eden that God could bring a fully formed human being into existence out of nothing. That's what he did when he created Adam.

Adam was never an embryo. Adam never called his mother's womb his home. God formed a fully developed man when he created Adam. But Jesus wasn't afforded the same experience. Jesus gave himself to be physically conceived inside the Virgin Mary's womb.

And he was in there for nine months up until the day that he was born into this world. The creator of all things chose to give himself to the world in this way. When he came into this world, God was born into it just like we were. And although he deserved to have been born into a luxurious setting, a palace fit for the kind of king that he is, he didn't choose that for himself. Instead, he gave himself to be placed in a manger in a little town called Bethlehem instead of a palace in Jerusalem.

He gave himself to be welcomed into this world by lowly shepherds and foreigners from the east. There were no kings or queens from Israel on hand to welcome him to earth. He was the only royalty there that day, the king of heaven, wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And this giving of himself didn't stop at his birth. Jesus didn't move into a gated community when he grew up.

He gave himself to become a foreigner in the land of Egypt. As a child, God was a refugee. And why did his parents take Jesus to Egypt when he was a kid? Well, remember, King Herod wasn't that happy when he heard the news that another king had been born in Israel. He didn't plan a birthday party for Jesus when he got the news of his arrival.

He wanted baby Jesus to have a funeral instead. And when Jesus' family came back to Israel after they heard that Herod had died, they didn't move into posh Jerusalem. They settled in podunk, little Nazareth. Does anything good come out of Nazareth? One of Jesus' disciples would later remark.

Well, yes, Nathaniel, apparently it does. The greatest good the world would ever know came out of Nazareth because Jesus gave himself to grow up there. Jesus gave himself to a life of obscurity. Growing up, there was no fanfare for the child of God. His life was so hidden in plain sight that when he eventually began his three-year public ministry at 30 years old, no one from his hometown of Nazareth believed that Jesus could possibly be the messiah that they were waiting for.

We know this guy, they said, this is Joseph's son. There's nothing special about him. That Jesus gave himself to this kind of reception in his hometown. And that unresponsiveness from the people towards Jesus didn't stop there. The religious leaders of Israel, who should have been the ones at the front of the line welcoming Jesus and heralding him as their long-awaited messiah, envied him and hated him.

And they were the ones in the background plotting his death. One of his very own disciples sold him out to these religious leaders for a bag of money. And the rest of his disciples would go on to abandon Jesus in his toughest hour. Peter even denied personally knowing Jesus, even after being one of his closest friends for three years. Sure, crowds flocked to hear him teach and to see miracles performed at his hands.

But when push came to shove and it was time to count the cost to follow him, how did people respond? One day the crowds were shouting, Hosanna. Hosanna. Jesus is our messiah. The next day they flip-flopped to shouting cries of, crucify him.

Crucify him. Jesus gave himself to this world knowing very well that this was how the world was going to receive him. But even though everyone rejected him, he didn't turn his back on us for even 1 second. He gave himself up to do what he came to do, right to the bitter end. He gave himself up to be betrayed, illegally tried, and found guilty of crimes he didn't commit.

He gave himself up to be stripped down and brutally beaten at the hands of Roman soldiers. He gave himself up to be spit upon, mocked, and crowned with a crown of thorns thrust upon his head. He gave himself up to be crucified on a Roman cross, his flesh stapled to a tree. He gave himself up in order that the followed from every wicked intention, thought, desire, and action against God that would ever be committed by every single person who would ever live. All of that sin was placed upon Jesus while he hung on the cross.

He gave himself up to stand in the gap for us, taking upon himself the wrath of the Father against our sins. Jesus was born into this world so that he could die for this world, the author of all life gave himself up to taste the sting of death for all of us. After his dead body was taken down from the cross, Jesus was buried in a tomb. Then on the third day after that, he rose from the dead, making a way for us to taste resurrection life. One day, too, Jesus gave himself to make a way for us to live forever.

He hung out with his disciples after his resurrection, until the day that they saw him taken back up into heaven right before their very eyes. And now, as I'm speaking these very words to you, King Jesus is enthroned in heaven with countless angels around his throne, giving him the unceasing worship that he deserves. The worship he should have received from us when he came here the first time. And he'll be there until he comes back to earth a second time, this time to give the Kingdom of Heaven to all those who are longing for His appearing. That's what Jesus had in mind when he gave himself for us and to us.

This is the gift that he gave to the world. And since it's more blessed to give than it is to receive, and there's a correlation between giving and blessedness, then that means there is no one who is more blessed than God is. The size and the scope of the gift God gave to us reveals that He is the most blessed person of all. When Paul was wrapping up his time in Miletus with the elders of the church in Ephesus, in Acts chapter 20, he told them to remember Jesus's words, that it's more blessed to give than to receive. And that's why I've called this short message, Christmas in Miletus.

Because they would have remembered not only Jesus' words about giving, but they would have also remembered how he gave himself to them as a gift. And we would do well to remember the same thing this Christmas season. Remember Jesus. Remember his words about the blessedness of giving. But remember how he fulfilled those words when he gave himself to be born into this world that first Christmas day.

Let's pray.

Jesus, I just want to say thank you for giving us the gift that you did. Thank you for giving us yourself. Being born in this world, living in this world, dying in this world, resurrecting in this world, all for us. I pray, Lord, for my brothers and sisters watching this short message, that this would give them an opportunity just to pause and reflect on the goodness that they have received in you. I pray, Lord, that we would be swelled up with gratitude as we contemplate how generous you are towards us.

Bless us as we think about you giving yourself to us. And I also pray, Lord, for anyone who's watching this short message, who has never received you, you've given yourself to everyone, but not everyone has yet made the decision to receive you into their life. And I pray, Lord, that you would lead that person who's watching this message right now to that supernatural moment in their life where they turn their life over to you and welcome you into their life by faith, Lord, leading them to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Because that's what you came to do for them. That's what you came to give them.

Do that, I pray, Jesus. So I just pray all these things, Lord, in your sweet, precious, and most powerful name. Amen. Amen. Merry Christmas, everyone.