Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia
Internal Circulation
December 2014
August 2012
THE GIFTS OF
17th Edition
10th Edition
CHRISTMAS
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.” … and lo the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:1-2; 9b-11)
I believe that one of the greatest memories of childhood is Christmas. There was always the thrill of receiving gifts. There was not so much of opening presents like nowadays but nonetheless, there would be the electrifying excitement of getting ready to go to church in new clothes, sweets and cookies, special meals at home, and of course, the
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build-up to it: the carolling, the Advent, the friends, the singing, the children’s party, the Sunday School plays, the postman and the cards he brought, phone calls and letters from far-away relatives and all those sort of wonderful things. Each day was delivered to us like a gift. Old folks will remember their village or township and the young adults were thinking about how to make their greeting cards to their special ones. The excitement of Advent did not stop until school reopened, and we would sober down a bit and turn our attention back to books and teachers. Sometimes, we tend to compare our present-day affluent ways with the caution of our past and wonder how we got along. The toys we buy for our kids are nothing compared to the handmade rough toys we shaped with our own imaginations. The access to music, the social-network and power to shop for fashionable clothes and food are so very contrasting that one could conduct entire volumes of social study. We somehow associate material affluence with joy and happiness, and that is a great error! There is no need for doubt here because the electrifying excitement does not come from greater purchasing power. It is true that wealth gives us
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