CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

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Calling Pastors to Partnership in Prayer

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By Michael F. Ross. There’s a new breath of freshness blowing here and there. The word “revival” is finding its home in the hearts and on the lips of more and more people, and especially more and more clergymen. Since the Lord put me flat on my back in 1986, I have had an increasing burden, a growing obsession, for an awakening prompted by the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His people, beginning with the Presbyterian Church in America, beginning with me. Many other men share this God-sent burden.

But while we sense that mixture of painful waiting and hopeful anticipation, we often ask ourselves, “How shall it begin? What can I do? How do I prepare for the return of the presence and power of Christ to His church and to the congregation I serve?

Careful study of the history of revivals and the Book of Acts in particular, will show us that prayer-partnership in prayer-is the seedbed of revival. History will also show that preachers-the clergymen-have so often been used by God to usher in revivals. Naturally, then, pastors should today be leading in a partnership of prayer.

If we turn to the Book of Acts and read carefully its first chapter, we find a partnership in prayer among the early New Testament church leaders. They were told to go into the city and wait until revival came. They waited… but they also prayed in partnership.

What do you suppose they prayed about? Was it about which evangelistic program to use? Was it about which committee Matthew would best serve as treasurer? Was it about the latest church-growth, buzz-word: Networking, franchising, ranching instead of shepherding, homogeneous units or organic growth? Did they all read Dress For Success and In Search of Excellence? Did they pray about choices of architects and advertising agencies? I sincerely doubt it. I venture to guess that they prayed about the following:

  • Their lack of burden for and love for the lost, the love Christ displayed so awesomely.

  • Their silliness, petty pride, and nit-picky dealings of ego against ego that proved a lack of sobriety in their souls.

  • Their spirit of expediency in their approach to ministry.

  • Their spiritual cowardice, denials and hypocrisy.

  • Their fears, anxieties and deeply-rooted weaknesses.

  • Their hunger for purity, strength and moral earnestness.

  • Their need for vision, hope, confidence and simple faith.

  • Their desire to be free of discouragement and indifference.

  • Their absence of power, authority, purpose and direction.

  • Their burning passion to sense the presence of Christ again.

  • Their need for God’s approval rather than for man’s.

I also suspect that over the ten day span, they waited and prayed, their prayer partnership went from coldly uncomfortable and awkward to warm and liberating.

Beloved, could that not take place in the forty-eight presbyteries of the PCA? It could if we wanted it to happen. If we formed partnerships in prayer, it could happen.

But in order for that to happen, we pastors must admit some glaring needs in our lives as shepherds of God’s flocks. First, we must stop the trendy approach to ministry that relies upon Madison Avenue techniques, performance seminars and demographic rearrangements to “build” the church. Businessmen do not need to tell us how to grow the church. Our Bibles tell us that preaching, prayer, spiritual power in ministry, purity of leadership, perseverance by pastors and the presence of Christ in the Body are what grows Christ’s church.

Second, the local congregation of the PCA can be no healthier nor holier than the fellowship at presbytery. If our people are aloof, apathetic, indolent, arrogant, materialistic, competitive, routinely bored and lacking both zeal and love, it is because they are taught that by their elders who bring presbytery home with them.

Third, we must stop seeing our presbyteries as merely administrative units and begin to see them as gatherings of the fellowship of brethren in need of encouragement, support, tenderness and acceptance. If we want to put a stop to people “falling through the cracks” in church, we’ve got to first seal up the gaping chasms of presbytery.

Finally, we must “prove to be examples to those who believe” by modeling what does not come easily, but what is essential to revival: transparency, confession of sin, admission of one’s needs and weaknesses, brokenness, a contrite heart and a lowly spirit. Some will no doubt say, “Dream on!” Others will shrug it off out of opposition and fear. A few might sigh, “Boy, if it could only be that way!” The spirit of discouragement, superficiality, isolation and distrust runs to the marrow of the church.

But I respond: All the more reason to purpose to be partners in prayer! Jesus said: “This kind (of spirit) cannot come out by anything but prayer” (Mark 9:29).We must agree; we must begin partnership in prayer. So I urge the PCA, beginning with the ministers, to join me in 1990 and in this new decade to prepare for revival and reformation. Begin by prayer. Be prayer partners with me and others for the sake of Christ and His PCA. As we pray together we’ll gam confidence through partnership in prayer. May the world notice our confidence in Christ as they did in the Apostle’s lives: ” …they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13) -partners with Christ; a partnership in prayer.

Taking Prayer Requests Seriously

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By Frank Barker. People frequently make prayer requests of us. So many, in fact, that we tend not to take them as seriously as we should. I think of some requests I received recently:

…a mother asking that I pray for her wayward son

… a missionary, for the Gospel to penetrate his area

… a minister’s wife, for her discouraged husband

… a grandfather, for his seriously ill Granddaughter

… a wife, for her marriage

When Jesus Made a Prayer Request

Matthew tells us of an occasion when Jesus made a prayer request. At Gethsemane He said to Peter, James and John, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). R.C. Trench says Jesus uses a remarkable word that points to an unfathomable depth of anguish. Mark’s term is that he was “sore amazed.” He wanted human comfort, companionship. His hand, in the darkness, gropes for the hand of a friend. He asked that they pray for Him.

He then made a request of the Father: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (vs. 39). What is the cup of which He is speaking? Hugh Martin in his classic, The Shadow of Calvary, writes:

That curse of God, from which he came to redeem his elect people-the penal desertion on the cross-–the withdrawal of all comfortable views and influences-and the present consciousness of the anger of God against him as the surety, substitute … these were the elements mingled in the cup … which was now to be put into his hands: and the prospect caused him deadly sorrow! Christ is disappointed in His disciples’ response.

“And He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (vs. 40-41).

The flesh, human nature, is weak. He was experiencing the weakness of His own human nature and theirs was fallen. He says: “You need to watch and be constantly vigilant against anything that would trip you up. Be vigilant against slothfulness in prayer especially. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation!”

A little later they defected! They were sleeping when they should have been praying. Meanwhile He has peace, having been strengthened in answer to prayer.

Prayer for Others is Crucial

From this story we can see that prayer for others is crucial. Jesus requested such prayer for Himself! Paul requested prayer for himself, “brethren, pray for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:25). James tells us to “Pray for one another” (5:16).

God, on occasion, leads in such prayer, laying burdens on our hearts that He would have us pray for and then giving unusual indication of its effectiveness. Oswald Sanders in his book, Prayer Power Unlimited, tells of Mrs. Ed Spahr being awakened at midnight burdened for missionary Jerry Rose in Dutch New Guinea working among stone-age culture people. She prayed and the next morning wrote a letter telling of it. Later it was learned that he received prayer letters from five prayer partners in five continents saying they prayed for him on that specific occasion. When the dateline and time span were adjusted, it was seen that they all prayed at the same time-the very time Jerry was standing with his arms tied behind his back and a “stone-age” savage was standing before him with a spear ready to pin him to the ground.

As five prayer partners on five continents prayed, another man in the tribe (there were no Christians at this time) spoke to the man and he walked away. As we can see, this was, in a sense, God requesting prayer from these five for Jerry Rose.

How Can We Encourage Taking Prayer Requests Seriously?

We can encourage it in others by giving opportunity for making such requests. On Saturday mornings we have a men’s prayer breakfast at our home. We distribute lists of things to pray for, but when we break up into smaller groups we tell the men to share with each other prayer requests. In a group you’ll say: “Bill, what can we pray for you?”

Bill responds,”I lost my job.”

“George, what about you?”

“Praise God! I got that contract you fellows prayed about!” George exclaims.

“Sam?”

Sam says,”My son is on drugs.”

Well, believe me, you pray for each other in such an environment, and you cry for each other, too.

At our early morning prayer meeting at the church, we spend the last fifteen minutes in small groups praying for each other. Some of our Sunday school classes do similarly. Many churches have telephone prayer chains to handle prayer requests.

To encourage yourself to take such prayer requests seriously, try the following. First, if possible, pray with the person right when the request is made whether over the phone or if the person is with you. Second, right then write the request down in your appointment book (I have a section in the back for such requests). Third, have time in your prayer schedule for praying about such things.

Something that has been helpful to me is to arrange my prayer time letting the different days form an acrostic. On Monday M stands for Ministers and Marriages; O for Other Evang

Asking Others to Have Faith When We Didn’t Have

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By Kathryn Farris. Isidoro pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and caught the tears that streamed down his face as he received the first copy of the Mixtec New Testament he helped translate. Others who attended this dedication service were also in awe because they were receiving the Scriptures in their own language. Many of them had not believed their language could even be written. They certainly did not expect a work of such magnitude.

Appreciation for their language as a written tool of communication, however, is a relatively new concept for the Mixtecs. When Ed and I and our three children moved to Yosondua in 1969 to learn the Mixtec language, most of the people were curious but they were not anxious to have their language written nor to have books produced. What purpose would it serve? One man summed it up by saying, “Aren’t these people in the United States for you to mock? Why did you have to come here?” Clearly our work was cut out for us if we were to have a ministry among the Mixtecs.

First, we had to understand them and appreciate their culture. We learned they call themselves the Rain People, not Mixtecs, the name the Aztecs gave them when they swept down and conquered the region. These Rain People have a history rich with stories of brave warriors, conquests, extensive trade, expert craftsmanship and advanced agricultural methods. Some of these accounts are recorded in picture-writing (codices) and are preserved to this day. Their ancestors, who worshipped the sun, passed on stories about the creation of the world and other phenomena that occurred on earth.

They traditionally moved in family groupings and maintained only minimal contact with outsiders. In fact, the Yosondua Mixtec language does not have words for friend or neighbor. Those who lived near them and with whom they socialized were relatives, so the word jnahan served for relative, friend and neighbor. In more recent times they borrowed the Spanish words for friend and neighbor and use them today as part of their language and pattern of living.

Today the Yosondua Mixtecs, who live in the state of Oaxaco, number approximately 8,000. While many continue to speak only Mixtec, or the Rain Language, some have become bi-lingual speaking both Mixtec and Spanish. As farmers they raise corn, wheat, beans and several varieties of squash. Many of them practice the art of weaving baskets with intricate designs.

Even though they were conquered by the Spanish, they survived and have emerged as a strong, quiet people who are intensely loyal to their beliefs and traditions. Today, as reserved people, they are slow to accept change and innovative ideas and they cling tenaciously to the traditional values of their culture.

Understanding this, we realized we would probably not see them accept changes during our time with them. We had faith that God’s Word would one day make a difference, but not for a long time. We also wanted to see them with improved farming techniques, a better understanding of hygiene and the ability to read. The mainstream of Mexican life was impinging upon them and we wanted them equipped to adjust to the changes. We asked people to pray for these projects but to especially pray that the Mixtecs would be transformed by God’s Word into his children. Not to the cautious and reserved Mixtecs.

We were wrong! Wrong in our lack of faith and in our “realism.” Change came. For the catalyst, God chose Basilia, who grew up an orphan girl, unable to read or write. Her world consisted primarily of caring for her family and tending to the goats and sheep. Her husband, Isidore, made a commitment to follow Christ while working with Ed on the translation. But instead of growing, he reverted to his old ways and began drinking. Things fell apart for the family. Finances were so bad he decided to try his luck in Baja, California. There was no gold at the end of the rainbow in Baja and he began the trip back home dejected. While he was gone, some men came to Yosondua with a film on the life of Christ. Townspeople directed them to Basilia since her husband had once identified himself as a believer.

The idea of seeing a film intrigued Basilia, and she invited her neighbors to join her. That evening her one-room log house was full. The film was novelty but the message a powerful force. It challenged them as nothing else had ever done and they determined to learn more.

Isidoro returned to a wife who was different and neighbors who showed an interest in the message they had laughed at earlier. His surprise became boundless when they asked him to teach them the Bible. He had helped with the translation of the New Testament and he surely must know a great deal, they reasoned. He could barely fathom all that was unfolding. One thing he knew, he was a failure. He had not stood firm in the truth. That night God changed Isidoro’s heart, and our dreams began to materialize.

From that nucleus of believers a church of over 200 people emerged. They have dared to step out of the cultural mold to reach neighbors, friends and acquaintances with the message of salvation. And how their lives have changed. Men who had once been enemies now work side by side. Drunkards are sober. Sick children are well. Women are treated with new respect. Men take their work for the school or town seriously. Land that lay neglected is tended and produces a harvest. People prosper and live in peace. Such changes for the Rain People. An impossible dream come true! Thank you for praying.

When Brothers Live Together in Unity

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By Kent Johnson. On Saturday morning in Metropolis, Arizona, as twilight announced sunrise, it was already eighty-five degrees outside. The air around the Women’s Health Clinic was filled with excitement, as pro-life demonstrators prepared for a major battle in the war of wordsand wills surrounding the abortion issue. Across the street at a small park a large group of pro-choice demonstrators had assembled for a counterdemon

Adoption–Not Abortion: Exciting Vision-Tough Realities

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By Frederick T. Marsh. Approaching the temple gate called Beautiful, Peter and John came upon a man, lame from birth. He knew what he needed: a handout. Peter and John knew better. If they gave the man alms, they would, in the words of one author, “be confirming his lameness.” A temporary need would be met, but the message to the man would be clear: “You are lame. You are not capable of doing anything that will contribute to your support.” Peter and John had a far superior alternative: the healing power of Jesus.

About fifteen years ago, leading voices in society were telling us they could give us alms when it came to addressing crisis pregnancy needs. These voices argued that abortion would solve a lot of societal problems. Many were swayed to that way of thinking-perhaps the problem population of society could be reduced by abortion and the rest of us would be better off.

Today, the trends in society give ample evidence to the faultiness of this thinking. Abortion has not solved problems. It has not even proved itself to be the handout that would confirm lameness. Excepting the Webster Supreme Court decision, all societal trends related to fornication, adultery and crisis pregnancy are measurably more negative. Even the voices who once spoke for societal convenience now largely argue the personal convenience of abortion.

Consider a few statistics. Abortion now claims the lives of more than 1.5 million unborn children every year. Of those who survive to birth, very close to 30 percent are born to mothers who are not married. Well over a majority of these grow up in homes that depend on public assistance for survival.

Twenty years ago 90 percent of children born out of wedlock went into adoptive homes. Today that figure has spiraled downward to less than 5 percent. The combined impact on adoption of abortion and single parenting is evident in figures summarized by the National Committee for Adoption: “Unrelated domestic adoptions have fluctuated tremendously over the past three decades from 33,800 in 1951 to a peak of 89,200 in 1970, declining to 50,720 in 1982 and now 51,157.”

The implications are staggering-whole succeeding generations of persons raised in financial poverty, most often accompanied by poverty of mind and spirit. Think of entire generations in which there are no positive male role models, in which as many as one-third of our nation’s children do not even know who their fathers are. Think of whole generations who knew no time when the practice of abortion was not the common practice of their society. Today’s teenagers, even twenty-year olds, have never known a time when they understood human reproduction without also knowing abortion as common practice.

Spend a little time in a crisis pregnancy center or with an adoption agency pregnancy counselor. You will see another dimension of the problem emerging very quickly: numbers are simple compared to the massive confusion of the personal lives of those represented by the numbers. Almost gone are situations in which a young woman from a stable Christian family finds herself pregnant because she and her steady boyfriend were “in love” and got too intimately involved. Instead birthmothers say very little about the Lord, about love, guilt or morality.

The challenge is great because it is all-pervasive. It’s literally right next door, with today’s trends setting an ever more destructive pattern for years to come. Where is the Lord in the midst of all this, and what does He say to His people? How is the healing power of the Gospel applied, addressing real needs without confirming the lameness?

Thankfully, alternative ministries to abortion are a growing movement in the Presbyterian and reformed communities. But some common misconceptions must be addressed. One is that stopping an abortion is enough, and we need not be greatly concerned with what happens after that. A leading secular women’s journal recently observed that evangelicals were saving babies from abortion only to place them on the welfare rolls. There is validity to that criticism. Another misconception is that parenting is automatically the preferred alternative since the woman is responsible for her actions. Therefore, the most biblical alternative is that she parent her child.

Attitudes toward adoption have fallen on hard times. In today’s pragmatic atmosphere, most women will be dissuaded from having an abortion much more by the availability of support in choosing another alternative than by even the most persuasive of moral arguments. The testimony of young women who make adoption plans repeatedly includes the observation in retrospect that they would have chosen abortion had this alternative not been available to them.

Among many Christians who are convinced that the practice of abortion is in all cases wrong, confusion reigns in the variety of viewpoints. What is appropriate for the person once she has decided that she will carry her child to term? Some are satisfied to confirm her lameness, putting her on the welfare rolls and considering the job done because the life has been spared. Others realize the inadequacy of this, but look realistically at limited resources for ministry and make a determination that the priority should be on sparing the life even if the quality that follows may be lacking.

What can we do collectively as the Lord’s people? A great beginning has been made through crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies and maternity homes. These need to grow. We need a constant study of the issues from a biblical perspective. We need a study of the trends, and communication of the needs to the Lord’s people. The Lord’s people must work toward greater availability of long-term alternatives to abortion. Birthparents ought not to have to consider going on welfare roles, but helped bear parental responsibly, or make an adoption plan. They must be adequately supported and directed as they move in one of these directions.

The cost of doing good is high. Whether it be to provide space and some administrative coordination to a ministry staffed largely by volunteers, or whether it be to support a professional staff with appropriate credentials for service. The cost is great. Crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, maternity homes-all fulfill their essential roles in service to persons in need. All must be supported.The preceding list mentions only short-term remedial services to the already pregnant. Add to that effective educational serves that encourage abstinence, effective legal campaigns to bring changes in the law with regard to protection of life and genuine long-term rehabilitative services that would offer a young man or woman a genuine new start in life through training or education following a pregnancy. We have quite a challenge!

A popular poster asks the question, “How do you feed two billion hungry people?” The answer: “One at a time.” We are called to be humble stewards of the finite resources God places in our hands. The efforts of one or two individuals may not seem great, but particular lives are changed. And testimony is given to the world that the Spirit of God brings rebirth. Individuals by organized effort can minister to individuals, changing lives, one by one, through the power of the Gospel.

Bethany Responds to Webster

Although the implications are still unclear, the U.S. Supreme Court’s actions on the Missouri case this past summer have been welcomed by the pro-life community. From our initial reading of the decision., Roe v. Wade is poised for a major overhaul in the next few years. By upholding many elements of the Webster case, the Supreme Court has set the stage for states to begin proposing legislation that will provide similar and differing restrictions.

Bethany will begin examining state legislative actions in various states across the country and decide where we need more offices so that we can be readily available to either begin or expand the vital services that we offer to individuals and families.

While medical, philosophical and religious debates continue discussing when an embryo becomes fully human, and others battle over the “rights” of the mother versus those of the fetus, we at Bethany continue to minister to pregnant women who seek counsel and help.

We uphold the sanctity of life, but we are also deeply concerned about the quality of life. Each day we are confronted with the tragic results of children who are abused and neglected, many of them born to young parents incapable of providing basic care.

Bethany’s quality counseling and support are the factors that have made us the social service arm of the pro-family movement. With the current trend, thousands of women and men may begin seeking pregnancy counseling and exploring adoption as an option. This is our service and we must demonstrate our availability and accessibility. Remember, it’s one thing to talk the talk… another to walk the walk. Keep the sanctity of life in your prayers so that all children, born and unborn, can experience the quality of life.

The Gift of Giving

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By Calvin Miller. The wise men started it all, some say. Still, I like the way the Magi gave their gifts, for they presumably returned “to the East” without expecting Mary and Joseph to give them anything in return. Their gifts were meant for the baby Jesus, but there seemed to be no baby shower obligation in their giving. We never read that Luke wrote down the value of their gifts or entered them in the log of people to be thanked later. And we never hear that the kings were back home, feeling bad that no one ever came “from the West” to bring them presents.

Gifts are more blessed to give than to get, says the cliche’. But gifts are seldom given so freely that they don’t result in some bondage. Often at Christmas, gifts become a subtle power play, resulting in obligation. Such gifts may subtly say, “While my gift appears free, repay me in kind,” or “Enjoy this, Joe, but you owe me one now.”

A simple gift from a neighbor may say, “Just remember my generosity the next time I need to borrow you lawn mower.” The milkman’s gift may say, “I really need to keep your business, so don’t buy any eggnog from the Borden’s man this year . . . even though ours costs just a tad more.”

There are, in essence, only three kinds of gifts that one can give at Christmas: the gift-for-gift, the tit-for-tat gift and the genuine grace gift.

Gift-for-Gift

A gift-for-gift present is one that’s carefully measured against what the giver expects to receive in return. A gift-for-gift giver always keeps mental track: Now let’s see. The gift I’m giving cost me $13.95. I wonder what I’llget in return? This approach feeds cash registers all through December. It prompts the last-minute, Christmas Eve dash to the store to be sure some unexpected gift gets repaid in full. This syndrome also generates all those late Christmas cards. Some remote acquaintance surprises us on December 23 with a card that we can’t possible respond to until after Christmas.

Tit-for-Tat

The tit-for-tat gift isn’t motivated by a desire to receive a material gift in return. But the giver expects his present to smooth out some of the bumps of life. Such givers operate primarily in the arena of favors and obligation. At Christmas, bosses often lavish employees with gifts: liquor or expensive cheese-and-fruit wheels. They certainly don’t expect their employees to repay in kind, but they do expect less back talk in the office, at least through March. Their gift says, “Don’t forget what I did for you in December, Buddy-Boy!”

Grace Gifts

The best gift to give or receive is what I call the grace gift. I’ve picked this name because these gifts remind me of the lavish ways that I have received the love of God. Biblical grace, by definition, is a gift so immense, it is unrepayable. When you give or receive a grace gift, you are suddenly in the presence of something too immense to be repaid.

When he was only ten, my son Timothy knew my penchant for collecting Don Quixotes of every size and shape. He and his eleven-year-old sister were shopping when they found a huge unpainted Don Quixote in a plaster shop at an amazingly affordable price. He bought it and lugged it all through the mall.

He wrapped it as well as he could and put it under the tree. In a separate little package, he wrapped the paint and brushes. On Christmas morning, he opened the package and gave it to me. I was delighted. For the next two or three days, Timothy painted the monstrous statuette of Don Quixote charging into life astride his cart-horse steed. As long as I live, I will never forget that wondrous Christmas morning. His art project still stands on our hearth.

The uniqueness of his gift-and all grace gifts-indicates that the giver knows you very well and has put much thought and heart into the giving. You know when you are giving a grace gift, because your heart is saying, “Here I meet you at the place I know you best. You yourself are your gift to me. Nothing else is needed.”

Giving With Grace

Let me suggest two ways to give a grace gift.

First, be sure it’s impossible to measure the cost of your gift. My daughter’s Italian mother-in-law has taught her to cook authentic Italian foods. So when my daughter wants to please me most, she fills a bowl with meatballs swimming in her marvelous marinara sauce, and I am content through long winters. When the snow flies, one of her warm Italian sausage sandwiches says, “Dad, you are so special to me.”

Her love produces warm grace gifts from her pantry to which I could never attach a price tag. I know it cost her something to make these dishes, but their real value is the way they show she loves and understands me.

Second, realize that non-material gifts are the best way to say, “Don’t try to pay me back.” There are three types of non-material gifts.

One is what I like to call the koinonia or “togetherness” gift. Four years ago, my son was in the Green Berets and didn’t have the money to come home for Christmas. My wife and I could scrape together his air fare only if we didn’t buy each other material gifts. In the end, we decided our son’s airplane ticket was the grandest gift we could give. His fellowship was our present to each other.

Second is the leitourgia or “service” gift.

One of our young pastors who has a large family wanted to give us a Christmas gift. While we were away, he came to our house and spent several hours polishing all our shoes. December is a busy month and shoes get scruffy from lack of attention. He had given us real “foot-washing” kind of gift.

The third and most wondrous grace gift falls under the category of “spiritual gifts.”

One friend promised to pray for me all through the Christmas season. Another friend who knows I am fond of Shakespeare gave me a book of Shakespearean quotes from his personal library. Still another friend loaned me his favorite Christmas record for two weeks.

All of these gifts came with the assurance that Christ had prompted the gift and that it was given through Christ on the basis of our friendship. It was marvelous to see the Savior so involved in gifts that were not purchased, but given in the highest name of friendship.

I have most enjoyed giving spiritual gifts at Christmas. One of our older church members is like a mother to me. I could give her a material gift, or I could give her what she really enjoys. I take her to dinner, then we go back to her apartment and sit and talk and share in Scripture and prayer. No ribbons are taken from any package, but it is the greatest gift I could give her.

Just the other day, my daughter said, “Dad, let’s not give each other presents this year, Let’s just eat together as often as we can throughout December. I want to make December the month of our togetherness and the season when we hold the treasure of each other and not mere material things.”

I knew what she meant. So we are committed this year. These December days will be grace gifts. They cannot be paid back, for they are one-time offerings from four people who understand and need one another.

Did the wise men’s lavish gifts expect repayment? I think not. They gave and left Bethlehem with a glow in their hearts. Mary and Joseph understood: The gift was theirs. I cannot say what was in the hearts of the Magi as they made their way back across the desert, but I think their sentiment must have been what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”