As I write, the Christmas present-seeking hordes on Cornmarket and in the Westgate show no sign of subsiding. It makes me think of those first present-bearers at Christmas, the wise men bearing gifts to Jesus. They have a lot to answer for. What would Mary and Joseph have made of those strange visitors? Would they have been charmed? Or would they have smiled politely and thought “what on earth are we going to do with these pots of strange smelly stuff?”

And what would Jesus have made of these offerings? He was probably more concerned with the other things that newborn babies do, like crying and smiling and causing trouble in a thousand wonderful ways.

Everyone who’ll give up time, money, and convenience to perform a task in church over the next week might ask that question. What does Jesus make of this? What does God make of all this? God doesn’t need our praises, our worship or our gifts, any more than that little baby needed gold, frankincense and myrrh.

There is nothing that is lacking in God. God is all in all, and God certainly doesn’t need to be placated by sacrifices or beautiful long prayers or anything else people have offered God over the centuries.

So if God doesn’t need our gifts, does God even like our gifts? That’s a scary thing to consider. Are all our offerings of praise and money and worship the equivalent of the present that you accept politely- and then think about giving to the charity shop? Are we offering God the things that we want to give God? The things that make us feel important or good, rather than the offering God actually wants?

But does God want, anyway? We don’t have to look far to find that out. We’ll sing about it plenty of times this week- and we find it in the carol “In the bleak midwinter”. “What can I give him, poor as I am?” it asks. And the answer comes right away: “What I can I give him- give my heart”. In all our forgetfulness, our rush and our bother at Christmas-time, God desires one simple thing above all else: God wants our hearts, and God wants them with all the love that a newborn baby can give.


Laurence Price
Associate Priest