Sitting on the table are three gifts….one shimmers with beautiful blue paper and a bright silver bow,  the other is a colorful gift bag and the other a plain lunch bag  with some tissue popping out at the top. Do you know which package you would choose? Would you accept the plain brown bag with the same level of excitement, joy and love? Probably not….we all love the beautiful things. From the time we are small children we are taught that great things come beautifully wrapped, at birthdays, at Christmas, etc.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1Samuel 16:7

However, the greatest gift ever was wrapped in swaddling cloth, laid in a manger filled with hay in a stable. Not exactly a beautiful wrapping, Right? But the scripture tells us in Luke 2 the story of Christ’s birth. In Luke 2:14 it says…Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. God gave us our greatest of gifts, not wrapped in satin and silks but swaddling cloth in a manager of hay. Yet we praise him, we honor him, we surrendered all to him. We never one time, judged Jesus because of what he wore or how he looks so why do we judge mankind so harshly.

We spend hundreds of dollars every year to make us look appealing. We adorn ourselves with beautiful clothing, dazzling jewelry, fancy boots or shoes. It is all part of the wrapping.  Beauty, cleanliness, money and prestige have become the focus of most of mankind.   Everyone flocks to see a beautiful singer after a concert, or watch eagerly a beautiful women parade across the television screen to be crowned Miss America, or who hasn’t commented on a handsome well dressed man. But few if any, flock to see a homeless person, or a poverty stricken child. God doesn’t see the outside; it is what is inside that counts.  My mother always said, beauty is only skin deep and we all have skin. It is your heart that counts.

A few weeks ago, a homeless couple came to our church. They sat clear at the back, against the wall, not in a pew next to anyone. When I approached them to welcome them to our church, to invite them to sit in the pew, to pray with them…She said, oh no, we aren’t clean enough to sit next to anyone. I told her that Jesus didn’t care about the outside….he cared about their hearts and that I was sure he was rejoicing that they were in his house to praise him. I remember watching as they were leaving no one else spoke to them…no one approached them…was it because they smelled and their clothes were dirty or was it that they simply didn’t see them. I remember another similar story outside the grocery store last winter. There was a middle aged man who was obviously homeless sitting under the awning behind a pole. He was trying to get protection from the elements, as I watched I saw several people scurry by and no one stopped…no one even took a moment to speak as they passed. I remember as I approached the door I asked if he would like a cup of coffee. He just looked at me…I don’t think he expected me to say anything. I got him a Starbuck’s coffee and a snack, took it out and he was so sweet..he told me to have a blessed day. I wasn’t looking at the wrapping I was looking at the person.

In the hustle and bustle of our lives, let us take time to look at the heart not the wrapping. Let us be more like Jesus…love unconditionally. “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrew 13:1-2 Remember, Our Lord and Savior arrived without fancy wrapping and we love him unconditionally. So love one another as you love JESUS.

Father, We praise you and thank you for every blessings that you have bestowed on us. May we always consider that we are all GOD’s children created by you, and loved by you.  May our focal point be the heart of those around us….not the wrapping. We pray for an open and loving heart toward all mankind. Father, there are so many who don’t have a home, who are hungry, who are unclean, we pray that you will protect them and give them strength. We pray that we will remember to touch every life the way JESUS did. Let us feed the hungry, help the homeless and love the broken. May we live our lives as Jesus commanded…Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.  Lord, bring us together.  It is in your mighty name we pray….And all God’s people said…..AMEN.