033. Merry Tifton

Christmas Sermon

Hymns    1.    Amazing grace

                 2.     Jesus Calls Us      

Intro

Jesus often spoke in parables / allegory.

Jesus often explained meaning after the parable. 

Today, I’ll explain before.

Story to introduce sermon –

Dudley Earl story about neck brace, black snakes, “I’m a millionaire.”

Today I’m going to draw from people’s almost fanatical interest in the X’mas season because it’s coming very soon.

I suppose I tend to spell Christmas ‘X’mas’ because it doesn’t have too much to do with Christ.  Most of you will know some of the basic history of X’mas and how Pagan festivals were introduced into the Christian church and accepted.  Most of you are aware that the origins of X’mas, Easter and Lent have nothing whatsoever to do with Christianity and are simply baptised paganism.

Nevertheless, as Christians, we try to pull aside the tinsel and the eating and drinking and gift giving, and the noise, to think a little more about Jesus as God’s gift to mankind.  He was given as a gift to us when he came to earth as a baby.  Then he died for us so we could have the ultimate gift, the gift of eternal life.

Let’s open our Bibles to the one Bible verse I want to draw on this morning, and then we’ll let the sermon take the direction of an allegorical story.

Our text is 2 Corinthians 9:15  “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”   REPEAT

Once upon a time, long ago, and far away in a strange land, there lived a man by the name of John Beersforth Tifton.  A man of incredible wealth, fabulously wealthy.  This man, John Tifton, had the strange habit of bequeathing a million dollars to individuals of his careful choice.  And his assistant,  Michael Anthony, complete with briefcase, umbrella and hat, made his way to the selected individuals and bestowed upon them the gift from their great benefactor.  And then of course their lives were transformed.

At first there were just a few of these people, and then dozens, hundreds, and then finally thousands of people in his land and then in lands around the world, and at his death, Mr Tifton left very clear instructions in his will that from the incalculable holdings of his vast estate that this practice was to be continued down through the years, and so it was.  And it came to be that all over this earth there were those who had their circumstances unbelievably transformed as they had been suddenly catapulted into the rarefied atmosphere of the millionaire, having received the unspeakable gift.  These people had also received his name because he had adopted them into his family and had granted them other benefits as well.

Now it came to pass as the centuries went by, that these people decided that it would be good if they got together occasionally.  After all, they did have so much in common now and it would be especially good if they had a special celebration of the birth of the great benefactor of them all.  And so they did.

Now naturally it is of course quite obvious that the only people who had the slightest interest in celebrating the birth of Mr Tifton, were those who had received the gift.  You see they were virtually a millionaires club.  And the years went by and the celebration continued and there were of course essays written about his great person and his benevolence, there were hymns that were written and sung to his praise.  There were pictures that were drawn and painted and many other ways were devised to celebrate the memory of this man who had so altered their lives by the unspeakable gift.

And then in the process of time and sad to say, something happened in Australia.  It was at one of the celebrations of Mr Tifton’s birth that for some reason a couple of people turned up who not only had not received the gift, but didn’t even have the foggiest idea that such a gift even existed.  Somehow they wandered in to a Tifton birthday celebration.  And they didn’t quite grasp what was going on, and nobody at the party seemed to be bothered explaining it to them, but they did at least pick up the idea that somebody had given some wonderful gifts to these people and they were celebrating that.

Now though they didn’t understand, they did think that it sounded like a good idea and so they told their friends and they told their friends and they told their friends, and so on and so on, and believe it or not, the idea spread until before long almost everybody was celebrating Tifton day.  The department stores picked up the idea because they had a keen eye for that sort of thing and so before you knew it, there were Tifton specials all over the place.

Other things arose – there was a Tifton card of course, and then there came the Tifton tree.  Strange to say the tree didn’t even grow in the land that Mr Tifton was born in.  And you may not believe this but it is actually true, that in time it became a national holiday – Tifton day.  Everybody was celebrating it and so the years continued to roll on and every year Tifton Day was celebrated by the vast majority of the people.

One day, years later, on Tifton Eve, two gentlemen who had been the recipients of the gift happened to land in Sydney Harbour on the day before Tifton.  And one of them said as they walked down the gang plank, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could find someone in Australia who was a Tifton, who had received the gift and taken the name, and we could celebrate tomorrow with that person, the birthday of the benefactor?”  And the other one said, “Ah, yes. But in such a large land as this it’s highly unlikely that in so short a period of time we should be so fortunate.”  But to their utter amazement as they walked down the street and looked into the window of the first department store that caught their eye, there was a sign shouting out ‘Only one more day until Tifton.’  And in the next window ‘Tifton Specials – 50% off’, and they said to each other, “Ah, dear brother we are in luck.  We have found a Tifton.  But isn’t it strange that he doesn’t call himself Tifton?  He calls himself Meyer, or David Jones or whatever.  Oh, these Australians are an odd lot.”

They started to go into the store to find the owner, when from across the street they heard someone cry ‘Merry Tifton’.  Then from their own side of the street there came a chorus of voices all around them saying, ‘Merry Tifton and a Happy New Year”.  And with that they were absolutely dumbfounded.  Certainly they said, Mr Tifton has been very generous with his gifts in Australia, unlike anything we’ve ever seen in our own land.  ------

----   Now it came to pass in the providence of God that that very evening they found themselves invited into a large home where there was in progress another Australian innovation, a Tifton Eve cocktail party, in full swing.  And they noticed as they were standing in the corner that some of the people were almost falling down drunk, which they thought was very strange because they were quite confident that Mr Tifton did not approve of that sort of conduct, and they could not see how this would be honouring his memory.

And one of them said to the other, “Dear brother, did you notice this afternoon on the street when all of those people were shouting Merry Tifton, did you notice the way some of them were dressed?”  “Why, yes I did!  I didn’t want to say anything, but surely they did not look like millionaires to me.
  “Why that’s just what I thought.  I can’t understand it.  And have you noticed here on the mantle piece all of these Tifton cards?  I’ve just been looking at them and the thing that absolutely astounds me and I find completely baffling, is the fact that most of them don’t say anything at all about Mr Tifton.  In fact they have this picture of this fat man in this red and white suit in a chariot drawn by reindeer and one of them has a very red nose.”

And the other man said, “Oh yes, I noticed that, and I’ve enquired about it and it seems that this is some character that they have invented.  His name I believe is Serper.  I think his first name was Uriah.  I believe they simply call him by his initial ‘U’ – U Serper.  Saint U Serper I believe is the full name and it seems that so many of their Tifton songs are not about Tifton but about Mr U Serper.  I find this very difficult to understand.  Perhaps one of these people here at the party could enlighten us.”

And so they turned to the man who was closest to them and they said, “Excuse me Mr Tifton.”  The fellow looked at them and said “You must be tippier than I am.  Mike’s the name, Michael Mythology is my name.  What can I do for you?”  They said, “Would you, would you kindly explain something to us?  Sir, we’re a little bit confused.  We do suppose and understand that you have received the million dollars?”  

Mike Mythology said “The what!? --  The million dollars?  The gift?  From Mr Tifton?”  ---  

A million dollars!  ---   

Mike Mythology said, “I had to borrow $300 from the finance company to buy my Tifton gifts this year.  What are you talking about?”  

They said, “Well, why are you celebrating Tifton Day?  What is this all about?”

“Oh” he said, “well that’s easy.  You see, there was this fellow they say, named Tifton, who had a way of giving presents to people.  I don’t know what they were, probably ties, handkerchiefs, pyjamas, socks, that sort of thing.”  Mike Mythology went on to say that, “Some people think that he really lived, but of course we of today in a sophisticated modern world, know that it is all a myth but ne’er-the-less it is a nice idea and so we picked up the idea and we give gifts.  We sort of changed it around a little, but that’s basically the idea.  You don’t really think there’s anything to that old idea, that he really lived and actually gave some important gifts to people, do you?  Of course we don’t, but it is a nice thought.”  And then Mike Mythology staggered away and they were even more baffled than before.

So they decided to try one more person and they said to another gentleman whose name was Mr Traditional, “Sir, could you please help us?  Have you received the gift of a million dollars?”  He said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  They said, “Well tell us Sir, why do you celebrate Tifton Day?”  And he said to them, “Why that’s an absurd question.  Everybody celebrates Tifton Day.  When I was just a child I used to hang up my Tifton stocking on the mantelpiece, and my parents celebrated Tifton Day, my grand-parents celebrated Tifton Day.  Why everybody celebrates Tifton Day.  What’s wrong with you foreigners coming over her questioning our custom.”  Offended, Mr Traditional walked away.

The two men could not understand.  They were none the wiser.  They decided they would make one last effort.  Having talked to this gentleman Mr Traditional and not getting much help from him, they asked one other man who introduced himself as Mr Bootstraps.  Benny Bootstraps he said his name was and he’d be glad to help them.  “I always like to help people out,” he said.  And he explained the meaning of Tifton Day.  ---   “You see, there was this fella named Tifton who started out very poor I understand, and his whole life is written in a big black book.  Most of us have it, nobody reads it much anymore, but anyways it tells of principles of success that I think he used to make millions.  And the idea is that if we will read that book and follow those principles that we can become rich too.  I think that’s the basic idea that’s found in the book, you know, sort of reach down and give yourself a good tug.  Lift yourself up by your bootstraps.  That’s what I do.”  I don’t read His book.   I just do it my own way.  ---  And they said, “Well, what about the gift?”  And he said, “What gift is that?”  ----

----  And about that time there was a knock at the door and when no-one bothered to answer the door, the person knocking opened it himself and lo and behold there stood the perennial descendant of John Tifton’s assistant, Michael Anthony, umbrella under his arm, hat on head and briefcase in his hand.

Our two far away friends were delighted to see that here at last at this party someone was going to receive the gift.  -----  Since no-one paid him any attention, Mr Anthony said, “Excuse me.  Excuse me!”  Still no-one listened over all the laughter and hubbub of the party and the tinkling of glasses, and he spoke again and he said, “I beg your pardon.  I have here with me ….” And his voice was drowned out.  He made one more effort and then somewhat sadly he turned and left, and closed the door behind him. --------------------

You know friends, it almost reminds me of the Bible verse in Revelation.  Let’s turn to it.  Rev 3:20.  Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:   if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”  No-one had seen him come, no-one listened to his voice, and no-one received the gift.  ---

-----  Well, that is a modern parable of Christmas, and I wonder how many here, when Christmas comes in a few day’s time, after we have ripped off all the ribbons and torn open all of the wrapping and opened all of the boxes and the packages, will find that still there is something that has not been filled in our life.  That there is an emptiness in our hearts that is unsatisfied.  Something is missing.  I wonder how many of us have received ‘the gift’.  I wonder how many of us have heard the voice, and when the Christmas music is over, and the carols have ended and the last strains have faded away, 

(quieter) I wonder how many of us will be left with that same silent guiltiness that we had before Christmas?  Have we all received the gift?  And I wonder most tragically of all, if there are those here today in this great nation of ours, who are so spiritually blind that they do not even know what the gift is.

Our parable has the text we read in the beginning.  “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”

Do we all have the gift?  Or could some of us be spiritual paupers in the midst of millionaires?  What is the gift?  If we don’t know, God’s Word tells us.  The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Have we received the gift?  If we have received it, then we know it.  If we do not know it. it is probably because we have not received it.  Do I know that I’m on my way to paradise and eternal life?  Am I sure?  If not, then maybe I am still a pauper.   ----

-----  (louder) But there is good news.  Jesus stands at the door today and offers us the gift.  He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man hears my voice and opens the door of his heart, I will come in to him and sup with him and laugh with him and cry with him and do everything with him.”    (quieter)   And this is a gift that was not paid for with paltry cash at a department store.  It was paid for with the precious blood of Jesus on Calvary at infinite cost.  Having taken upon himself our guilt and sin, He endured the wrath of his Father which we deserved so that we might be freely forgiven and given the gift of eternal life.

If you have received that gift, you’re saying with the apostle Paul, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”  If you have not received it then you can receive it today by placing your trust in Jesus and saying, “Lord, I want to take you as my Lord and Master, and Saviour of my life.  Jesus, I’m far from perfect but you promised that you would accept me just-as-I-am.  And when I accept you, then you will help me get better.”  --------------------------

Friends, if any of us are not willing to do that, then, I suppose the only thing that we could say as Christmas approaches is, ‘Merry Tifton’.

Hymn  -        Jesus Calls Us

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