My Christmas Message 2009: "Priceless To Him Who Loves Us"

It was December 25. The pastor went to the pulpit to give his Christmas homily. He pulled out a hundred peso bill and holding it up before the congregation, asked, "Who wants this Php100 bill?"

All hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this Php100 bill to one of you, but first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple up the Php100 bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he said, “What if I do this?"

He dropped the bill on the floor and started to grind it on the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?” he asked

Still the hands went up into the air.

"My dear friends, we have just learned a very valuable lesson," the pastor said. Continuing, he said, "No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth Php100."

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled and ground onto the dirt by the wrong decisions we make and the bad circumstances that come our way. We then feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to Him, our Lord and God, who loves you.

The real worth of our lives comes not in the circumstances that befall us, but by who we are and whose we are.

If we are in Christ, our Lord and Savior, we are God's beloved, regardless of whether we have become dirty and crumpled by the harsh circumstances of life. The Good News is that Christ, who is God, came to the world so that sinners, dirty and crumpled by sin, may be freed from their sins. And so goes the believers' most favorite passage in the Gospel, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life." And that, my friends, is the essence of the Christmas message.

Who are we? We are believers. To whom do we belong? We belong to God. This is our true worth. And so, even when we have become dirty and crumpled by the tribulations of this world, the Word of God says ---

Still we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Still we are children of God. Still we are branches of the true vine, which is Christ. Still we are chosen by Christ to bear his fruit. Still we are co-heirs of Christ.

Do you want to know more of who you are in Christ? You are a temple of God and his Holy Spirit dwells in you. You are a member of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. You are a citizen of heaven. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own.

And the greatest thing about who you are in Christ is that you will be like Christ when he returns in power and glory.

These are some of the spiritual traits that reflect our identity with Christ. These traits are guaranteed to us by the Word of God.

It is Christmas time. I trust this Christmas message and the hope it brings could in some way touch the hurting heart it speaks to. Yes, it is Christmas. It is a time to count our blessings and not our problems. Remember this: If God allows us to face a problem, it must be for a good purpose in His divine plan. And remember this, too: Noah and his sons were ordinary workmen, but working under the guidance and power of God and His divine purpose, they built the ark that, although buffeted by strong wind and heavy rain, did not sink even when every thing else in the world went under water during the Great Flood. On the other hand, the Titanic was built by professional ship builders and yet, when it hit an iceberg, it sank in the freezing waters of the Atlantic Ocean. If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it. And this is because you are in Christ and you’re the Father’s beloved. That, my friends, is your true worth.

I wish you all a Blessed Christmas.