MERRY TIFTON!"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were so afraid. The angel said unto them, 'Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.'" — Book of St. Luke, 1:9-11
The story of the birth of Christ is one of the most beautiful stories in all of scripture. It tells us how God sent the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The baby Jesus came to the world for the sole purpose of saving all people by bringing God’s kingdom to all people. This story is the beginning of the story of our salvation through His death and resurrection. This is the birthday of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
But I’m sad it appears we have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. Let me tell you a story. It’s based on an old television show called the "Millionaire," a show that some of you may remember...
Once upon a time, many years ago, in a distant land far across the ocean, there lived a man who was rich and wealthy beyond our wildest dreams. His name was John Bearsforth Tifton. Mr. Tifton had so much wealth, he had the habit of giving a million dollars away to many chosen recipients. His associate, one Michael Anthony, replete with his top hat, and briefcase with a million dollar cashier's check enclosed, would drop in on the recipients. Mr. Anthony would approach these unsuspecting people and announce that they were chosen to receive this gift of a million dollars from Mr. Tifton. Henceforth, they would be considered heirs to his estate, they would be given the Tifton name, and receive all the benefits as heirs to his estate.
As the years went by, Mr. Tifton died but he set up his estate so that chosen benefactors would continue to receive a million dollar bequest. Over the course of hundreds of years, many, many people became his benefactors, and were given the name, Tifton.
These Tiftons, now numbered in the millions, decided it would be a good idea to have a yearly celebration remembering the birth of Mr. Tifton. You see, this was virtually a millionaire's club. In no time at all this celebration began to be the biggest holiday of the year for Tiftons everywhere.
Over the centuries, Tiftons all over the world were celebrating the birth of Mr. Tifton, and many traditions grew around this holiday. There was Tifton tree, Tifton cards, Tifton gifts that all the Tiftons would exchange. The celebration of Tifton became the biggest event of the season.
However there was a very troubling development, and this happened particularly in America, I'm sad to say. People who had never received the gift were celebrating Tifton. They would do many of the things the heirs of Mr. Tifton would do, however these people had no idea who Mr. Tifton was. They would say "Merry Tifton" to each other, but had no idea why they were saying it.
Over all those centuries, the estate of Mr. Tifton kept growing and growing, so one Tifton Eve, the descendant of Michael Anthony set out to give more people the gift of Tifton, the one million dollar gift. He boarded an airplane and flew to America, his briefcase laden with checks.
When he arrived in America on Tifton Eve, he went into one of the department stores, and a sign flashed out loudly, "Only one more day until Tifton." Everywhere there were Tifton sales, Tifton lights, and speakers were blaring Tifton songs. Mr. Anthony thought it strange that very few of these things said anything about Mr. Tifton. Instead, these were songs about reindeer and Santa Claus, and there was even one called "I'm Dreaming of a White Tifton."
Mr. Anthony checked his list of people who were about to receive the check for a million dollars. He went to the home of his first recipient. She was just arriving home, taking shopping bags out of her car. He said, "excuse me, Miss, I have great news. You have been selected to become an heir of Mr. John Bearsforth Tifton, and inside this envelope I have a check for one million dollars for you."...But before he could finish, she said "I’m really busy right now getting ready for Tifton, but thank you.” She took the envelope, but thought it was junk mail. She threw it in the trash, and never opened it to see the check for one million dollars. What a pity!
Mr. Anthony found his next recipient at a Tifton party. Strange, he thought. Most of these people are falling down drunk. The men and women were embracing each other saying "Merry Tifton." Embarrassingly, Mr. Anthony found the next woman embracing another young woman! He tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, but you have been chosen to receive the gift of Mr. Tifton, I have here...." but before he could finish the young woman turned and said, "Who is this weirdo? are all your friends like this?” She walked away.
The woman became very upset with Mr. Anthony, and said "You get out of my face, before I belt you! You just ruined my whole Tifton!" Mr. Anthony left the envelope, but she never opened it to receive the gift of the million dollars.
And so it was with all the people who were to receive the gift of Tifton. No one opened the envelope. Everyone celebrated Tifton, but no one received the gift Mr. Tifton wanted to give them.•
I hope you understood that the meaning of this parable is that Mr. Tifton is like God . God wants every person to have the gift of Salvation. It is more valuable that a million dollars. The gift God gave us is Jesus Christ. We celebrate His birth on Christmas day. Jesus offers each of us the eternal gift of life. We all have a huge inheritance waiting for us. It is not an inheritance of money, but it is something even more valuable. God is simply asking us to receive the gift of Jesus Christ. The inheritance of the kingdom awaits us.
Let us receive this gift, and give thanks to our great benefactor, Jesus Christ. ♥ AMEN
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Blessings to you my friends!- Rev.Debbie ♥
