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The 17th verse, the second half of the 17th first of revelation, 22 says, Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift, and for just a few moments we'll reflect again on

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a good gift, a good gift. What makes a good gift is the question that struck me in this passage, When we consider this 22nd chapter of Revelation, and especially this 17th verse, we were

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invited to think about the nature of a gift and specifically what makes it good. Not all gifts are good gifts. In fact, even while defending the character of the creator parents, jesus clarifies that there

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is no limit on who has the capacity to give gifts, good or bad, indicating that we also have the capacity to an extent. To discern what constitutes a good gift, Jesus says, Is there

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anyone among you? Who if your child asks for a fish will give a snake instead of a fish ? Or if the child asks for an egg will give a scorpion. If you then who are evil

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, know how to give good gifts to your Children , How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And so it is good or bad. We know how to

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give gifts. We might even know how to give good gifts. Yeah, we who wait for what is to come in the time after resurrection, wondering what the promise of jesus will look like going forward

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, wondering what the presence of God will feel like . Can rest assured with this reminder from jesus that whatever the future holds, it includes a good gift from the one who created us that will come to

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us, the creatures. Even if we know that there is a gifting moment coming, whether the gift of advent baptism, resurrection, Pentecost, or a second coming, we still don't always have a great

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sense of what makes a good gift. It still is baffling to some of us how to give good gifts and what exactly is a good gift. So today we think about this question of what makes a

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good gift. And first it's important for us to remember that the availability um of a thing can impact but cannot be the determining factor with respect to whether or not a gift is good. Uh some of

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us think that because the thing is limited edition, uh, that it's more valuable uh or because it's free for all that, it's the best gift ever . But the availability of a gift is not what

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determines its quality. Um when we read in revelation 22-17 and find that the invitation is extended to everyone , we might be tempted to think that the gift is not so valuable, that since the water is

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available to everyone, that it's not so so important or that because there are people who are left on the outside, those who don't get to come in or don't find their way in. That that makes

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the gift of the water more valuable. But what makes the gift valuable is not its availability or lack thereof. Rather, the question of the extent to which it creates a connection, a connection between those

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of us who are a part of the creator and the creator. Those of us who have been weeping and mourning and bleeding and sighing and the one who is able to answer our every whoa and lament.

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The question of the quality of the gift is in the connection that's made. And not only that, what makes a good gift also is uh that a good gift addresses a true need And want with respect

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to the one who is receiving. And so if we want to know what a good gift looks like , it's one that responds to something that we actually have a need and want for uh both. Uh

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sometimes we get uh interesting christmas presents um like uh sucks and we all need sucks, but it's not necessarily what we wanted most. What makes the best gift is the gift that is both what we need

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and what we want. And so we don't exactly know On one hand the word and the 17th first invites us to consider that there is a thirst and we would assume that the thirst is for drinking.

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But what we understand earlier in that same chapter is that there are those who needed to wash their robes . And so there's a thirst for the water. Also for washing, we can't always determine what need

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. The gift will answer what wish it will satisfy , but whether washing or drinking the water is available and a good gift addresses the need and the want . It's a challenge these days. And one of

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the questions it's often posed to uh those who are part of the contemporary struggle for the mattering if you will of black lives, a challenges posed. What do you want? You don't need the signs that

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say colored only to be removed anymore. Uh There are certain helps in place such that your application is considered along with the rest. What do you want ? What do you need? Yeah. And so

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we come to this day looking at the flowing river on the inside of the pearly gates, in that city, that new city of Jerusalem. And the invitation is to come. But let us not assume

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that we understand what right, what courtesy, what need, what want is being satisfied just knowing that a good gift. And we know we are promised a good gift satisfies the want and the need.

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Finally, from our best gifting experiences, we should know that a good gift is a gift that can be received and or taken by the person on whom it's bestowed. I was not a great kid.

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And one of the ways this was evidence was one christmas when uh, my Godfather uh got me a stereo and I really wanted the stereo, thought I needed it to. But I was really frustrated because

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it only had one disk that could uh, that could loop. And I really wanted one that had five or so that could loop. And um, and so when I received the gift, I was

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less than grateful and I was a little bit disappointed and he could tell. And so could everyone else . And uh everyone in the space was disappointed at my reception of the gift. Yeah. And some

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of us we receive God's gifts to us in a similar way. Um They're not quite what we expected , not quite what we wanted. Uh We thought we would experience God and God's flowing river in a

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different way. We thought the water would taste sweeter . We thought the water would be less hard and able to clean our robes uh with less struggle. But a good gift is a gift that we,

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as those who receive are able to receive. Were able to take on for what it is. There's a song in my tradition, what shall I render and what shall I give? God has everything and

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everything belongs to God, what shall I render? And what shall I give? And for those of us who would approach the flowing river, our gift is the receiving, our gift is the coming,

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our gift to the very best gift is to receive it. And so we have to remember that the best gifts, the very best gifts are the ones that we don't control. When we don't know what

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the sound of Pentecost will be when we don't know what the surprise of flames, of tongue, of flames, of fire, like tongues falling on us . Really is this? We can know though,

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of a good gift that it is in fact and will be good. And we know this because it comes from our creator. It is the gift of life. It is a gift of just existence that

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God and God alone has determined. And so let us go forth ready to receive all of the good