Giving Gifts in Response to the Incomparable Gift

During the Christmas season, besides the traditional carols, my favorite song is “The Little Drummer Boy.” It may be in part because I’ve been a bit of a drummer boy myself for much of my life, but that’s not the only reason.

 

It doesn’t matter whether it’s the iconic version by the Harry Simeone Chorale, the Pentatonix acapella rendition, or the rousing, multi-percussion presentation by For King and Country. They all stir up strong emotions, not only through the melody but also by its simple yet profound message amid all the “pa rum pum pum pums.”

 

You’re probably familiar with the lyrics, but maybe you haven’t spent much time thinking about them. Here are some of them:

Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum

A newborn king to see
Pa rum pum pum pum

Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum

To lay before the king
Pa rum pum pum pum…

 

Then the little drummer boy in the song laments, “Little baby…I am a poor boy too…. I have no gift to bring…that’s fit to give our king….” So true. What worthy gift can you give to the King of all creation, even as an infant? Then the little boy asks, “Shall I play for you?... I played my drum for him…. I played my best for him.”

 

The closing thought in the song sums up the impact of the simple yet heartfelt “gift”: “Then he smiled at me…me and my drum.”

 

The birth of the Christ Child – called “Immanuel” in Isaiah 7:14, which means “God with us” – carries so much meaning that libraries of books have been written about it. As I’ve noted in previous posts, John 1:14 encapsulates this by stating, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” 

 

But Jesus Christ’s life and teachings wouldn’t have the magnitude they do without His death and resurrection. That’s why the promise of John 3:16, familiar to many of us, is so powerful: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 

If that’s not clear enough, Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That, ultimately, is the incomparable gift – God in the flesh going to the cross and giving His life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

Which brings us back to the Little Drummer Boy and his lament. Where can we find a gift that’s fit to give our King? I would suggest the “gift” we can – and should – give is what God has already given to us. In several New Testament books – notably Romans, 1 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and 1 Peter, we read about the “spiritual gifts” bestowed by God on each of His children. What better gift to the Lord than to use these for His glory and to serve others?

 

There is some debate about exactly how many different spiritual gifts there are, but they definitely include divinely empowered traits such as wisdom, faith, teaching, prophecy, exhortation, giving, leadership, administration, and service. There are numerous “spiritual gifts tests” designed to help people identify their specific gift – or gifts. The key is, they’re intended to enhance the body of Christ, not for our own benefit.

 

Revelation 4:10 tells about, “the 24 elders [who]…lay their crowns before the throne and say, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power’….” I don’t fully understand what that means, but I believe in a similar manner, whatever spiritual gifts we have received from God can be returned to Him through our lives and our service to others. As another passage admonishes, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord…. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).

In “The Little Drummer Boy,” the little boy humbly offers his drumming to the baby Jesus. After playing his best, “Then he smiled at me….” Similarly, if we offer to the Lord whatever gifts and abilities He has given to us, I believe He smiles at us too.