Gifts Worthy of a King
Is 60: 1-6; Eph 3: 2-3a, 5-6; Matt 2:1-12
Is 60: 1-6; Eph 3: 2-3a, 5-6; Matt 2:1-12
Today, the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, marks the official end of the Christmas season. We've been to Bethlehem and back now. We've experienced Christmas. Yet there are millions of people who really missed out on it this year. They thought they were going to Bethlehem with us, but actually they got sidetracked along the way. Not because something terrible happened to interrupt their Christmas celebration; not because they didn't get what they wanted for Christmas; or because they somehow missed the "Spirit of Christmas." But because they missed the Christ of Christmas. They visited Christmas, but like Herod and the scribes in his court, like most of the people of that day, they never actually visited Bethlehem - they never met the One whose birthday we are celebrating at Christmastime. They visited Christmas, but they never met the Christ Child.
The scribes in Herod's court knew all the prophecies. When the magi came to Herod, they could quote chapter and verse. They knew exactly where to find Jesus. It wasn't that far for them to go. But did any of them actually go to see him? Did anyone from Jerusalem go? No - only a few Gentile foreigners - not a good Jew among the lot.
Have we met the Christ of Christmas, or did we get sidetracked along the way? The mark of the wise men was that they came whatever distance was necessary, bringing the very best they had to offer to worship him.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh – what strange gifts for a new born child. A women commenting on these gifts suggested that these men weren’t all that wise after all. If the eastern visitors had been wise women the baby Jesus would have received sensible gifts – baby food, diapers, and clothes to replace the swaddling cloths, bunny rugs and even a proper baby’s crib – not a useless lump of gold and two bottles of perfume.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh. Some speculate that these gifts were the principal items used in the wizardry and magic that wise men from the east dabbled in. So in giving the Christ-child gold, frankincense and myrrh, they were handing over their tools of trade. They were demonstrating that they were no longer pagan dabblers in magic. They were letting go of the past because they had found a new guiding star – the Christ Child.
Others have reasoned that these gifts are symbols of who this baby was:
Gold is a gift for a king. It represents power and wealth. This child Jesus is royal and kingly.
Frankincense, is like incensed, and when burned, it’s smoke and aroma coils heavenward; and so it symbolized Jesus’ divinity.
Myrrh was used in embalming the dead. It indicated this child’s humanity and foreshadowed his suffering and death as Savior of the world.
To us these might seem rather useless gifts. But what do you give this child who is the all-powerful God who controls the stars to such an extent that a particularly bright star travels westward and stops over the place where Jesus and his parents were staying? When the Lord of the universe reaches down from heaven and touches the earth, condescends in love to come to us, in the flesh, as one of us, a baby come to do battle with all evil in this world, what do you give?
When one considers the greatness of the gift we have been given in Christ, - the wonder and majesty of it all - what can we possibly give in return? We, like the wise men, are simply blown away by the awesomeness of God’s love that led him to become flesh in a little child. We fall to our knees, and fumble in our purses for a gift worthy of such a gift. What have we to give? God's gift to us is just too great, too wondrous for us to find any gift worthy of return.
What can we give in return? The best gifts that we can offer the Christ-child are the gifts of ourselves. If you think about it, the gold, frankincense and myrrh of the wise men are trivial and quite useless for the God of all creation and the savior of all people. He has all the gold, frankincense and myrrh he ever needs. After all, he is the creator and owner of all these gifts. But as useless as these gifts are for God, they are a sign of the way the wise men gave of themselves. We are told, "They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshipped". Here are these men, learned, wealthy, wizards of the east, non-Jews and probably pagans, kneeling at the tiny toddler’s feet of the true God. Even as they paid homage, they would have realized that even the gift of themselves is something far too small for this king of kings.
What we give to our Lord may seem so trivial and modest and poor, but if it is representative of the giving of ourselves to God, this is our most important gift. Because, if you think about it, that is exactly what He gave to us, through his incarnation, through his death and resurrection, and through every word and every act in between.
A couple of days ago we celebrated the beginning of a new year. As the old year ends and a new year begins, many people reassess where life is taking them and they make a new year’s resolution or a promise to themselves that things will be different in the coming year. This may take the form of looking for a new job, seeking to improve relationships, determining to take a new direction.
This is the first Sunday in the New Year, and having heard about the gifts of the wise men, I guess this would be a good time to take another look at our response to the God who was born in a bed of hay just for us. I’m not just talking about money that we give in the collection basket. I am asking:
How well have we given ourselves to God in response to his wonderful gift to us?
How readily and regularly have we spent time with God in worship, in prayer, in reading his Sacred Word?
How readily and regularly have we given of ourselves and our time to someone who needs love and compassion?
How readily have we shown that this king rules in our lives by letting him make a difference when we are confused or lonely or devastated by what life throws up?
How well have we used our gifts to do our work honestly and well?
How readily have we given God, not second best, not what’s simply ‘good enough’, but the best of what we have to offer?
How open am I to hearing the voice of God, gently calling me to the vocation in life where I can serve him best through that total gift of myself. For most of you, that will be through marriage. But for some it is a call the priesthood, to the diaconate, or to a vocation as a religious sister or brother. The Magi set out because of a deep desire which prompted them to leave everything and begin a journey. It was as though they had always been waiting for that star. It was as if the journey had always been a part of their destiny, and was finally about to begin. This is the mystery of God's call, the mystery of vocation. It is part of the life of every Christian, but it is particularly evident in those whom Christ asks to leave everything in order to follow him more closely.
The wise men went home by another road, we too can walk a different road this year, a road where we can make the king of kings the living, active center of everything we are and do. The challenge in front of each of us is to make each breathing moment a gift worth giving to the King.
God gave himself to us because he loves us. May his love be reflected in our lives as we worship him with all that we have. That’s our gold, frankincense and myrrh.
