Wise Men and Their Gifts
Wise Men and Their Gifts
Sermon
preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
January
5, 2014; The Feast of the Epiphany (tr.), Year A
Episcopal
Revised Common Lectionary
(Matthew 2:1-12) In the time of King Herod,
after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to
Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?
For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."
When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and
calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired
of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of
Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
`And
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then
Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time
when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go
and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word
so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king,
they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its
rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that
the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house,
they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him
homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to
Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
___________________________________
The story of the visit of the magi has captured the
imagination and wonder of centuries of Christians. Who were these wise men from the East? What was the star that they followed? What about the dangerous drama played out in
their visitation with King Herod? And… What
is the meaning of their gifts: gold, frankincense
and myrrh?
Gold has long been a symbol of what we value. In the earliest days of Israel, the Ark of
the Covenant contained the presence of God, the throne of the Most High. Moses covered the Ark of the Covenant with
gold. But when Moses left the people for
a while and stayed away for many days talking with God on Mount Sinai, the
people became insecure. They fashioned a
Golden Calf and worshipped the false idol.
Every culture expresses its highest ethic with some form of
the Golden Rule – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And we regard those wealthy people who underwrite
those values as honorable benefactors.
But there is a tension between the Golden Rule and the
Golden Calf. Sometimes it seems like an
eternal tension.
Frankincense and myrrh were both forms of tree resin, prized
for their fragrance, used as an offering in worship. They were also used for medicinal purposes –
for the treatment of wounds and intestinal disorders. Myrrh was deemed to be particularly helpful
for arthritis. And myrrh was used in
ancient times for embalming dead bodies.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh were regarded as appropriate
gifts for royalty.
Christian commentators have also seen them as appropriate
gifts for the peasant child of Bethlehem.
I particularly like St. Bernard’s interpretation: “For they offered to Mary, the mother of the
child, gold to relieve her poverty, incense against the stench of the stable
and evil air, myrrh for to comfort the tender members of the child and to put
away vermin.” [i]
Episcopal monk Martin Smith comments: I
always feel earthed by these touching words [of St. Bernard]. The Son of God appears as a poor child at risk
in just those ways that millions of children are today. The Magi's gifts are not exotic luxuries, but
practical relief aid. Mary and Joseph
need financial help. A cramped peasant's
house, with animals crowded on the other side of the manger that divides the
single room, stinks of their excrement. The
baby has a rash because the manger is crawling with fleas. The wise men are
wise enough to offer money, fumigation, and medication.
Fr. Smith continues: Epiphany is a manifestation of Christ
present in all those children today who cry out for sustained and practical
support, social reform that gives every family economic sufficiency, adequate
sanitary housing, and basic health services.[ii]
Gold to relieve poverty; medicinal, antiseptic frankincense and
myrrh to heal and cleanse, to bring a fresh, new fragrance of hope. These wise men bring practical gifts that
relieve the needs of this holy family.
But it all could have turned out so differently.
These wise men operated from a place of privilege. They had the leisure to study the skies and
to travel to pursue the star of a new king.
They had standing enough to receive a royal audience with King Herod the
Great when they arrived in Judea. According
to Matthew, Herod heard their story of a newborn king with some concern. Herod was not one to broach rivals. During Herod’s reign he executed a wife, a brother-in-law,
a mother-in-law, and three sons. Caesar
Augustus reportedly quipped about the Jewish king who supposedly followed a kosher
diet, “It’s better to be Herod’s swine than Herod’s son.”
Herod manipulated those aristocratic visitors to become his
spies. "Go and search diligently
for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go
and pay him homage." Presumably
they agreed to do so.
What was it about this child and his family that haunted
their dreams so convincingly that they betrayed Herod’s request and returned
home by another road? They would have
known that they risked Herod’s wrath by doing so. But they saw there a poor, vulnerable child,
born to humble peasants. And they
changed their loyalties. They flipped
their perspective.
In seeing Jesus, they saw reality in a new way – from the
bottom up rather than from the top down.
Then they acted in the interest of the poor and vulnerable ones rather than
the wealthy and powerful. And their
gifts appropriate for a king, seemed equally appropriate for a peasant: “gold to relieve… poverty, incense against
the stench of the stable and evil air, myrrh for to comfort the tender members
of the child and to put away vermin.”
It is characteristic of the wise that they are very good
observers of reality, and that they are willing to adjust their perspective
based on what they observe and learn.
Like the magi, I grew up in a rather privileged world. I was born in this wealthy, powerful country,
to a secure family that gave me security, education and opportunity. That’s the lens through which I saw reality. For the most part, a top-down perspective.
But every once in a while, I get to see things from a
different perspective. The other day I
helped someone reclaim their car which had been repossessed. I’m not accustomed to being treated rudely
and with condescension as I was on the phone with the woman who administers the
towing company business. I’ve never been
told “we don’t take cash, credit card, or check. You’ll have to pay with a money order.” When I went to the bank, I didn’t know banks
no longer issue money orders, you have to go to a grocery store or fast-foot
market. I’m shielded by my privilege
from the complications, indignities and extra expenses that the poor face
because they are poor.
I am late to the game of embracing a bottom-up perspective
rather than the top-down orientation that I inherited. But I’m learning.
In Evelyn Waugh’s novel Helena,
the author puts a prayer in the mouth of the famous mother of the great Emperor
Constantine. Helena prays to the wise
men, calling them her “especial patrons.”
“You were late in coming,” she says.
“How laboriously you came, taking sights and calculations, where the
shepherds had run barefoot! …You came at
length to the final stage of your pilgrimage…
What did you do? You stopped to
call on King Herod. Deadly exchange of
compliments in which there began that unended war of mobs and magistrates
against the innocent!...
“You are my especial patrons, and patrons of all
late-comers, of all who have had a tedious journey to make to the truth, of all
who are confused with knowledge and speculation, of all who through politeness
make themselves partners in guilt, of all who stand in danger by reason of
their talents.
“Dear cousins, pray for me,” says Helena, “and for my poor
overloaded
son… Pray for the great,
lest they perish utterly… For His sake
who did not reject your curious gifts, pray always for the learned, the oblique,
the delicate. Let them not be quite
forgotten at the Throne of God when the simple come into their kingdom.”
For those of us who might be wise, we are in need of a
pilgrimage. A pilgrimage out of our
customary environs of privilege. A
pilgrimage that gives us a way of seeing from the bottom up, from the stable to
the heavens. We need wise people who
will resist the temptations of Herod, the temptations of power. We need wise people who will bring their gifts
of gold, frankincense and myrrh – “money, fumigation and medication.”
Will our gold, frankincense and myrrh merely be more
unnecessary luxuries for the honored and empowered, or will they be the wise
gifts that bring new life, health and security for people like Mary, Joseph and
Jesus. Dear wise men, pray for us, and
for all who have had tedious journey to
make to the truth.
[i]
As cited in Martin L. Smith, “Wiser Than We Think,” Sojourners Magazine (January, 2013), p. 48. I found this quote in Dean Scotty McLennan’s
sermon Gold and Frankincense,
preached January 6, 2013 at Stanford Memorial Church: http://stanford.io/1cQ8W1Q
[ii]
Smith, Ibid. http://sojo.net/magazine/2013/01/let-jesus-be-cursed
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