Christmas Gifts
December 25, 2012 | Patrick Preheim | Matthew 2: 1-12
Earlier this month Terry and Sheila returned from travels to Israel, Palestine and Jordon. In one conversation about their trip I referred to it as a type of pilgrimage. Terry was quick to say that he always disliked that word pilgrimage. I shuddered momentarily considering my “foot in mouth” moment until Terry continued: “I have always disliked the word pilgrimage until we were about two days into our time in the Holy Land.” One of the pilgrimage stops Terry and Sheila made on their trip was to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem of the Palestinian territories. Terry has spent a bit of time collecting pictures of the Church as it appears now. When the Christian movement took off in the last half of the first century some of them came to Bethlehem to pay homage to the place Jesus Christ had been born. As a demonstration of domination one Emperor put a Roman Temple over the spot many of the Christians had been gathering. When Christianity became the state religion some 250 years later the site was converted into a Christian shrine. The grandeur of the current Church reflects who Jesus has became rather than his humble origins. Luke’s gospel speaks of Jesus being born in a place which housed a manger; mostly likely a barn or cave. In Matthew’s gospel Mary and Joseph appear to be from Bethlehem and the author locates the visitation of the magi in a house which likely was a very plain dwelling. The opulence of the current Church of the Nativity has the possibility of eclipsing the deeper significance of the place. Certainly the Church is grand, but it is the basement level grotto which gives the ornate building its meaning. The flashy aspects of the story (the gold, frankincense, the myrrh) only mean something as we excavate the tale of gifts, magi and kings.
Stars are a gift. Perhaps Terry and Sheila went to the Holy Land on account of its allure or perhaps the encouragement of other wise people convinced them to make the journey. It matters not. Terry and Sheila go on vacation and return from a pilgrimage—amazing how that happens. The magi show up for work as they have done for years on end not expecting anything unusual. In the routine of their occupation the Divine breaks in and causes a stirring whose end will be coming face to face the incarnate God. So often it is like that—simple curiosity or a chance encounter puts us on a trajectory whose apex is a mystical meeting with Christ. It is sometimes like that for me when I make a routine visit or spend time with a biblical passage preparing for a sermon or Bible study. It is my job to be interested in the Bible and people. In the fulfilling my occupational tasks, however, I often see a star rising and when I follow it I come face to face with Emmanuel—God with us. Whatever our daily task (grand-parenting, volunteering, tending the chores, teaching, bus driving, etc..,.) God sends stars which break into the mundane. These stars have the ability to capture our imaginations and through their light guide us to the light. The star is a gift for all who are seeking.
Gentiles know something of God, and this is a gift. It is rather an ironic touch that Matthew describes all the chief priests and scribes gathering at Herod’s behest to discuss a religious happening brought to their attention by foreign scholars. How incredibly embarrassing for all parties involved! It is not like Jerusalem and Bethlehem are that far apart—20 kilometers max. The star is clearly bright enough that it has attracted the attention of star watchers from the East, so how is it that none of the religious seers of Jerusalem noticed the star? Where were they gazing that they failed to see this bright light in the night? It reminds me a bit of the non-violent movement implemented by Martin Luther King, Jr. It can rather embarrassing when people not of our tradition reveal something to us which is at the heart of our Christian story. This happened when Martin Luther King, Jr. learned of Christian non-violence from the Hindu holy man Ghandi. This happened with Benedictine Dom Bede Griffith founded a monastery in India during the mid-twentieth century and immediately understood that that people of India had something to teach him of spirituality. This happens when co-workers, friends and colleagues impart some wisdom of living which is right before us in our sacred writings. This little twist to our Christmas story has the power to change how we think about evangelism, our relationship to neighbours, our approach to other faith traditions. It is the kind of gift which makes me want to shout, ALLELUIA! It is the kind of gift which makes me worship in thankful joy. It is also a gift which takes more than a paragraph to unwrap, and alas there are other treats under the tree.
New Kings are a gift. The magi called Jesus King, but he is unlike the other kings of Matthew’s gospel. Herod the Great massacred children while Jesus calls them a model of greatness (2.16 // 18.3). Herod the Tetrach beheads betrayers (14.10) while Jesus extends his betrayers bread and wine. Pilot washes his hands to preserve his life (27.24) while Jesus offers his life for the salvation of others. I won’t go into examples how the Kingship of Jesus might liberate a world in which the massacre of children happens with depressing regularity (Newtown, Conn for example), a world in which betrayers are dismembered rather than remembered, a world in which leaders sacrifice the vulnerable for their own political hide. Just know that the birth of Christ gives us options. And this alternative kingship is a gift to us. We have done nothing to deserve this gift and yet here it is right before us. It feels as if the only legitimate response is to worship.
Dreams are a gift. Dreams play a very important role in Matthew’s gospel. It is in a dream that an angel of the Lord tells Joseph to fear not and take the pregnant Mary as his wife (1.20). It is in a dream that in today’s story Magi are warned to return home without stopping in to see Herod (2.12). Following this an angel again appears to Joseph in dream this time telling him to get out himself and the royal family to Egypt as soon as possible (2.13). Eventually Herod dies and once more in a dream an angel gives Joseph a visit encouraging him to return to Israel (2.19). As it turns out, however, it is safer for them to be in Galilee than their home town so Joseph is warned about it in a dream (2.22). And finally, a dream sequence appears in the passion narrative as well in which the wife of Pilot has a dream about the innocence of Jesus (27.19). Do you still have dreams? We do in our house. In fact, the sharing of our dreams is something we often do before climbing out of bed. Often Patty diligently records her dreams in a journal. Reading back on these dream journals it is remarkable how some of the dreams have become reality. Dreams are a gift.
We have now finally arrived at the gifts typically associated with the story of the Magi: gold, frankincense and myrrh. 2nd Century church leader Irenaeus gave a nice neat typology for the meaning of these gifts (Richard Gardner, Matthew (Believers Church Bible Commentary series), p. 51). He understood the gold denoting royalty, the frankincense divinity, and the myrrh suffering. He may have it on the mark given that in the Old Testament gold is often used as a gift between royalty and that the only other N.T. occurrence of myrrh appears in John 19:39 when Jesus is buried with a mixture of myrrh and aloes. My exploration took me in a different direction. Rather than focus on the particular elements I made a general search for those passages in which gold, frankincense and myrrh all appear together. The Song of Solomon (chapters 3-6), Exodus 30, and Matthew 2 constitute the list. The Song of Solomon is a tale of passionate love in which the lover and beloved express with word, gift and action the depth of their affection for each other. Exodus 30 is a passage describing the beauty, holiness and healing of the temple which will be built. It is intriguing to consider these gifts of the magi as the signs of God’s passion and intent to heal the people in the New Temple of Christ. Whether you take my interpretation or that of Irenaeus the gifts of the magi are really descriptors of who Jesus will become than gifts of a baby shower. They are gifts only in so far as they help the parents of Jesus and the audience better understand who Jesus is. Once more, they are gifts for us.
One commonality of all the gifts I have so far mentioned is their direction. They are gifts for us and not from us. What is it that we bring to the great gift exchange we call Christmas? I think the text leaves us but one option: worship. The biblical word for worship (προσκυνέω) appears three times in our text. After following the star to Judea the magi ask Herod about the location of the new king so that they can go and worship. Herod, in a murderous scheme, says he too wants to worship. And then upon entering the house of Mary and Joseph the magi worship the new born baby. To form a near perfect book end the word “worship” appears several times in the last chapter of Matthew’s gospel with a similar intent as what we find in Matthew chapter 2. The innards of Matthew’s gospel leave no doubt to the ethical and moral implications of the Good News of Jesus Christ. So let me propose a simple two fold response to the Christmas gifts we have been give.
- Let us humbly acknowledge this thing called Christ which goes beyond anything we fully comprehend. This Christ brings stars into being, appears to those watching regardless of the culture or religious tradition, marshals angels to speak in dreams, redefines our idea of leadership and our national mythologies, becomes the new source of atonement, and defeats death. How? I am not quite sure but I know this thing called Christ is worthy of worship.
- Secondly, let us bear fruit worthy of repentance as John the Baptist put it (3.8). Or to paraphrase Jesus at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, let us be known for the good fruit we produce (7.15-20).
As we seek to faithfully offer these two gifts to Christ, God will continue to guide us and bless us on our earthly pilgrimage. Amen.
