Scripture text: Matthew 2:1-12, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Did everyone get what they wanted for Christmas?
What? We’re
still talking about Christmas. Well, yes. This is the Church, where Christmas
lasts 12 days from Dec 25 until the Feast of Epiphany on Jan 6. Today is Jan 5
so we are still in the season of Christmas and still talking about Christmas.
Now, when
I say “did everyone get what they wanted for Christmas,” don’t necessarily mean
just material goods. Perhaps what you wanted was to see the look on a
grandchild’s face when they opened their gift. Perhaps what you wanted was to
share a meal that you had prepared with those that you love. Gifts take many
forms, not all of them tangible.
Of
course, the tradition of gift giving on Christmas comes out of the story in
Matthew’s Gospel of the coming of the Magi to Jesus. These foreign dignitaries,
magicians and astrologers really, who have traveled from far away lands because
they saw in the same night sky they looked to for their secret knowledge a sign
of the birth of a special child.
So they
come, traveling unknown leagues from their home countries to Bethlehem, bearing
gifts for the Christ child. Gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
We have
heard this story so often and we are immersed in our modern world that we do
not automatically recognize the oddity of these three gifts being given to the
same child. But whatever sign these astrologers saw in the night sky revealed
to them that this child would be the one to be given these three very specific
things.
- Gold - The proper tribute due to any royal figure. A gift of gold is a gift meant for a king.
- Frankincense - The fine mix of herbs that when burned would give off fragrant smoke in the temple of the Lord. A gift meant for those at prayer. A gift for the high priest.
- Myrrh - Oil intermixed with spice and herb designed to embalm and preserve the body of one who had died. This gift is usually only given to the dead, and here it is given to one whose whole purpose in life is to die.
King,
priest, and sacrifice. These three gifts are given with purpose, with design,
with intent. These magi know not only who this infant is, but what he will do
in his life. They are perhaps the very first of Jesus’ followers to foresee his
Passion and death on a cross.
Gifts
given with purpose. The truth is, every gift is given with purpose. Every gift
is given for a reason. That reason may be something as simple as “I love you
and I want to show you that” or “I appreciate what you do and I want to show my
gratitude.” These are perfectly legitimate and genuine purposes behind the
gifts that we give to one another and are often the source of why we give
during the holiday season.
So
perhaps a better question for today is not “did you get what you wanted on
Christmas,” but rather “why did you give what you gave?” Or perhaps better
still is “why were given what you received?” There is great merit in the
pursuit of the answers to those questions. Not only is it healthy for us to
recognize how much others love and appreciate us, but it may also be helpful
for us to recognize what they see in us as a person. For some gifts are given
not out of appreciation or affection, but as encouragement.
A child
may be given a guitar as encouragement to develop their musical talents.
Someone may be given tools to encourage their woodworking skills. A donation
may be given in someone’s name to a charity to encourage them to keep up the
fight for what is right.
When God
gives a gift, this one of the purposes behind it. It may not be the only
purpose, but it is one of them. If God gives a person musical gifts, they are
being encouraged to develop and share them. If God gives a person an artistic
eye, they are encouraged to develop and share the beauty that they see. Now we
typically think of God-given gifts in this way, as something creative, but it
is not always so.
For
instance, one who is greatly skilled at the repair of mechanical devices is
encouraged to pursue that for the sake of others. One who has great knowledge
is encouraged to teach and spread that knowledge to others. One who has the
wisdom of experience and a long life is encouraged to share what they know. One
who has great wealth is asked to make use of it to help other people. In each
of us, God has given something, a skill, a inborn talent, a unique perspective,
something that he intends for us to share with others for betterment of the
world.
St. Paul
writes at some length about this in his first letter to the church in Corinth.
He writes “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit...To each is
given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given
through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of
knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to
another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles,
to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various
kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are
activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just
as the Spirit chooses.”
Now the
spirit that Paul speaks of is, of course, the Spirit of God, choosing with
deliberate intent what each person is capable of. But the important piece is
that phrase “for the common good.” What is given is given for others, for their
sake. What we have is given to be shared to build up, to encourage, to grow, to
challenge those around us.
Christ
himself is that sort of gift. He too is given for a variety of purposes, but
all of them intentional, all of them a reason. He comes to challenge us. Love
your enemies. Pray for those who attack and persecute you. Hardly a easy thing
he asks of us. Welcome the stranger. Embrace those that society deems unworthy.
Again, a difficult thing for us, to welcome and love those alien and different
from us.
He comes
to encourage. Be better than you are now. Grow in faith and love towards
yourself and others. Give generously of what you have, whether that be wealth,
knowledge, affection, or inborn talents.
And he
comes to die. For there is no greater good for humanity and for all of creation
than the eradication of sin and death. These he does by taking them into
himself and then sacrificing himself on a cross, putting them to death within
himself. This is his greatest gift to us: life instead of death. Mercy instead
of punishment.
These are
given to you and so much more. Your skills, your wealth, your knowledge, your
experiences, your salvation, all gifts from on high. All given with reason and
intent. The question before each of us is “what does God want us to do with
them?” Amen.
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