The Epiphany       January 6, 2008

Isaiah 60:1-6, 9

Psalm 72:1-2, 10-17

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

This is about the 20th year that I have made the same New Year’s resolution: I am not going to have a clipper ship tattooed on my forehead. I’m proud to say that I have been successful to date and I anticipate that I will keep this resolution once again for 2008.

Cheekiness aside, 2008 will be a very eventful year with a lot of unknowns before us: Who will win the presidential election? What will happen in Iraq? What will retirement be like? How will loved ones cope with health issues? And on and on. That’s one of the reasons I make this silly resolution: it is something about which I’m really sure of the outcome.

Another way that I deal with uncertainly is by honoring the traditions of the Church and we have an opportunity to do that today: This is the Feast of the Epiphany. It’s one of the seven premiere feasts of our Anglican calendar (along with Christmas, Easter, The Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday and All Saints Day.)  Three of these, All Saints Day on November 1, Christmas on December 25th and Epiphany on January 6th are called “fixed feasts” because they each have an established day on which they are to be celebrated. Sometimes the following Sunday is the date of observance for these feasts, particularly All Saints and Epiphany.

The other four are called “movable feasts,” and they are determined by the date of Easter which is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox: or you can look at the calendar. The Feast of the Ascension is always 40 days after Easter, Pentecost is 50 days after Easter and Trinity Sunday is always the following week.

There are three stories from the Gospels which are linked traditionally with Epiphany: The Baptism of Jesus, Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee, when he turned the water to wine, and the story of the coming of the Magi or Wise men that we have in today’s Gospel lesson.

If you would turn to the Gospel lesson please, you will note some interesting things.

The Greek word for wise men or kings  is “magi” and it is the same base term from which we get the word magic. These magi were men of power in their own lands. Pious tradition has it there were three of these men, although you will note that no mention is made of how many there were. Tradition also gives us their names: Balthazar was dark and was king of Arabia; Melchoir was elderly with white hair and was king of Persia, present day Iran and Caspar (or Gaspar), young and beardless, was King of India. I doubt if there is any truth in this, but if it were true, then you know that there would have been huge entourages with each of them. This would have been a big deal if they came a visiting.

Note toward the end that they entered a house where the child was, not in a stable as depicted in countless Christmas cards.  Jesus may have been 2 years old when they came.

What’s important for us is that these Gentiles, non-Jews, were among the first to adore our Lord.

Tradition also has it that that there were only three magi because there were three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

This is where we get the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas.

I am reminded of three stories about gift giving. The first is from an old movie entitled “The Father of Bride” with Steve Martin in the title role.  The very young groom decided to give his bride to be, his beloved, a gift. When she opens it, wide eyed with excitement and expectation, she suddenly burst into tears and, runs out of the room, slams the door and even calls off the wedding. The young groom is dumfounded: He thought it was a very practical, useful, common sense gift. It was a blender.

The second story is from that wonderful O. Henry short story entitled “The Gift of the Magi.” A very poor young couple is each searching for the perfect Christmas gift for the other.  The young woman’s pride and joy is her rich luxuriant long hair. His prized possession is his pocket watch.  He finds a pair of beautiful, ornate hair combs, so he sells his watch to pay for them.

In the meantime, having no idea what her husband has done she finds a gold chain and watch fob that would be perfect for his gold pocket watch. To pay for it she, cuts her hair and sells it.

The third story is told by William Willimon, Lutheran Campus pastor at Duke University. He shares that when he and his wife had their first child, an old friend, a retired English professor, came by with a gift for the baby.

When the parents opened it, they were surprised to discover a very old, rare leather-bound copy of Shakespeare’s plays.

I love these stories.  We can see the magi kneeling, presenting their gifts. Here is a child, born to poor, peasant parents, soon to be on the run as refugees to Egypt. And what is he given? A bar of gold and couple of bottles of expensive perfume.

More practical gifts would have been food, clothing, tickets out of Bethlehem on a passing caravan. What can a small child do with such gifts?  What very impractical gifts the magi laid before the child.

But that’s the point, isn’t it? And if you don’t get the point, then you may as well get your sweetheart a blender, or a dozen Mason jars or soap-on-rope for Valentine’s Day.

What in the world do you give the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Savior of the world?

The answer lies in the text of one of our Christmas carols:

‘What shall I give him, poor though as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb,

If I were a wise man, I would do my part,

What then shall I give him? I give him my heart.’

What makes the absolute best gift is not so much the item, the thing, but what lies behind it. And what is behind it often determines the value of the gift on the part of the receiver.

The bride to be just doesn’t see much heart in the gift of a blender. and the fact that he doesn’t see what the problem is frightens her even more. “What kind of man am I about to marry?” she asks herself.

And think of that O. Henry story of a man selling his most cherished possession to give his wife something that would bring her delight, only to discover that his wife had sold her hair to bring him delight: My word, what a wonderful story of heart offering.

And the professor, giving a rare gift to a little kid who soon might scribble on the pages with a crayon; he was giving from the heart. He was giving a piece of himself, his love for the English language and the wisdom of the Bard, a gift of hope and joy and future for that infant.

What can we give God that he doesn’t already have? What can we give to match God’s gifts to us?  It’s like the man who was bragging about giving $50,000 dollars to the church. And his friend responded, ‘Great! God gives you his Son on the Cross and you give God fifty grand?”

That’s the truth, isn’t it?  What can we give God that shows our love and gratitude for all that he has given us? There is nothing that can even come close to matching what He has given us.

“So what do I give him, poor though as I am?

I give him my heart.”

I offer myself in worship: I offer my prayers, even though God knows my needs before I ask. But in opening my mouth to pray, I end up giving my heart.

I offer my money, even though I may not be rich. But I give as a form of worship and praise, as well as faith and trust, and in the process I offer my heart.

I offer my time and my talent, seeking to be useful in small ways as well as large ways. And in so doing, I offer my heart.

And when I offer my heart, I bear that true mark of the faithful Christian. It is the mark of gratitude: Gratitude for all that God has done for me, and the good news is that God accepts this as enough.

Like the wise men offering Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, we offer what we have, and if our hearts come along with the gifts, then it is enough.

“What shall I give him? I give him my heart.” That’s really my resolution for this year. I want to make sure that I continue to give God my heart.

Amen.