Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Matthew 2: 1-12

The other night I had the opportunity to meet with the Pastor Seeking Committee. Char opened with devotions for the group by displaying this amazing and incredible little crèche scene.  The characters all looked like tiny Eskimos.  Their clothing had been felted.  Even a teeny little husky dog and been felted. The characters that represented the wise men were bearing tiny little wrapped gifts with teeny bows. Char asked us to think about how we had been honored with a gift over the Christmas season, or how we had honored others with a gift. She herself said that she felt honored to receive this little crèche scene from one of her children’s friends. Others shared how they had been honored or honored another.  One member of the committee was able to honor a whole village by giving a financial gift that would provide an additional classroom for children of the village.

Our gospel text today speaks of gifts.  The gifts of the Magi: gold, frankincense and myrrh.  The Magi have followed the star and when they saw where the star had stopped they were overwhelmed with joy. They came in, knelt down, and lavished the Christ child with gifts.  I think it is interesting that we don’t know the names of the Magi, or really how many of them there were, or where they were from.  We only know what gifts they gave.

Commentators have suggested that the three gifts that the baby received represented the three roles of Jesus the Messiah. His kingly office is represented by gold, his divinity by frankincense and his humanity by the myrrh.

Gold was the usual offering presented to kings by their subjects, or those wanting to pay respect.  It seems as though the metal we know as gold has always held extremely high value. As long ago as 2500 BCE, gold was prized as a medium of exchange. Gold is scarce, which adds immeasurably to its value. But let’s not forget, gold is dug from the earth. Gold is, as one writer put it, “warmly beautiful”. Gold is enduring, and can withstand all natural acids and even fire. We draw attention to this feature when we perform a wedding ceremony. The ring becomes the symbol of a marriage, which will hopefully endure the tests of time, tribulation, hardships, disagreements, illness, and bereavement.

The second gift brought out of the boxes by the Magi was frankincense.  Frankincense is a very costly and fragrant gum distilled from a tree that is found in Persia, India and Arabia, as well as the East Indies. It is a white resin or gum, and is obtained by slitting the bark of the tree and allowing the gum to flow out. The word actually means “whiteness”, referring to the white colored juice, which flows out of the wound in the tree. This gum hardens for three months, and is gathered at the end of the summer, and sold in the form of clumps of hardened resin.  Frankincense is highly fragrant when burned, and was, therefore, used in worship, where it was burned as a pleasant offering to God.

The last gift brought by the Magi was Myrrh.  Myrrh is an aromatic gum produced from a thorn-bush that grew in Arabia and Ethiopia, and was obtained from a tree in the same manner as frankincense. This thorny tree is similar to the acacia. It grows from eight to ten feet high. When it oozes from the wounded shrub, myrrh is a pale yellow color at first, but as it hardens, it changes to dark red or even black color.  However, if frankincense represents sweetness, myrrh represents bitterness, at least to the taste. In fact, the name itself was given to it on account of its great bitterness.  It was used chiefly in embalming the dead, because it had the property of preserving them.

The Magi brought gifts recognizing kingship, divinity and humanity. Symbolic gifts.  What gifts would you bring to the Christ child?  What are the gifts and resources that God has given you?

When I reflect on this question I realize that one of the gifts I received from God through my parents was a hunger to understand scripture.  Both of my parents have always been Bible scholars.  My mom still gets worked up when she hears a sermon that is just “pap” as she calls it: baby food for Christians.  She and my dad have libraries that would rival any pastor’s.  A gift that I have learned from my husband and children is that of hospitality.  When I first met my husband, he was letting needy strangers sleep on his couch.

What are your gifts?  Mary Schramm has written a book entitled, Gifts of Grace. She suggests that there are five steps in clarifying and using your gifts, and I would like to share her steps with you.

The first step is to discover your gifts, and you always discover your gifts in relationship.   You rarely discover your gifts by yourself.   For example, the essence of all good parenting is to help your child discover his or her gifts.   Yes, we love them and give them stability, but part of the genius of good parenting is to help our children to discover their own unique talents and resources.  The great temptation of parents is to impose one’s own values on which gifts a child should have rather than for them to discover their own.  Another relationship in which to discover your gifts is school, with teachers and coaches and conductors and peers.   We also discover our giftedness while at work.   Our fellow employees help us as we mature in our talents and abilities.  And certainly a marriage or a long term loving relationship is a place where you discover your giftedness.   In a good relationship a partner is forever helping you to discover your talents and how to use those talents most effectively. Friends are also a good relationship in which to reflect on your gifts. They know your interests and resources and changing circumstances of life and they help you to discover and expand your giftedness.

The second step is to accept the gifts that you have been given.   Take some time to acknowledge and to celebrate your gifts. It is also important to recognize what is not your gift. This is the art of maturity, learning to accept the gifts that God has given to you and not given to you. One of the primary keys of life is to embrace the gifts that God has uniquely given you, your unique blend of talents, aptitudes, abilities, life experiences, the sum total of all your resources.   What are your gifts?

The third step is to enjoy your God-given gifts.   To take pleasure in them, to appreciate what God can do through your life.  Have fun doing what you do well.

The fourth step is to mature or develop your gifts.  Like all gifts, they need to be put to work, to be exercised, and developed.  Nothing in this world becomes stronger without hard work and investment of time, self and energy.  Just to rely on native talent and avoid the hard work of developing that gift will keep you from making the most of what God has given you. I enjoy listening to our musicians play: Our volunteer pianists, and instrumentalists, Lucas and Linnea on their violins, and Dee on the organ. They are so talented with their instruments. They are gifted. But I happen to know that they all practice, practice, practice as well.  That is the less fun, but important part of developing your gifts.

And the fifth step involves all of the steps, and this is to surrender all your gifts to God.  It means to give all of your gifts in service of Jesus Christ.  That’s what was wise about the Wise men.   Their wisdom wasn’t merely giving their material gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but it was the gift of their total selves to their journey to find Christ. Their trip took years to find Christ in their searching, their time, and their energy.  So those are the five steps about your gifts:  discovering, accepting, taking joy in, maturing, and surrendering them to the work of God in this world.

Now this sermon becomes interactive.   That is, I want you to write down on your bulletin five gifts that God has given you.   Please.  Everyone.  Children too.   Write down five gifts that God has given you, knowing that you have been given hundreds.  Remember gifts are talents, abilities, aptitudes, events that have happened to you, some tragic, some great, its the sum total of all the resources that God has been giving to your throughout your lifetime.  Now, when you go home after church, I would be appreciative if you would ask someone who knows you to add five more gifts to your list that God has given you.  That way the sermon can continue.

We’ve just come through a season of giving.  Receiving a gift is special and giving a gift is special.  What have you received?  What can you give?