Dave Tietz
St. Paul Lutheran Church
Taylor, TX
Matthew 2:1-12 Epiphany
Today is the 7th of the 12 days of Christmas. Thursday, January 6, is the
day of Epiphany, the end of the Christmas season.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, January 6 is the day celebrated as
Christmas.
But here in the west, we celebrate December 25 as Christmas and then
remember the visit of the wisemen, the magi, bearing gifts for the Christ
Child on January 6, the Day of Epiphany.
The custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas time finds its roots in the
gift-giving of the magi, the wisemen. Just as the wisemen brought gifts of
gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus as acts of worship and
adoration, today we give gifts at Christmas time to those we love and
adore.
Think about the custom of gift-giving for a moment.
· What was the best gift you received you received at Christmas?
· What was the best gift you gave?
· What makes for a truly good gift?
Just what you always wanted? Just what you always needed?
Or could it be that the best gifts are gifts you never wanted, much less
needed?
I am reminded of a couple stories of gift giving.
In the movie "Father of the Bride" with Steve Martin, the young groom
decides to give his bride-to-be, his beloved, a gift - a very practical,
useful, common-sense gift. He gives her a blender.
As she opens the gift in wide-eyed excitement and expectation, and then
discovers what it is, she runs up the stairs, slams the door, and bursts
into tears. She even calls off the wedding.
The groom is surprised, confused, bewildered. He can't figure out what the
problem is, what he did wrong.
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Another story that is always a favorite at Christmas time is the short
story by O'Henry entitled, "The Gift of the Magi." A poor young
couple are
searching for just the perfect Christmas gift for each other.
When he finds a pair of beautiful, ornate hair combs, he decides this would
be the perfect gift to adorn his wife's shinny, long hair. So he sells his
one and only prize possession - his pocket watch - to buy the combs.
In the meantime, having no idea what her husband has done, she finds a gold
chain and fob that would be perfect for his pocket watch, so she sacrifices
her prize asset: she cuts her hair and sells it to in order to buy him the
watch chain.
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Pastor William Willimon, campus pastor at Duke University, tells the story
when their first child was born, an old English professor, who was a dear
friend of the family, came by with a gift for the baby, wrapped in fine
paper tied with a beautiful bow.
When the parents opened it, they were surprised to discover a very old,
rare, leather-bound copy of Shakespeare's plays. What a strange gift to
give for a baby! An old book, written in an archaic language, given to a
baby who will not be able to read it for years to come.
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Pastor Belinda Windham from first Presbyterian here in Taylor tells how
last Christmas she got a phone call from one of her son's friends. He
asked, "Pastor Windham, do you know of anyone who needs some help? Anyone
at all?"
She replied, "Well, what do you mean? I'm not sure I understand what you
want."
So he repeated the request. "Do you know anyone who needs some help? Is
there anyone in your church or community that I could help?"
So finally Pastor Windham said, "John, I'm not sure just what it is you're
asking. Could you tell me some more?
"Well," he said, "I asked my mother what she would like for
Christmas, and
she said that what she would really like would be for me to help someone in
need, so I'm trying to find someone I can help!"
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What do these stories tell us about the nature of gifts? About the best
gifts we ever receive, the best gifts we ever give?
We look at the magi kneeling there before the Christ child, giving their
gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What strange gifts to give to a
baby!
Here we have a poor baby, born to poor, peasant parents, soon to be on the
run as refugees in Egypt. And what do they give him? A bar of gold, and a
couple bottles of expensive, costly perfume.
More practical gifts would have been food, clothing, tickets out of
Bethlehem on a passing caravan. What can a baby do with such gifts? Even
the gold would have raised suspicions and questions if the parents tried to
cash it in for something more practical and useful.
What silly, pointless, impractical, useless gifts that magi laid before the
little infant, Jesus.
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 vacuum sweeper, or
soap-on-a-rope for Valentine's Day.
What do you give the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of the
World who lies before us in a manger? What do you give to Jesus? As the
Christmas carol goes,
What shall I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would give him a lamb,
If I were a wisemen I'd do my part.
What shall I give him? I give him my heart.
I give him my heart!
That's what makes the difference in all these gift-giving stories, isn't
it?!
What makes the absolute best gift is not so much the item, the thing, but
what is 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 person am I about to marry, to spend the rest of my life
with
- who gives me a blender as a gift?"
But the man selling his most valued possession to give his wife a beautiful
comb only to discover that his wife sold her hair to give him a fob - what
is that story about?
It's about giving from the heart. What a gift - to realize that my spouse
would sacrifice his/her most valued possession in order to give me a gift!
Or that professor giving a rare, leather-bound volume of Shakespeare's
plays to an infant - he was giving from the heart, he was giving a piece of
himself, he was giving from his own love and passion for the English
language, a gift of hope and joy and future for the child.
And the young man trying to find someone to help? That's what his mother
wanted more than anything else.
So no matter how awkward and difficult it was for him, he was bound and
determined to do it, not because he loved the person he ended up helping,
but because he loved his mother.
And those wisemen, those magi? Were they wealthy? Did they have in
abundance?
There is some thought that the magi were really magicians, and that the
gold, frankincense, and myrrh were tools of the trade, it's what they would
always carry with them in order to work their magic and incantations.
Like the shepherd who would give the Christ child a lamb, the magi gave
what they had, what was important to them.
The most important gift was that they were there, that they had traveled
who knows how many miles, enduring all sorts of difficulties and hardships,
following a star, a sign in the sky, believing that God was leading them,
but not really knowing what to expect.
That they did all that was the real gift. Once they arrived and found the
baby, they gave them what they had, and truly, they were gifts from the
heart.
And perhaps that is the way it is with us as well as we seek to give our
gifts to God.
· What can we give God that God doesn't already have?
· What can we give that would match God's gift to us?
Like the man bragging about his gift to the church. "I gave $5,000 to the
church last year." To which his friend responded, "Great! God gives
you
his only Son on a cross, and you give God $5,000!"
That's the truth, isn't it. What can we give God that shows our love,
gratitude, and thanks to God for all that God has done for us?
There is nothing that we can give that would come even close to matching
what God has given to us!
So what do I give, poor as I am?
I give him my heart.
I offer myself in worship and sing hymns of praise, even though I may not
have the best voice. But I sing as an expression of the joy and gratitude
that is in my heart.
I offer my prayers, even though God knows what I need before I ask him.
But in opening my hands to receive what God wants to give, I end up giving
him my heart.
I offer my offering, even though I may not be a millionaire. But I give
what I have as an act of worship and praise, as well as an act of faith and
trust, and in the process I give him my heart.
I offer my time, and even though I may not be able to change the world,
· I can serve on a church committee or a community service organization,
· I can visit that lonely lady in the nursing home,
· I can tutor a child struggling with reading,
· I can help my neighbor,
· I can give God my heart.
It's been said that the true mark of a Christian is gratitude - gratitude
for all that God has done for us through Jesus Christ,
It is out of humble gratitude that we give from the heart, our gifts of
worship, prayer, singing, possessions, and time.
And the good news is that as we give our insignificant, little, pointless,
wonderful gifts to God, the good news is that God accepts them!
Like the magi offering their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, we
offer what we have, we give from the heart, in response to what that Child
has given to us - himself.
Once again as we gather around the altar, we receive Christ - all the gifts
of God's grace. As we receive, in gratitude we respond.
What shall I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would give him a lamb,
If I were a wisemen I'd do my part.
What shall I give him? I give him my heart. Amen