Text Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12

Theme Meeting Necessities

Subject The gifts of the wise men: prophetic and practical but not ultimate

Occasion Epiphany of Our Lord – 1/6/08 – Zion – Iowa City

Grace to you and peace from our living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The prophet shouts

Arise, shine; for your light has come (Is. 60:1a)

Wonderful news for a people who have been held captive

The light of hope is not just at the end of the tunnel

The light shines right here and removes our darkness

God is meeting the necessities: light to remove our darkness

Today is The Epiphany of Our Lord

Literally – God’s love and purpose are “lit up”

Illuminated so all can see the mystery and majesty of God’s love

Where?

There in that little town: Bethlehem

Prophets said it would be this way

Wise men followed a star that lit their way

Writers in the early Church, like St. Paul, thought God’s revelation a great mystery

The mystery?

The birth of Jesus, God in the flesh – Not the mystery

That God worked salvation for all creation through Jesus – Not the mystery

Rather, that God’s love in Christ would be revealed to all people

Jews and Gentiles – the in crowd and the outsiders – everybody

For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. (Eph 2:14)

Only by the bright light of Christ could this mystery be exposed

In Christ – no more hostility between people – he is our peace

God meeting necessities

This year the season of Epiphany is not very long – only until February 5

The last day of Epiphany is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras

For these next 31 days we walk in the bright light of God as revealed in Jesus

Jesus: light of the world

- - - - - - -

Behold!

Jesus – just what we needed

In Christ Jesus God is meeting our necessity

Our need for a savior

After Jesus was born,

Wise men followed a star and came to see him

That’s a topic for another time

They stopped at the palace to check with the government

That’s a topic for another time

My attention is entirely focused on verse 11

On entering the house, (the wise men) saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

Meeting necessities

Back in September when I was preparing for today that theme came easily to mind

I’d read an article long ago that explained the wisdom of these gifts

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

Could these wise men have known about Jesus and his mission?

Seems as if these gifts were prophetic

Jesus, prince of peace, would be King of Creation

A king needs some wealth to support and sustain his power

Gold: meeting necessity for a king

Jesus, the great high priest, after the order of Melchizedek

A priest needs incense so his prayers rise sweetly before God

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (Psalm 141:2)

Frankincense: meeting necessity for a priest

Jesus, the crucified savior, would face the pain of death

Myrrh is a tree sap that is a transparent, brown, brittle, odorous substance, with bitter taste. "Wine mingled with myrrh" was offered to Jesus on the cross to numb his pain but he refused it. John reports that later that day Nicodemus brought ointment of myrrh to embalm Jesus (John 19:39).

Myrrh: meeting necessity for a dying man, a dead man

Such brilliance I thought

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

But I’ve had lots of time to think about this

Seems to me, as much as these 3 gifts are meeting necessities,

They are not so prophetic

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

These gifts are very practical

Gold, frankincense and myrrh are fitting gifts for any child

Regardless of our station in life,

we need some means of commerce

Some way to buy food, clothing and shelter

Gold: meeting necessity – a good gift

Regardless of what we grow up to do for a living,

we need a faith relationship

Some way to connect with God and prayer is surely that

Let my prayer rise before you as incense; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (Psalm 141:2)

Frankincense – meeting necessity – a good gift

Regardless of how we spend the days of our lives

we all will die

all manner of gifts for our impending death are available:

pre-paid funerals, caskets, urns, burial plots and more

Anyone of these gifts, even a business card from Lensings or Gay-Chia,

brings the final reality of life to our attention

Myrrh – meeting necessity – a good gift

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

These gifts seem prophetic and lavish when given to the Christ child

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

They might seem simply practical

After all, everybody needs them

Then I imagined for a moment what would other practical gifts be

Fresh water

Fertile soil

Clean air

There is Amish wisdom that taking care of the land is taking care of what belongs to the grandchildren

The Amish are near enough and we can see how it is among them

Water, soil, air

Good gifts – meeting necessities

Yet with all of these gifts is an illumination too easily missed

Gifts are given in the context of relationships

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

Water, soil, air

Relationships – meeting necessities – such a good gift

Wise men traveling together

Chief priests and scribes researching scripture together

the child with Mary his mother

The tragic one as this story is told is King Herod

Giving orders but alone

Making requests but alone

Finally isolated, abandoned and alone

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

Water, soil, air

Relationships

Meeting necessities

Not so long ago I presided at the funeral of Erika

She was 85 when she died

She came to America from Hamburg when she was 17

Arthur had sent her a letter asking her to come and be is wife

During the visitation Erika’s great granddaughter, maybe only 4 years old,

who had been named after her,

came close to the casket with her mother to see Erika, her namesake

she stood silent and wondering

then she asked her mother

“Why is grandma in that treasure chest?”

Gold, frankincense and myrrh

Water, soil, air

Relationships

These gifts meet our necessities

but they do not meet our ultimate necessity

We need some one to transform our caskets into treasure chests

To transform death to life

Then, opening their treasure chests, …

His name is Jesus