“They presented unto him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh”
The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas time originates with the coming of the Magi to the Child Christ in Bethlehem. From the three gifts comes the idea of the three magi from the East, from Anatolia. They are the proverbial come-from-aways. They are the original truth-seekers. They come having followed a star. They have come seeking the light of truth and led by that light they have come to Christ.
But they have not come empty-handed. They have come bearing gifts to the one who is the greatest gift of all. Love, suggests Aquinas, is in the nature of a first gift through which all other gifts are given. But what about the gifts of the Magi?
These are gifts which teach us about the nature of gift-giving. They are not exactly useful gifts – like socks and mittens, scarves and mufflers or like the useful gifts at a baby shower, diapers and wipes, soft blankets and towels. Beyond the useful gifts that we give to one another there are the useless gifts, the gifts that honour the one to whom they are given. In a way, the three gifts of the Magi are really useless gifts, gifts that essentially teach us about the meaning of the One to whom they are given.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh. I suppose we might think that gold is useful as easily converted into money and coin but even so is it not a strange gift to give to the child? Even stranger are the other two gifts, the gifts of frankincense and myrrh. How utterly useless with respect to a new-born child!
But that is just the point of the gifts of the magi. They are utterly utterly useless in an immediate and practical sense. They are gifts which teach. They signify the meaning of the one who has come, the meaning of the child lying in a manger. The gifts honour who he really is and who he is for us. Gold honours a king and a king Christ is, the King of all Creation; frankincense is an exotic resin and gum that when burned gives off a lovely odor; it signifies prayer which rises like the smoke to heaven, to God; myrrh, of course, is the most disturbing of the three gifts of the magi for it is an ancient burying spice and reminds us profoundly of the mission of Christ, the mystery of redemption, which entails Christ’s death on the Cross. It signifies Christ as sacrifice.
Three gifts that honour Christ and teach us about who Christ is and who he is for us. They are, as the hymn puts it, “sacred gifts of mystic meaning.” They teach us about Christ the King who is God and Sacrifice. The gifts of the Magi challenge us about the gifts we give and the gifts we receive.
It opens us out to one of the paradoxes of the Christian Faith. God gives us everything. Give everything back to God. You can’t. What can we give him? As the carol wonderfully puts it, ‘I’ll give him my heart.’ God seeks our good, the good of our whole being, so much so that he has come as the lowly babe of Bethlehem. The gifts make visible how great that little one truly is. He is God and King and Sacrifice. The gifts of the Magi honour who Christ is. They challenge us to honour one another.
“They presented unto him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh”
Fr. David Curry
Eve of the Epiphany
January 5th, 2012
One thought on “Sermon for the Epiphany”
Thanks Fr. It is a good reflection.