Three Kings, Three Gifts: Sermon Matthew 2:1-12

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

You know what would have happened if there had been three wise WOMEN instead of three wise MEN, don’t you? The three wise WOMEN would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the Baby, cleaned the stable, and made a casserole, and brought diapers, wipes and formula as gifts.

I am willing to bet that most of us at some time this Christmas season have come across a Nativity scene. Some of us might have attended a living Nativity or even had a scene in our homes and yards. Some of these Nativity scenes are not entirely accurate. We see Mary and Joseph, shepherds, and various animals and of course baby Jesus in the Manger. However some Nativities show the three wise men or Magi as being there at the birth. Most scholars would agree the visit of the Magi occurred days or even months after the birth of Jesus. This, of course, is the reason why we celebrate Epiphany separate and distinct from Christmas. The story that we read this morning contains 4 parts that I want to explore. One is the star of Bethlehem, second is the Magi and their gifts, third is King Herod, and fourth is the child Jesus himself.

One of the most enduring symbols of the Christmas and Magi stories is the star. The star leads the wise men to the place where Jesus laid with his mother in Bethlehem. Scientists have debated and theorized on what the star could have been and most do agree that if it did occur that it probably wasn’t a star at all but some other phenomena. You might have seen a special on this on the History channel or Discovery channel this holiday season. One theory states is that it was a supernova, which is a star collapsing and exploding causing a bright light to be visible in the sky for a period of time. Another idea is that it was a comet, such as Halley’s Comet that comes to visit this neck of the woods ever so often. In the ancient times a comet was an omen of evil or impending tragedy not the symbol for the birth of a new king and the Magi, whose name means astrologer as well as wise man in Greek would have known that. Another theory that has been tossed around is that the star was a meteor but this is not really plausible because a meteor streaks across the sky for only a short time, just like a shooting star. Among scientists the most realistic answer is that the star was what is known as a planetary conjuncture. That is an event where a planet comes into a special alignment. These events, we know from history, where noticed by scholars and astrologers in the ancient world, and certain type of conjunctures where known to herald the coming of a new ruler.

Although these theories attempt to explain the miracle of the star through human understanding, there do leave some important unanswered questions. If it was a planetary alignment how can one explain the precise movement leading the Magi to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem? How can one explain how this star or whatever it was stopped directly over the precise spot? The only explanation is that there is no explanation. The only way to understand it is to accept this as the work of God that lead these Magi directly to where He wanted them to go. These people were star gazers and astrologers so God sent a sign in a way that they would understand. These three people looked to the sky for signs and omens and this is where God spoke to them. Does God communicate with us like that today? The answer is resounding yes. God leads people in ways that they can understand and uses guides that people will follow. How would God speak today? Would he send an e-mail? Maybe a text message? Or on His spiritual cell phone? Maybe God speaks through strangers on the street, maybe through children, maybe even through a television show. Don’t expect a burning bush but quiet yourself and try to pick up on the subtle clues that God leaves for us.

The second pert of the story is the Magi themselves. Which brings up the question, who were these guys? As I stated before the word Magi is Greek for wise man or astrologer. More than likely they worked for kings in the east, but they were not kings like the song says. These men were from the East, maybe in the kingdom of Persia and they were sent on a mission to pay homage to the newborn king. These men were guided by the star in order to worship Jesus they were drawn to Him in order to worship him. They traveled a dangerous and long road in order to fulfill their need for worship.

We all know that they brought gifts to the baby Jesus and although those gifts might seem impractical they did carry with them special meaning. First was gold. Gold is a precious, valuable metal, which is a gift fit for a king. That is that the gold represented the kingship and royalty of Jesus. Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and a gift of gold is very fitting for royalty.

The second gift was frankincense or incense. This is a resin from a tree sap that is mixed with other herbs and spices in order to form many different aromas. Incense was use in the Temple in Jerusalem to cover up the odor of the sacrifices and is still used in certain churches as a symbol of prayer. The smoke rising symbolizes our prayers rising to heaven and the sweet smell represents the sweetness of prayer. In either case incense was and is used by priests. It was presented to Jesus because He is the High Priest of God. Incense was and is used in holy places and so incense was given also because Jesus is Holy Son of God.

The third gift was maybe the strangest gift for a baby and that was myrrh. Myrrh is also a tree resin, but its use was different. It was used as an embalming spice to prepare a body for burial. This might seem a little strange to give a newborn baby and I can imagine Mary and Joseph perhaps being a little uncomfortable at this gift as any parents would be. Imagine receiving formaldehyde as a baby shower gift. However, this was no ordinary baby. This was a baby that was born not only to bring light and hope to the world but to also sacrifice himself to forgive the sins of the world. These three gifts by themselves might be odd but together they symbolize the royalty, holiness, and sacrifice of Jesus.

What gifts do you bring to the newborn king this morning? You might ask, “I don’t have gifts to give” but I don’t believe that for a second. You might say I’m too old or I’m too sick. However, I know for a fact that every person in this sanctuary this morning as something to offer. Take a look a Bill Gates. Bill Gates is, of course, the CEO of Microsoft and has gone from working in his one room apartment to being among the richest people in the world. He has a gift for entrepreneurial success and has taken that gift and served the world by providing vaccines to third world children, saving thousands of lives. He is not a preacher or a missionary but he has taken the gifts God has given to him and served God and God’s children. I know that we have people in our congregation and that have skills and gifts can and should be used to serve God in a variety of ways. One thing that God expects us to do is to use those gifts and to serve where there is need.

Well every good story has to have a bad guy and this one is no exception. The bad guy is King Herod who was king of Judea during the early 1^st century AD. We talked some about him last week. King Herod was, according to most scholars was not a Jew but was an Arab placed as king of Judea and backed by the Roman Government. These two things led him to be very unpopular with the people. This, did not concern Herod because he was not a fan of the people either. The one thing that he did love was the one thing that was threatened by the news of the Magi, and that was power. The news of the birth of the king of the Jews must have been startling and disconcerting, but Herod was a cool character. Instead of letting his temper get the best of him he tried to trick the Magi into revealing information on the location of the newborn king, not because he wanted to worship him but because he wanted to destroy the threat.

How many things in our own lives want to destroy the kingship of Jesus in our own hearts? The world is filled with King Herods, filled with things that seek to sever our relationship with Jesus. God has provided us with a guide, with gifts to give, but we must be wary of those things that seek to hinder our work of Jesus. These things seek to distract and dishearten us. They tell us that the problems are too big and that we should just look out for number 1. They tell us that following Jesus isn’t worth it, to stay home and watch the game instead of coming to church, they tell us that bum on the street deserves what he’s got, instead of what Jesus would say which is that as you do for those people you do for him. We must stay alert for the Herods around us and approach them with love and with patience as Jesus did.

The final and most important piece of the puzzle is of course Jesus. Jesus is not only the reason for the season; he is the reason for everything. He is the reason that we are here the morning and he is the reason that we can say that we are children of God, saved by the blood of Christ and the grace of God. The Son of God, King of kings, Lord of lords, the Prince of peace came not with a thunderous host of angels or trumpets from heaven, although that was his right, he came humbly, born in a stable, laid in a feeding trough for animals. That is not how he will return, in his return there will be angels and trumpets and he will not come humbly but has a conquering king of righteousness.

God does continue to guide his people, maybe not in the stars but in ways that they can understand. God provides us with gifts and then expects us to use those gifts to further His cause and his kingdom. There will be stumbling blocks in our way, the world is filled with Herods wanting to take Jesus’ place as king of our lives and of course there is Jesus the same now as always wanting to come in that make all tings new in our lives.

Today marks the birth of a new year. It is a time that we should all should make an effort to rededicate our lives Jesus and his causes. We always make New Year’s resolutions; to lose weight or to stop smoking and those are good to make and they are good things to do. However, let us all make a resolution to help another, help our neighbors, and help to find peace and justice in our own lives and in the world. If we all work together and give our gifts then we can make 2006 better and can make the future brighter for all of us.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.