|
The Presence
and Presents of Christmas
by Kathryn Moore Epiphany 1 9 January, 2005 8am Traditional Service As a family this past Christmas we decided to limit the number of presents or gifts that people received; so that if you were a ‘Moore’, my side of the family, you only received a present if you were under twenty and if you were a ‘McEnteer’, Neil’s side of the family you received just one present, from the person who had drawn your name from a hat at the beginning of Advent. As a family we made this decision because we had become increasingly concerned at the excessive materialism of Christmas and the number of people going into debt because of the expectation of one day. We could see that Christmas had become more about the presents or gifts and less about the presence or incarnation of Christ. Christmas to us had lost much of its ‘stable’ quality; of a family with no place to go and of a baby whose first cradle was a feeding trough. As Neil’s mum said, it wasn’t the presents or even the food that mattered it was just about being together. It has to be said that our decision led to an
all-round less stressful Christmas, particularly for my mum who has never
enjoyed gift buying. This is, of course, not to say that we are in anyway
anti gifts or presents; indeed it was with real delight that we watched our 19 month old nephew Gareth, open his
presents – having progressed in the last year from the ‘eating the
wrapping paper’ stage to the ‘keen to find out what’s in inside’
stage. I think as today’s gospel makes clear, Christmas is about both
the presence of Christ at Christmas and present or gift of God’s son to
humanity. So then, let us have a closer look at the presents
given to Jesus and impact of his presence in our lives today. The passage itself is a forerunner in many aspects for
the life of Christ – there are those who actively sought his presence
and those who, though relatively close to him, felt threatened by his very
existence. And then there are the gifts or presents given to
Christ by the wise men – gifts that made clear Christ’s status or role
and that in return become the great gifts or presents that Christ gives us
by his life, death and resurrection. The first present given to Christ by the wise men was
gold, a pure metal, still precious and highly valued even today and a gift
that is seen to represent Christ’s kingship. It is interesting that when we look at St Matthew’s
account of the event – indeed he is the only gospel writer to provide
one – we find that the wise men come looking for someone who is already
king. They had seen the sign of Christ’s coming; his star
in the sky and, as some biblical scholars believe, they had studied
references to him in the OT scriptures. They were prepared for his coming,
they were actively seeking him, they had brought appropriate gifts and
they were ready to worship. In fact their worship is described as homage -
they were certainly aware of Christ’s deity. As one biblical scholar said, “the presence of the
king demands a decision”. That is, if we claim that Christ is indeed
King, is indeed Holy, is indeed Divine, then we must aim to live our lives
in light of that, and for me that is by the daily act of turning over all
aspects of my life to the Kingship of Christ. If I’m honest it’s
something with which I struggle, yet I know the next two gifts given by
the wise men make it possible. The second gift presented to Christ was that of
frankincense, the sweet smelling gum exuded from the Boswellia tree, that
was used in the temple and which reminds us of Christ’s priestly role; a
role that is clearly sent out for us in the Letter to the Hebrews. As you will remember under the old covenant a high
priest was required to make atonement for the sins of the people of
Israel. With the coming of Jesus and his subsequent death on the cross,
resurrection and ascension, all that has changed. As Hebrews 7:27 says,
“Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day
after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this
he did once for all when he offered himself.” Hebrews makes clear that Jesus Christ has been
appointed by God to replace the older and now out moded system of
sacrifice and atonement and provide a once and for all solution to
humanities sinfulness. Hebrews 7:16 “one who has become a priest, not
through a legal requirement concerning physical descent, but through the
power of an indestructible life.” It was a result of Christ’s sinless nature, and that
he was at the same time both human and divine, that he was able to take
our place and break us free from the grip of sin. Hebrews 2: 14 and 15
puts it like this; “Since, therefore the children share flesh and blood,
he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might
destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and free
those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.”
And in the familiar an powerful words of the prayer book; “..who made
there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full prefect and
sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole
world…” As I indicated earlier I often find it hard to turn
over all aspects of my life to Christ’s kingship, yet I know that
through the priestly act of Christ the King, I am able as the writer of
Hebrews says to; “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we
may receive mercy and find the grace to help in time of need.” The last gift presented by the wise men was that of
myrrh and many ways perhaps the most costly in terms of what it meant to
Christ. It was myrrh, the fragment plant resin that was used
to embalm bodies for burial. It is myrrh that reminds us that it is
Christmas which makes Easter possible, and it is myrrh that reminds us of
Christ’s suffering. Let me read a little from Isaiah 53 of the Suffering
Servant, as it, like the movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’ that we saw
earlier in the year, clearly captures the nature of Christ’s suffering.
“Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we
accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was
wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him is
the punishment that made us whole; and by his bruises we are healed. All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” If we see gold as representing Christ’s Kingship and
who he was, and frankincense as a symbol of his priesthood and what he had
to do, then it is myrrh that reminds us of what it cost Christ. The cost
of sharing our humanity. The cost of our salvation. William Barclay wrote that “even at the cradle of
Christ the gifts foretold that he was to be the true King, the perfect
High Priest, in the end the supreme Saviour.” Although we have looked so far this morning at the
gifts or presents given to Jesus by the wise men and what they
represented, we must turn for a moment and consider the implication in our
own lives. In short Christ has gifted has with salvation. It is a
most costly and precious gift. However it can only truly be a gift if we
choose to receive it. Just as Mary and Joseph accepted the gifts on behalf
of the Christ, so we too we are welcome to accept the gift that he gives.
As with the gifts given to Christ by the wise men and his gift of
salvation to us, there are implications in receiving. For Christ it meant
fulfilling his priestly role and suffering for the sins of humanity, while
for us it may mean rejection by our families or misunderstanding by the
world at large. I think if I was looking for a way to sum up the
impact of the gifts given to Jesus by the wise men and gift of salvation
given to us it would have to be in the words of the well known Christmas
carol, ‘Hark the herald-angels sing’, which we sang as a church on a
number of occasions during the Christmas season and which speaks so
clearly of Christ presence through the incarnation and present or gift to
us of salvation. Having looked at the presents or gifts given to Christ
by the wise men, we now must turn ourselves to the impact of Christ’s
presence, his incarnation, of God in human form entering into our world. Are we, like the wise men, ‘overwhelmed with joy’
at having found the Christ, are we actively seeking him out, looking for
signs of him, are we seeing him in his word? Are we convinced that his
presence on earth in human form and later through the power of the Holy
Spirit is for all humanity, remembering that the Feast of the Epiphany is
also styled ‘The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles’? Do we in some way practice the presence of Christ in
our own lives day by day, through prayer, mediation and scripture reading? As we look ahead to the coming year today’s gospel
gives us much to be thankful for and at the same time much to challenge
us. By way of conclusion I would like to light three
candles to represent the three gifts of the wise men and in doing so
acknowledge who Christ is and what he has done for us. Gold Candle – to represent the gift of gold Lord, we acknowledge you as King, and we ask that you
reign in all aspects of our lives. White Candle – to represent the gift of frankincense Lord, we thank you for yourself once offered as our
Great High Priest. Purple Candle – to represent the gift of myrrh Lord, we thank you for your suffering that won our
gift of salvation. Lord we again thank you for
our gift of salvation and your on-going presence in our lives by the power
of the Holy Spirit.
|
