Offering
Gifts
A
sermon preached by Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC
January 7, 2015, Celebration of the Epiphany.
Text:
Matthew 2:1-12
The
Magi who come to Jerusalem say, “We observed his star at its
rising…” We observed the star of the king of the Jews at its
appearing…its manifestation. Epiphany literally means that:
appearance or manifestation; and the ancient celebration of Epiphany
(more ancient than Christmas!) marks the first manifestation of Jesus
to the Gentiles, embodied in the Magi (or kings or wise ones) who
come from the east. The symbols of the day and the season that
follows are the star of Bethlehem and, more generally, light. The
story at the center of the liturgical celebration of Epiphany is the
story we’ve heard this morning of the Magi who follow the star to
Jerusalem and then, upon hearing the prophecy from Micah, on to
Bethlehem.
This
story has been captured in art throughout the ages, with the focus on
the richly dressed Magi bearing gifts after “traversing afar.”
The star shines brightly in these images and the holy family is also
haloed in glowing light. But in this story, as in all Matthew’s
telling of the circumstances into which Jesus was born, the light is
always challenged by encroaching shadows. Joseph, before having a
change of heart, was planning to “put Mary away quietly.” Herod,
who was known to be paranoid and murderous for the sake of keeping
his own power, schemes and lies to the Magi in order to do the child
Jesus harm. After the Magi heed the intuitive warning NOT to return
to Herod, the King goes on a rampage and has all the children in and
around Bethlehem who were 2 years of age and younger killed in hopes
of extinguishing the light of the Christ child. Having been warned of
this heinous plot in a dream, Joseph and Mary take their child Jesus
and flee into Egypt seeking asylum. All of this story may seem very
remote from the lives you and I lead, but I would suggest that then,
as now, those who seek to follow and protect the light of Christ are
challenged at every turn by looming shadows.
The
eastern sages thought they’d reached their destination when they
got to Jerusalem, but then learned that they’d been relying on the
wrong prophecy and that Bethlehem was where they needed to be. At
this point, they could have rejected the notion that the king they
sought would be born in a place of no real consequence, a place as
humble, rural, and unpretentious as Bethlehem instead of the mighty,
sophisticated, learned Jerusalem. After all, they were people of some
means and power and education—why should they be bothered with
peasants? // Has self-importance and pride ever been an obstacle to
your journey? The Magi might have played into Herod’s scheming,
recognizing that he could grant them favors; I don’t suppose anyone
has ever been tempted to do something that hurt someone else in order
to get something for yourself… The Magi might have allowed
themselves to be duped by the King’s feigned desire to honor Jesus;
anyone here ever been “taken in?” The sages could have discounted
the warning they received in a dream and told Herod where to find the
child; perhaps none of you struggle to trust your intuitive or
spiritual wisdom... If the Magi had made different choices, the story
would have gone very differently and we wouldn’t be here today.
Because Herod would have killed the baby and that would have been
that. The dark clouds of self-importance and arrogance, the shadows
of power used for ill, head-in-the-sand gullibility, the murkiness of
not trusting intuitive insights given as guidance—all of these
shadows pressed in and around the Magi—they were just as real and
just as potent as the light that had guided them all along their
journey. But the story we tell is that they were not drawn into the
shadows; they remained steadfast in their focus on the star, on the
light, on the one whom they sought and in whom they hoped. And in the
most ancient form of humility and reverence, they knelt at the feet
of this child and offered precious gifts.
Like
the Magi, we are faced in each moment with a choice: do we stay
focused on the Light or are we drawn into the shadows always lurking
and luring? Throughout the season of Advent and Christmas, a guiding
image for us is light—we light candles, we string lights around
trees. It’s a beautiful and powerful metaphor, but what does it
really mean to stay focused on the light, to live in the light? Well,
if we allow the Magi to teach us, it means resisting the forces that
try to overshadow us, stubbornly following the light, and then humbly
offering whatever power, gifts, or wisdom we have to Jesus Christ.
I
must admit that I need to hear all of this right now. Though there
are always tragedies and arguments and illness and strife and
violence and the rest, the last few months have given my ability to
stay focused on the light a spiritual workout! I imagine that we all
have times when the realities of the world and of our lives make it
difficult to remain hopeful or to stay engaged in the struggle for
true reconciliation and peace. Some have observed that the collective
stress of the past 4-5 years in particular have left most people
weary and with fewer emotional reserves than they might otherwise
have had—many of us are a bit hair-triggered if we’re honest. And
so I’m glad to reflect on this ancient tale today and to be
reminded that in the midst of all the stress and challenge of our own
days, we have choices, we can do something, we can choose to live in
the light and to offer gifts that make a real difference.
A
foundational teaching of our faith is that every human being bears
the image of God—and that Christ is met in human suffering (Mt.
25). So perhaps for us in 2024, to live in the light and offer our
gifts to Christ means that we try to see, really see, the people we
encounter every day—our families, our co-workers, the people on the
Metro, at the cash register, on the street; that we intentionally try
to remember that in their suffering—known or unknown to us—we
meet Christ, and then, having seen them, that we offer our best to
them. This idea is nothing new to us—or shouldn’t be. Looking to
meet Christ in the people we encounter every day—ALL the people and
especially the vulnerable and marginalized—remembering that
everyone is going through something, and offering our gifts to them
doesn’t have to be some grand project. While it can
mean resisting the temptation to participate in the evil schemes of
empires or standing up to oppressors at great personal risk, it can
also mean simply seeking to do the loving thing, the thoughtful
thing, the generous, brave, or kind thing. A smile, an
acknowledgement, a human encounter with another beloved child of God
to just share whatever moment you’re in—that can be a beautiful
gift you can offer. The point is to offer whatever
gifts
you have to serve and care for and honor the Christ in others being
especially mindful of the most vulnerable in the situation. At its
most basic, to live in the light is to do that which we all affirm in
our Baptism: to accept the power God gives us to resist evil,
injustice, and oppression in whatever
forms they present themselves. That’s what the Magi did. That’s
what we’re invited to do. And the good news is that because the
Magi, Joseph, Mary, and others resisted the shadows of temptation to
greed, arrogance, self-protection, destructiveness, and on and on,
the child Jesus grew and made the Epiphany of God ever more glorious.
Our
lives and our choices to live in the light may seem small in
comparison with the grand characters in the narratives of sacred
scripture, but just think about what a difference it makes in your
life when someone bears the light of Christ to you. Think about when
someone has offered you kindness or help, has kept a confidence,
offered forgiveness, shown humility; think about when someone has
been patient with you when you weren’t the easiest person to be
patient with, when someone has spoken the truth to you in a way that
set you free, or has offered gifts without thought of repayment.
These things make all the difference—when someone offers them to
you and when you offer them to others.
We
can offer gifts to the Christ each and every day. And as we look to
the light of Jesus Christ in this new year, I pray that we will be
guided and strengthened to resist the shadows of evil, injustice, and
oppression in all the small and large ways they manifest in our daily
lives; that we will be attentive, gentle, and generous with the
people we encounter through our days; and by the grace and love of
Christ, that we will be empowered to be God’s ongoing
manifestation, God’s Epiphany in the world.
