Sermon for Epiphany 2021

 

Isaiah 60: 1-6 and Matthew 2: 1-12.

 

This is my third sermon this Christmas and all three have the underlying premise that Christmas hasn’t; and cannot be cancelled.  And now it is about to be Epiphany perhaps I should also say that Epiphany isn’t cancelled either.  In these sermons I have sought to remind people that Christmas cannot be cancelled because of that first Christmas more than 2000 years ago when Jesus was born.   When God became a human that Christmas it was a defining moment in world history.   It meant that Christmas is going to be celebrated forever whether we like it or not.  It is not in our power to cancel Christmas although, over the years, some have tried to do so.

In my sermon today I want to focus on an aspect of Christmas - the giving and receiving of gifts.   The giving and receiving of gifts is part and parcel of Christmas perhaps because, as part of the Christmas story, the wise men who visit Jesus after he is born present him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (as we heard in our reading just now).  But surely it’s also- and more importantly - because God’s incarnation in the form of a baby born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem that first Christmas is the greatest gift God could give the world.

I want to explore the giving and receiving of gifts as a sacrament.  St Augustine, in the 5th century AD described a sacrament as ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.’  And I think there is a hidden, spiritual dimension to gifts at Christmas that isn’t affected by the Corona Virus or anything else.  My last mention of the virus I promise.

I suppose you might say it is a bit late to be thinking about Christmas presents: but it’s on this day, Epiphany Sunday, when we remember the visit of the wise men and what that visit signified.  And of course present giving doesn’t stop at Christmas.  I think we can safely say that receiving’s God’s gift of his son and giving gifts ourselves are things we, as Christians, are called to do throughout the year.

 As I said in my previous sermons this Christmas, some people, down the ages, have tried to cancel Christmas and all that it involves.   A well-known fictional example is the White Witch in CS Lewis’ ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’.   In this story the four Pevensee children: Lucy, Edmunds, Susan and Peter, stumble into the land of Narnia through a Wardrobe which is ruled by a witch who makes it ‘always winter and never Christmas’.   But the arrival of the children coincides with the return of Aslan the Lion to Narnia and the witch’s power starts to wane and the snow that covers the land begins to melt:

While three of the children – Lucy, Susan and Peter- are travelling through Narnia to meet Aslan, with two beavers showing them the way, they come across Father Christmas

 "I’ve come at last," said he. "She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening.

And Lucy felt running through her that deep shiver of gladness which you only get if you are being solemn and still.

"And now," said Father Christmas, "for your presents. There is a new and better sewing machine for you, Mrs Beaver. I will drop it in your house as I pass. "

"If you please, sir," said Mrs Beaver, making a curtsey. "It’s locked up."

"Locks and bolts make no difference to me," said Father Christmas. "And as for you, Mr Beaver, when you get home you will find your dam finished and mended and all the leaks stopped and a new sluicegate fitted."

Mr Beaver was so pleased that he opened his mouth very wide and then found he couldn’t say anything at all.

 “Peter, Adam's Son," said Father Christmas.

"Here, sir," said Peter.

"These are your presents," was the answer, "and they are tools, not toys. The time to use them is perhaps near at hand. Bear them well." With these words he handed to Peter a shield and a sword. The shield was the colour of silver and across it there ramped a red lion, as bright as a ripe strawberry at the moment when you pick it. The hilt of the sword was of gold and it had a sheath and a sword belt and everything it needed, and it was just the right size and weight for Peter to use. Peter was silent and solemn as he received these gifts, for he felt they were a very serious kind of present.

"Susan, Eve's Daughter," said Father Christmas. "These are for you," and he handed her a bow and a quiver full of arrows and a little ivory horn. "You must use the bow only in great need," he said, "for I do not mean you to fight in the battle. It does not easily miss. And when you put this horn to your lips and blow it, then, wherever you are, I think help of some kind will come to you."

Last of all he said, "Lucy, Eve's Daughter," and Lucy came forward. He gave her a little bottle of what looked like glass (but people said afterwards that it was made of diamond) and a small dagger. "In this bottle," he said, "there is a cordial made of the juice of one of the fire-flowers that grow on the mountains of the sun. If you or any of your friends is hurt, a few drops of this will restore them. And the dagger is to defend yourself at great need. For you also are not to be in the battle."

"Why, sir?" said Lucy. "I think- I don't know - but I think I could be brave enough."

"That is not the point," he said. "But battles are ugly when women fight.  And now” – here he suddenly looked less grave – “here for the moment is something for you all!”

Now here, in this story, the presents given and received, while still being useful, point to, and signify something more.

The gifts that Mr and Mrs Beaver receive from Father Christmas might seem purely practical – just like the frying pan I gave Nicky one Christmas - but Father Christmas knows that a new sewing machine and a repaired damn are precisely what the beavers really want and need.   But the gifts that are more interesting are surely those strange presents given to Lucy, Susan and Peter.

Those gifts hardly seem appropriate for children.  Three of the gifts: the sword, the bow and the dagger, are weapons for fighting with.   Surely children shouldn’t be encouraged to fight?   But life will involve battles and children, as they grow up, will need weapons to fight with:  if not against witches, against the powers of evil.  The other three gifts to the Pevensee children from Father Christmas surely remind us that in life we cannot rely on our weapons and our fighting abilities.  We will need assistance in our battles: a shield for defence and a horn for calling for help.  Psalm 12 tells us that God is the shield and horn of our salvation.  We will, inevitably be wounded in the battles of life, and then we will need healing.   Note that Lucy’s gift of the bottle of cordial made of the juice of one of the fire-flowers that grow on the mountains of the sun is not just for herself but for her friends when they are wounded.  Later in the story the six gifts all turn out to play a significant part in events as they unfold.

Now what about those three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh that the wise men gave to the baby Jesus.  Why did the wise men give those things in particular?   Like the gifts Father Christmas gives to the Pevensee children they are hardly appropriate for a baby and are surely much more suitable for an adult.  Like the gifts to the Pevensee children the gifts of gold, frankincense have meaning and significance.

 Matthew doesn’t tell us explicitly why these gifts in particular but they are clearly reminders of prophecies of Jesus in the Psalms and in the books of the prophets such as in our Old Testament reading today.  Here Isaiah prophecies:

A multitude of camels shall cover your land

    the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

    all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,

    and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord

 

Gold, frankincense and myrrh are gifts deemed fit for a king in the prophecies and this is probably one reason why the wise men have often been thought to be kings.  From very early on theologians tried to work out the particular meaning of the three gifts and what each symbolised.  It was probably Origen of Alexandria in about 248 AD who first proposed that gold was a symbol of Jesus’ kingship on earth, that frankincense (an incense burnt in temples) was a symbol of his deity, and that myrrh (an oil used for embalming dead bodies) was a symbol of the importance of his death.  Thus the gifts not only hark back to the old prophecies but point forward to Jesus life.

The gifts the wise men bring can in no way repay the greater gift given that first Christmas: God’s gift of his son for the salvation of all, but the gold, frankincense and myrrh were a concrete sign of the wise men’s gratitude for the child.  Matthew tells us that when they found the baby they were overwhelmed with joy and opened their treasure chests.  In copying the action of the wise men in giving gifts at Christmas we join in with the Christmas story and express our joy and gratitude for God’s greatest gift to us.   

This joining in with Jesus’ story is also what we do when we join together at Holy Communion.  Then we re-enact the Last Supper Jesus ate before his death on the cross and in a sense participate in that death and subsequent resurrection.   At Holy Communion the bread and wine represent the body and blood of Jesus which in turn are a sign of everything Jesus has done for us through his suffering and death on the cross.   The bread and wine are gifts which we are commanded by Jesus to accept, with his words ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ but they are also gifts that we, as his followers, willingly receive and feed on in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

As I said St Augustine, in the 5th century AD described a sacrament as ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.’  The specific sacraments he had in mind were ceremonies such as baptism and Holy Communion, but other things besides.   But what is this grace of which he speaks?  It is that of himself which God freely gives us.  It is that which gives meaning to our lives including our gifts.  By God’s grace we are forgiven our faults and given a new life.   It is that which means that we are required to give our lives to God and thence to each other throughout the year and not just at Christmas.