Gifts (Epiphany)

THE GIFTS

I shall never forget how overwhelmed my late wife and I were by the gifts our son Jonathan received from parishioners of St Mary-le-Tower Church, Ipswich, when he was born in 1970.

In particular, I recall a silver spoon and fork from Mr & Mrs Oxley, a Beatrice Potter bowl and plate from Mr & Mrs Geoffrey Pawlin, an illustrated book of Brer Rabbit from Lady Templeton better known as Margaret Tempest who was the artist who illustrated the well known children's books, a wooden rattle from Joan Howard, and 10 pounds worth of premium bonds from Dolly Jackaman. (Incidentally, they have not yet won anything!)

And so I could go on. We were simply amazed at the people's generosity, especially since we had only been in the parish for about a year.

But then, it is traditional to mark the birth of a child by the presentation of gifts.

Hence, it is not surprising to read in our Gospel that "On entering the house (the wise men) saw the child with Mary his mother: and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh".

Over the years, the symbolic significance of these gifts, has grown and developed as an aid to Christian devotion.

For instance, in the well-known 4th century hymn Earth has many a noble city the author, Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, in the fourth verse writes:

"Sacred gifts of mystic meaning:

frankincense God to disclose

gold the King of kings proclaiming.

myrrh his sepulchre foreshows".

However, perhaps the most popular illustration of how the tradition has developed is to be found in the 19th century hymn, We three kings of Orient are by Dr John Henry Hopkins, who was Rector of Christ's Church, Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Also, by then the donors of the gifts,"magi" as the original Greek describes them, or 'Wise men', as the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible describes them, or 'astrologers', as the Revised New English Bible describes them, had also acquired various names and descriptions.

So Melchior, who tradition describes as an old man, grey haired and with a beard, offered gold. The hymn explains:

"Born a king on Bethlehem plain,

Gold I bring to crown him again -

King for ever, ceasing never.

Over us all to reign".

As you know, gold is a precious metal, often used in the making of crowns for kings and queens, a symbol of their authority.

The gold reminds us that Jesus is, to use the title of Dorothy Sayers' play, The Man born to be King. But, unlike secular kings, he was not born in a palace but in a manger; he does not exercise his rule by force, but by love; and he does not reign seated upon a throne, but by hanging helplessly from a cross.

We cannot be reminded too often that we do not meet Jesus on equal terms but only on terms of complete submission and complete surrender.

The story is told that Admiral Nelson always treated his vanquished opponents with the greatest kindness and courtesy. After one of his naval victories, the defeated admiral was brought aboard Nelson's flag ship and on to Nelson's quarter deck. Knowing Nelson's reputation for courtesy, and thinking to trade on it, he advanced towards Nelson with his hand outstretched as if to shake his hand with an equal. Nelson's hand remained at his side. "Your sword first" he said, "and then your hand". Before we can make friends with Jesus, we must first be prepared to

submit to him.

Caspar, is the name tradition has given to another of the magi, who is described as young and beardless, with a ruddy appearance. He brought the gift of frankincense.

As the hymn explains:

"Frankincense to offer have I,

Incense owns a Deity nigh:

Prayer and praising, all men raising,

Worship him God on high".

Incense has been used regularly for at least three thousand years in the worship of God. It was used in the Temple in Jerusalem, and it is still used today by the Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and regularly, or occasionally, in some Anglican Churches.

Just as the ceremonial of worship and the colour of the vestments appeal to the sense of sight; the singing of hymns and the reading of the scripture appeal to the sense of hearing; the receiving of the bread and wine appeals to the sense of taste; and the exchange of the peace with each other appeals to the sense of touch; so the sweet fragrance of incense appeals to our sense of smell. In other words, our worship involves all the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Thus, we worship God with our whole being.

To worship, means to "give worth". In other words, to show how important God is in our lives. That is why worship should always be of the highest standard of which we are capable.

Finally, tradition has it that Balthasar was swarthy, with a newly grown beard, and that he offered the gift of myrrh.

As the hymn puts it:

"Myrrh is mine: its bitter perfume

Breathes a life of gathering gloom;

Sorrowing. sighing, bleeding, dying,

Sealed in a stone-cold tomb"

It was the custom for bodies in the East to be embalmed at the time of death with myrrh. Thus, this gift foreshadows the death of Jesus. An untimely and innocent death, brought about by the collusion of secular and ecclesiastical authorities, in order to silence him.

And so the gift of myrrh reminds us that we have chosen to follow one along the path of suffering. We must be prepared to take up our cross, if we are to follow him. As that great first world war army chaplain, Woodbine Willie, once said, "Jesus does not offer us a cushion but a cross".

Alas, all too often, like politicians, we look for the easy options in life to ensure we maintain our popularity. We want the "cushion" but not the "cross". But, if it could not be so for Jesus, why should we expect it to be any different for ourselves?

So the gift of gold reminds us of Jesus our king who rules our hearts. The incense reminds us of Jesus the Son of God, whom we worship and the myrrh reminds us of Jesus our Saviour whom we follow along the path of suffering.

"Sacred gifts of mystic meaning:

frankincense God to disclose

gold the King of kings proclaiming.

myrrh his sepulchre foreshows". Amen.