A Word from Pastor Lisa: What Gifts Can We Bring?

Visit of the Three Wise Men, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48292 [retrieved January 4, 2023]

 What gift can we bring, what present, what token?
What words can covey it, the joy of this day?

When grateful we come, remembering, rejoicing,

this song we now offer in honor and praise.

-          “What Gift Can We Bring?” by Jane Marshall, UMH #87

We’re wrapping up a season of holiday gift-giving. In our Protestant culture, the majority of gifts to friends and loved ones are exchanged on Christmas Day. But in other traditions, especially Orthodox, the feast day is Epiphany on Jan. 6. They offer gifts to each other as they remember when the magi visited the Christ child and honored him with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The magi were Zoroastrian priests who studied the stars, probably in Persia. They had to lug those gifts a long way to Baby Jesus. They followed a star in the east for about 1,000 to 1,200 miles. That’s a rough journey that would’ve taken three to twelve months on camel, plus preparation time to figure out the strange behavior of that star. This means Baby Jesus was probably crawling or toddling by the time the magi reached him. They must have been exhausted by the time that star finally stopped over the place where Jesus was. The Gospel of Matthew tells us what happens next:

When they saw the star, they were filled with [great] joy. They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:10-11, CEB). 

On Sunday, we’ll learn more about what gold, frankincense, and myrrh represented. For now, I hope you’ll reflect on this scene: Weary, stinky travelers from a far-off land who are outside of Jesus’ tight-knit Jewish community. They haven’t grown up hearing the stories of the Hebrew heroes. Yet they recognize the Divine when they find him. And their response is to rejoice, to worship, and to offer gifts that only they can give.

In her poem, “For Those Who Have Far to Travel: An Epiphany Blessing,” Jan Richardson writes:

… Each promise becomes

part of the path,

each choice creates

the road

that will take you

to the place

where at last

you will kneel

to offer the gift

most needed –

the gift that only you

can give …

What are the gifts that only you can give? Maybe that gift is to yourself – to be gentler and kinder in the coming year. To care for your mental, physical, and spiritual health. To forgive your own brokenness and find healing in the Christ child. Perhaps that gift is to someone else. In this touching viral video, IU basketball player and Bloomington native Anthony Leal gives his older sister a tremendous Christmas present: paying off her student loans with his name, image, and likeness (NIL) earnings. She is stunned speechless by his extravagant generosity. It is a sacrificial gift that only he can give.

Maybe that gift is to God. Perhaps you will find ways to grow in your relationship with God and the church. You will commit to regular worship, daily prayer or meditation, or a study of Scripture. (Check out our Discipleship Hour winter options here.) You will step out in service or take action for justice. You will make a commitment to give or share more generously. 

Blessings on this Epiphany journey as you discover the gifts that only you can give.