"The Gift of Unexpected Gifts" - Matthew 2:1-12 (January 5, 2020)

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 

“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they 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. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

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As we begin a new year so too do we begin a new sermon series for the Season of Epiphany:  Gifts That Keep on Giving.  Now that the Season of Christmas is coming to an end, most of us are starting to think about taking down the Christmas trees, if you haven’t done so already.  And many of us are enjoying the gifts that were under them for so many weeks before we opened them up.

Epiphany is the season that serves as the bridge between the seasons of Christmas and Lent.  Epiphany really boils down to a time when we process what it means now that God is incarnate in our arms.  We spent four weeks waiting for Jesus and, well, now he’s here.  Now what?  That’s the question Epiphany asks.

We’re going to observe Epiphany with the intentionality it deserves because so often it doesn’t get a whole lot of attention.  Epiphany sometimes feels like the “middle child” in-between it’s older and younger siblings, Christmas and Lent, not getting the attention it wants.  So from now until the Sunday before Lent begins, we’ll be talking about gifts; both the giving and receiving of gifts.  What are the gifts that God-with-us brings to us?  And, conversely, what gifts will we bring to him in honor of the new born king?

The gifts in today’s passage are pretty tangible, though not gifts that we would think to give today (with the exception of maybe gold).  Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were, of course, the gifts that the wise men brought to the infant Jesus, the source of King Herod’s violent insecurity.  The wise men had been sent by this petulant politician to find Jesus so that he could have him assassinated.  

And although we often focus on the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, I think the most important gift the wise men gave to Jesus was their choice to disobey King Herod and, as we talked about during the Children’s sermon, go home by another way.  Sometimes the greatest gift we can give God is to defy the wishes of those whose behavior is so blatantly antithetical to the Gospel.

The story of the wise men reminds me that sometimes the greatest gift we can give God, and one another, is to say no to violence, no to oppressive rulers like Herod, and no to the fear and intimidation they try their hardest to spread around.  When the Church pushes back against such hatred, that can be an unexpected gift to those around us who are suffering.

For today’s passage is filled with truly unexpected gifts.  After all, I doubt Mary and Joseph were expecting such kingly and expensive gifts as gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  I doubt the wise men were expecting to receive the gift of their king in a form of a helpless little infant.  And I certainly doubt that King Herod was expecting that his “gift of homage” would be denied when the wise men decided to disobey him.

I think the unexpected gift that day was that peace was birthed into this world despite the violence that threatened it.  Indeed, peace is still being birthed into this world despite the violence that currently threatens it.  Over the past few days, the news has been dominated by the escalating tensions between our country and Iran.  And I think it’s a good time to be reminded that we’ve never found peace by killing our enemies.  More often than not, killing our “enemies” ends up creating even more of them.  

Which is why the gift of Jesus that you and I have received is such an important gift to share.  The wise men saw something in Jesus, something that they didn’t see in the mad king who sent them on that errand.  I think they saw in Jesus the possibility of a different kind of world than the cruel one through which they traveled to see him.  I think they saw in Jesus an alternative narrative to King Herod’s violent one.  

What do you see in Jesus?  What gifts is he bringing you?  What gifts might you bring to him and, by doing so, help heal this world?  

Food for thought as we depart on this Epiphany journey.

In the name of God the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, may all of us, God’s children, say:  Amen.