Don Friesen
A few weeks ago I read a newspaper article about the things people give to charities. Charitable outlets like Goodwill or the Salvation Army say that people drop off the strangest things! A Salvation Army thrift store found handguns among the drop-offs – twice! Another received a donation of ammunition, and yet another found a rocket launcher in its donation bin. What would possess people to donate these things? Other donations, not as dramatic but unusual, nonetheless, have included an urn with human remains; barrels of photo-processing chemicals; pesticides; as well as some items from a crime scene. Then there are personal items, like wigs; used dentures; kitchen food scraps; and dirty underwear! ("Treasure or trash? Charities struggle with unusable donations," by Linda Nguyen, Ottawa Citizen, December 16, 2011)
People donate these items, but they are hardly worthy of being called gifts, not unless the givers have a very warped view of giving. Indeed, these so-called gifts add thousands and thousands of dollars of waste disposal fees to the charities' budgets! They also indicate that many people are quite unclear on the concept of gifts and charity!
There are, of course, complexities to gift-giving. Some gifts say much more about the giver than the givee. A thoughtful gift is so much better than one picked up at the last minute as you line up at the cash register. Or – consider the conflicted emotions of a vegetarian who buys a friend a gift certificate to a steak house! The friend will enjoy it immensely, though it may turn the stomach of the vegetarian.
Gift-giving has long been a subject of human behaviour studies, of interest to psychologists and anthropologists, as well as economists and marketers. Psychologists say it is often the giver, rather than the recipient, who reaps the biggest psychological benefit from a gift. An example is people who give gifts to their pets. The gifts are given from a sincere desire to make their pets happy and to improve their comfort and care, but their gifts also reveal the self-serving nature of giving, for pets can't reciprocate. A lot of the pleasure is in the giving, knowing you've taken care of someone." ("A Gift That Gives Right Back? The Giving Itself," by Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times, December 11, 2007)
The Magi Brought Gifts
Our Gospel reading this morning is a story unique to Matthew, concerning the Magi who came from afar – and followed a star – to find Jesus. Gifts automatically come to mind when we think of the Magi, but it's also interesting that in this short passage the phrase, "pay him homage," is used three times. (Matthew 2:2, 6, and 11) It's a quaint phrase that simply means, "to worship". The Magi came to worship this new king. Given that the phrase occurs three times, one could surmise that the primary purpose of their journey and visit was to pay Jesus homage, not necessarily to give him gifts. They came to pay him homage, and "then," says the text: "Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him (their) gifts...." (2:11) In other words, the gifts they gave may not have been part of their original plan. Perhaps it was a generous and spontaneous response to their overwhelming discovery and encounter with Jesus. The gifts were an extension of their homage, their worship.
Gifts are not unimportant in this story, and much speculation has gone into their meaning. Some say the gift of gold signifies Jesus' kingship. In the ancient world, gold was the appropriate gift for a king. Apparently gold was more plentiful in ancient times, and was used lavishly by the wealthy, but it was valuable. Some say that gold represents security, and I suppose that a certain amount of security is possible if one has gold – economic security, medical security, and perhaps job security – although if one has enough gold, who needs a job?
The gift of frankincense was a gift of incense, a vegetable resin used for sacrificial fumigation. (Exodus 30:34-36) It was a sweet smelling incense which was used by the priest in the temple, and so some say that it represents the idea that Jesus would one day be our priest.
The gift of myrrh may suggest Jesus' humanity and portends his death, for it was used in the embalming process. Nicodemus brought myrrh to Jesus' tomb (John 19:39) for that very purpose. It is interesting that Jesus was given myrrh both at his birth and at his death.
Something that jumped out at me this time around – something I'd never noticed before in the text – is the fact that the Magi brought "treasure chests" with them. Makes you wonder what else was in those treasure chests, and why did they choose to give Jesus these three gifts in particular? And why are there never any treasure chests in our nativity sets?
The story of the Magi is one that has attracted literary layer upon literary layer. (David L. Jeffrey, Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, pages 472) For example, the intrigue of the interaction between the Magi and Herod figures prominently in medieval mystery plays. John Milton (1608-1674) speaks of the "star-led wizards," and John Donne (1572-1631), recalls that:
("Nativitie")
("The Nativity")
What Was the Point?
So, given all these variations, what is the point of this story? It reminds me of a story I read some time ago, the story of an elderly couple who set out on Christmas Day to deliver gifts in a nearby town. When they failed to arrive, their family, with the help of the police, began to trace them. The family had received no postcards, letters or phone calls, so there was nothing to indicate where the couple was headed! They had been sighted in several places – restaurants and motels – but each time further and further from home. It wasn't until nine days later that they were found, over 3,000 kilometres from home! They were fine – both well – but they had forgotten what they were looking for or why they had left home!
When I first read that story over twenty years ago I found it much funnier than I do now, but it's a wonderful illustration of much of our gift-giving. When shopping for gifts, we don't always know what we're looking for, or why we're looking for who-knows-what!
It may be hard to determine the original meaning of each of the gifts the Magi gave to Jesus, lost as they are in literary layers and such, but it seems clear that they gave to Jesus what they perceived as valuable. It didn't have to be gold, frankincense and myrrh. Perhaps those treasure chests also held diamonds, or bolts of silk! What is clear is that they were so moved by this promised king – the fulfilment of their quest – that they opened up their treasure chests and offered him the most valued possessions they had with them. They were in awe!
Gifts were valued in biblical times. The Apostle Paul calls a gift that one New Testament congregation gave to another a "fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God." (Philippians 4:18) James, another New Testament writer, says that "every good gift and every perfect gift – meaning, every large or full gift – is from above...." (James 1:17, AMP) "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" wrote Paul, referring to the gift of God's grace." (2 Corinthians 9:15) "For by grace (we) have been saved through faith, ...this is not (our) own doing; it is the gift of God...." (Ephesians 2:8)
William Arthur Dunkerley (1852-1941), an English poet who wrote under the pseudonym, John Oxenham, wrote a poem entitled "How – When – Where," in which he says:
It is not so much where you live,
The ability and means to give is itself a gift. To give our best and our noblest is our calling, but's it's also a gift to receive – to receive a gift with grace and gratitude. For every gift given, there is a gift received. Sometimes our gifts are reciprocal, like a trading of goods that over time balances out, but I doubt that the Magi expected gifts from Jesus' family the next Christmas.
Sometimes we are prone to whine about things, and at a time like New Year's Day, to look over the past year and see the disappointments and regrets. Personally, I could recite a long, long list of those. However, we also received gifts this past year, and sometimes they are on the flip-side of our disappointments. We need to acknowledge those gifts, with grace and gratitude.
Three years ago Dorothy's cousin and I received new heart valves within days of each other. Her cousin, however, had to have the replacement replaced a week ago. It made me realize that I cannot blithely ignore my own good fortune and take good health and a functioning body for granted. My ongoing health is a gift, and for that I am grateful.
What gifts did this past year bring you? What were you given? I would invite you to reflect upon gifts – those you gave, but especially those you received these past twelve months, and to acknowledge, and share them, following our next carol.
from the Orient, Starres, and wisemen... travell to prevent
Injunctions to follow metaphorically in the steps of the Magi was a popular theme of seventeenth-century sermons and poetry. Henry Vaughan (1621-1695) wrote, concerning the "Eastern ...kings":
Th' effect of Herod's jealous generall doome.
Lord grant some Light to us, that we
The story of the Magi is a story that provokes the imagination and invites embellishment. We talk often of three Magi, probably because there are three gifts, but the text does not provide a number. Some think there may have been twelve! Even if there were only three, they probably had a whole retinue travelling with them, and certainly enough camels to carry a number of treasure chests.
May with them find the way to thee.
It is not so much where you live,
What Gifts Did you Receive this Past Year?
As how you live, and whether good
Flows from you through your neighbourhood,
And why you live, and whether you
Aim high and noblest ends pursue....
As whether while you live you live
And to the world your highest give....
Quotations of Scripture are from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.