Gold, Incense And Myrrh--And Mystery Series

Epiphany Homily

Gold, incense and myrrh. Treasure, sweet-smelling smoke and embalming spices. Three mysterious men from the East, who appear for a moment in Matthew's Gospel, bring gifts to the newborn Jesus, and then vanish into the history and theology books. In a new millennium, why should we care about these wayfarers?

Perhaps we can learn more about Jesus, and his legendary visitors, by asking ourselves who was upset by these gifts? When somebody complains, or reacts negatively to something good, it always helps to ask “whose rice bowl is being broken”;

Herod was most upset by the gold. "Where is the newborn king of the Jews?" asked the Magi. The Bible said the news threw the whole city into turmoil. No wonder. Herod, who had ruled Judea with an iron fist for decades, who had taxed his subjects into poverty so he could build lavish houses for himself and a new Temple for the Jews, was a butcher. He had years before killed his wife and children when he suspected them of plotting against him. When he could not find the new king, he massacred dozens of little boys to prevent a new claimant from taking his throne.

Anyone who has an addiction to power over others will be threatened by Jesus as King. That’s big dictators like the late Saddam Hussein, of course. But there are little kings who fear the kingship of Jesus. Jesus is a threat to abusive bosses, managers, spouses, parents and adult children because His kingship is very different. Jesus leads by serving. Jesus calls us to lead by serving others, by considering ourselves to be of less importance than the ones we lead and serve.

It’s encouraging to see that many CEO’s of corporations, and many management consultants, have discovered the power of servant leadership. For years teaching servant leadership has been a staple of leadership training. It’s time that we catch up with this idea in our homes, businesses and religious institutions.

Jesus’s priestly ministry is symbolized by the smoke of incense. Incense has been used in worship for thousands of years. When the Jewish priests sacrificed sheep and birds and oxen in the Temple, the smoke served a dual role. It drove away vermin, and thus symbolized purity, and it rose up into the sky–the Temple had no roof–with the people’s prayers to the Lord.

Incense, then, reminds us of what we owe to our God. We basically owe Him everything–our life, our health, and most especially the salvation we look forward to when we die. Incense establishes the twofold truth you may remember from the film Rudy: There is a God, and we aren’t Him.

What can we return to this God, who gave us everything? This is the ultimate Christmas and Epiphany gift mystery: what do you give the guy who has everything, and needs nothing? It’s actually very simple. We give God what He has asked from us from the start: our love and our obedience. In other words, every day give God praise, and every day do what He has told us to do.

This idea, of course, threatens anyone who wants to run his own show, anyone who wants to do her own thing. When we make decisions, we don’t first ask “what do I want?” but rather “what does God want?” When we hit a frustration or obstacle, we don’t curse or swear, instead we give praise to God for the opportunity to overcome that obstacle with His help.

Among the gifts left by the visitors from the East was a resin called myrrh. Today it goes for about $11 a pound, and is used in folk remedies for various conditions. But in the time of Jesus one of its principal uses was to help preserve the bodies of the dead.

Myrrh was a jarring addition to the other two gifts. I don’t think the Virgin Mary was surprised to get it. Not so long before the Magi arrived, the prophet Simeon predicted that a sword would pierce Mary’s heart, that the baby Jesus would grow into a prophet Himself, and that he would bear a whole load of trouble.

Jesus Himself said that a prophet is not accepted in His own country. Prophecy is a messy occupation. The prophet Jeremiah complained to the Lord that he had been tricked into doing it. He regretted the day of his birth because whenever he preached the word of God, people would moan and gripe and try to get him into trouble. Isaiah was considered such a troublemaker that Jewish tradition has it that he was put into a hollow tree and sawed in two. John the Baptist lost his head because of his complaints about Herod Junior’s irregular marriage.

And we all know what happened to Jesus, and the redemption that won. This was the mystery or sacrament that the Old Testament prophets saw dimly, but was revealed in the time of Christ to the apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit. It's a mystery that says we can have what we most desire in the depths of our souls--union with God in Jesus Christ.