Long before Christians celebrated Christmas, they celebrated the Epiphany.  Most of us Americans, particularly Protestant Americans, have worn out the traditional meaning of Christmas, haven’t we? I wouldn’t want to guess how many of us have taken down our Christmas trees. I’ve always appreciated Epiphany because the frenzy of our celebrations is over.  It gives us one more chance to look back on what the birth of Christ means to us when we are not so distracted by social commitments and trying to figure out what gift we are going to give to what person.

Of all the writers of the New Testament, only two mention Jesus’ birth. For most of the writers in the New Testament it was Jesus’ life, death and resurrection that really were the pivotal point showing the importance of His coming into the world.  The Apostle Paul, in particular, showed very little interest in the nativity story.  When we look at the two versions of Jesus’ birth, one in Luke and one Matthew, we see there are contrasting views of what was important in His birth. Luke, who was the great poetic writer of the New Testament and who could weave a plot line better than anyone of that time, gives us the gentle story of angels who come to common everyday people and give them visions. It is Luke that gives us a chorus of angels at Jesus’ birth, singing his praises as he is born while common everyday shepherds gather from the fields to see this newborn King. The entire story in Luke is told with a gentleness that is incredible.

Matthew tells stories of wise men. And unlike that gentle story which Luke tells, Matthew’s story is filled with power struggles, political intrigue and death. It is Matthews’s gospel that describes a cosmic coming of Jesus, shaking the power structure of the known world of his time. We have King Herod in Matthew’s account.  Secular historians describe Herod as a brutal dictator, paranoid king who was obsessed with clinging to whatever power he had. He killed even members of his own family to protect the power that he enjoyed. I have this riveting scene in my own mind from a few weeks ago.  Sadam Hussain’s daughter was being interviewed, desperately trying to be a good daughter and defend her father, the father who had murdered her husband. How difficult it must be to be at a family dinner of an oppressive dictator. We see in King Herod all that is bad about human nature, a desire to consume, control and destroy anyone who tried to interfere with his quest for control. 

In contrast we have the three wise men. We don’t know a lot about them. But we do know that they were also men of power and position and prestige.  Matthew’s gospel portrays them in a very different light than that of Herod. The three kings were not a part of the covenant of Israel.  It is ironic that Matthew recognizes them as the first to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God.  It might give us Christians, who have often claimed that we have the only way to God, pause when we realize that the first people to recognize Jesus were not a part of the covenant. The story of the kings is told in a simple way. They follow a star. They come, they pay homage and they give gifts.  They are wise enough to depart another way so that they will not be a part of Herod’s plot to murder this newborn King.

There is a tradition of gift giving at Christmas, and that tradition actually comes from Matthew and the wise men. I was reading an article a couple of weeks ago that said that problem with the gift giving is that we have got it mixed up. That we think of giving gifts to ourselves, when actually the wise men were bringing gifts to Jesus. The gifts they gave were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The last two items seem exotic and unreal in our world, but those things were precious in Jesus’ day.  They gave him gifts that were significant.

The real story of Epiphany is that, once we have seen Christ revealed, it is not what we receive, it is the gift to we give to Him. Not the latest gadget, I’m sure. Nor another neck ties because it’s the only thing we could think of at the moment. The gift we give to Him must be precious and it must matter. It probably can’t be contained in a box.

What is the gift that we give to our Lord? Maybe what he desires is not found in those first few chapters.   Matthew’s gospel portrays Jesus as the great Rabbi and Teacher. We have more of his preaching in Matthew than in any other place. He understood that the law and the interpretation of it aren’t as important as the kind of people we are. Jesus preached radical obedience to that which God would have us to do. And he said it’s what is going on the inside of us that matters. Not on the outside. To understand the proper gift for Jesus is to know what is in our hearts today.  What is most important in our lives? It was Matthew who tells us that the poor and the peacemakers are blessed, and the people who suffer for Jesus’ sake.  Jesus has held high standards of which we should be as his people.

I would like everyone to close his or her eyes for a moment and contemplate what that gift might be. Now let’s bow our heads for a word of prayer.