Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Epiphany of the Lord Sunday - 01/04/15 Sermon - “What would we give the Christ Child today”

Sunday 01/04/15 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “What would we give the Christ Child today?”           

Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 60:1-6

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: Ephesians 3:1-12

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 2:1-12                   

          Welcome once again my brothers and sisters, friends, and Happy New Year once again! Today we find ourselves in our first Sunday of this new year of 2015. This Sunday, is also the Epiphany of the Lord Sunday. While most churches in Western World celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord this Tuesday January 6^th, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord today, as we don’t generally have a worship service on a Tuesday. Given this, the Christmas Season or the “Twelve Days of Christmas” officially ends tomorrow, as the Epiphany of the Lord follows on Tuesday the 6^th.

          While we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord this Sunday then, some of us might be asking the very basic question of, “What is the Epiphany of the Lord?” Well, in most of the Western Churches, we celebrate this holiday to commemorate the visit of the magi or Wise men to the Christ Child. This famous visit is written in, and only in, the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew’s gospel is where Jesus was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The Epiphany itself even more specifically, was when the magi or Wise men saw that Bethlehem Star in the sky, and had an Epiphany or an “Aha” moment. This Epiphany or “Aha” moment propelled them to follow this star, believing it would led them to the Christ Child, the Messiah, the “King of the Jews”.

          Before getting into the meat of this sermon though, I want to talk a little bit more about the events and the dates of the only two gospels that talk about Christ’s birth, the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Luke.

          As you might remember, our gospel reading from last Sunday was Luke 2:22-40. In this reading, Joseph and Mary enter into Jerusalem with Jesus to have a couple of turtle doves or pigeons sacrificed in the Jewish tradition, and also to present Christ to God at the temple. You might also remember that in the gospel of Mathew, it says that Joseph took Mary and Jesus, after being warned by an angel in dream, to safety in Egypt, as King Herod the Great had all young boys in Bethlehem killed, in an effort to get rid of Jesus.

          So the events of the two gospels are this, Joseph and Mary come to Bethlehem, so that Mary can have baby Jesus, The family flees to Egypt, the family goes to Jerusalem for the Jewish ritual animal sacrifice/cleansing rituals, and to present Christ to God in the temple in the process. In addition to this, we have the event of the census being called by the Roman emperor Augustus to determine the population for the purposes of taxation, and of course, we have the visit of the magi or Wise men.

          In doing extensive research on all of these events in the past couple of weeks, I have found that some biblical experts believe that these events might have happened a little differently, or in a different order than we might have been traditionally taught. For example, King Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., and the historical census that was called by the Roman Caesar Augustus, was called in about 6 A.D. Given this, one theory is that Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem, had Jesus, then went from Bethlehem to Jerusalem about a month to a month and half later to present Jesus at the temple, then went back to Bethlehem, and likely stayed with Joseph’s family. Some experts think that the Wise men or Magi then might have come when Jesus was about two or older, and after this visit, Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt. Joseph and Mary with Jesus then returned from Egypt, and perhaps then settled in Nazareth, and maybe came back for the census of 6 A.D., enforced by the Roman governor of Syria Quirinius. Or perhaps there was more than one census than the census of 6 A.D. 

          My point with saying all of this, is I believe that all of the events of the gospel of Matthew and Luke happened, but maybe in a different order, or maybe differently than we think they did. Perhaps you have another opinion of these written events, but what I am trying to do here, is build up to the central focus this morning of the visit of the Wise men or the magi in our gospel of Matthew reading.

          So with all of this said, our main focus today is the visit of the magi or the Wise men. A good question one might ask though, is why would these magi or Wise men travel such a long distance to meet and worship Jesus? Especially, when Jesus was only a poor peasant child, and not from a family of great fame or material wealth. Another fair question to ask is, were there really people such as Wise men or magi back then? A last good question to ask is, with the Wise men or magi bringing Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh, what would we bring Jesus if he were born in 2014 or 2015?

          Well the answer to this first and second question sort of go hand in hand. You see, historically speaking magi were astrologers, magicians, and people of divination. Divination by the way, is the belief that one can predict the future through supernatural means and or other means. Generally speaking, magi often played a very important part in the royal court life of many eastern states. Often these magi acted as advisors for their kings or leaders, and they usually commanded wealth, power, and respect. These magi also often created what we consider to be the modern day equivalency of horoscopes, and in this specific case were likely from what is now present day Iraq or Iran.

          Magi then, or Wise men, would be men of wealth, education, and high social status. You can imagine King Herod Great’s surprise when these magi came to pay respect and to worship the young “King of the Jews,” as this was Herod’s title. Further, this might be part of the reason why the magi were so willing to go Herod’s castle, as they were expecting this “King of the Jews” to be born in the castle, not in cave, animal stall, or a simple outdoor dwelling.

          The lore and the fame of the magi or Wise men then continued for centuries, until we even made names for the Three Wise men. These names, in the Western Churches at least, are Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior. The reality is though, is that the magi probably showed up in large caravan with many animals and servants. This is probably why it caused such a fuss in Jerusalem, as many were probably thinking, “Why are these people of great wealth and splendor here in Jerusalem”?

           So the last question I asked then, was what would the magi or Wise men would bring Jesus Christ if he were born today? Now the gifts we have listed in the gospel of Matthew are gold, which signifies the kingship of Christ, myrrh which signifies Christ’s virtue and his redemptive suffering, and frankincense or incense that signifies Christ’s divinity.

          It is interesting to know that we think that there were three magi or Wise men, simply based upon the fact that there were three gifts. Otherwise, we don’t know exactly how many magi there were.

So with this history, with this theology, and with all of the details and facts that I laid out, “what we give the Christ Child today?” Would we give Christ gold, frankincense, and myrrh? Certainly in the modern day we have an assortment of things that we could give to Christ.

          Perhaps we should give Christ a Jet Ski? Or perhaps a Mercedes? Or maybe an X-Box One? What would we give the living God today?

          I mean after all in the reading from the prophet of Isaiah from this morning it says, “Arise! Shine! Your light had come; the LORD’s glory has shone upon you.” Now if this is the mentality that the Wise men or magi had, there gifts were then significant, as well as their devotion to Christ. After all, as the reading from Isaiah from this morning continues on to say, “Nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning radiance.” Isaiah goes on to say further, “the nations’ wealth will come to you. Countless camels with cover your land, young camels from Midian and Ephah.” Then this scripture reading from Isaiah ends with “They will all come from Sheba, carrying gold and incense, proclaiming the LORD’s praises.” So “what would we give the Christ Child today?”

          In looking at the gospel of Matthew reading for today, it says “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem,” the magi came in search of Christ. King Herod the Great then intercepts them, and lies to them, so that they can lead Herod’s soldier’s right to Jesus, to kill him. They go to Christ, they bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh, following the Bethlehem Star. Then they come to where Christ is, they fall on their knees, and then they present their gifts. They then leave a different way, so that Herod the Great will not kill Jesus. Then Joseph takes Mary and Jesus and flees to Egypt.

          What if it happened today though? What if we were the magi? What would our gifts be to the Christ Child? Maybe we would give Jesus a bunch of money? Maybe we would give Jesus’s family a beautiful new house to raise the Messiah in? What could we possibly give the Son of God?

I would like to close this morning with a story called “57 Cents That Made History,” Contributed by Kay McCrary. Here is how it goes: “A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it 'was too crowded'. “I can't go to Sunday School," she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by. Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class. The child was so touched that she went to bed that night thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus.”

“Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings and the parents called for the kind-hearted pastor, who had befriended their daughter, to handle the final arrangements. As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled purse was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump. Inside was found 57 cents and a note scribble in childish handwriting which read, "This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday school."

“For two years she had saved for this offering of love. When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion. He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building. But the story does not end there!”

“A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a realtor who offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands. When told that the church could not pay so much, he offered it for a 57 cent payment.”

“Church members made large subscriptions. Checks came from far and wide. Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to $250,000.00 a huge sum for that time (near the turn of the twentieth century). Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.”

“When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300, and Temple University, where hundreds of students are trained. Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building which houses hundreds of Sunday scholars, so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside at Sunday school time.”

“In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history. Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russel H. Conwell.”

So “what would give the Christ Child today?” I don’t think it matters really, if we gave him gold, frankincense, or myrrh, as I think the real gift that we can give Christ is our lives, our hearts, and our fifty-seven cents. Amen.