6 January 2009

The Feast of the Epiphany

The Rev'd Lloyd Prator

New York City

We three kings of orient are
Bearing gifts; we traverse afar.

The three kings are the great figures of the Epiphany. As a small child, I tugged on my mother’s apron to ask her where these kings actually came from. “Where is this place called ‘Orient-Are’” I asked, causing her to sigh deeply and wonder why she had given birth to such a stubbornly literal little boy.

I supposed that Orient-Are was some place East of Reno, and that was all I guess I needed to know.

The crafters of legend have been busy with the wise men over the centuries. The gospel does not say that there were three, but there were three gifts, and I suppose they needed to have three wise men each to have a gift. Later tradition made them kings, and even later tradition gave them names—Casper, Melchior and Balthazar. But all of this is in the realm of sacred legend, and what really counts, the real point of the Epiphany story is the nature of the gifts, the three things that the kings brought to the infant Jesus.

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Gold is the gift for a king. To be sure a different kind of king, as he would explain to the Roman authorities as they prepared to kill him. He would rule not by force, but by love. But rule he will. Jesus is the incarnate God living among us, but he is by no means our equal. We always meet him on terms of submission. William Barclay the English evangelical tells the story of Lord Nelson, the great admiral who had a reputation for treating even those he conquered with unfailing courtesy. After one of his victories, the vanquished admiral was brought to Nelson’s flagship. Knowing of Nelson’s courtesy, and thinking he could take advantage of the admiral, he strode across the deck with his right hand extended to shake hands as if he were greeting an equal. Nelson did not raise his hand, was silent a moment, then gesturing to the man’s arms, he said, “Your sword first, and then your hand.”

We can be friends with Christ and know him as our companion, but we must first submit to him. He is the king.

Frankincense is the gift for a priest. A priest in the Jewish tradition was one who opened the way to God for men and women. The priest builds the bridge between humanity and God. That is what Jesus did, he opened the way to God; he made it possible for us to stand in the presence of God. As a priest, Jesus is given frankincense.

Myrrh is the gift for one who is to die. Myrrh was used to embalm the bodies of the dead. Some people who desire rather smugly to differentiate themselves from church folks often say that doctrine and dogma is of no interest, but for them “Jesus was a great teacher.” Nonsense. He had almost nothing new to say. He came among us, mainly to die. The cross hovers over the manger; the gifts are given in the retrospective awareness that the one who receives them will die on the cross. In our church, it is peculiarly appropriate that the cross we use for the Good Friday Liturgy hangs right behind the Christmas Crèche, hovering over it with its words of truth and destiny.

Gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, myrrh for one who will die, these were the gifts of the wise men from that mysterious place called “Orient-are”. Even at the cradle of Christ, they foretell what it will be like for the one who will be the Real King, the Perfect Priest, and, finally the savior of every man and nation.