Chaplain's Corner
Ben Gowan, Student Chaplain
November 28, 2007
Somewhere between decrying the evils of consumerist culture and selling out entirely to Wal-Mart is the happy gift-giving medium of the eastern wise men. A "third way" Ghandi-esque biblical interpretation of Christmas presents if you will. How did those famous magi give to the King of Kings? "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh" (Matt 2:11). To let Jesus and his family know that they were loved and honored three types of gifts were given. Gold is something precious, valuable and monetary. Incense is aesthetic, fragrant and communal. Myrrh is useful, healing and personal. What can we learn from these?
Gold is money (or at least it used to be). Perhaps it was actually the wise men who came up with the idea of gift cards in the first place! This type of gift is honoring in that it conveys to the recipients they are worthy of expense; it says "You are valuable." It also allows them some freedom in choosing how they spend it. A gift of something costly can be a real blessing. Perhaps Joseph was able to use that gold for their travel to Egypt.
Incense is for the home. It was something that beautified the whole living area, and everyone was able to benefit from such a fragrant gift. I suppose the modern equivalent is aromatherapy candlesâ?¦ Really, though, the metaphor can be stretched to anything that lends beauty and benefit to a whole family. Perhaps Mary used the incense that very night to make their stable stay more pleasant.
Myrrh is a potent and useful personal care item. Some have suggested that Mary would have used it for medicinal care after giving birth to the baby Jesus. The spirit behind such a gift is that it is shows awareness of individual needs and for daily necessities.
The real beauty of these gifts resides both in their nature, they were the treasures of the wise men who gave them, and how holistic they were. Any one of them alone would have seemed unbalanced somehow. A solitary lump of gold would not have fully captured the heart of the givers nor fully blessed the recipients.
We can approach our worship to Jesus and our gift giving to his family in the same way. It's not just the thought that counts, nor does everything ride on a single over-the-top gift. Pulling from our treasures we can give sincerely. In a wise tradition, our Christmas giving can span from precious as gold, to communal as incense, to as personal as myrrh.