Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Matthew 2:11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
EPIPHANY GIFTS
Jimmy was only in the first grade, so his Sunday School teacher's question as to what gifts the Wise Men brought the Baby Jesus caused a serious wrinkling of his small brow. But then he remembered, "Gold, common sense, and fur."
Jimmy's problem was that he had no personal experience, no frame of reference for two of those three gifts. How old were you when you first understood what they actually were?
Jimmy's situation is not unusual -- especially if we think about the biggest and best Epiphany gifts, not the ones the Magi brought but the ones they received from God: His own dear Son, forgiveness, life eternal, inclusion through faith in the people of God (even Gentiles like us!), the privilege of prayer, etc. Paul calls these things the "unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8). There is no trail our natural minds or human hearts could follow which would enable us to find these treasures on our own. God must reveal them to us through His faith-creating Gospel (two more gifts)!
God's grace is not something we sinful humans can grasp without divine revelation. In ancient Greek literature (Homer, Plato, et al) the wisest of men never even used the Greek word for "grace" in the sense the Holy Spirit uses it in the New Testament. Those who had the Old Testament were also often clueless when it came to grace (cp. Jonah, Pharisees, disciples). Don't many of Jesus' parables picture God's grace for us who are so slow to understand (Lk 15; Mt 20)? Sin has hardwired the human mind for works, not grace -- but Epiphany shows that is not the end of the story.
Arise! Shine! Your light has come!
The glory of God's grace in Christ has risen upon you! 