One of my New Year’s resolutions was to return to blogging, so after a long silence, here I am. If I were to offer an excuse for the past few silent months, I would blame the little one who kicked my elbow earlier this evening while it rested on my growing tummy … pregnancy is preoccupying!
Tomorrow, we are celebrating Epiphany at Smithfield, as that festival falls on a Wednesday this year. So, here is a quick children’s sermon about the gifts of the Magi. It would be great to accompany this with one of those sets of gold, frankincense, and myrrh you can purchase commercially, if you can afford it and if you’ve thought far enough in advance.
The photo above shows my favorite wise man, my husband Greg, in his custom-made costume for this year’s Christmas pageant, which we presented on December 20. Hooray for a robe long enough to fit someone 6′4″ tall! Greg was reprising the role he first played as a five-year-old at Greensboro, NC’s First Presbyterian Church. I took some video of the pageant and hope to post it here soon.
Good morning, everyone. I have been out of town for a little while, but I hope you had a good Christmas. One of the most fun parts of Christmas is opening presents. I wonder what your favorite present was this Christmas?
We give presents at Christmastime to remember that Jesus got presents, too – although not when he was a baby. The wise ones from far away in the east took a long time to follow the star to meet Jesus. It was many weeks – or maybe even years – for them to find him and visit him. Today is the day that we celebrate their coming. We give the day they came a special name: Epiphany.
Do you know what gifts the wise ones brought to Jesus on the first Epiphany? It wasn’t a ____ and it wasn’t a _____ (name gifts the kids mentioned earlier). The wise ones brought three things: gold, frankincence, and myrrh.
We have all seen gold before. In fact, I am wearing some today. What’s special about gold? It’s very fancy. It’s worth a lot of money. In Jesus’ time, only kings and queens had enough money to wear gold. By giving Jesus gold, the wise ones were saying that Jesus was a king.
What about frankincense? What’s that? Well, frankincense is a hardened sap or resin from a tree. When you burn frankincense, it smells wonderful and makes lots of sweet-smelling smoke. In Jesus’ time, people used to burn frankincense at the temple, in front of the altar at the holy of holies, the place where they went to be with God. By giving Jesus frankincense, the wise ones were saying that Jesus was a great priest, a person who would show us the way to God.
And then the third gift was myrrh. Myrrh is also made from tree resin. It’s a kind of perfume mixed with oil. In Jesus’ time, people used it when they were preparing dead bodies to be buried. They would put some myrrh on the person who died, to bless him. By giving Jesus myrrh, the wise ones were saying that the way Jesus died would be very important. And we know that Jesus did die, but that God raised him from the dead to live forever.
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were the gifts the wise ones brought on the first Epiphany. Their gifts each tell us something about Jesus. Jesus is a king. Jesus helps us know God better. And Jesus died and rose again. When you go home today and play with your Christmas gifts, I hope you also remember the gifts the wise ones brought to Jesus.
Let’s say a prayer together:
Dear God – thank you – for the wise ones – and the gifts they brought – Thank you for Jesus – who is our king – who helps us know you better – and who died and rose again. – Amen.
Tags: epiphany, gifts, liturgical year, magi, matthew
Hooray! Congratulations on your pregnancy - it is quite a thing to go through Advent seeing the entire event from Mary’s point of view. I was blessed to have that opportunity twice and it changed everything for me.
Glad to see you back!
Laura