Sermon: Gifts under the Star
In the Magi story, there are many elements that make this story wonderful and unique, and one of them is the gifts they bear. It is so easy to see that when we sing, “We Three Kings.” Can we sing, “We three kings of (the) Orient are/ bearing gifts we traverse afar/ field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.” One resource notes that most children might assume that ‘Orient Are’ is the place the kings come from. Is it true? The more accurate grammar for this verse would be: “We three kings of the Orient are bearing gifts.”
So, in the story, what are the gifts of the Three Wise Ones? Traditionally, we understand that the Magi presented gold to the infant King in token of his royalty, the frankincense in token of his divinity, and the myrrh, of his sufferings. The gifts are an expression of faith and reveal the true identity of Jesus: Love Incarnate who would suffer for our sins.
In our contemporary world, I think Gifts are something we need to truly reflect on. In our affluent part of the world, many families can afford to pile gifts and presents for their loved ones under the Christmas tree. The next day of Christmas is Boxing Day, traditionally, a day marked by charitable giving, but nowadays, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, when we buy for ourselves – Christmas day, part two. I appreciate the questions that Amy Allen in “The Gift of the Magi”, asks:, “The season of Epiphany moves us from a season of indulgence, to a season marked by gift-giving that honours God. What kind of gifts do we give? And how do these gifts honour God by honouring the dignity and agency of all of God’s children?”
I am sure many of us have witnessed how a little baby can bring so many people around them to gather and adore the child – both relatives and friends. A little baby has a very special super power to make everyone be a Magi. Imagine Epiphany as something like “The first baby shower.” What kinds of gifts would you bring? Not just cute baby clothes or blankets or toys, though as someone who received them at a church baby shower for Jah-bi when my family was in Ladysmith, I can tell you I appreciated every gift, wrapped not just in paper but in love. What gifts should we give, if these gifts are to honour God by honouring the dignity and agency of all of God’s children?
I thought, (and the Worship Cluster Elders approved), that we might explore these questions through the season of Epiphany until we enter Lent in March, pondering the gifts we can bring to the baby shower to honour Jesus and his true relation in the world with all of God’s children. The gifts that are spiritually important, relevant and timely to the situations in the world, and practical to heal divisions and bring peace.
Then, I had an epiphany! Another use of Epiphany in our English-speaking world is to describe a moment of sudden revelation or insight. “I get it.” Another way to say this is, “I can see the light!”, and that is what Epiphany is really about, seeing the light.
One of the gifts that, as the modern Magi, we can bring to Jesus and to one another is dialogue, in the light of interfaith conversations and understanding. The following is the reflection I shared with our Elders:
“Epiphany celebrates the appearance of the star which guides three Magi to meet Jesus. The Magi, from other countries, are those who interpret the unusual signs in the sky and seek wisdom. What’s interesting to me is that the Magi travel from far countries to come and meet Jesus, bringing three treasures or gifts, gold, myrrh and frankincense, but there’s no reference in the Bible that they are converted to Judaism and Christianity. I think it really is nicely analogous to the interfaith dialogue between two religions or mystic/spiritual traditions, without trying to make the other change their custom, belief and practice. In the genuinely and thoughtfully arranged interfaith dialogue and conversation (and, the first step should be to learn what we need to know to have a mutually supportive, transformative dialogue and conversation) we may be able to advance and deepen the understanding of our partner’s faith and traditions, as well as our own spirituality. I believe that genuine conversations can be achieved only in the relationship of friendship, which is based on equality, justice, mutuality and solidarity.” And, as we may have experienced and learned through our own passionate friendships, friendship is the journey that eventually curves and spirals to return to ourselves and find who I am, who we are, ourselves. Epiphany is the season to follow together the light, the Star, that leads us into wisdom and interfaith understanding and justice through friendship and cooperative encounters.”
So, I ask you to approve my proposal that through this season of Epiphany, our theme will lead us as the people of God to find the meaning, knowledge and gifts of interfaith dialogue and together, weave them into a Star Conversation. I would like to suggest that we give it a good name like “Gifts Under the Star.”
The United Church has published a few good study guides to help local congregations start a well-guided conversation while learning about interfaith dialogues and other religions and faith, putting forward the question, “How, in today’s pluralistic word, are we called to love our neighbour? The United Church, believing that God is creatively and redemptively at work in the religious life of all humanity, has long been involved in interfaith dialogue and action to build respectful mutual relationships.” In this endeavour, we now have good study guides, like 1997’s “Mending the World”, using the principles of “Whole world ecumenism” to set out to build relationships with different faiths, listen deeply to each other, work through issues and learn from our differences and open up to new possibilities for working together.”
The first fruit is “Bearing Faithful Witness” (2003) which looks at the United Church in relation to the Jewish faith.
In 2006, the United Church welcomed “That We May Know Each Other: United Church-Muslim Relations Today” to start our journey of understanding which “Must ultimately come from face-to-face contact, from conversation, from hospitality, and from friendship.” It encourages us to see Muslims as neighbours, as friends, and most of all as people whom God has called to faithfulness, and recognizes Islam as a religion of peace, justice and compassion.
The most recent one, published in 2018, is Honouring the Divine in Each other: United Church-Hindu Relations Today. I would love to explore with you how we are invited to understand Reincarnation!
My hope is that based on these resources and my own study of world religions, each Sunday, I can extract one essence from each religion, faith or spirituality with which to engage: Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Atheism, Buddhism, Indigenous faith and spirituality. Our learning journey is often a spiral journey. I pray that we find ourselves, who we are and who we are to be, in the root of this tree of interfaith. God makes the wooden manger to lay the holy child.
May the learning of equality (no one person and no one’s spirituality and faith are superior to the others’), mutuality (we find each other and respond to each other with respect, faithfully) and solidarity (all of these must be acted out of love) shine like the first star in the East, the star of the encounter, the star, and the Epiphany, that is more splendid than gold.
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