Epiphany Gift Giving

“…falling on their knees, they did Him homage.  Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  (Matthew 2:11) 

Today we commemorate the Epiphany that took place over 2000 years ago to certain foreign dignitaries traveling from the East.  The word “epiphany” comes from two Greek words meaning “revelation” or “manifestation.”  In the Eastern Orthodox tradition the arrival in Bethlehem of the magi or wise men or three kings, representatives from the non-Jewish world, drawn by a star to the cosmic event unfolding in Judea, is celebrated with great festivity on January 6th.  In fact, since ancient times the Eastern Orthodox have celebrated both Christ’s birth and the magi’s coming on that same day.   Here in the West, of course, we celebrate December 25th as Christmas and then commemorate on January 6th the visit of those distinguished gentiles bearing gifts for the Christ Child.

The custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas is rooted in that famous epiphany event.  Just as the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus as acts of worship and adoration, today, we give Christmas gifts to those us love and esteem.

A little boy was once asked by his Sunday school teacher, “What gifts did the wise men bring the Christ Child?  Johnny replied, “Uh, gold, frankincense and mermaids.”  Then a little girl piped up, “Nah, it was gold, frankincense and myrrh? But I bet he really wanted a puppy.”  Another little boy chimed in, “I’d have wanted one of the camels those three wise guys rode in on, that’s what I would have wanted.”

From an adult point of view, what would be an appropriate gift for the Christ Child, the Son of God?  In the 1995 film “Father of the Bride” starring Steve Martin, remake of the 1950 Spencer Tracy classic, the young groom-to-be decides to give his bride-to-be, his beloved, a gift, -- a very practical, useful, common-sense gift.  A blender. (Guys, don’t try this at home!)  As she opens the gift in wide-eyed excitement and expectation, and then discovers what it is, she runs up the stairs, slams the door, and bursts into tears.  She even calls off the wedding.  The would be groom is surprised, confused, bewildered.  Clueless, he can’t figure out what the problem is, what he did wrong. 

My all time favorite gift giving story is O’Henry’s short story entitled, not coincidently, “The Gift of the Magi.”   In this charming tale which takes place in New York City in the early 1900’s, one of a  five segment 1952 movie entitled O’Henry’s Full House starring Jeanne Crain and Farley Granger, a young newly wed couple, poor but very much in love, search for the perfect Christmas gift for each other.

When the young man, Jim, finds a pair of beautiful, ornate hair combs in a shop window, he decides this would be the perfect gift to adorn his wife Della’s shinny, long chestnut hair.  So he sells his one and only prize possession – the gold pocket watch he inherited from his father – to buy the special combs for his beloved.In the meantime, having no idea what her husband has done, Della finds a gold chain and fob in another shop window that would be just perfect for Jim’s treasured pocket watch. So what does she do?  She sacrifices her prize possession, her hair, cutting it off to sell to a wig maker in order to buy him the watch chain and fob.

What do stories like these tell us about the nature of gifts, particularly epiphany gifts -- gifts that reveal God and are suitable for the Christ Child?   

We look, for example, at the magi kneeling before the infant Jesus, the new born king of Israel, depicted in countless nativity scenes down through the ages, giving their exotic gifts; and wonder -- what strange gifts to give a baby!  Here, after all, is a helpless new born of poor peasant parents,  soon to be on the run as refugees in Egypt, fleeing the wrath of blood-thirsty King Herod.  And what do they give him?  A bar of gold and a couple bottles of expensive perfume.  No wonder the three Sunday school kids had trouble understanding the magi’s gifts.

More practical gifts surely would have been food, disposable diapers, or how about, tickets out of Bethlehem on a passing caravan.  Bottles of perfume?  Even the gold would have raised suspicions and questions if Mary and Joseph had tried to cash it in for something more practical.

What silly, pointless, impractical, useless gifts to lay before the new born king.  But…. that’s the point, isn’t?  And if you don’t get the point, then you may as well get your sweetheart a blender, vacuum cleaner, or clothes iron for Valentine’s Day next month

What do you give the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of the World?  Well, one popular contemporary Christmas carol tells us that a poor little drummer boy who had nothing else to give, played him a tune on his drum.  While another less well known carol offers this gift giving suggestion….

What shall I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would give him a lamb,
If I were a wise man, I would do my part.
What shall I give him?”  I’ll give him my heart.
I’ll give him my heart!

That’s the difference in the two gift-giving stories, isn’t it?  What makes the absolute best gift is not so much the item, the thing, but what’s behind it.  Indeed, what’s behind it often determines the value of the gift to the receiver.   How many of us, for example, cherish that clay hand print or paper tree ornament lovingly crafted and decorated by our kindergartener years ago?

The bride-to-be in the first story just doesn’t see much heart in the gift of a blender.  And the fact that her groom-to-be doesn’t see the problem frightens her even more.  “What kind of person,” she muses, “am I about to marry, to spend the rest of my life with – who gives me a blender as a wedding gift?”  Contrast that to the newly wed husband selling the watch, his most valued possession, to give his wife a set of combs only to discover that his wife sacrificed her most valued possession to give him a watch fob and chain.

And what about the magi’s gifts?  Tradition has it that the magi were actually magicians, and that gold, frankincense, and myrrh were tools of their trade, what they carried with them in order to work their magic spells and incantations.

Like the shepherd who would give Jesus a lamb, or the little drummer boy who would play him a tune on his drum, the magi gave what they had, what was important to them.  Their most precious gift, however, wasn’t anything tangible at all, it was that they were there in the first place, having traveled many miles from the Orient to a hostile land of unfamiliar customs, enduring all sorts of hardships, following a star, believing that God was leading them. And let’s not forget that once they arrived and found the baby in such humble circumstances, surely not what they expected, they believed in Him anyway.  Doing all that was surely their best gift. 

So what’s a gift suitable for the Christ Child?   The gift of our most treasured possession – our very selves.  Christ gives abundantly to us the most precious, priceless and wondrous gifts.  And the measure of our gratitude to Him; the measure of how well we use our gifts is…… how generously we share them with others. 

That’s what makes an epiphany gift – a gift that both reveals God and pleases God as well.  Does that suggest any additional New Year’s resolutions for your list?

 Anthony J. Sciolino      

Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12.
Epiphany of the Lord.
January 7, 2007.  (Cycle C)