WEBVTT 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:06.459 Proskuneo, that's the Greek word. It means they 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:10.560 fell on their faces when they saw the child. 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:20.379 Before we step into the house at Bethlehem, let's 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.199 remember how far this road has already carried 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:25.859 us. Strangers from the east have been following 00:00:25.859 --> 00:00:28.600 a light they didn't fully understand. They left 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:32.250 certainty behind. They've trusted signs instead 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:35.130 of guarantees, and now the star has stopped. 00:00:35.469 --> 00:00:38.090 Not over a palace, not over a throne, but over 00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:41.270 a house, a child. A quiet moment where heaven 00:00:41.270 --> 00:00:44.789 chooses to be found without spectacle. This is 00:00:44.789 --> 00:00:47.850 Epiphany. The moment when God reveals himself 00:00:47.850 --> 00:00:51.869 not to the prepared, but to the attentive. And 00:00:51.869 --> 00:00:54.570 this morning, here we are. In our little church. 00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:57.789 On Epiphany Sunday, coats hung up, coffee still 00:00:57.789 --> 00:01:01.570 warm, lives still unfinished. Some of us arrived 00:01:01.570 --> 00:01:05.930 sure, some unsure. Some just hoping the light 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:08.329 still knows how to find us. Wherever you came 00:01:08.329 --> 00:01:12.909 from, friend, you're welcome here. Let's sit 00:01:12.909 --> 00:01:15.310 with this story together and see what it reveals 00:01:15.310 --> 00:01:25.650 to us. And I'll see you on the other side. I 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:27.870 have to go hear Pastor Jim on Sunday and then 00:01:27.870 --> 00:01:31.329 I got to listen to all of his Facebook rantings 00:01:31.329 --> 00:01:33.989 during the... Nope. I just do my sermons. That's 00:01:33.989 --> 00:01:39.930 it. So, the gift that reveals the world. This 00:01:39.930 --> 00:01:43.010 is a super important, believe it or not, sermon. 00:01:44.090 --> 00:01:47.709 It's so important that we started talking about 00:01:47.709 --> 00:01:52.730 this like months ago when we started talking 00:01:52.730 --> 00:01:56.810 about Cain and Abel. You may not even remember 00:01:56.810 --> 00:02:00.790 it. When we started that sermon, each one built 00:02:00.790 --> 00:02:05.409 upon the other until intentionally, until we 00:02:05.409 --> 00:02:08.849 found ourselves here. And I'll explain why here 00:02:08.849 --> 00:02:11.750 in a moment. But like I want to mention, this 00:02:11.750 --> 00:02:17.409 is a long road. And by now, the road has been 00:02:17.409 --> 00:02:22.650 walked. And like I said, we did not rush here. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:26.639 We didn't run and jump straight into the house. 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:30.199 We didn't skip the long obedience that has brought 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:34.479 us to Bethlehem. Over the last few weeks, we 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:39.740 have been tracing epiphany from every side. Because, 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:43.939 listen, because if you're one who believes this, 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:49.740 if scripture is telling the story, a unified 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:54.969 story about God's promises, actually being for 00:02:54.969 --> 00:02:59.909 the whole world, then epiphany isn't just a footnote. 00:03:00.169 --> 00:03:03.870 It is actually the hinge to the whole story. 00:03:05.789 --> 00:03:09.310 First, we sat with the priests and the scribes, 00:03:09.310 --> 00:03:12.409 the ones who knew the answer, knew where the 00:03:12.409 --> 00:03:17.560 Messiah was, and they chose not to go. And we 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:20.840 named how knowledge can settle into certainty, 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:24.699 how our proximity to the truth doesn't always 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:30.300 produce in us movement. And then in Bible study, 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:33.960 we followed the wise men on the road after Jerusalem, 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:38.039 before Bethlehem, and we sat with them. And we 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:40.879 contemplated what it means to move when the light 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:46.219 doesn't tell you everything. To trust in a star 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:51.180 when you have just left a liar's throne. And 00:03:51.180 --> 00:03:55.379 we named what it costs. To keep walking when 00:03:55.379 --> 00:03:58.240 you don't know for sure how the story's going 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:06.639 to end. And now, finally, we arrive in Bethlehem. 00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:13.919 Not at a manger. Not at a star in the sky. But 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:18.660 at a house, let's notice the word Matthew uses. 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:24.680 He says house, not stable, not cave, not inn. 00:04:26.029 --> 00:04:31.230 By the time the Magi arrive and find Jesus, months 00:04:31.230 --> 00:04:35.689 of time has passed. Mary and Joseph have found 00:04:35.689 --> 00:04:40.269 someplace to settle. The emergency of that very 00:04:40.269 --> 00:04:44.350 first night has now faded into the ordinary rhythm 00:04:44.350 --> 00:04:48.550 of caring for a newborn in a town that isn't 00:04:48.550 --> 00:04:53.889 home. The shepherds, they came in the chaos of 00:04:53.889 --> 00:04:59.920 birth. The magi show up after the dust has settled. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:05.459 The journey is complete. The seekers have found 00:05:05.459 --> 00:05:09.959 what they are looking for. And what they do next 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:15.300 tells us more about Jesus than any sermon could. 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:23.040 They give him gifts. There are moments, friends, 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:30.259 in scripture where theology is spoken before 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:37.579 it's explained. When doctrine shows up, not as 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:42.540 an argument, but as an instinct. Where truth 00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:51.270 arrives, not as lecture, but as offering. This, 00:05:51.270 --> 00:05:56.769 dearest, this is one of those moments. The Magi 00:05:56.769 --> 00:05:59.589 don't preach. They do not debate. They don't 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:04.149 ask questions. They kneel. They open what they've 00:06:04.149 --> 00:06:09.490 carried and they give. And in doing so, they 00:06:09.490 --> 00:06:15.509 proclaim who Jesus is before anyone else sees 00:06:15.509 --> 00:06:21.430 it or fully understands it. Gold, frankincense, 00:06:21.430 --> 00:06:28.089 and myrrh. Not random, not symbolic filler, not 00:06:28.089 --> 00:06:34.970 pageantry. These gifts, my friends, interpret 00:06:34.970 --> 00:06:41.410 the child. Church, attune your ears to the reading 00:06:41.410 --> 00:06:45.250 of Holy Scripture. This morning's passage comes 00:06:45.250 --> 00:06:49.050 to us from the Gospel account. according to the 00:06:49.050 --> 00:06:52.430 evangelist Matthew, in the second chapter of 00:06:52.430 --> 00:06:57.069 his gospel account, beginning with verse 9. When 00:06:57.069 --> 00:06:59.170 they had heard the king, they set out, and there 00:06:59.170 --> 00:07:01.250 ahead of them went the star that they had seen 00:07:01.250 --> 00:07:05.209 at its rising until it stopped over the place 00:07:05.209 --> 00:07:09.949 where the child was. When they saw that the star 00:07:09.949 --> 00:07:13.089 had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 00:07:13.589 --> 00:07:17.740 On entering the house, They saw the child with 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:20.920 Mary and his mother, and they knelt down and 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:24.459 paid him homage. Then opening their treasure 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:28.500 chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:32.160 and myrrh. Having been warned in a dream not 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:37.439 to return to Herod, they left for their own country 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:43.079 by another road. Sins reading of the word this 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:47.750 morning. and they did not come empty -handed. 00:07:48.329 --> 00:07:53.189 They came bearing meaning, and the meaning that 00:07:53.189 --> 00:07:57.689 they bore would take the rest of Matthew's gospel 00:07:57.689 --> 00:08:04.449 account to fully unpack. Let me slow this down, 00:08:04.689 --> 00:08:11.170 because familiarity is the enemy here. We've 00:08:11.170 --> 00:08:15.079 seen nativity sets with these figurines our entire 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:19.779 lives we have heard the story recited so often 00:08:19.779 --> 00:08:24.139 that it risks becoming decorative three kings 00:08:24.139 --> 00:08:28.360 in flowing robes camels in the background a convenient 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:32.159 number to match the gifts we have flattened them 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:38.379 into christmas pageant characters but if we pause 00:08:38.379 --> 00:08:41.750 the tape on all the things we think we fully 00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:46.289 understand then we'll actually see this moment 00:08:46.289 --> 00:08:56.669 is strange. These are not Israelites. They are 00:08:56.669 --> 00:09:01.690 not a part of the covenant people. They are not 00:09:01.690 --> 00:09:08.190 temple insiders or Torah scholars. They come 00:09:08.750 --> 00:09:15.529 From the East, outsiders, foreigners, Gentiles, 00:09:15.669 --> 00:09:22.350 people who should not, under any reasonable expectation, 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:27.529 be kneeling in worship in front of a Jewish child. 00:09:29.070 --> 00:09:33.389 And let's take a moment to talk about who they 00:09:33.389 --> 00:09:37.629 actually were, because... The history actually 00:09:37.629 --> 00:09:42.450 matters here. Matthew uses the Greek word magoi, 00:09:42.590 --> 00:09:47.769 and it's where we get the word magic, which should 00:09:47.769 --> 00:09:51.370 already tell you something about how the ancient 00:09:51.370 --> 00:09:55.549 world would have viewed them. They were likely 00:09:55.549 --> 00:09:58.950 Zoroastrian priests from Persia in a place we 00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:04.480 would now call Iran. They were astronomers, astrologers, 00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:09.899 dream interpreters, renderers of signs in the 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:15.419 heavens. In the first century world, astronomy 00:10:15.419 --> 00:10:22.139 and astrology weren't two different things. They 00:10:22.139 --> 00:10:27.539 actually were the same thing. And the same people 00:10:27.539 --> 00:10:31.360 who track the movements of planets also believe 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:37.360 that those movements carried meaning. And here's 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:42.220 what should unsettle us. The Jewish tradition 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:45.259 had serious reservations about this kind of thing. 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:53.059 Deuteronomy warms against divination. The prophets 00:10:53.059 --> 00:10:57.309 condemned those. who read the stars for omens. 00:10:58.330 --> 00:11:03.269 These men practiced arts that Torah -observant 00:11:03.269 --> 00:11:07.710 Jews would have viewed with deep suspicion. And 00:11:07.710 --> 00:11:14.809 yet, God speaks to them anyway. God uses their 00:11:14.809 --> 00:11:18.929 language, stars and dreams and signs to draw 00:11:18.929 --> 00:11:23.200 them towards Bethlehem. God does not wait for 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:28.659 them to become Jewish first. God meets them in 00:11:28.659 --> 00:11:33.919 an expression, in a vernacular that they already 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:40.259 know, which raises the first real question about 00:11:40.259 --> 00:11:47.200 epiphany today. Why did they come at all? The 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.179 text never tells us that they were compelled. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.279 There's no angelic announcement recorded for 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:58.100 them. No prophetic mandate issued directly to 00:11:58.100 --> 00:12:01.659 their people. No command that forces obedience. 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:05.620 Gabriel doesn't appear in Persia the way he appeared 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:10.899 to Mary in Nazareth. No heavenly host sings over 00:12:10.899 --> 00:12:13.940 their heads the way they sang for those shepherds 00:12:13.940 --> 00:12:20.580 in the fields. What they had was a sign. And 00:12:20.580 --> 00:12:28.559 a decision. They saw something. Some astronomical 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:34.700 event significant enough for them to pack provisions 00:12:34.700 --> 00:12:40.679 for a journey of perhaps a thousand miles. And 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:43.759 if you're anything like me sitting there wondering, 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:47.509 well, what was it? Well, scholars have proposed 00:12:47.509 --> 00:12:50.509 some theories. A conjunction between the planets 00:12:50.509 --> 00:12:54.610 Jupiter and Saturn, a supernova. Some think it 00:12:54.610 --> 00:13:00.250 was a comet. Matthew doesn't explain, nor is 00:13:00.250 --> 00:13:03.090 he interested in the mechanics of it. What matters 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:08.090 is that these men saw something in the sky and 00:13:08.090 --> 00:13:14.730 interpreted it as the birth announcement of a 00:13:14.730 --> 00:13:20.919 king. And not just any king, a Jewish king. A 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:25.220 king worth traveling for. And this is a part, 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:30.679 if we're paying attention, should stop us. How 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:38.480 did Persian astronomers connect a star to a Jewish 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:43.840 king? Some scholars... point to the Jewish communities 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:48.039 that had remained in Babylon and in Persia since 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:53.679 the exile. Centuries of contact. Centuries of 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:57.639 conversation. The Magi may have known the Hebrew 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:02.120 prophecies. They may have heard the whispers 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:06.080 of a coming deliverer. There was an Old Testament 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:10.789 prophet by the name of Balaam. And Balaam is 00:14:10.789 --> 00:14:13.330 a strange prophet from the east in the book of 00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:16.649 Numbers, and he declares a star shall come out 00:14:16.649 --> 00:14:20.070 of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. 00:14:21.590 --> 00:14:25.269 Perhaps that oracle traveled the trade routes, 00:14:25.429 --> 00:14:29.009 the spice routes, and passed from generation 00:14:29.009 --> 00:14:37.799 to generation to generation, waiting. And I think 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:43.059 that matters. Or it should. Because scripture 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:47.820 is full of people who see signs and stay put. 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:54.879 Full of people who hear the truth and never leave 00:14:54.879 --> 00:15:01.340 home. And the Magi are different. They read the 00:15:01.340 --> 00:15:05.200 world as if God might actually be speaking through 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:10.299 it. They trusted that revelation could come from 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:15.019 outside their own tradition. They believed that 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:18.679 truth was worth traveling for, worth the risk, 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:22.940 worth the expense, worth the months of uncertainty 00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:27.860 on roads that most assuredly were not safe. Picture 00:15:27.860 --> 00:15:34.039 it. Camels loaded with treasure, servants assuredly. 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:36.860 Provisions for a journey that would take them 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:41.779 through a desert and foreign territory. They 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:47.120 had no GPS. No guarantee that the star would 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:53.720 keep appearing. No promise that they'd actually 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:57.899 find something when they arrived. And here is 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:04.059 the important part. They did not know how the 00:16:04.059 --> 00:16:08.120 story was going to end when they began walking. 00:16:09.620 --> 00:16:15.399 They did not know what they would find. They 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:20.279 did not know who this child would be. They only 00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:26.259 knew something in the world has shifted and it 00:16:26.259 --> 00:16:32.080 demanded their response. And that, my dear friends, 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:38.600 that is faith. It's not certainty. It's not mastery. 00:16:39.139 --> 00:16:46.320 It's movement. It's faith. And epiphany is not 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:50.240 about intelligence finding Jesus. It's about 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:55.970 attentiveness finding him. The magi's were watchers 00:16:55.970 --> 00:16:59.509 of the heavens, students of patterns, readers 00:16:59.509 --> 00:17:03.549 of signs. Their whole vocation was about paying 00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:07.970 attention to what most people ignored. And when 00:17:07.970 --> 00:17:11.250 the sign appeared, they didn't dismiss it as 00:17:11.250 --> 00:17:14.809 coincidence. They didn't wait for confirmation. 00:17:14.849 --> 00:17:18.170 They did not outsource the responsibility to 00:17:18.170 --> 00:17:23.759 someone else. They simply went. And this is where 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:30.279 Epiphany widens the story. From the beginning, 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:37.140 God's promise was never small, never tribal, 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:43.480 never contained. To Abraham, back in the 12th 00:17:43.480 --> 00:17:47.700 chapter of Genesis, in you, all of the families 00:17:47.700 --> 00:17:51.809 of the earth shall be blessed. Not some families. 00:17:52.230 --> 00:17:58.660 Not the deserving families. All of them. Through 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:03.000 the prophet Isaiah ben Amoz, nations streaming 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:06.380 towards the light, kings bringing tributes, the 00:18:06.380 --> 00:18:09.859 coastlands waiting for God's teachings. In the 00:18:09.859 --> 00:18:14.099 72nd Psalm, may all the kings fall down before 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:18.339 him, all nations give him service. The Magi are 00:18:18.339 --> 00:18:24.900 not an interruption in Israel's story. They're 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:29.619 the fulfillment. They're the first fruits of 00:18:29.619 --> 00:18:34.720 the promise going global. Gentiles from the east 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:39.240 kneeling before a Jewish child and somehow recognizing 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:45.240 him in what most of Israel misses. And when they 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:49.299 arrive, They don't ask for proof. They don't 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:52.420 demand credentials. They don't require explanation. 00:18:52.539 --> 00:18:56.599 They don't ask Mary for documentation or Joseph 00:18:56.599 --> 00:19:03.240 for prophecy citations. They kneel. The Greek 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:10.380 word Matthew uses here, proskunio. It means to 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:15.619 prostrate yourself. It means to fall on your 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:23.119 face in worship. Prescunio is not a polite bow. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:34.740 It's surrender. And then they give gifts that 00:19:34.740 --> 00:19:40.130 speak. Which brings us to the second question 00:19:40.130 --> 00:19:45.769 Epiphany presses on us today. Why these gifts? 00:19:47.029 --> 00:19:52.849 Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These are not 00:19:52.849 --> 00:19:57.930 gifts for a baby shower. They are not practical. 00:19:58.569 --> 00:20:03.549 You can't eat gold. And a young child has no 00:20:03.549 --> 00:20:08.349 use for burial spices. They're not sentimental, 00:20:08.670 --> 00:20:12.990 no blankets, no toys, no things a young family 00:20:12.990 --> 00:20:16.730 actually needs, and they're not chosen for their 00:20:16.730 --> 00:20:21.309 usefulness. They're chosen because of their meaning. 00:20:21.869 --> 00:20:26.049 Let me tell you about the meaning of those things 00:20:26.049 --> 00:20:31.109 those men were carrying. Gold is a gift for a 00:20:31.109 --> 00:20:34.750 king, not because it's expensive, though it is. 00:20:35.349 --> 00:20:38.289 Not because it's beautiful, though it is that 00:20:38.289 --> 00:20:43.150 too. Gold in the ancient world signified authority, 00:20:43.470 --> 00:20:49.029 permanence, sovereignty. You gave gold to rulers 00:20:49.029 --> 00:20:52.890 because gold doesn't tarnish. It endures. It 00:20:52.890 --> 00:20:58.130 outlasts. The Magi recognize that this child 00:20:58.130 --> 00:21:04.259 is not simply significant. He is sovereign. That's 00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:09.240 called syllabus. They kneel before him as a curiosity, 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:13.940 but not as a curiosity, but as a ruler. And before 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:18.099 he can walk, before he can speak, before he has 00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:21.960 any earthly power at all, they all name him king. 00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:28.839 Not the king Herod knows how to be, but the kind 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:34.940 of king who wins by giving himself away. Frankincense. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:40.619 Frankincense is a gift for worship. It's a resin 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:44.200 harvested from the Boswellia tree, and it's found 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:47.299 primarily in the Arabian Peninsula and in the 00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:50.980 Horn of Africa. And in the first century, to 00:21:50.980 --> 00:21:54.799 some folks, it was worth its weight in gold and 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:59.140 sometimes even more. It was burned in the temple, 00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:03.740 its smoke rising, its prayers ascended. You do 00:22:03.740 --> 00:22:06.980 not offer frankincense casually. It was reserved 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:14.539 for the presence of God. Without a sermon, without 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:16.960 a creed, without a doctrinal statement, these 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:21.079 outsiders proclaim this child belongs in the 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:25.500 space where heaven and earth meet. This is not 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:32.769 just a king. This is God with us. And then there's 00:22:32.769 --> 00:22:37.529 the myrrh. Myrrh is also a resin harvested from 00:22:37.529 --> 00:22:41.269 the camphora tree. And it was used in the ancient 00:22:41.269 --> 00:22:46.210 world for two primary purposes. As a component 00:22:46.210 --> 00:22:53.450 for holy anointing oil. And as a burial spice. 00:22:55.450 --> 00:23:03.589 Myrrh masked the smell of death. It was packed 00:23:03.589 --> 00:23:08.130 around bodies to preserve them. This is the most 00:23:08.130 --> 00:23:15.049 unsettling of the three. Because it says what 00:23:15.049 --> 00:23:23.069 no one else is ready to say yet. This king, this 00:23:23.069 --> 00:23:29.990 God, will suffer and will bleed. This story will 00:23:29.990 --> 00:23:35.859 not end. without cost. At the cross, centuries 00:23:35.859 --> 00:23:39.480 later, Jesus will be offered wine mixed with 00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:44.279 myrrh, a painkiller he refuses. After he dies, 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:47.579 Nicodemus will bring myrrh and aloes to prepare 00:23:47.579 --> 00:23:52.200 his body for burial. The magi's gift lands at 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:56.059 the beginning of the story, but it already knows 00:23:56.059 --> 00:24:02.569 the ending. Now watch this. This is pretty cool. 00:24:04.009 --> 00:24:08.349 Taken together, these three gifts preach the 00:24:08.349 --> 00:24:13.630 gospel. Gold says Jesus is the king. Frankincense 00:24:13.630 --> 00:24:17.509 says Jesus is God. Myrrh says Jesus will die. 00:24:18.670 --> 00:24:22.849 Before his disciples ever understand, before 00:24:22.849 --> 00:24:26.289 the crowds ever gather, before the cross is even 00:24:26.289 --> 00:24:33.980 imaginable, The Magi offer a theory that holds 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:37.519 power, divinity, and suffering together without 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:41.039 flinching. And here's what we need to notice. 00:24:41.099 --> 00:24:43.680 These gifts don't just tell us who Jesus is. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:47.619 They tell us what kind of salvation the world's 00:24:47.619 --> 00:24:54.619 getting. God alone with gold, right? Gold by 00:24:54.619 --> 00:24:57.900 itself. would be a conquering king who fixes 00:24:57.900 --> 00:25:01.700 everything from the top down. Frankincense alone 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:06.859 would give us abstraction, a distant deity we 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:12.640 worship but never touch. And myrrh alone would 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:17.039 give us tragedy, a martyr whose death accomplishes 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:23.440 nothing but grief. Remove any one of these gifts 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:27.000 and you end up with a Jesus that's easier to 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:32.539 manage. But the Magi don't let us do that. They 00:25:32.539 --> 00:25:37.059 bring all three. They refuse a cheap gospel before 00:25:37.059 --> 00:25:42.039 anyone ever even asked for one. And that's the 00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:44.920 heart of epiphany, not revelation as spectacle. 00:25:45.180 --> 00:25:49.339 Revelation as truth that demands a response. 00:25:50.349 --> 00:25:53.109 The star was spectacular enough, but the star 00:25:53.109 --> 00:25:57.670 was just the invitation. The gifts are the response. 00:25:58.829 --> 00:26:02.390 The gifts are what the magi chose to do with 00:26:02.390 --> 00:26:06.670 what they had seen. Now here's the quiet question 00:26:06.670 --> 00:26:12.170 sitting underneath all of this. What do you bring 00:26:12.170 --> 00:26:17.279 when you finally arrive? The Magi don't come 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:20.259 empty -handed. They didn't come to consume. They 00:26:20.259 --> 00:26:22.880 didn't come to observe, snap a picture, and head 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:27.079 home. They came to offer something costly, which 00:26:27.079 --> 00:26:32.299 exposes attention for us. We are very comfortable 00:26:32.299 --> 00:26:37.099 receiving Jesus. We like that part. We like the 00:26:37.099 --> 00:26:40.640 salvation. We love the forgiveness. We like hope 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:42.700 and healing and the promise that we're loved. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:47.420 But Epiphany asks something of us more unsettling. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:53.799 What does your presence say about who you believe 00:26:53.799 --> 00:27:00.960 Jesus is? The Magi's gifts cost them something. 00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:05.420 They had to carry them across a thousand miles 00:27:05.420 --> 00:27:08.160 of road, protect them from thieves, guard them 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:11.579 at night. And once they were given, they were 00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:15.829 gone. You cannot give gold and still possess 00:27:15.829 --> 00:27:19.890 it. You cannot burn incense and keep it intact. 00:27:19.990 --> 00:27:22.529 You cannot offer myrrh without acknowledging 00:27:22.529 --> 00:27:30.769 morality. Their worship involved loss. And here's 00:27:30.769 --> 00:27:37.430 the part that we want to avoid. And please understand 00:27:37.430 --> 00:27:41.470 this diagnosis, this recognition, this observance. 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:45.319 observation, friends. This is pointed at every 00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:48.240 single one of us. Not one of us escapes this. 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:54.160 We want faith without vulnerability. We want 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:58.700 worship without our surrender. We want commitment 00:27:58.700 --> 00:28:04.400 without risk. We want to kneel, but we don't 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.680 want to let go with what we're holding on to. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.299 Epiphany will not let us keep Jesus at arm's 00:28:12.299 --> 00:28:16.940 length. And here's what ties all three of these 00:28:16.940 --> 00:28:21.140 weeks together. The priests knew the scriptures 00:28:21.140 --> 00:28:24.599 and did not move. The magi saw the sign and traveled, 00:28:24.740 --> 00:28:29.099 and now in Bethlehem they give. Epiphany is progression. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:36.839 From knowing to moving to offering. And that 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:43.960 arc mirrors the life of a disciple itself. We're 00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:47.940 called to more than just correcting belief. We're 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:51.819 called to a responsive faith. And ultimately, 00:28:51.819 --> 00:28:57.559 we are called to self -giving love. The priests 00:28:57.559 --> 00:29:00.599 had the knowledge. The magi, they had movement. 00:29:00.700 --> 00:29:03.940 But it's the offering that completes the journey. 00:29:05.160 --> 00:29:08.259 So here's where epiphany lands for us today, 00:29:08.380 --> 00:29:12.480 not with guilt, not with pressure, but with invitation. 00:29:13.940 --> 00:29:16.759 What are you carrying that you need to lay down? 00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:20.640 Not gold and frankincense and myrrh, but time, 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:28.039 attention, control. The need to be right, fear 00:29:28.039 --> 00:29:32.299 of being seen, certainty that has calcified into 00:29:32.299 --> 00:29:36.829 something that keeps you from moving. Maybe it's 00:29:36.829 --> 00:29:39.150 the gift of presence, actually showing up for 00:29:39.150 --> 00:29:41.970 the people in your life instead of just occupying 00:29:41.970 --> 00:29:46.710 the same space. Maybe it's the gift of honesty, 00:29:46.910 --> 00:29:48.730 finally saying that thing you've been holding 00:29:48.730 --> 00:29:51.890 back because it costs too much to actually speak 00:29:51.890 --> 00:29:56.630 it. Maybe it's the gift of surrender. It's the 00:29:56.630 --> 00:29:59.730 willingness to stop clutching your plans so tightly. 00:30:00.970 --> 00:30:06.309 Go ahead and let God redirect your steps. Magi 00:30:06.309 --> 00:30:08.650 didn't know what their gifts would mean. They 00:30:08.650 --> 00:30:10.490 couldn't have known that the myrrh would show 00:30:10.490 --> 00:30:13.309 up again at the tomb and that the gold might 00:30:13.309 --> 00:30:17.250 fund a flight to Egypt. That the frankincense 00:30:17.250 --> 00:30:19.529 declared something about this child that would 00:30:19.529 --> 00:30:23.210 eventually get him killed. They gave them anyway. 00:30:24.029 --> 00:30:27.069 They offered what they had and trusted that it 00:30:27.069 --> 00:30:30.720 would be enough. Epiphany is not asking you to 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:33.259 travel across the world. It's asking whether 00:30:33.259 --> 00:30:36.720 you are willing to recognize when God has already 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:42.519 drawn near to you. And whether you are willing 00:30:42.519 --> 00:30:47.279 to respond. Because the promise still stands. 00:30:47.660 --> 00:30:52.079 Light has come into this world. Not just for 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:55.759 Israel. Not just for the faithful. Not just for 00:30:55.759 --> 00:30:57.920 people who had their theology sorted out before 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:05.720 they started walking, but for all people. Even 00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:08.660 the ones coming from the wrong direction, even 00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:12.259 the ones reading the wrong signs, even those 00:31:12.259 --> 00:31:14.960 whose gifts don't make sense to anyone watching, 00:31:15.140 --> 00:31:19.180 because those who seek, friends, they will find. 00:31:21.500 --> 00:31:23.819 May the God who called seekers from the East 00:31:23.819 --> 00:31:27.220 call you out of unsettled certainty. May the 00:31:27.220 --> 00:31:31.180 Christ receive costly gifts, receive your life 00:31:31.180 --> 00:31:35.180 as an offering. May the Spirit who reveals truth 00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:49.980 lead you home by another way. Amen. Amen. Comforted 00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:52.099 and unsettled, you're probably hearing it right. 00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:55.319 Epiphany doesn't scold us for not knowing enough. 00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:57.940 It simply asks whether we're paying attention, 00:31:58.220 --> 00:32:00.480 whether we're willing to move when the light 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:03.500 nudges us forward, whether we kneel when God 00:32:03.500 --> 00:32:06.539 shows up, smaller and quieter than we expected. 00:32:07.259 --> 00:32:10.500 The good news is this. The Magi didn't have perfect 00:32:10.500 --> 00:32:12.960 theology, clean motives, or insider credentials. 00:32:13.380 --> 00:32:16.680 They had attentiveness. And that was enough. 00:32:17.390 --> 00:32:19.809 If you're still seeking, still learning, still 00:32:19.809 --> 00:32:21.869 carrying questions into worship, you're in good 00:32:21.869 --> 00:32:25.769 company. God keeps meeting people exactly there. 00:32:25.950 --> 00:32:29.630 And if this time together mattered to you, if 00:32:29.630 --> 00:32:32.150 something rang true or stayed with you longer 00:32:32.150 --> 00:32:34.410 than you expected, you're welcome to throw your 00:32:34.410 --> 00:32:37.710 like in the offering plate, not as payment, just 00:32:37.710 --> 00:32:41.130 as witness. And if you'd like to keep joining 00:32:41.130 --> 00:32:44.650 us as this new year unfolds, go ahead and tithe 00:32:44.650 --> 00:32:47.519 your subscribe. That way you'll know when the 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:49.720 lights are on and the church is meeting again. 00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:53.059 No guilt, no pressure, just an open door and 00:32:53.059 --> 00:32:55.559 a standing invitation. Until next time, friend, 00:32:55.759 --> 00:32:56.700 be blessed.