January 8, 2010
Imagine the Gift
by Enuma Okoro
Wednesday, January 6th, was the twelfth day of Christmas. The Western Church recognizes this day as the official Feast Day of Epiphany, and it marks the end of the Christmas season. The word Epiphany comes from the Greek word for revelation and it is drawn from Matthew’s Gospel account of the Magi making the journey to visit the Christ child, bearing gifts and making known the wonder of the incarnation to the Gentile world.
For most Christians, Epiphany comes and goes without much ado, but I have always loved the Feast of Epiphany and I am one of those Christians who recognize Epiphany as a season that lasts until Ash Wednesday. The short narrative found in Matthew 2:1-12 provides a wealth of material offering us different ways to approach a New Year. It is a story of pilgrimage, of divine guidance, of worship, of gift giving and receiving. It is a story of light and revelation, of making known the grace and mystery of God. It is a story of searching for God, seeing Christ and being transformed, and returning home by another way because the old way is no longer faithful.
As the New Year begins let us dwell in this season of Epiphany, to feast on the gifts it has to offer us and to learn of the gifts we can offer back. Ponder the Epiphany themes of pilgrimage and journey, divine guidance, revelation, worship, gift, grace and mystery, searching and seeing, and transformation. And imagine what it could mean to visit the Christ child and to come home by another way.
When the Magi made their trip to visit the Christ child they came bearing gifts. Popular lore suggests they came with 3 gifts representing three different aspects of Jesus’ life, frankincense, used in ritual sacrifices acknowledged Christ as holy, gold acknowledged him as royalty, and myrrh, used to prepare bodies for burial acknowledged his suffering and death. Not exactly the type of gifts a new mother expects for her child. I wonder if the Wisemen knew what sort of gift they themselves were being offered. It seems to be God’s nature to gift us with things beyond our wildest hopes and imaginings. The Wisemen were making a pilgrimage to see the King of the Jews, that was an honor it itself. But I wonder if they knew that this baby was actually the King of the World. Maybe when they got to the stable and saw the baby Jesus they somehow figured it out because any encounter with Christ is an encounter with the Triune God. I’m just speculating here, letting my Christian imagination get the best of me. And I’m beginning to wonder if that’s not such a bad thing, to let our imaginations run wild when it comes to the gifts and revelations of God.
I think that’s part of what Christ offers us, a new way of receiving the gifts of God. Yet, we have to be open to imagining much more than what meets the eye. Scripture is filled with people who understood this aspect of God’s gift giving. The bleeding woman (Matt. 9:19-22), the paralytic and his friends (Luke 5:17-20) the centurion with the sick servant (Matt. 8:5-13) are just a few who had a holy imagination. But there were others, probably more like most of us, who missed some of God’s gifts because they placed their faith in “common sense,” or within the limited boundaries of their visions. The rich young ruler (Matt.19:16-22) the disciples who turned away (John 6:52-69,) and even Peter, had bouts of a limited imagination (Matt.14:22-32).
As Christians, who receive the Eucharist we are routinely called and regularly trained to imagine God’s gifts exceeding what meets the eye. Whether or not you believe with Roman Catholics that the elements become the actual body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, or with most Protestants that it is merely a symbol, we are all called to imagine and believe in the healing and redeeming power of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The power of Christ’ body extends beyond the Eucharistic table. It extends into the day to day lives of those who partake of the feast and to all they are a part of. Most likely all of us have tasted the bread and the wine within the past month. I invite you to ponder the ways in which the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ is a gift to feed your own body, your own spirit, your own community, and your own imagination.
And I invite you to dwell on this beautiful image, Casting Our Crowns by artist James B. Janknegt, and ask yourself, are there any offerings that you must lay before the King in order to help you receive the fullness of God’s gifts?
