How many things did you bring when you went to someone’s house for Christmas? A hostess gift, your favorite savory dish to share, presents for those who were in attendance maybe a bottle of wine to add to the festivities. Now think about how many people came with you to the gathering? Do those two numbers match? I know I have attended a party solo and brought several things to share and give. Or I brought a pie for dessert but my whole family came to the party. The point is that the number of items does not always reflect the number of people. With your own experience in mind, listen now to the familiar passage about the travelers from afar.
So how many magi, or wise men, were there? Did you hear a number? The answer is, we do not know. Scripture tells us how many gifts and tradition has made a correlation to the number of gifts matching the number of travelers. This does make for wonderful pageant productions and beautiful songs like “We Three Kings” but let us expand the possibilities to include more kings visiting baby Jesus. Whatever the number of wise men, I want us to look at a gift they brought beyond the gold, frankincense and myrrh. We all know that gold is a precious metal that represents Jesus’ kingship- even from birth. Frankincense is incense that speaks to the priestly role of Jesus. While myrrh is an anointing oil offered in anticipation of his saving death. All three gifts are fit for a king and bear witness to the life Jesus will live.
Jesus received three gifts, but our story also offers an action word three times in the narrative; an action that reoccurs and defines the movement in the passage. One commentator wrote, “The word, proskyneo in Greek, is translated by the NRSV as “pay him homage.” The phrase is a leitmotif, (or a reoccurring theme)…, far more important that whether there were three magi bearing three gifts. Paying homage to Christ gives the story its purpose, its direction and its culmination” (Feasting on the Word, A1, pg.213). Paying homage to Christ is the fourth gift of Epiphany.
The adventuresome journey begins with the wise men seeking directions- good for them to stop and ask…. They declare to Herod they have followed the star and wish to pay homage to the new king. This tips Herod off to the potential threat emerging within his kingdom. Then we hear the second time homage is used, when Herod duplicitously states his desire to welcome the new king. His station and his action of slaughter defy his words and reveal his heart. Yet what he says is exactly what the wise men do and what we should do upon meeting Jesus: Pay him homage.
I have to admit I was a little uncomfortable with the word homage, especially since the Revised Standard Version translated proskyneo as worship. I get worship; I do that all the time. When the NRSV came out they changed the translation from “worship” to “paying homage.” Why? When we hear worship we think of singing, praying, learning, humbling, and communing with God. We do not think of prostrating ourselves at the foot of a king, which is what this literally means. The physical posture dramatically expresses the idea of giving not just gifts, but our entire selves to Christ.
Falling prostrate reminds me of the child’s pose in yoga; your bottom is on your heels, your arms outstretched in front of you and your head bowed to the ground. From this position there is no way to defend yourself, to take a position of power, to assert yourself. From a child’s pose, all you can do is humble yourself before Christ, listening, honoring, waiting, and loving.
Imagine the manger scene with Mary and Joseph, without a place to call home, in walk the wise men falling at the feet of baby Jesus, falling into a child’s pose, honoring the Child of God. Obviously they were men of means, station and education prostrating themselves in the presence of an infant of humble birth. Before they gave gifts, they gave him homage. They gave him the fourth gift of Epiphany- the gift that speaks not to the role Jesus will embody in his life on earth, but the relationship of humble submission that Jesus seeks from each and every one of us. Jesus wants that fourth gift of Epiphany from you. Jesus wants you to pay him homage, wants you to assume a child’s pose in his presence. With heart mind and body will you pay him homage? Will you place him above all other things in your life? Will you place Christ before family, travel, security, ego and fear?
It is vital that the wise men paid homage first, before offering their gifts. If they had offered their gifts first then they might have been currying favor, or bargaining with a new king coming into power. Instead they drop to their knees, bow their heads and submit to a lowly infant. They put Jesus above anything else. They risked their lives to travel, defying King Herod, and leaving all they know and love behind for what? They do all of that to pay homage to Jesus; to give honor and respect to the Son of God.
If you would like to move to the deeper level – move from the worship we know, to paying homage to Christ, then I invite you to close your eyes…… and take a moment…. to silently in your mind and in your heart fall prostrate to the one true God….. In God’s presence your body will move as you desire, no aches or pains, no stiff joints… it will move freely and willingly. Imagine yourself in a child’s pose before Christ… how does it feel? ….. What is evoked in you when you surrender completely to Jesus?
How does it feel placing everything at his feet and honoring him…. Pay homage to Christ before you give him your gift of offering and before receiving God’s gift of holy communion. Communing with God is the time you receive the spiritual blessing, the sacred blessing of the church as you humbly come to table.
Soon you will come to Christ’s table- a place to pay him homage, a place you receive the sacred and spiritual blessings of God. A place we humble ourselves to the grace and mercy of Christ and welcome him anew with the gift of our contrite hearts. We fall prostrate to the holiness of God and the mystery of the sacrament – the gift God has given to us. Today as we celebrate Epiphany we offer the fourth gift –the gift of our very selves prostrate to God in Christ as we receive the gift of Holy Communion. Amen.
