January 4, 2026 · Rev. Derek van Gulden · Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12
On Epiphany, Rev. Derek van Gulden wonders what the Magi's gold, frankincense and myrrh might mean for us now, and members of the congregation step forward as stargazers and a shepherd to name the gifts God asks of us: justice, joy, compassion and peace. Look up to the skies, and into each other.
Transcript
People of God, would you join me in a moment of prayer? Gracious and holy God, this morning I ask you to move the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts by your love, and help me this day not to be the instrument of my own or anyone else's oppression, but to find ways to be an instrument of peace in every step, in every breath, in every moment of every day. Amen.
Before I start to talk about the kings or the Magi or the magicians, they have lots of different nomenclature of who they may or may not have been. I just want to say something about that beautiful piece from Isaiah during the pandemic. About halfway through, when we were still on lockdown and Sunday mornings found me here. and no one there. And Jeff and Jim in the back room. One day, in the middle of worship, I got an email and it popped up on the screen. I have no idea why it did that, but it was from a friend of mine in Kenya. And he said to me, Padre, I hope you're finding the right words, but here what I'm using. And it was at peace. That peace from Isaiah, that peace of people returning from being exiled. That peace of joy and what God is bringing people back into. That became a peace that I said every Sunday before I started worship up here. It became a peace every time we tried to restart in person worship, which we know we went and stopped and whatever, but is a peace that is spoken to me so often that I read it a couple times a week. Being welcomed back. Returning from anything that you can imagine and God blessing all of us. All creation. With love and grace. Thank you for letting me share that.
I want to talk a little bit about the Magi. Everybody knows that beautiful hymn we just sang. A lot of us when we were school children, learn different versions of it. There's many different versions. I know where I grew up, it was smoking a rubber cigar. I can't even remember where it goes.
But my question has always been first, here are these three people are coming from a total different land. All of them. And they meet and they travel together watching a star. They looked up and paid attention and that star drew them. They weren't Jewish. What is believed that they represented everybody else in the created world. To show that this child was going to be the Savior of all. All and I truly believe all creation. And they travel a long distance.
I talk a lot about Mary. Riding a donkey from Worcester to Rockport is about the distance she went and what a horrendous trip that had to have been. I can't imagine. But the Magi as well traveled a long distance through the desert and their only navigation with stars. Specific star. And when they got there. They brought gifts gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
So my thoughts recently have been, well, what would those gifts bring us today. Gold. Everybody can imagine. But when I ask people, it's interesting. They don't talk about saving them from poverty. They talk about the corruption that comes with it, which fascinated me. Having all that, that bright gold. And then there's frankincense, which you can still find. I know my brother was serving in Afghanistan a couple tours and he brought me back, actually, frankincense. It almost looks like crystals. The office actually smelled wonderful for about a year and then myrrh. We don't see that a lot. We don't hear about it much. It was one of the spices that was used to. Wrap around bodies to prepare them. The body. For being put in the tomb.
So today I've asked three people about ten minutes ago if they would come forward and share with us a brief thought about what each is. There's three stargazers, so if you guys want to come forward. And there is one shepherd. And there is one Mick, because back then they could only afford one. Pick one to stand behind. Over. And you can move them if you need to. I think gold is the finest of what I have. The gift God asks us to do. Is that right? I'll start over again. I bring gold, the finest of what I have. The gift God asks us to bring, to do justice to walks two station and places a candle. Oh, that's it, don't worry about that. Okay. Look, God's dwelling is now among us. The end of God's justice is joy. I bring frankincense, the fragrance of prayer and praise. The gift God asks of us to delight in what is good. Look, God's dwelling is now among us. The end of God's justice is joy. J. J. I bring myrrh balm for the broken and mercy for the world. The gift God asks of us to love compassion. Look, God's dwelling is now among us. The fruit of God's compassion is peace.
So those were the three stargazers and I represent the shepherd. I bring light for the journey and bread for the road. The gift God asked of us to walk humbly and live in peace. Look. God's dwelling place. Is now among us. And the fruit of God's compassion is peace.
So you heard one way we can look at those gifts gifts of justice, of joy, compassion, and peace. They shine among all of us, people of God. Lift up your eyes, lift up your hearts and look into the skies, into each other. And see and remember those gifts and remember what they can mean for us this day. Amen. And thank you.
Just as a side note, because I started reading my notes. You know, by now that I like anointing people. It's part of my ministry. And there's somebody I see every week and anoint them every week. And one day I forgot the anointing oil. They didn't point to the door like, go away. But they said, please, please get some and leave it there. And what I was able to find was anointing oil that was actually frankincense and myrrh mixed together. It's very cool. And I will be reading this with her this coming week. Thank you.