What Price Homage?
a sermon by Rev. Rebecca Segers
Isaiah 60:1-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Lisa Dormire is the Vice President for Seminary Relations and Development at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She is also a mother and recently has become an aunt.
Spending time with her sixteen-month-old nephew, Joshua, has been such a great joy in her life, she says she can’t wait to be a grandmother – but she doesn’t want anyone tell her teenagers that just yet! Wednesday nights are the nights that Joshua’s mom goes to choir practice, so they’ve also become the nights that Lisa and Joshua spend together. Instead of going out and buying toys that are appropriate for him to play with, she’s begun placing a few items around that house that are okay for Joshua to explore during his visits.
One item is a little decorative tin box that she bought on trip to Mexico a year ago. Inside is a small 10-figure nativity set. A nativity set that won’t break and that can be picked up by the smallest of fingers while they learn the story of Jesus. Until Joshua started playing with this box recently, however, Lisa hadn’t noticed something very important. Jesus is missing! She’s got Mary, Joseph, shepherds, a donkey, a lamb…but no baby Jesus. So as she and Joshua play together and set up all the figures from the pretty, little box, she says to him, “Noooo Jesus. We need baby Jesus. Aunt Lisa will have to find a baby Jesus.”
But in reality, Lisa says she has no idea how to go about doing this. Should she check out the local Harrow’s or other Christmas-oriented stores for nativity sets with the parts sold separately? Should she shop the Internet and look for another Mexican Nativity on eBay? Should she buy a piece of tin at the hardware store and try to cut out her own and paint it and oh, dear, art is not her strong suit and she wouldn’t want to make something that could potentially hurt her nephew…
If the truth be told, “finding Jesus” might not be as simple as it would initially appear. This was true for the wise men looking for Jesus two thousand years ago, it is true for Lisa Dormire and it is true for each and every one of us today.
It is part of our culture that we might even be looking for Jesus, but what about the wise men? Why would they be looking for the Jewish Messiah? They are pagans, a word that comes from the Latin pagus, which originally meant “country dweller or from a rural district.” In other words, these men were from outside Israel, from a region that did not honor or acknowledge the God named “Yahweh.” The term used for them in our Scripture lesson today is μάγοι, which we transliterate as magi and can also be translated as “wise men” or “astrologers.” This word has nothing to do with “kings,” but rather casts these men as a priestly class of Persian or Babylonian experts in the occult, such as astrology and dream interpretation. Their presence in Matthew’s gospel shows that the good news of Jesus Christ went out to Gentiles even at birth, before his message was heard as the verbal word, his existence as the Word was revealed to those outside the Jewish faith from the very beginning.
These Gentile magi who live in the east have seen a star at its rising in the west. Pagan beliefs associated the birth of a new ruler with astral phenomena, and understanding this star to literally mean the presence of a king on the horizon, they leave their cushy homes and head out to discover whose birth the star might be heralding. They want to find this new king and pay him homage.
They travel, and travel, and travel. They look and look and look. While we celebrate the wise men’s arrival in Jerusalem twelve days after we celebrate Jesus’ birth, in Matthew’s story, Mary, Joseph and Jesus are living in house by the time these guys arrive and since Herod sends out his minions to kill all baby boys in the vicinity two years old and younger, legend has it that it has taken a couple of years for the magi to actually get to Bethlehem. This is not a quick journey down the block; it is a quest. A quest that leads them first to Jerusalem and King Herod.
Being men of stature in their own communities who are looking for a child of stature in the community to which they travel, naturally the wise men go to the capital city and the reigning monarch therein. It is an eminently logical move. They go straight to Herod, who receives these dignitaries from neighboring lands with aplomb, perhaps wondering what their purpose might be in visiting Israel, but nonetheless treating them with the respect and esteem they deserve. Imagine the scenario: Herod has had his chefs prepare a fine meal and perhaps his wives or concubines have provided some entertainment singing or dancing. Their time together has been enjoyable; they all sit back, comfortable and satisfied, in the rosy afterglow of an evening well-spent, and when Herod asks to discuss the purpose of their call, the magi respond by saying, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?”
Do you see? Do you get it? Herod is king of the Jews. And a king who has been known to murder his own children in fear that they might try to usurp his throne. Can you imagine his response at hearing this question? The Bible tells us that he was frightened, but he must have been out of his mind! The Bible also tells us that not only is King Herod frightened, but all of Jerusalem is frightened with him. Of course they are… they know what he’s like. He’s a bloody maniac who will do absolutely anything, kill absolutely anyone to maintain control over his kingdom. They know that this kind of news cannot bode well for them.
Then Herod calls together all the chief priests and scribes of the people to ask them where the Messiah is to be born. He knows that the king the wise men are looking for isn’t simply his heir – he probably hasn’t had a son born in a while. He also knows that who they’re looking for is the one who is to overthrow the existing order. And he knows, too, that he doesn’t want to go down. His own wise men tell him that the Messiah is to be born in the city of David, which is Bethlehem.
He secretly calls the magi back into his chambers and tells them which direction to head, but additionally adjures them to let him know when they have found the child, and here’s the kicker, “so that (he) may also go and pay him homage.”
After hearing this news, the wise men head toward Bethlehem once again following the star that has led them thus far. When they get to Bethlehem, the star stops. They are overwhelmed with amazement, and with joy. They enter the house over which the star has stopped and see Mary and Jesus together. They kneel down and pay the child homage. They open their treasure chests and leave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And then, having been warned in a dream not to go back and tell Herod anything, for remember, dream interpretation is also one of their talents, they go back to their own country by another way.
The wise men, the magi, the astrologers have found Jesus and upon finding him pay him homage. King Herod wants to find Jesus and explains to these same VIPs when they visit that his motivation is also to “pay him homage.” So we have two pieces of a puzzle here. The one that I opened with, the story of Lisa Dormire and her desire to find Jesus, a desire that is true for the wise men and for all of us, for we all do want to “find Jesus.” But this reminds me of another story. I apologize because I cannot remember the source, but the story essentially is this:
As I’m sure most of you know, Sunday is the most segregated day of the week. White people mostly worship with other white people, black people with black people, Latinos with Latinos, Koreans with Koreans and so on. There are some exceptions, but they are not the norm. There was a predominantly white church that really wanted to reach out to the people in its community of color and began pondering how to do that. They called upon a black woman in the neighborhood and asked her opinion of how to appeal to “her people” as well. The woman thought for a moment and then replied very seriously, “Once you get us, what are you gonna do with us?”
You see, it’s all well and good to go looking for Jesus and even to find him. It’s not terminology that we use often in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), but it’s a beautiful thing to be “saved,” which I would interpret as “to be a Christian who has a relationship with Jesus.” But what’s even more important I think, is once you’ve found him, what are you gonna do with him?
The answer for the magi and even for King Herod was: “pay him homage.” But what precisely is “homage?” This is not exactly a word that we use a lot in twenty-first century America. And if “homage” is something you’ve got to “pay,” what is the cost?
The fourth edition of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language states “homage” is a noun meaning:
Princeton University’s Wordnet says “homage” is respectful deference, as in to "pay court to the emperor." And when we go to Roget’s New Millennium Thesaurus, it gives the definition of “homage” as “devotion.” But the interesting piece of this definition is the synonyms: admiration, adoration, adulation, allegiance, awe, deference, duty, esteem, faithfulness, fealty, fidelity, genuflection, honor, kneeling, loyalty, obeisance, praise, respect, reverence, service, tribute, and worship.
Isn’t this an awesome list? Wouldn’t it be even more awesome if we were able to enact it in our lives as our response to Jesus the Christ? I’m going to read this list again and I want you to really listen. To listen and to reflect in your own lives which of these you are strongly in tune with and which you need to give more focus.
The synonyms for “homage,” the price we are to pay to our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ are: admiration, adoration, adulation, allegiance, awe, deference, duty, esteem, faithfulness, fealty, fidelity, genuflection, honor, kneeling, loyalty, obeisance, praise, respect, reverence, service, tribute, and worship.
Isn’t it a wonderful list? A list that I think it would be worthy to live by. So I have written the list out of slips of paper that I am giving to all of us, that we might keep them with us – for example, in a billfold or as a bookmark, in some way that you know you will come across it every once in a while and be reminded of the cost of salvation. Reminded of the gift we are given in Jesus Christ and the gifts that we can give in return. Not that they are required by God, for the greatest gift we have been given is grace. But rather the gifts we can give just as the magi brought gifts to the child Jesus was two thousand years ago.
The three on this list that I want to focus on today are the final three: service, tribute and worship. For these, to me, are the three legged stool on which our faith stands. Without all three we would fall over. With all three, we are on solid territory. Our stool sits able to hold us up in times of joy and times of trouble.
These three are service, tribute and worship. The last two, tribute and worship the wise men brought to Jesus. When they saw him, they fell down on their knees and worshipped him. Worship is one of the greatest gifts we can give our God and not because of what it does for the Lord, but for what it does for us. When we come before our Creator in worship and praise, we automatically become respectful, grateful, in harmony with our surroundings. Maybe we don’t start out that way. We may walk through the doors of the sanctuary in a cranky mood or still running from trying to get the family all put together or sad because of something that has happened in our lives or simply discombobulated, unfocused, scattered. This is one of the reasons that I spoke with you before worship this morning about when you hear the chimes played, you know that it is time to settle in, to center your minds and hearts, to prepare for your time with God. Because when we’re still transacting business in the back about who’s going to lead Sunday School next week or do coffee hour or read Scripture, we’re missing our opening moments with God. We begin worship out of kilter and it may not be until halfway through the first hymn – or even further – that we become concentrated, engaged, absorbed in the Lord. And that is fifteen or twenty minutes wasted.
Formal worship here on Sunday isn’t the only type of worship we can give to God, either. We can pray at home – set aside ten minutes in the morning before you greet your day or five at lunchtime and take a break from the office or your daily chores or fifteen in the evening to get on your knees beside your bed – don’t get in bed and lie down and start or if you’re like me, you’re asleep before you’re finished. Or your mind begins to wander and you slip off into unconsciousness unaware. The thing about getting on your knees is – it’s uncomfortable. It keeps you on target and on track precisely because you’re in an unfamiliar position. If getting on your knees doesn’t work, pick a spot in which you don’t normally sit – a different chair in the living room or kitchen. At the window instead of facing the television set. A seat that you can set aside for the specific purpose of speaking to and listening to God. As you become more practiced, simply sitting in that chair will bring you more and more quickly into “right relationship” with the Spirit.
Besides prayer and worship, you can also join a Bible Study. I will be leading a Lenten Study at Carol Keil’s house on Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. beginning February 13th and going through Palm Sunday. If you would like to learn more about the Lord and worship through studying God’s word, let me or Carol know you will be joining us and we’ll get you set up as the time nears. You can also choose to meditate individually or find a curriculum at your local library or bookstore that speaks to you. There are many ways to worship God – and I’ve only mentioned a few here. But mostly worship means coming before the Lord with the attitude the wise men had so long ago – the attitude of reverence and prayer, the attitude of paying homage.
Working backwards, the second leg on our stool is “tribute.” What is it to pay tribute? Well, the wise men brought with them three gifts, which is how tradition has brought us three wise men. The Bible doesn’t actually tell us how many wise men there are. But because we have these three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, that has transformed into three wise men.
What about these three gifts? What do they mean? Well, gold was pretty much the same thing that it is now. An extremely rare and valuable commodity that only kings – or in our day and age, the very wealthy – had access to. So by the wise men bringing Jesus gold, they are proclaiming him a king.
Frankincense was, like the name sounds, an incense. This gift proclaimed Jesus’ divinity. You see, incense was yet another rare and valuable commodity – and it’s purpose was to be used in the temple of the Lord, so that a lovely scent might arise into the heavens where it was assumed God resided and He might smell it and be pleased. By giving frankincense to Jesus, the wise men were saying he was not only a king, but also God.
And finally, myrrh. Myrrh was a resinous, aromatic gum that was used to embalm bodies after death. It, too, was very valuable and expensive. Most people at death were simply laid in a grave to rot. A few years after their death, their bodies would be dug up or taken out of the cave where they were buried and the bones would be place in an ossuary or crypt with the bones of their ancestors. But not kings. Oh, no. They would be covered in myrrh, which would preserve their bodies and keep them from putrefaction. So this third gift is one that also proclaims Jesus as the God and King he is.
What do you and I have to give that proclaims this same honor to Jesus? Obviously, gold, frankincense and myrrh are no longer the gifts we would bring. We instead would bring our tithes and our offerings. Our goods to be donated and our monies to be used in the church and out in the world. This piece, this leg of the stool is our financial gifts, is often the greatest that we have when compared with the lack of most of the world and sometimes the gift we hang onto the most tightly. How sturdy is this leg of your stool? How even is it with the other two?
The final leg is “service.” This one is understood among us. It is joining in our efforts to give to those who have been affected by the tsunami. At coffee hour, Sukey Walter has set up a table including an example of the kits that are desperately needed there. If you can give to this effort, please check out the table and sign up to bring items to support the clean-up efforts on the other side of the world. “Service” is bringing canned and non-perishable goods and placing them in our basket in the foyer. Did you know that the need for food has never been greater than it is today? As unemployment and the cost of living both rise on Long Island, more and more people are heading to the Community Food Bank to supplement their needs. Can you remember to bring in an item on a weekly basis? As I’ve mentioned before, we could make a huge difference in our immediate world if we all chipped in not just once or twice, but every single week. One can a week each, folks, and we would make a marked difference. There are many other ways to provide service, both through this church community and out in the world. How strong is that leg on your stool?
Because the objective would be to have your stool standing firm in all three – in worship, tribute and service. To have all three legs equal in length and width, sturdy and strong, supporting the stool, the foundation of your faith in God in Jesus Christ.
What price homage? In reality, it’s free. We are given all we are and all we have by grace through our Lord. The real question is: how are we going to respond to that grace? And remember, our response is pointless unless we respond out of love and gratitude, rather than the burden of obligation.
What price homage? Ultimately, the answer to that question is yours, mine, each of ours. God gave you free will. It’s your choice. You decide.