The Twelve Days of Christmas. Matt 2: 1 12; Eph. 3:1 6. It is that famous day in the church year where we celebrate

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1 The Twelve Days of Christmas Matt 2: 1 12; Eph. 3:1 6 Happy Epiphany! It is that famous day in the church year where we celebrate The visit of the Magi to the Christ child With gift of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Well maybe it s not so famous here In many countries it is the day where gift giving actually happens. In Argentina, Venezuela and Puerto Rico and Mexico Epiphany is still called Kings Day and the wise men Leave presents on Eve of Epiphany. For us as North America Christians, we remember the holiday By singing We Three Kings and the song imposes on our Understanding of the holiday. The song says there were three kings because there are three gifts But in fact the text in Matthew doesn t specify the number. The song calls them Kings building on the interpretation by Augustine that these gifted giving Magi were people of high social standing. In reality they were probably Zorastrian priests from Iran Who were mesmerized by the stars and astrology,

2 And who gave up years of their lives to follow one of those stars all the way to Bethlehem, on the off chance that they would find a real king, King of the Jews, and they could worship him. I like the song, but the real story in Matthew is even more amazing. These people of a foreign country and a foreign religion travelled Hundred of miles to a strange place to be among the first visitors to worship. The word is pay homage to this child. We don t even use this word homage any more. But it s a good word to think about on this Epiphany How do we pay homage to the Christ child today? What journeys are we willing to make? What stars are we willing to follow? And this was all predicted by the psalms and the prophets: The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed: A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah, all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. Psalm 72: 10 says: May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles, render him tribute; May the Kings of Sheba and Seba bring him gifts. May all the kings fall down before him and all nations give him service.

3 And the Psalmist goes on to say: For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and needy and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. Doesn t that sound like the savior we need to worship today? Doesn t that sound like a good way to pay homage to the king? What do you think about Epiphany now? The word Epiphany actually means the revealing and I think It is a great name for this holiday where we are called to Follow our star to the Christ child and offer our gifts And discover the God who is revealed in Jesus And then to tell the world about this revelation. Epiphany is the exciting conclusion or climax of the Christmas season. Christmas doesn t end on Christmas Day to make room for the Bowl games that inevitably follow. Part of Christmas is our paying homage to the Christ child by giving of gifts not only to each other But to the needy in the name of Christ. And to realize in our giving that we are only giving a tiny portion Of what God has already given us in Chrsit Our faith, our community, our church, our life.

4 Another of my favorite songs that tells this story of gift giving is Twelve Days of Christmas. I love this song because we always sang it when my parents were alive and my family would get together. And my dad always sang the part Five Golden Rings Always with gusto and never in key. At first blush the song seems to be about gift giving to ones true love But it becomes a weird song when you think about giving someone A partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves and 3 french hens. A zookeeper with an interest in ornithology. I once gave my true love, Joan, a white parakeet for her birthday It got loose in my office before I gave it to her. The Building and ground chair, Mike and I chased that bird all over Before we caught it. It was so scared and worn out that it didn t last too long. Not a good idea to give your true love a bird! But this song is about something much more. IT was written in England in the 16 th Century England when it was Not only unpopular to be Catholic but also illegal to teach it. So the song is actually code for God s love to us.

5 It is all about the gifts that God gives to us God s true love: Check it out: the Partridge in a Pear tree is Christ on the Cross; Two turtle doves in the Old and New Testaments; Three French Hens is code for Faith, Hope and love; Four Calling birds are the four gospels; Five Golden rings speaks of the Five books of the Torah; Six geese a laying are the six days of creation before God rested; Seven swans a swimming are the gifts of the Spirit; Eight maids a milking are the 8 beatitude in Matthew; Nine ladies dancing are the fruits of the Spirit; Ten Lords a leaping refers to the Ten Commandments; Eleven pipers piping are the eleven disciples after Judas left; And the twelve drummers drumming are the 12 points of the Apostles Creed but that s another sermon in itself. The sad thing is that this song had to be written because the Catholics Were being persecuted for their faith in 16 th Century England. Even though it is a song that celebrates the tradition of gift giving That came from the Magi, those from a foreign land and foreign religion who travelled many miles to worship Jesus. That is the truth that should be revealed in this day Epiphany

6 That this King of the Jews came for all the people. I had this shown to me in my trip to the Holy Land when I travelled with a group that included Christians, Jews and Muslims. We went to the City of Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity. To see the traditional place of Jesus birth you have to go Into a little cave underneath the Cathedral. I was the third one in, there was a spot that had a brass star marker And a pointer hanging from above. It did seem a little crass, until I noticed that my friend Behrooz, A Wichita Transportation engineer who is a Shiite Muslim born in Iran Had beaten me to the spot and he was already kneeling and praying. And I couldn t help but think of him as a modern day Magi, Of course he was coming from the West, Wichita Kansas, Paying homage to Jesus Christ, King of the Jews and the Light and Savior of the world. Sadly I didn t get to sing 12 Days of Christmas with my family this year. But I couldn t believe it when one of our children, Jackson Lamb stood at this very lectern on Children Pageant Day and sang from beginning to end The Twelve Days of Christmas. I wonder if young Jackson knew that he was teaching us the whole story of God s love and many gifts to the world. That s what Epiphany and the 12 Days is all about. Amen