December 17, 2014
What spices your life?
May the offering of our time to be in the presence
of our Lord be a blessing not only for our lives, but also our souls as we
prepare our hearts for the celebration of the entrance of the King of
Kings! AMEN.
One of the most cherished items I have as a Pastor here at
Emmanuel, I received, not at my ordination, nor on an anniversary or milestone
event in my life. It isn’t something
that takes up a lot of room. But the
significance of it brings full circle the last three weeks of our Advent
Series.
We began talking about Gold and how we should offer, not
materialistic things, but our very selves to God. Last week we asked, what do you smell? When frankincense was offered to Jesus
Christ, it was a prophecy of His future as our High Priest. And finally this evening we come to Myrrh.
For me as a Pastor, my most prized possession that I carry
to minister to the saints of Emmanuel is the oil of anointing I have in a
communion set bought for the church.
Anointing with oil is an ancient practice in the church that even the
Apostles alluded to after Jesus return to heaven. The Apostles would send the elders of the
church to sick members to read scripture, but also make the sign of the Cross
over their foreheads and hearts. It was
a clear reminder for the people that they were the redeemed children of God.
Not only were they redeemed, but the sick would have read to
them from the Gospels, Psalms and sung hymns to remind them of their baptism
into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection.
This reminder is where the people of God are clearly connected, not only
to the Apostles, but to the last gift given to Jesus Christ by the Magi.
For the Magi’s gifts, all three, Gold, Frankincense and
Myrrh are important, but this last gift takes on special significance. Myrrh was not only used as a means to make
people’s clothes smell better, for they did not like our current culture take
showers or baths every morning or evening.
But Myrrh was used by families specifically at a time of an individual’s
life that was at the exact opposite of birth.
Myrrh was one of the spices used for embalming.
The Magi in inspiration from God brought the gift of Myrrh
as a further prophecy of Jesus death.
Not only was this a foretelling of Jesus death, but for Jesus it was
meant to be a clear reminder of His life as a sacrifice. Jesus coming down from heaven was a clear
sacrifice of epic proportions. Jesus
Christ chose to come to the earth, be born of a virgin, live in poverty, be
baptized by John the Baptist, heal the sick and minister to the poor. In Jesus Christ coming down from heaven He
fulfilled the plan of salvation for all of mankind. For in Jesus Christ being born in a manger
and receiving the gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, He received not only
the gifts, but chose to die in order that we might live.
For this gift of Myrrh given by the Magi points clearly to
His death over 30 years later. And this
gift was given not only as a reminder for them, but for us as well. One day we will die. But for we who have been baptized into Jesus
Christ life, death and resurrection, death no longer has dominion over us. Because of Jesus Christ, death no longer has
sway over us, we are set free and this gift of Myrrh is the reminder for us of
this fact as we gather here this last Wednesday night of Advent.
Recently, I visited one individual who certainly needs not
only our prayer, but also the reminder of their baptism into Jesus Christ life,
death and resurrection. You see death is
very close for them and my visits are the opportunity not only to remind them
of God’s promises, but to retell why Jesus Christ came into this world in a
lowly manger. When I visit them there is
one song that clearly reminds them of this fact and reality and I share it
every time. “Jesus loves me this I
know”. This song not only reminds them
of Jesus love for them, but also of Jesus willingness to come in a lowly manger
and receive the three gifts of the Magi of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
May we as we prepare for our celebration of Jesus birth, be
reminded and comforted with the reality that we are only sojourners on this
earth and the Gifts of the Magi are but reminders of another sojourner, Jesus
Christ. For He came to sacrifice Himself
for us in order that we might have eternal life with Him in His kingdom. And His gift to us of Himself was for all of
mankind, including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel on this last
Wednesday of Advent in 2014. AMEN.
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