St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

A sermon preached by The Reverend Bruce W. B. Jenneker at Evensong in St George's Cathedral, Cape Town on the Sunday of the Epiphany, 3 January 2009

How different is Matthew's story of the birth of Jesus from the glitter-spattered Christmas cards we send and receive. It is so easy, is it not, to lose the story in the trappings of sentiment and holiday making. An attentive reading of the first chapters of the First Gospel will turn the spotlight sharply on the harsh realities that shape this story which we insist on sanitizing and domesticating. It begins with the fear of public disgrace when Joseph discovers that Mary his fiancé is pregnant. It continues under the looming shadow of Herod the King, whom history has described as a 'madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis.' Into this threatening darkness shines a bright new star whose engaging light leads pagan magi to seek the King of the Jews so that they might worship him. This is not a pretty story - in spite of the power of the moment when the three kings kneel to offer their gifts in humble adoration. The story ends in carnage when Herod decrees the systematic slaughter of innocent children in order to bolster his power. It is an old, old story, retold many times in ancient history and in our own day, a familiar story in which political overlords annihilate their opposition in order to hold on to their power. The birth of Christ takes place in the context of this political massacre, the kingdom of Christ's Gospel squaring off against the kingdoms of this world. So Christianity begins and so it must continue: shining the bright light of freedom and human dignity in the looming shadows of tyranny and exploitation.

Today, on this Feast of the Epiphany, our attention is drawn to the Magi. We know practically nothing about them. Matthew doesn't tell us that they were three or that they were kings. Magi, he says they were. Herodotus, the Greek historian who lived in the fifth century before Christ wrote that the Magi were a caste of highly regarded priests from Persia who were known for their erudition, who could read signs and interpret dreams.

The historical obscurity of the Magi has tantalized the speculation of the Church from the beginning. By the third century the tradition that the Magi were three kings was firmly in place. Scholars believe that they came to be given the names Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar because of an ancient Epiphany tradition. On the evening before the feast, remembering the massacre of the first-born in Matthew's story, the faithful would burn incense, sprinkle their doorways with holy water and in bold letters write C + M + B + the date of the year across the lintel. Then the family would pray together these words: 'C + M + B protect us again this year from the dangers of fire and water.' The letters C + M + B have traditionally been translated as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, however, in the rituals of the ancient Church the formula stands for Christus Mansionem Benedictat - Christ bless this home – and the +s stand for the sign of the cross to be made between each of the Latin words. Nevertheless the tradition took hold and Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar, became established as three kings representing Europe, Arabia, and Africa respectively: Melchior, the European, travelling on horse and bearing a gift of gold; Caspar, the Arab, riding a camel and bearing a gift of frankincense; and Balthazar, the African, resplendent on an elephant, carrying precious myrrh to offer to the baby Jesus.

Kings they were, come to pay homage to a new-born king in a country ruled by a tyrannical king whose mind is set on mass murder and annihilation. It is no wonder that the story became an allegory in which the powerful brought symbols of power to lay before the powerless One in whom true power resides.

Consider now an important question: is this the only way to understand what happened in that stable over which the star hovered and in which the ox and ass stood watch over the child in the manger? Was it all about power and its exercise, the meeting of power by power, an overwhelming power reversed by an overturning power? Perhaps they were not kings after all, perhaps they were indeed what their collective name says they are – wise and holy men, gifted with wisdom to read signs, understand mysteries and interpret dreams. And the gifts they brought? Were they symbols of power merely, and riches and honour and immortality?

In recent years, scholars have uncovered new meaning in the gifts the wise men brought. These scholars, among them Sophie Page (Magic in Medieval Medicine) and Gustav-Adoloph Schoener (Astorology: Between Religion and the Empirical) see gold, frankincense and myrrh not as the trappings of power but as effective medicine for the healing of the nations.

The earliest medical use of gold can be traced back to the Chinese in 2500 BCE. Frequent references to a gold cordial are found in the new pharmacopoeias of the 17th century and in the 19th century a mixture of gold chloride and sodium chloride was used to treat syphilis. In twentieth century medicine gold therapy has proven to be effective against rheumatoid arthritis and discoid lupus.

Like gold, frankincense was commonly used for medicinal purposes. Pliny the Elder who lived in the 1st century CE used frankincense as an antidote to hemlock poisoning. The 10th century Iranian physician Avicenna declared frankincense effective for the treatment of tumours, vomiting, dysentery and fevers. In China frankincense was used to treat everything from leprosy and cancer to gonorrhoea and carbuncles.

Myrrh is sour, spicy and astringent and its primary properties include warming and stimulating the body. For people who experience exhaustion and tiredness, myrrh is prescribed a tonic. Myrrh is known to enhance blood circulation, both in general and specifically to the reproductive system. Many physicians use myrrh during child-birth as the herb effectively encourages contraction of the uterus and also alleviates pain. In addition, myrrh is particularly beneficial for treating bronchitis, asthma, cold and catarrh. The antiseptic properties of myrrh act against viral and bacterial infections, invigorating the body's immune system.

Three kings with three costly gifts, is that what they are? Do they bring gold, frankincense and myrrh in tribute to their Sovereign Lord and King? Or are they sages, wise in diagnosing diseases, skilled in identifying disorders, conversant with the medicines and therapies that bring health and wholeness? Are these three power-brokers bringing tokens of power to seal a treaty - or are they three healers, acutely aware of the pain and suffering, disease and death that plague the weary world they seek to serve? Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, three healers come to enlist the Great Healer in the healing of a world sick at heart, ailing in all its joints, diseased and suffering.

From where I sit, here at the tip of Africa on the threshold of 2010, I find reassurance that three wise men, looking at a world being laid waste and being torn apart found hope in the rising of a star that beckoned them to the crib of the One who came to redeem and restore, to heal and to bless, to make creation whole. Taking the best of what they had - gold for failing muscles, frankincense for bodies at risk and myrrh for fainting spirits – healers themselves, they brought medicinal gifts to lay at the crib of the Saviour of the world, the Healer of all.

So this year I find at the Christmas crib not three kings, come to the source or power, to honour power, to give or barter it. I find here, at this crib where the source and preserver of life lies in the form of a little child, I find here a well of life and healing, which the Magi recognize and acknowledge in the healing gifts they bring. I find reassurance here for our world is sick, our planet is ailing and our nations are disordered. We need a Saviour, one whose power can heal, whose grace can restore and whose love can make whole.

These three Magi, sage, holy and wise, teach us to see where we looked for the trappings of power, the resources for healing. For too long we have celebrated gold as a commodity to buy what we can own ostentatiously, frankincense as the odour of sanctity and sacred dignity which announces us and our self-esteem, myrrh for anointing us to kingship and authority, to presage our immortality. These three Magi, sage, holy and wise, teach us to look beyond greed and grasping, corruption and self-serving. Gold is for restoration when strength fails and life collapses, frankincense is for a body at risk, myrrh wards off disease and enhances the bodies ability to heal itself.

Here at the crib we rediscover ourselves. We thought that we were little people in a world of big powers. We are not powerless and in need of power. We are sick and ailing, we and our earth along with us, and we need healing. Let us go to Bethlehem with the Magi and from them learn that what greed sees as a commodity, faith can receive as a powerful resource for healing. Then let us turn from the old, familiar roads of selfishness and materialism, and return home by the new road that leads from sickness to health, from chaos to wholeness, the road called the Way of Peace.

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