“WHAT SHALL WE BRING?”
The Epiphany of Our Lord (transferred)
January 3, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render Him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down
before Him, all nations serve Him!
Psalm 72:10, 11 (ESV)
Psalm 72, in the original, bears the title “of Solomon.” The big
question among Biblical scholars is: Was this psalm written about
King Solomon at the beginning of his reign or was it written by King
Solomon in anticipation of the coming of the Lord’s Messiah? A number
of scholars with a more liberal perspective contend that someone
(perhaps Solomon’s father David) wrote this as a way of imploring the
Lord’s blessing on the new king of Israel. To support their view,
they cite the fact that this psalm, together with Psalm 110, was used
in ancient Israel after the time of Solomon in the liturgy that
accompanied the coronation of kings. More conservative scholars
interpret the title “of Solomon” to mean that King Solomon himself
wrote the psalm to express the gratitude and the longing of God’s
people for the true King of Israel--the promised Messiah. In support
of their argument they point out that the psalm expresses a longing
and hoping for the blessings of absolute justice and peace, which no
earthly king can provide.
While it is true, as the more liberal scholars point out, that Psalm
72 was used in public worship in connection with the coronation of
ancient Israel’s kings, it is also true, as the more conservative
scholars will tell you, that throughout the entire history of God’s
chosen nation no king of Israel has ever measured up to the idealistic
expectations expressed here. While the hope and promise of this ideal
reign was given to David and his descendants, neither David nor any of
the kings that followed him amounted to anything more than an
imperfect anticipation of what was expected. The absolute justice and
peace alluded to in Psalm 72 can be and were fulfilled only in One of
David’s descendants and that Descendant was Jesus. The early Church
and even later Jewish tradition recognized the Messianic significance
of this psalm. As we celebrate the Epiphany this morning--the
manifestation of the Lord’s Messiah--let’s take a look at what the
kings of the world bring to Him and what it all means about our
response to Him.
What do the kings of the world bring to the One “who has been born
King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2)? The psalmist expresses the pious
wish: “May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render Him
tribute.” And just what does “render[ing] . . . tribute” involve?
First of all, it involves humbling oneself before another--submitting
to the other in recognition that He is superior. We find this kind of
tribute on the part of the wise men in the Epiphany Gospel. Matthew
says of them: “Going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His
mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him” (Matthew 2:11). These
eastern sages, whoever they may have been, recognized that the Child
that they had traveled so far to see was worthy of their tribute and
worship and they behaved accordingly.
But the true rendering of tribute involves more than just words or
gestures; it also includes real action--real sacrifice. The wise men
who came to Bethlehem to see the Child Jesus and “fell down and
worshiped Him” (Matthew 2:11) accompanied their worship with
sacrificial giving, as Matthew tells us: “Opening their treasures,
they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh” (Matthew
2:11). These gifts offered to the Christ-Child confess Him to be, as
the carol tells us: “King and God and Sacrifice.” Gold is the metal
of kings. Incense is burned as an act of worship to a Deity. Myrrh
was used in ancient times as an embalming fluid. These very costly
gifts were presented to a mere Child and in that act of tribute the
Gentiles recognized this Child to be what His own people would never
accept: the promised Messiah--the Savior of the world.
What the tribute and gifts of foreign kings means to us is that the
One to whom they are given is the universal Savior. “Tarshish” may be
known to us as the hometown of Saint Paul the apostle, but in Old
Testament times it was seen as the western boundary of the known world
(It was possibly as far west as modern-day Spain). “Sheba” was the
eastern boundary, in southern Arabia (roughly the area we now know as
Yemen). The mention of foreign kings in this passage represents a
radical departure from the thinking of the ancient Israelites, who saw
themselves as the favored nation, chosen by God, and all others as
mere Gentiles--outsiders--barbarians. The idea of the Lord’s Messiah
coming not just to the Jews but to the entire world was unheard of.
But that is exactly what the psalmist is prophesying here, and his
prophecy is confirmed and fulfilled in today’s Gospel, specifically in
the “wise men from the east [who] came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is
He who has been born King of the Jews?’” (Matthew 2:1, 2).
The text ends with the words: “May all kings fall down before Him,
all nations serve Him!” This is much more than just the involuntary
worship and service that the vanquished must render to the victor; it
is the heartfelt response of those who have received grace and
salvation addressed to the One who has given them His grace and
salvation. And that’s what true worship and service are--what true
stewardship is. According to the Small Catechism, a good work in the
sight of God is everything that is done by His children freely and
willingly, in accordance with the Law of God and motivated by His
grace, specifically His redeeming grace revealed in the life and
ministry of His Son Jesus Christ. God has nothing to gain by forcing
these things on us or by making us feel guilty enough that we go
through the motions of worshiping and serving Him. What He desires is
a sincere response of gratitude, offered freely by His children--those
who through faith in Christ have received the blessings of salvation
that He has showered upon them.
Jesus truly is, as John the evangelist tells us the book of
Revelation, “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). A
Ruler as righteous and gracious as He will inevitably be acknowledged
outside of his own nation, and the extension of His
power--particularly His power to save--will include all the earth.
And it is fitting that the kings in prophecy and the wise men in
today’s Gospel should serve as examples for us since, whether we want
to admit it or not, we like to think of ourselves as the wise rulers
of our own affairs. Like these kings and wise men, we need the true
King and Savior. Everyone does. And that is the message of this
entire Epiphany season: that the Savior “born . . . in the city of
David” (Luke 2:11)--the One “born of woman, born under the Law”
(Galatians 4:4)--the One “born King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2) is in
fact the Savior and King of all people. We are His children not by
virtue of our race or ethnic heritage, nor by virtue of our piety or
good works, but solely by virtue of the faith that His Holy Spirit has
created within our hearts through the Gospel, given to us in Word and
Sacrament. And being His children by His grace is a privilege not for
us alone, but for all sinners, because it is for the salvation of all
that He lived and died and rose again.
Amen.
May the God who caused light to shine out of darkness cause you to
increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all people,
as His love abounds for us; and may the glory of His Son be manifested
to you and in you, that you may be witnesses to all nations now and
until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful, and He will do it. Amen.