We Three Wizards (Dec 3-9)

This week’s snapshots:

Happy Saturday, nerds (endearing)~

I am pleased to announce that after stressing out about it for several weeks, the Lord! Heard my prayer! And with the guidance of a kind pastor in Wheatland! I shot an elk! A year’s supply of red meat is now safely stored in the freezer and I couldn’t be happier - it was one shot, one kill, I lined up what by all appearances was a small cow and toppled a baby bull at 430 yards. If you want me to make you something delicious, you’ll have to send me a response email ;P

In the morning, the second Sunday of Advent will dawn and with it, you probably won’t (but totally could) hear We Three Kings playing at your church. You know the words:

We three kings of Orient are

Bearing gifts we’ve traversed afar

Field and fountain, moor and mountain

Following yonder star

Written by John Hopkins Jr. in 1857 during the last year of his seminary, the song is meant to be sung by three soloists telling the listener about the gifts they are bringing the newborn king. The questions that this carol pose for us as we participate in the hundred years of singing it are multiple (though I’m choosing just two for today). 

According to church tradition, the wizards of the East were named Gaspard, Melchior, and Balthazar (keep these in mind because I guarantee I’ll tell you more about them when Epiphany is happening ;). Gold was the gift of Gaspard, frankincense the gift of Melchior, and myrrh the gift of Balthazar - the verses are laden with the significance of each gift and why it befits Jesus.

I’ve been listening to Rend Collective’s “Star of Wonder,” but they don’t include all the verses. So Imma bring Balthazar’s verse to your attention:

Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume

Breathes a life of gathering gloom;—

Sorrowing, sighing,

Bleeding, dying,

Sealed in the stone-cold tomb.

What gift are you preparing for Christ this Advent? 

Gold represents kingship, incense represents prayer, and myrrh? Myrrh represents a gift of sorrow. And while that seems like an objectively terrible gift for a baby, it feels like this year has, on the whole, for many of the people I know, been equally terrible. 2023 asked us, “But did you die?” and while those of us reading these words are physically alive, it seems like our spirits got crushed, persecuted, chewed up and spit out at least once (if not all year long).

And kindly, Balthazar reminds us that our suffering is a gift all of its own. The kind of gift that is maybe irreverent to bring most babies, but a perfect match for Emmanuel, the Prince of Peace and Light of the World. In Advent, we are preparing to receive the gift of Christ, but the westbound kings remind us that we, too, even our grief, bitterness, and rage - are a worthy gift for Christ.

The refrain poses us with another important question:

Star of Wonder, Star of Night

Star with royal beauty bright!

Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to thy perfect light!

What has been your guiding light?

I would love to tell you my mission, my ambition, my goal this year has been Christ - and that his goodness and presence has been illuminating my path closer towards him like the star led the magi. But this has hardly been the case. My mission has been to survive work trips. My ambition? To get enough sleep. And my goal has been to use any means necessary to be home on more Sundays.

If I were to be more like these Christmas wizards, all I’d need to do is choose my star a little more intentionally. I get why churches are going to sleep on this carol, but like our magical desert-navigators, we possess the opportunity to reorient ourselves towards a light more perfect than whatever answer you have regarding your guiding light (which you should totally tell me about, please!).

Tomorrow we are reminded that Christ came to bring peace as the Light of the World. While He is the primary and brightest light, we are the ones who shine his truth into our world - little stars of wonder guiding those around us to the perfect light.

Whatever your gift is for the newborn king, whatever the mission/ambition/goal you have had for your year, may the three kings help orient you back towards the reality of Christ in your life :)

Beth