Presenting Gifts to the Lord  by the Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh

   "And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to
Him; gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (Matt. 2: 11)

   Throughout the Word we read of giving gifts to the Lord. Most
memorable of all, perhaps, is the account of the wise men who brought
gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This moving act of worship was foretold
in the Prophets and Psalms where we read: "The kings of Tarshish and of
the isles will bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer
gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall
serve Him" (Ps. 72: 10f). All those from Sheba shall come; they shall
bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the
Lord" (Isa. 60: 6).

   What is meant by the gifts of the wise men?

   These ancient sages brought the Lord gold and spices. The gifts were
pleasing to the Lord. Why? Not because of their material value; not
because man could offer anything to the Lord, but because they
signified goods and truths, interior and exterior (AE 242: 17). They
were prophetic of the very qualities which the Lord would acquire for
Himself during His life on earth.

   "The reason why the wise men from the East offered these things, "
we are told, "was that among some in the East there remained from
ancient times the knowledge and wisdom of the men of old, which
consisted in understanding and seeing heavenly and Divine things in
those which are in the world and upon the earth.... Consequently they
knew that gold, frankincense, and myrrh signify the goods which are to
be offered to God" (AE 9293: 3).

   The Writings describe the correspondence and significance of the
three gifts that were given. Together, they signify all the goods which
are from the Lord which can be received by men. (AE 242: 17, AC 9293:
3) We are also told that these three gifts signify the "three goods of
the three heavens" (AE 491: 5) and thus "every good from first to last"
(AE 324: 10).

   The Heavenly Doctrine states further that "what are called 'gifts
and offerings made to the Lord' by man are in their essence gifts and
offerings made to man by the Lord; and their being called 'gifts and
offerings' is from the appearance. (AC9938: 2 underlining added).

   The Lord has given us life in such a way that it appears to be our
own. What we acquire during our life, the accomplishments and
achievements that we enjoy, all legitimately appear to be the result of
our own efforts. Yet, the fact remains, no one is good but One, that
is, God. When we reflect upon this we can see that this is true. What
do we have that is really our own? (We can see that our natural
circumstances are entirely dependent upon when and to whom we are born.
We may be born to comforts or to privations. It is not our choice.
Whether we are born to quick intelligence or slow, with a certain
disposition, is very much a matter of heredity. Our states of remains
are from the heavens. Loves in us are from the Lord through the
heavens. We make certain choices freely of ourselves, but the currents
of life that flow into us certainly are from the Lord. Even that
ability to make choices is from Him, and our freedom preserved by the
eye of Providence.)

   How can we give anything to the Lord? Everything we have that is
good is from Him? And is not this the real meaning of the gifts of the
wisemen? Their offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh were a humble
acknowledgment that every good of life is His, from inmost to outmost,
and is to be attributed to Him. "Give to the Lord..." we read in the
Psalms. "Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the
glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts" (Ps.
96: 7f). It was in this spirit that they came from the East bearing
gifts: to give to the Lord the glory due His name.

   This is the essence of worship, both internal and external. We come
before the Lord in outward forms of worship, approaching Him in
humility, kneeling in prayer before His Word and singing praises to
Him. These gestures and acts of worship, if sincere, are pleasing to
the Lord. "The Lord does indeed demand humiliation, adoration,
thanksgivings, and many other things from man..." the Writings teach,
but the Lord does not demand these things for His own sake, for the
Divine has no glory from man's humiliation, adoration, and
thanksgiving....but they are for the sake of the man himself, " we are
told, "for when a man is in humiliation he can receive good from the
Lord...." (AC 5957).

   Before the wise men could present the gifts to the Lord they "opened
their treasures." This is significant. The treasures of life that we
carry are goods and truths from the Lord. They lie hidden and dormant
within us until we open them.

   How do we open the Lord's treasures in our life? The Heavenly
Doctrine tells us: "These three degrees of life in man are opened
successively; the first degree by a life in accordance with what is
equitable and just; the second degree by a life in accordance with the
truths of faith from the Word, and in accordance with the consequent
goods of charity toward the neighbor; and the third degree by a life in
accordance with the good of mutual love and the good of love to the
Lord. These are the means whereby are successively opened these three
degrees of life in man, thus the three heavens in him" we are told (AC
9594: 2). It has always been so, when a man is in a state of
humiliation before the Lord that the Lord can flow in with heavenly
good. "The case herein is this, " we are told. "All have the capacity
to understand and be wise; but the reason one person is wiser than
another is that they do not in like manner ascribe to the Lord all
things of intelligence and wisdom, which are all things of truth and
good. They who ascribe all to the Lord are wiser than the rest, because
all things of truth and good, which constitute wisdom, flow in from
heaven, that is, from the Lord there. The ascription of all things to
the Lord opens the interiors of man toward heaven" (AC 10227: 2).

   At His Advent, however, there was a new acknowledgment, and a
special joy in the hearts of those who worshiped the Divine Child. The
Writings teach that "the arcanum of the Lord's coming into the world is
that He united in Himself the Divine to the Human and the Human to the
Divine...and thus ...by that union it became possible for salvation to
reach the human race, in which no celestial and spiritual, or even
natural good, any longer remained; and it is this union which saves
those who are in the faith of charity. It is the Lord Himself who shows
the mercy" (AC 2854). His birth was a promise of our salvation.
Therefore, the gifts of the wise men not only signified that the Lord
in His own Divine Human is the source of all that is good in us, but
that unless He had come on earth to teach and lead us no man would
remain who could make that acknowledgment. This was the special
acknowledgment signified by the giving of the gifts at Bethlehem.

   We live in a world today where there is little recognition that all
that is truly good is from the Lord. Instead, we call that good which
we love; that which pleases and benefits us. Yet we must learn to
recognize the true loves of life which the Lord has now revealed. As
the wise men came, eagerly and willingly, to bring their gifts to the
Lord, so now may we come with a free spirit, to worship Him and to
acknowledge that everything we have is from Him and for His glory. We
can open life's treasures and then we can present valuable gifts to
others.

   And so, the prophet asks, "with what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt
offerings.... Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with
ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has
shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you,
but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
(Mic. 6: 6-8).

   The beauty of the wise men's gifts was in the love that prompted
them. On this Christmas day, let us renew our love and receive the Lord
our Savior with the joy of the sages. Let us seek to open in ourselves
those precious loves which are gifts from Him alone and offer them in
His service. In the clear night sky the Wise men saw the star, a signal
of the Lord's birth. A great joy filled their hearts as the star went
before them, guiding them to the Lord. And when they had come into the
house, "they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down
and worshiped Him" (Matt. 2: 11). Then it was that they opened their
treasures and tenderly offered their most precious gifts: gold,
frankincense, and myrrh; the wealth of kings, and spices from the East.
Amen.

   Lessons: Isa. 60: 1-6; Ps. 72: 10-11, 15, 17-19; Selections from the
Heavenly Doctrine: AE 661: 2; AC 9293: 3, 1; AE 324: 10.