Broadcast January 7 2009
Yesterday was Epiphany. It’s when the Christian Church remembers the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus. The Bible says they brought three symbolic gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh. Now if you or I were visiting parents with a new baby, we would bring a dummy, a baby-grow and a packet of nappies. That would be practical. Mothers today wouldn’t thank you for gold, frankincense and myrrh. Wait a minute - I can almost hear some mothers shouting: “No. Gold would be okay. Gold would be fine! Gold is a symbol we can all appreciate after all these years. We know how important money can be.
Already this year I have witnessed some strange sights in the name of money. On Saturday I took my place at Love Street to watch the final ever game played out before the stadium comes down to make way for a supermarket. Now my beloved St Mirren move a mile along the road to a new stadium – but it won’t be Love Street, where they have played for over 100 years and where I have stood (and sat) for the last 40. Why is it happening? It’s down to money. The supermarket deal has allowed the club to pay off its debts and ensure its survival.
I’ve also witnessed Scotland’s own Tommy Sheridan on the latest Celebrity Big Brother. Why should a serious, charismatic, conviction politician be appearing on such a banal TV show? Money. “I’m a student now” says Tommy “and I won’t have a fixed income for the next three years”. It might seem like a poor choice, yet at the same time I can’t help wondering how many of us would turn down the chance to earn so much money in just a few weeks.
How much gold did Jesus and his family actually get? It couldn’t have been much because we know he grew up in a poor household. But the point of the Epiphany is not to focus in on the gifts. They are incidental. The point of the story of the wise men was that they believed that in Jesus light had come into the world – a light that can never be put out by the darkness. In other words, Jesus has come to bring the light of hope, the light of new understanding. So that whatever financial issues we face in this new year we will know that there is a God who cares for us, loves us – and walks with us each step of the way.
And in the end, that’s more important than any amount of gold.