Isaiah 60.1-16; Ephesians 3.1-12; Matthew 2.1-12

The decorations come down today; the cribs are packed away; the trees put outside for recycling; and Christmas is at an end for another year.

We enjoyed opening our presents 12 days ago. But in some cultures, presents are given at Epiphany rather than at Christmas. And in many ways that makes sense, since one of the reasons we give gifts is a remembrance of the gifts that the Wise Men brought to the child Jesus, though, of course, they help us also to remember the greatest gift of all - the gift of God to his people.

And that gift, we remember, is a gift for all time, not just for Christmas. When we pack away the decorations, we certainly should not be packing away our faith for another year.

What is a gift? It is something that we give to another.

There are many different sorts of gift - some we give out of duty - I have one or two people who get presents from me each year, if I’m honest, not because I want to give them something but because I feel I ought; some we give out of tradition - for instance when a person leaves a job or company; some we give because we feel obliged to - so-and-so bought me a birthday present so I feel I should get them one; some gifts are given in gratitude for a meal or other hospitality; and some are given out of pure love.

Of course, much of our gift giving has a combination of one or more of these elements. We may give a present on a traditional occasion to someone as a sign of our love for them. How about Valentine’s Day gifts, for instance?

What about the gifts of the wise men: gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were gifts fit for a king. These were gifts that were unexpected. These were gifts with symbolic significance. Gold for a king; incense for a God; myrrh for suffering and death, a reminder that even at the joyous celebration of a child the shadow of death is with Jesus.

These were gifts given in homage by men who had followed God’s guiding through a star. They were people who gave time and energy to following that gift of a star. They were people who gave great riches to a child. They were people who acknowledged something of the gift of God to us all, the gift of a child born to be king.
They were men who then obeyed the gift of a dream warning them not to return via Herod’s palace.

These wise men gave much, but God has given us more. There is, of course, the gift of the child in a manger, the gift that brings salvation through the life and death and resurrection of Christ. There is the gift of the Holy Spirit with us and in us.

What other gifts do we have from God: the gift of other people; the gift of the beauty of creation; the gift of God’s grace and forgiveness, God’s compassion and love. There is the gift of the skills and talents with which we have been bestowed. There is the gift of the opportunities with which God presents us for sharing his love, his good news, in word and action.

How do we respond to these gifts? If we think about our own gift-giving, we can remember the excitement we feel when we have chosen a present lovingly and carefully when the receiver opens it and enjoys it. I wonder whether you’ve ever had the experience of giving a gift you feel sure will be appreciated and then realising that it’s not something the receiver wanted or liked.

It’s not a happy experience. You’ve put time and effort into choosing something that you are sure they will treasure, and their response makes it clear that that is not the case. Ebay, even on Christmas Day, was full of unwanted presents.

And what when that gift is the gift of a child? How, I wonder, does God feel when his greatest gift to us all is forgotten, overlooked, seen as a bind and not a treasure?

God has given us so many gifts - the best response we can offer is to receive those gifts and to recognise them. Different kinds of gift need different kinds of recognition. God’s gift of forgiveness requires only that we receive it; God’s gift of a Son that we acknowledge him and make that gift our own by accepting Jesus into our hearts.

God’s gift of creation, all around us: how can we respond to that? We can stop and take time to notice the beauty of the world around, which can lead us into praise and thankfulness. We can learn not to take it for granted. We can treat it well and not abuse it. We can allow ourselves to stop and stare and treasure what God has created. And goodness knows, in this part of the world that should be an easy task.

What about God’s gifts to us of other people? How do we treat them and receive them? Do we see them as God’s gifts? Do we treat them as such? Do we wish to spend time only with those whom we like and who are like us, or are we willing to take risks and discover the treasures that those who we don’t like and those who are different from us can bring?

A very topical issue is that of the travellers’ sites. Is our attitude towards the possibility of these sites, and more importantly the people they would bring into our midst if they go ahead, a Christian one? Have we asked ourselves what Jesus would do and how Jesus would respond? I suspect, in many cases, the answer is no.

God’s gifts to us are not confined to only one area of our lives; they are for the whole of our lives, not just those parts of our life where acknowledging the gifts is easy and not a risky business.

God gives us gifts of compassion and love, and enables us, if we remain centred in him, to be people where these gifts grow and develop.

And God gives us gifts of our talents and skills. Later this morning we will be celebrating the skills of those who have out the new floor in Barley church; in December 2006 we celebrated in Reed with the bishop the skills of those who had restored the east window.

And, of course, it’s not just the big projects we can celebrate - week-by-week our flower arrangers and cleaners, our fabric committees and Friends, our lesson readers and intercessors, our treasurers and churchwardens, and many, many others use their gifts in the service of God and the church.

And God’s gifts to us are not confined to the church, and nor should they be. If we think about our lives, we can see many ways in which our gifts can be used and are being used outside the church. Many people have the job that they do because that is where their giftings lie. In our villages - and one of the wonderful strengths of village communities - is the way in which people use their gifts of time and money and care to visit those who are sick or lonely, to shop for those who cannot get out, to offer help to one another.

And other gifts we have which sometimes can be harder to offer - our time, something that in days gone past was much easier to give to others; our presence, can we allow God to teach us that our presence can be a gift to another; our prayers for the world and for those whom we love; our money; our compassion; time to listen - it was Paul Tillich who said that the first duty of love was to listen. And we listen not only to words but to situations and unspoken signs.

God’s gifts also include the transformation of situations. God can bring light out of darkness, and hope out of despair. God can bring joy out of pain and life out of death. God can transform hard and horrible situations into opportunities for blessing and joy. But, we often, sadly miss these signs of God’s presence - it’s so easy to become bound up in our sorrow and grief.

And God won’t blame us for that, because God is a God of love and compassion, a God who know what it is to suffer, a God who watched his own Son die an excruciatingly painful death on the cross.

But God will be longing too for that moment when our focus shifts and we can begin to look again to his love and his light, and allow it to seep back into the dark places of our hearts. An all-too familiar reaction when we suffer is to shut God out of the pain and the darkness; when we allow God in, gently and lovingly that can be transformed.

The pain may live with us - the pain of bereavement is an obvious example - but that pain can be transformed. It is, after all, only a sign that we have loved someone when we grieve their death.

So many gifts for us to receive from God and so many gifts to offer to God and to others. Let’s ask for our eyes to be opened and our ears unstopped so that we won’t miss the gifts with which God blesses us, and so that we too can arise and shine, knowing that the light and love of God has come upon us, that we can partake in his glory, and shine as lights in the world.