Last week was the Father’s Day weekend, many dads look with expectancy to what their children will give them or do for them on their special day. When my kids were young, it was sometimes breakfast in bed, a card or a brightly coloured tie. As you get older, the gifts change. Sometimes it is lunch or simply a card or call.

I think most of us enjoy gifts. They are signs of appreciation and love. When you think of the gifts given in the Bible, some of the most well-known was given by three wise men. The fact is we remember the Magi mainly for the gifts that they gave to Jesus. They travelled a great distance with valuable gifts to this newborn King. I would conclude in fact that our Christmas gift giving was probably inspired by the gifts of the Magi.

The gifts of the Magi were given, however, in response to a gift that they had received. They gave because they had been given to. They gave their gifts because God had shown them a star, which led them to Jesus.

The Magi were astrologers, likely from the area of modern-day Iraq or Iran. They spent most of their time gazing at the stars. Out of all the stars on which they could have focused, God led them to see the one that would lead them to Jesus. How many stars are there in the universe? The number is larger than a simple mind like mine can comprehend. There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches in the world combined!

No wonder that, when we look into the night sky, the vastness of it all amazes us. And what we see is only a tiny fraction of our own solar system, which is, in turn, only a tiny fraction of the universe. The words of Psalm 8:3-4 come to mind which states: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” In the end, it amazes me that God would direct them to the one star, from the millions we know of, that would lead them to Jesus.

I think sometimes we lose sight of how astounding this event is in terms of its implications for us. One thing we sometimes forget is these wise men were Gentiles. According to the gospels, the first announcement of the birth of the Messiah was to Jewish shepherds. These were men who lived on the fringe of Hebrew society. The second announcement was to Gentiles. These were people who lived on the outside of that society.

Most of us here in the West are Gentiles. The announcement to them was the first announcement to people like us. John Wesley called the Magi “the first fruits of the Gentiles.” Even though it was always God’s intention for the Jews to be a light to the nations and for Gentiles to be included in his Kingdom, it took the coming of Jesus as the Messiah to open wide heaven’s gates. Even then it was a hard sell. It took much debate and the heroic efforts of people like Paul to make full Gentile inclusion in the Church a reality.

But thankfully God’s truth won out: salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and nothing else. We come in from different backgrounds, but we all come in the same way: through Christ. God went to the extreme of extremes to make salvation possible for people like us, who were the outsiders; we will gain something very valuable here if we reclaim the truth that the salvation of people like us, of someone like you or of someone like me, is a great gift from God.

We may have lost sight of just how astounding this event was for everyone. God went to great lengths to let the Magi know about the birth of Jesus. He went to great lengths because what He was saying to the Magi was what He wanted to say to the whole world. His sign to the Magi signalled the completion of a plan that He had put in motion before the beginning of time. And the benefit to us is it was for all, not just for a select few.

The revelation of God to the Magi was an eye-opening experience for those Wise Men, but the revelation to the early readers of Matthew’s gospel was just as much of an eye-opening experience. The Magi were foreigners; they were practitioners of another religion, and they were astrologers. They bore characteristic after characteristic that should have, according to Jewish law, disqualified them from having a positive experience with the Messiah.

And yet God showed them the star and they followed the star. They were Gentiles, and yet God gave them the gift of His Son; Jesus came for them, just as much as He came for the people of Israel.

The coming of Jesus, the gospel was the breaking down of walls. It broke down the walls between God and humanity and with each other. The coming of Christ means that the door has been opened to all. The Church is to focus on and around Jesus. God’s Church will be a place that makes no distinctions because of race, gender, or social standing.

So how do we respond to this gift from God? The truth is we do not always take advantage of the gifts that are given to us. When the Wise Men came to Herod’s court at Jerusalem and asked as to where the king of the Jews was to be born, the priests and scribes knew the answer because they knew the Bible. He was to be born in Bethlehem. So the Wise Men got up and headed off to Bethlehem, about six miles from Jerusalem.

The one thing that puzzles me is that the priests and scribes did not go with them? Søren Kierkegaard said: “What a difference! The three kings had only a rumour to go by. But it moved them to make that long journey. The scribes were much better informed, much better versed. They sat and studied the Scriptures but it did not make them move. Who had the more truth? The three kings who followed a rumour or the scribes who remained sitting with all their knowledge?”

It makes me wonder about us. God has given us such tremendous gifts. God has given us salvation; He has included people like us in His great plan of salvation. God has given us our Christian fellowship, our Bibles, a free country in which to exercise our faith, and so much more. How, though, are we responding to His tremendous gifts to us?

Are we really giving Him our hearts? Are we really giving Him our lives? Kierkegaard went on to say, “What an atrocious self-contradiction that the scribes should have the knowledge and yet remain still. This is as bad as if a person knows all about Christ and his teachings, and his own life expresses the opposite.”

The early Jewish Christians had a hard time accepting the fact that God wanted Jews and Gentiles in His Church on the same terms. Are we ready to accept the fact that God welcomes all into His family? We withhold a large part of our greatest gift, our lives, from God if we withhold our hearts from anyone. And what a gift we cost ourselves if we do not accept God’s gift of that great multifaceted collection of people who can and should make up the Church.

Many years ago the actress who played the mother on the television series “Eight Is Enough” died, and her death was written into the storyline of the show. In one episode, the family members began to find Christmas presents hidden around the house that she had acquired for each of them. Each gift found was a reminder of her love for them. We are surrounded by people for whom God has the great gift of salvation and who would be a great gift of God to us. They are hiding in plain sight all around us. As we find them, love them, and relate to them, we will be reminded of God’s love for them and for us. May God give us the Magi’s heart, to pursue God, no matter what the risk and bring our all to Him to use for His kingdom and glory.