german and linda - 35 years after
People today are very practical. We give gifts with the primary intention that the gifts we give could be used by the recipient. Used. So probably this Christmas we gave frying pans to fry on, ordinary plates to be used everyday rather than be displayed on shelves to gather dust; bags of goodies to be eaten in time for Noche Buena, and even gift certificates and cash as if to say “OK you buy whatever you like because I’m tired of thinking and terribly dead beat forming long queues on the counter.” But gifts are not always like this. After all, the first Christmas gifts ever to be given are very symbolic rather than practical. What do you think Joseph would do with a block of gold, turn it into an alphabet blocks for Jesus to play with? What would Mary do with frankincense, sprinkle it on Jesus like Johnson’s Baby Powder? Or spread myrrh on the diaper rashes of Jesus? No, these are symbolic gifts, gifts that speak of something, gifts that speak of the kind of baby to whom these gifts are given. These are symbolic gifts that speak of the kind of relationship these wise men have with Jesus. These are gifts not to be used but rather to be treasured, to remind the person of who he is and the kind of relationship one has with that person.
Thank God there are still occasions where gifts are given not because of their practical use but because of its symbolic value. Roses on Valentines Day remind us of the care and the love which the person has for us. I was also given 5 birds 2 Christmases ago and on the box were written, “may you reach the heights but may you learn to land gracefully” – a wonderful gift and surely they don’t expect a practical man to barbecue this symbolic gift in time for New Year’s Eve. The birds did not last long. They died. But the symbol lives on and is treasured in the heart.
The magi gave symbolic gifts to Jesus too.
By giving Jesus gold, the king of all metals, the magi in effect were saying “you are king, you will lead us and we will follow, you will inspire us and we will be stirred and motivated. As king you will stoop down and wash the feet of your disciples, for you came not to be served but to serve.” Gold is the symbol of the kingship of Jesus and the kind of kingship he has with his subjects, a kingship in service and in love.
By giving Jesus frankincense, a sweet aromatic herb burned to worship the gods of old, the magi in effect were saying, “you are God, you are divine, the Lord of heaven and earth, you are powerful, we are subject to you, in you we move and have our being, without you we can do nothing, without you nothing lasts.” Frankincense is the symbol of divinity and our dependence to that power and grace.
By giving him myrrh, an ointment used for embalming a dead man, the magi in effect were saying, “you are man, and not just man but a man who will die, a man like all other man subject to human frailty and vulnerability – you will be tempted, you will suffer, you will feel the bitter pangs of rejection, you will cry and shed tears, you will feel pain.” Myrrh is the symbol of human vulnerability.
What is the significance of these gifts to our celebration today on the occasion of the 35th wedding anniversary of Tay German and Nay Linda?
These gifts also speak of German’s relationship with Linda and Linda’s relationship with German. These three symbolic gifts were given 35 years ago, gifts, which were treasured rather than consumed, gifts, which were lived rather than used up; gifts which continue to hold significance even now.
Gold speaks of those 12, 775 days where German and Linda reign as king and queen of this household. By Kingship and Queenship I am not speaking of one lording it over the other as under the saya or under the pantalon, but of service and love. One survives marriage not by lording over the other but by humble service. 12, 775 days of anticipating each others needs; 12, 775 days of washing each others feet; 12, 775 days of service, with no day-offs to look forward to, or pay days to be excited about, or pensions and lump sums to motivate. 12, 775 days of worrying about children and to think that domestic helpers in Hong Kong are so highly paid per day and to think that the service could not even compare to yours. This is a gift of gold – humble service.
Frankincense speaks of those 306,600 hours where God made them over and done with through thick and thin. This relationship is divine, because it would not survive without God’s help. This relationship is not theirs alone. They could not speak of it solely as their achievement. God was there in all those 306,600 hours they have been together. Couples today have this misconception that they and they alone could save the marriage or make it work. But when you reach your 35th anniversary and look back 35 years ago in time, you begin to realize that every marriage, particularly your marriage is a miracle, it is a work of grace – when God is taken out of the picture, it collapses. German and Linda, lest you be deceived into believing in your own strength and capacity, these 35 years, which you celebrate in church today, is an acknowledgment that He was there in those 306,600 hours you have been together. Marriage is a gift of frankincense – it is divine.
And lastly, Myrrh speaks of those 18,396,000 minutes they have to live with each other acknowledging and accepting each others human frailty and sharing each other’s vulnerability. Do you know what human frailty is, do you know what human vulnerability means, do you know how it is to live for 35 years with a weakling, imperfect, flawed, deficient, faulty creature in your house? Nobody ever said that marriages are lived happily ever after. The honeymoon could have lasted 28,000 minutes, and after that real life begun. They may have started with” I love you because you love me.” “I love you because I need you.” “I love you because I feel good loving you.” “I feel good loving you because you are cute, because you are sexy, because you are good.” But so many things have happened in between after that. The sexy body is no longer sexy due to stored fat. Cuteness is covered by wrinkles over the years. The maginuo boyfriend becomes medyo bastos and uribaton through time. Tears were shed, pain was inflicted, dreams were shattered, petty things begun to rack the relationship.
18 million minutes of living with a human being. 18 million minutes of saying, “even if I don’t feel good loving you because you are no longer cute and sexy, I still love you.” 18 million minutes of declaring, “even if you don’t like me I still love you.” 18 million minutes of uttering, “even if I don’t need you, I still love you.” And 18 million minutes of crying, “even if you are no longer in power, even if you are no longer rich, even if I feel I have no use for you, I still love you.”
35 years of marriage, and through all those years the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were lived and treasured in the heart. After 35 years the magi has returned today in our midst. There are two of them. They bear with them gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They bear it in their hearts. They lived it in their lives. Following the star, they bring them back now as gifts for the baby in the manger.
Thank God there are still occasions where gifts are given not because of their practical use but because of its symbolic value. Roses on Valentines Day remind us of the care and the love which the person has for us. I was also given 5 birds 2 Christmases ago and on the box were written, “may you reach the heights but may you learn to land gracefully” – a wonderful gift and surely they don’t expect a practical man to barbecue this symbolic gift in time for New Year’s Eve. The birds did not last long. They died. But the symbol lives on and is treasured in the heart.
The magi gave symbolic gifts to Jesus too.
By giving Jesus gold, the king of all metals, the magi in effect were saying “you are king, you will lead us and we will follow, you will inspire us and we will be stirred and motivated. As king you will stoop down and wash the feet of your disciples, for you came not to be served but to serve.” Gold is the symbol of the kingship of Jesus and the kind of kingship he has with his subjects, a kingship in service and in love.
By giving Jesus frankincense, a sweet aromatic herb burned to worship the gods of old, the magi in effect were saying, “you are God, you are divine, the Lord of heaven and earth, you are powerful, we are subject to you, in you we move and have our being, without you we can do nothing, without you nothing lasts.” Frankincense is the symbol of divinity and our dependence to that power and grace.
By giving him myrrh, an ointment used for embalming a dead man, the magi in effect were saying, “you are man, and not just man but a man who will die, a man like all other man subject to human frailty and vulnerability – you will be tempted, you will suffer, you will feel the bitter pangs of rejection, you will cry and shed tears, you will feel pain.” Myrrh is the symbol of human vulnerability.
What is the significance of these gifts to our celebration today on the occasion of the 35th wedding anniversary of Tay German and Nay Linda?
These gifts also speak of German’s relationship with Linda and Linda’s relationship with German. These three symbolic gifts were given 35 years ago, gifts, which were treasured rather than consumed, gifts, which were lived rather than used up; gifts which continue to hold significance even now.
Gold speaks of those 12, 775 days where German and Linda reign as king and queen of this household. By Kingship and Queenship I am not speaking of one lording it over the other as under the saya or under the pantalon, but of service and love. One survives marriage not by lording over the other but by humble service. 12, 775 days of anticipating each others needs; 12, 775 days of washing each others feet; 12, 775 days of service, with no day-offs to look forward to, or pay days to be excited about, or pensions and lump sums to motivate. 12, 775 days of worrying about children and to think that domestic helpers in Hong Kong are so highly paid per day and to think that the service could not even compare to yours. This is a gift of gold – humble service.
Frankincense speaks of those 306,600 hours where God made them over and done with through thick and thin. This relationship is divine, because it would not survive without God’s help. This relationship is not theirs alone. They could not speak of it solely as their achievement. God was there in all those 306,600 hours they have been together. Couples today have this misconception that they and they alone could save the marriage or make it work. But when you reach your 35th anniversary and look back 35 years ago in time, you begin to realize that every marriage, particularly your marriage is a miracle, it is a work of grace – when God is taken out of the picture, it collapses. German and Linda, lest you be deceived into believing in your own strength and capacity, these 35 years, which you celebrate in church today, is an acknowledgment that He was there in those 306,600 hours you have been together. Marriage is a gift of frankincense – it is divine.
And lastly, Myrrh speaks of those 18,396,000 minutes they have to live with each other acknowledging and accepting each others human frailty and sharing each other’s vulnerability. Do you know what human frailty is, do you know what human vulnerability means, do you know how it is to live for 35 years with a weakling, imperfect, flawed, deficient, faulty creature in your house? Nobody ever said that marriages are lived happily ever after. The honeymoon could have lasted 28,000 minutes, and after that real life begun. They may have started with” I love you because you love me.” “I love you because I need you.” “I love you because I feel good loving you.” “I feel good loving you because you are cute, because you are sexy, because you are good.” But so many things have happened in between after that. The sexy body is no longer sexy due to stored fat. Cuteness is covered by wrinkles over the years. The maginuo boyfriend becomes medyo bastos and uribaton through time. Tears were shed, pain was inflicted, dreams were shattered, petty things begun to rack the relationship.
18 million minutes of living with a human being. 18 million minutes of saying, “even if I don’t feel good loving you because you are no longer cute and sexy, I still love you.” 18 million minutes of declaring, “even if you don’t like me I still love you.” 18 million minutes of uttering, “even if I don’t need you, I still love you.” And 18 million minutes of crying, “even if you are no longer in power, even if you are no longer rich, even if I feel I have no use for you, I still love you.”
35 years of marriage, and through all those years the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were lived and treasured in the heart. After 35 years the magi has returned today in our midst. There are two of them. They bear with them gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They bear it in their hearts. They lived it in their lives. Following the star, they bring them back now as gifts for the baby in the manger.
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