Wise Men say ...

Did you get your twelve drummer's drumming?  Happy Epiphany (or Theophany), the last day of the Christmas season.  In Western Christiandom, today typically celebrates the coming of the Magi (Matt. 2). In the Eastern Church today celebrates the baptism of Jesus. Or, if you're in the PCA like me, it's likely just Monday.  We stodgy Presbyterians do not typically celebrate Christian holidays outside of Christmas and Easter.  This is the first hymn that's tied to a holiday that I've listened to this year, and it won't be the last.

This desire ties back to my young days back before middle school.  I attended the Episcopal church then, and they had no problem with celebrating Christian holidays.  So today we have a hymn by an Episcopalian. (As one commentator notes, one of the singers looks like Harry Potter, double treat!)

"We Three Kings of Orient Are" was written in 1857 by John Henry Hopkins Jr, an Episcopalian deacon.  In a rarity when it comes to carols/hymns John Henry Hopkins Jr. not only wrote the lyrics but composed the tune as well.  In doing so, created the first widely used carol that originated in America.  Who knew a song for a Christmas pageant could gain so much traction?  You never know what the Lord will do with your labors.  Let's look at the lyrics.

1) We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

{Chorus}

O, Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, Still proceeding
Guide us to Thy Perfect Light

2) Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign

{Chorus}

3) Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Prayer and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high

{Chorus}

4) Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

{Chorus}

5) Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav'n replies.

{Chorus}

As I continue my New Year's resolution, I'm finding a trend of appreciating the hymns more as I go (which was kind of the point).  Here, I'm reminded of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.  The book is a not-so-subtle allegory about the journey believers take throughout their life.  Christian, the main character (again, not subtle), travels through valleys and over mountains during his journey toward the Celestial City.  Today, Hopkins Jr. reminds me that the Wise Men literally traveled through valleys and mountains and probably met with deviants of all kinds (most notably Herod, the king who kills all the male children under 2).  I do not want to read too much into Scripture, so let's focus on what's there.  The Wise Men make their journey following a star. This is an act of faith.  A star appears in the sky, they know that the King of the Jews is born, so they travel to a foreign land looking for Him in order to worship.  Stanzas 2, 3, and 4 reflect the gifts that tradition holds the Magi brought to the Savior.  Yet those gifts are simply an aspect of worship.  The lines "King forever, ceasing never / Over us all to reign" and "Prayer and praising, all men raising / Worship Him, God most high" show that Hopkins Jr. isn't really championing what the Wise Men did, but the reason for the Wise Men's generosity.  Yes, we sing of their deeds of faith, but the heart of the matter is that Christ's coming is cause for us to worship.  The child in the manger is why we sing Alleluia, not because of the three men.  And because we are saved by Jesus, faith will  probably lead us to do some nonsensical things.  Like travel across the world to visit a little child and defy a king.