"What's up with the myrrh?" -- by the Rev. Mike Kinman

"On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11)

We know the story so well we never stop to question it. The three kings come into the stable, kneel down before the baby and present the gifts. And Mary, beaming beatifically, nods in humble appreciation.

But I've gotta think that's not the way things really happened.

I'll allow that maybe Mary didn't completely freak out when three strange men burst into the room. You figure having lived through an angel surprising you while you're doing dishes makes you harder to faze than most.

And I'll even believe that Mary was pretty pleased with the first two gifts. This is not only a faithful woman, but a practical one. There's no way she would have made it as far as she had if she weren't.

So you can almost read her mind as she opens them

"Gold? I can use that. No more "no room at the inn" for us!"

"Frankincense? Hmmm. Not your traditional shower gift, but I can sell that ... and besides it spruces up the scent of this barn."

By now she's got to be excited. What's behind Door #3? The strange man gives her a box and she opens it to find?

Dried tree sap.

I'll bet anything the look on Mary's face wasn't beatific beaming, but that trying-to-be-polite-while-hiding-your-confusion-and-wondering-what-the-heck-this-is look. Perhaps the king, being wise, even sensed her confusion and said, "It's myrrh," which either didn't help this simple woman from Galilee at all or completely creeped her out because of its use in anointing the dead.

And with a sweet, polite, slightly confused smile, and while being grateful for the love and attention, she thinks to herself:

"What's up with the myrrh?"

EGR is a movement fueled by myrrh.

Let me explain. One of our organizational principles comes from the school where my wife teaches and my kids attend. It's called "You cant say, "You can't play.'" For us it means that we believe God calls everyone to this movement, and at EGR you'll find no gatekeepers saying your gifts aren't welcome here.

Everyone gets to play. Sometimes we have to work to find where the call is, what the gifts are and where they can be best used ... but we know that God has gifted everyone for mission, so refusing a gift offered is never an option.

When this filters down to the parish level it is even more powerful. You probably know the 80-20 rule ... 80% of the work, giving, etc. is done by 20% of the people. Part of that is we ride our good horses to death, but part of it also is too often someone offers a gift that seems strange (or someone who seems strange offers a gift) and we say "sorry, you can't play."

I heard Trinity, Wall Street rector Jim Cooper say once that you can do more to grow your church by changing 80/20 to 70/30 than by bringing in a hundred new people. He's right.

Mary probably didn't know it at the time, but as strange and borderline creepy as it was, the myrrh was by far the most valuable of the three gifts -- literally worth more than its weight in gold. Despite its bitter taste it was a key ingredient in some of the most beautiful and expensive perfumes. And being a smart and faithful woman, I'll bet she figured it out and put it to good use.

When you're looking to start or grow a mission of global reconciliation through engagement with the Millennium Development Goals in your congregation, look for the people who haven't been asked to play ... or maybe have offered their gifts and have been told "you can't play." God has gifted them, too.

And often the strangest-seeming gifts are the keys to the most beautiful and valuable results.


The Rev. Mike Kinman is the Executive Director of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation.