Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Word of God through which the Holy Spirit touches our hearts this morning are the words he gave Isaiah to write, recorded in Isaiah 60:1-6
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
“Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord." (Isaiah 60:1-6 NIV)
This is the word of our Lord.
Dear fellow Christians, on whom Jesus shines,
Last Monday, January 6, was Epiphany. Unless you happen to have a calendar that noted it, you may not even have noticed. At one time Epiphany was marked with special church services. It was, and really still is, a major festival in the church year. Until March 5, Ash Wednesday, we will be celebrating the Epiphany season. So what is this easily-forgotten festival all about?
The word Epiphany means to show forth, to shine out. During Epiphany we remember how Jesus shines out as our God and as the only Savior for the world. The account of the wise men reminds us that Jesus came to save not only Jews but also Gentiles, like the wise men and like you and me. The accounts of Jesus’ Baptism and his transfiguration, which we will hear during the Epiphany season, underline the truth that he is our God and Savior. So during Epiphany Jesus shines out as our God and Savior, before he hides that light as we remember his suffering and death in our place during Lent.
As these truths of Jesus’ Epiphany shine on our hearts, we reflect his light. He is our Sun, we are the moon. As the rays of his divine grace and saving love shine on us through his Word and Sacraments, we shine with his reflected light.
That’s what are Lord urges and enables us to do through the mouth of Isaiah: “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” As the Holy Spirit works in us through these words, we focus on the theme: Shine! First of all, 1) Shine as you see your Light, Jesus Christ, and second 2) Shine as you offer him your best. Shine with the reflected light of Jesus.
1) Shine as you see your Light, Jesus Christ,
Isaiah writes in vivid language that brings to mind scenes from a movie. Imagine a movie opening with darkness and thick fog. You don’t know what’s going on and neither do the characters. Cries, confusion, chaos fill the screen.
Isaiah writes, “Behold, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples.” What is he talking about? Darkness pictures sin, unbelief, hopelessness, death. This darkness enshrouds the globe.
You and I were born into that darkness. Many people don’t believe that. In fact in a Barna poll 74% of Americans said that people were born neither good nor bad (Forward in Christ, Dec. 2002, p. 28). That illustrates how thick the darkness is. We don’t realize how lost and helpless we naturally are, even though God’s Word plainly says, “Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5 NIV).
And even when we know the truth about the darkness, we fail to realize how thick it is. Imagine yourself lost in a cave without any light. Any path that you take leads you farther away from the daylight. Worse yet, the cave is filling with water. You can’t escape. Death is coming.
But now listen to what Isaiah says, “Your light has come!” What is that light? “The glory of the Lord rises upon you . . . the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.” The light is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the glory of the Lord, for he works out God glorious plan of salvation.
He came down into our darkness. He came to rescue you. He took on himself the suffering and death that our darkness had brought to us. He rose from the dead in glory. He has shattered the darkness with his light.
The Gospel for Christmas Day, talked about Jesus and said, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory , the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:4,14 NIV)
He, our Light, our Sun, brings greater comfort and relief then any rescue could bring to someone lost in a cave.
Jesus’ light began to shine in Morgan’s heart today, when she was baptized. And he continues to shine in the hearts of all who believe. Yes, darkness still lurks within you and me. All too often we give into sin. We start walking back into the cave. We put off reading our Bibles. We are slow to pray. We take the light for granted. By all standards of fairness Jesus ought to take his light away from you and me.
But he continues to shine out for us. He has risen in your heart, like the sun that drives away the night. He brings you the Good News that he has paid for all your sins. Will we ignore his light until it is too late and we are lost in darkness again? God prevent that! Rather, arise, shine for you light has come. Drink in the bright rays of Jesus’ forgiveness. Bask in the warmth of his undeserved love. Take to heart his word every day and shine as you reflect is light to those around you. Shine as you see your Light, Jesus Christ.
2) Shine as you offer him your best
And this brings us to our second part. What kinds of lives do we live as we shine with Jesus’ light? We don’t have time for a complete answer to that question. But as we look Isaiah 60, we see some of the answer.
Remember the movie, The Field of Dreams. A farmer made a baseball field in a Iowa cornfield. And one of the scenes of the movie shows cars lined up coming to the field.
Isaiah picture people from every nation streaming to the Light of Israel, which is Jesus Christ. The Lord address spiritual Israel and says, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you; All assemble and come to you.”
Who are they who come? They are the Gentiles. They are you and me. We shine with Jesus’ light as we offer him our best, our very selves. We leave behind the ways of the world. We walk in his light. We follow him. We keep our eyes focused on his Word. We assemble together to worship him and receive his body and blood. We stream to him, who is our Light. We shine as we offer him our best, our very selves.
The Lord continues to address spiritual Israel, “Your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm.” This reminds us that we shine as we offer Jesus our best, even our children. We teach them not only by what we say, but by our example. We show them how important Jesus is by setting aside time for devotions at home and coming to his house weekly to study his word and worship him. We shine as we offer him our best, our dear children.
The Lord continues to address spiritual Israel , “The wealth of the nations will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.”
We shine as we off Jesus our best. We bring him our earthly riches. In Isaiah’s day camels carried goods. Midian, Ephah, and Sheba were known for trading in the richest of products. Today, we might say tankers of oil form the Middle East, truck loads and train loads of goods from the best of stores. The picture may change, but the point remains the same. We shine as we offer Jesus the best of our earthly riches, just as the wise men did.
Shine as you offer Jesus your best. Offer him your riches, your children, your very selves.
On us, who were once sitting in darkness, our glorious Sun has risen. We know live in the daylight of Jesus Christ. He shines out as our God and our only Savior from sin. He shines on us with his forgiving love. Shine out in your lives, since Jesus has shone on you. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
