You can’t wait. You’ve worked for weeks and are confident that this year you’re going to win the prize for best costume at your friend’s annual masquerade party. When you show up to the party, however, all the guys are dressed in tuxedos and the gals in evening gowns. Somehow you failed to get the notice. This year’s party is a black tie event, not a costume affair, and so you feel more than a little silly standing there in your outfit made out of duct tape.
It’s no fun being in the dark, is it? Isn’t that why people love their smart phones so much? Don’t know what time the game is going to start? Look it up online. Can’t remember your friend’s address? Punch a few buttons and you’ll have it in no time. Between Google and GPS it seems next to impossible to be in the dark these days.
That’s what the people of Isaiah’s day thought too. They may not have had Google but they did have fortune tellers who were willing to tell paying customers anything they wanted to know. God of course doesn’t want us turning to palm readers and psychics to learn about our future, nor do we need to. The Holy Spirit assures us this morning that we are not in the dark regarding the future for we have God’s Word and we have God’s Christ.
Our text was written by the prophet Isaiah who lived about 700 years before Christ was born. This was a difficult time for the people of Judah. The northern kingdoms of Israel and Syria were bearing down on them and threatening to destroy Judah. Instead of turning to the Lord for help, however, wicked King Ahaz called out to the Assyrians. The king’s attitude rubbed off on the people of Judah. They were concerned about the future too. But instead of turning to the Lord, they turned to mediums who supposedly could contact the dead for answers. Listen again to what God had to say about that practice. “When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19)
In Japan where I grew up it was not uncommon to see fortunetellers and palm readers. They would set up their little tables in dark alcoves lit by a candle or two. Here in North America singer Dionne Warwick popularized the psychic hotline, and John Edwards was a hit with his show Crossing Over in which he would supposedly speak with deceased relatives of audience members. Many pass this off as harmless entertainment but that isn’t God’s attitude about it. If you want to know anything about the future, there is only one person who can give you reliable answers: God. And God doesn’t speak to us through the spirits of dead people. When people die, the Bible tells us, their bodies go in the ground and their souls go either to heaven or hell where they await Judgment Day.
I’m not sure if any of you are seriously tempted to consult mediums and spiritists about your future. We do, however, live under great pressure to plan our future in accord with the advice of Oprah, Dr. Phil, and other celebrities. We also often put great stock in what financial advisers have to say. Would we be in the dark if we didn’t keep up with what these people tell us about how to live our lives? On the contrary. God declared: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn” (Isaiah 8:20).
Everything you need to know about the present, everything you need to know about your future is here in God’s Word. Indeed, if the so-called experts around us don’t speak from God’s Word, they are in the dark. Our marriage enrichment event last weekend did a good job of reminding us of this truth. Everything couples need to know about marriage can be found in God’s Word. We don’t need the self-help books on the subject. God is clear about what makes for a successful and happy marriage: husbands, love your wife; wives, respect your husband.
The same is true of those trying to kick addictions. God’s Word gives you everything you need to know about that too. It speaks against lying to ourselves and others about our addiction. It tells us to take responsibility for our sin. It also assures us that in Christ we have forgiveness and the power to get over the addiction. Now I’m not saying that you can’t read self-help books or be part of a support group. There is value to these if they don’t contradict God’s Word. But let me remind you that your congregation is already a support group. We are men, women, and children who have fallen for Satan’s temptations and come here seeking God’s forgiveness and his strength to pick up the pieces and move on. We are not here to judge you but to walk with you. Let us help with the light of God’s Word.
Those who ignore God’s Word and think they can tackle their addictions and problems on their own will only find misery. Isaiah wrote: “Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness” (Isaiah 8:21, 22). When we don’t want to listen to what God says but try to find answers on our own, we will only find frustration. Worst of all, we’ll end up blaming God for all the problems instead of coming to our senses and repenting of our sins. Is there any hope for such people? There is. Isaiah went on to write: “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:1, 2).
In order to understand properly what Isaiah speaks about we need to review the historical context. Galilee, as you’ll remember, was in the northern part of Israel. Because of that it was a welcome mat of sorts for invading nations from the north. Galilee was the first place to be hit by invasion and the last to enjoy relief after the enemy withdrew. Yet God was going to honor that place. Isaiah said that one day a great light would dawn there. Our Gospel Lesson this morning (Matthew 4:12-17) points out how that prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus began his ministry in Galilee.
Jesus brought joy and happiness to gloomy Galilee by healing the sick and performing other miracles like the Feeding of the 5,000. However, he also brought light through the message that he preached. That message wasn’t: “Relax. God isn’t concerned about your sins,” but “Repent!” Like a mechanic who shines a light under the hood of the car so he can illuminate a problem before fixing it, Jesus came to shine the light of God’s law on our sins. It’s not OK for us to badmouth the people around us or to withhold forgiveness from them. “Repent!” cries Jesus. Failing to repent is like refusing to withdraw your hand from a fire. You can’t start to heal until you have pulled back from the flame. Likewise we can’t enjoy the healing the Jesus brings until we have acknowledged how damaging our sins are to ourselves and the people around us. Thankfully God himself works such an attitude of repentance in our hearts. He doesn’t do this magically but through his Word. It’s no wonder God cried in our text: “To the law and to the testimony!”
It’s also in God’s Word that we see clearly the light of Christ, our savior from sin. In the book and movie The Green Mile, a huge man named John Coffey had the unusual gift of being able to absorb other people’s sicknesses leaving them cured. Can you imagine the rush there would be to see such a person if he really existed? That person does exist: he’s Jesus. Jesus absorbed our sins and suffered and died for them that we might enjoy eternal life.
But Satan wants you to remain in the dark about this. He wants you to wonder why you still have problems in life if Jesus gave his life for you. Satan wants you to conclude that Jesus must not really love you. And if he doesn’t really love you, why do you want to hang out with him? Why not go off on your own and find fulfillment elsewhere? Satan’s like a shark that wants to convince a diver that the shark cage around him is limiting his freedom. “Ditch the cage! Come out here and swim with me,” it coaxes (if sharks could talk). Well, you know what would happen to that diver the moment he leaves the safety of the cage. He would become shark bait. And that’s what Satan has in mind for you too. But here’s the good news: you’re not in the dark about this! Through God’s Word you know what Satan is up to. So don’t fall for his lies! Instead keep standing in the light of God’s Word and in the light of his Christ. It might not make your life any easier now but better days are ahead. And so we will say with Isaiah, “I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him” (Isaiah 8:17).
It would be embarrassing to show up to a black tie event wearing a silly costume. But that’s nothing compared to showing up on Judgment Day inadequately dressed in our own theories about salvation. That shouldn’t happen to us. We are not in the dark. We know about our sins and we’ve been told again what Jesus has done to win our salvation. Stay in this light from God’s Word until the light of glory shines on you at the return of Christ. Amen.
