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Last updated on
Jan. 14, 2004
Happy New Year
Epiphany Sunday
Delivered January 4, 2004
by Pastor Werner De Jong
Text: Isaiah 60:1-6; (also Matthew 2:1-12)
Main Idea: The light of God has dawned amidst the darkness of humanity, offering us the healing and forgiveness of salvation. Those who live in God's light will shine and attract others to God.
Purpose: To challenge the listeners to live in the light of God's presence, in order to reflect God's grace and love to others.
Introduction: During the last few days we have probably all greeted others with the words "Happy New Year!" It find it a pleasant greeting, which means more than simply saying "hello." It also expresses our wish that the year ahead will be a good one for others, who in turn wish the same thing for us. In fact, if you look up the word "happy" in the dictionary, the definition is "enjoying well-being and contentment" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). It also lists "joyful" as a synonym. If we think about it like that, the greeting is very similar to the Hebrew greeting, "shalom," which means "peace be with you in every aspect of your life." What a hospitable way to greet others! Sometimes we may simply say "Happy New Year" as a seasonal greeting, which is perfectly fine. But it takes on extra meaning when we think of ourselves as expressing a sincere desire that the year ahead will bring others joy and well-being in every area: socially, spiritually, physically and emotionally. And it is heartwarming to think of others expressing the same desire for us.
That desire is all the more relevant when we look at the state of the world as we enter 2004. Dark clouds hover over many places and shroud the hearts of many people. Some are lost in the spiritual darkness of sin and guilt, others in the emotional darkness of depression and despair. In addition, a spirit of fear and insecurity holds many people tight in its icy grip after another year of war and increased terrorism. Many find it hard to look ahead with hope; in places like Iraq it is hard enough to survive day by day. In Colombia much of the population continues to live with the ever-present threat of kidnapping and violence. In 2003 many Canadians had to deal with SARS, mad cow disease, hurricane Juan, and rampaging forest fires. Thousands are still dealing with the aftermath of those incidents. For people living in secluded New Brunswick, such events may seem rather remote and distant, but many of our neighbours too may worry about what the New Year holds. They naturally wish for themselves, their families, and one another that it will be a year of joy and well-being. But health problems, relationship difficulties and financial concerns may loom large, feel rather threatening, and leave them wrestling with their own private fears and insecurities. Many of these people don't know where to turn for help; many of them don't know God. In all of these cases and more, is there anything that we can do to help bring light to people's darkness? Can we help to bring about our sincere wishes that others will have a happy new year? Is there hope for those who are in darkness?
Today's texts: Today is Epiphany Sunday, a day on which we joyfully answer "Yes!" For Epiphany is an ancient Christian festival which celebrates one central truth: the fact that God sent Jesus to reveal his love to our dark world. God sent Jesus as the light to brighten the lives of all the people of all the nations. We see this hope already prophesied in Isaiah: "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." We begin to see the fulfilment of this poetic promise in the classic epiphany text, the visit of the magi, when foreigners from afar were drawn by a mysterious heavenly light, the star of the east, which guided them through the darkness to the place where Jesus was. In the light of his presence they were overwhelmed with joy, and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
So today we celebrate the marvellous truth that God in his grace has sent light into the world, a light not only for Israel, but for all nations. While on earth Jesus shone his light into the darkness of sin, oppression, hunger, poverty and even death. No wonder Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah to describe the wonder of his ministry: "The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned" (4:16). The light of Jesus is the light of hope, the light capable of transforming guilt into forgiveness, fear into security, despair into joy. The light of Jesus is the reason why we can enter the new year with joyful confidence, for it is a light capable of dispersing every form of darkness, every gloomy shadow. In the words of the apostle John, "The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." That goes for our own dark corners as well as the darkness of the world. Jesus loves us as surely as he loves others.
A Year of Opportunity: Today is not only Epiphany Sunday, it is also the first Sunday of the New year. Before us stretches another year of opportunity, another year to serve God together, another year to help brighten the darkness that is still present in our world. "Let your light so shine before others," taught Jesus, "that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." That is our calling as the church, to shine like the star of the east, in order to help lead others through the darkness to the light of God in Christ. It is a calling away from a private religion (don't cover your light with a bushel, put it on a lamp-stand, city on a hill) to a faith that is deliberately lived in the presence of those who don't know God.
Now some may be saying, "I don't know if it will do much good to put me on a lamp-stand, I don't know if I even generate enough light to cast a shadow." That is an insecurity shared by many Christians. When we look at ourselves we may not see anything all that spectacular. We are just ordinary people–How can we bring healing and hope where there is sin, depression, hunger, death and despair? How can we shine so brightly so as to attract others to God in a way that convinces them that God sees them and loves them and wants to help them? As we anticipate the new year, I want for us to examine this question: How can we in 2004 generate enough light that we will glow attractively in our dark world, how can we shine so brightly as to awaken hope in the hearts of others, in the hearts of people like those who are desperately lost in a dark forest but who suddenly see the glow of a warm campfire? How can we be like that campfire which signals to others that salvation is near?
Historical Background of the Isaiah text: In order to answer that question I want to return to our text from Isaiah 60. The words we read there were initially uttered after Israel had endured a long season of darkness–the despair of exile. For about 80 years Israel had lived under foreign domination, humiliated as captives in a foreign land. When they were finally freed, the returning exiles journeyed home with light hearts and great expectations, anticipating that God was restoring Jerusalem to her former glory. Even more than that, they believed that God would elevate Israel to the status of "greatest nation on earth." But Israel returned home to very humble circumstances. After a while it became clear that pitifully few exiles had even bothered to make the journey home, and the country itself remained poverty stricken. It would be another 75 years before the Persians so much as permitted the rebuilding of the city walls. And so the returning exiles found themselves politically helpless, a tiny, weak state dominated by the all powerful empire of the Persians and the Medes. All told, the hope of many of the Jews gave way to despondency and despair. The darkness of exile had simply been replaced by another type of darkness, that of poverty and powerlessness.
It was in the midst of this situation that the voice of the prophet rang out: "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." As we've already seen, these were prophetic words, which from our vantage point we realize found their ultimate fulfilment in Jesus. But we must always remember not to divorce the message of the prophets from their context. The prophets didn't only speak for our benefit–they spoke first and foremost a direct word for the benefit of their immediate audience. These words were meant to offer a contrast to the depressing circumstances the returning exiles found themselves in, and so to inspire them to hope and to provide for them a reason to carry on. After all, did not God himself acknowledge the darkness, but declare that one day the sun would again rise on Jerusalem? That is a wonderful testimony to the God we serve–he delights to lift the spirits of the humble and the lowly. Notice how God's wonderful pronouncement came precisely to a weak, non-spectacular people. God made a promise to an insignificant group of people, an insecure people, a people nobody noticed. That promise was that they would one day shine so bright that all of the nations of the world would be attracted to their light, and come to Jerusalem with gifts, to worship their God.
God takes the initiative to brighten the darkness: It is critical to point out that it was God who spoke into Israel's past, it was God who took the initiative to brighten their darkness. Even though Israel's long night of darkness was completely self-inflicted. Even though the people consistently chose to worship idols, despite prophetic warnings of exile. Even though they ignored the message of the prophets to seek justice and mercy, and instead oppressed the poor and powerless for selfish gain. Even though they themselves brought about their desperate situation, God said, in effect, to a now humble people who now cried out to him for help: "Do not despair. Arise, get up, don't mope about, for I am not finished with you yet. Don't lose heart, but shine, shine like a light for all nations to see, for the sun will again rise on Jerusalem, and my glory will appear over you. My light, that is my presence, will envelop you. And when that happens, all the nations will be drawn to you, and you will fulfill the purpose to which I called you, to be my servant to the nations, to draw people everywhere to me." Today we celebrate the fulfilment of that promise, for out of Israel came the Messiah, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. People from many nations have been streaming to him ever since, beginning with the wise men.
Isn't that the very same reason why God called the church into being, to attract people to the light? Whether we are dealing with God's Old Testament people Israel, or the church, the people of the new covenant, we see that our mission is the same: We are called to arise, and shine, and so attract other people to God. We may not be large, we may not feel very significant, but still God says to us, "Arise, shine, for your light has come." Light has come to us, as a most precious gift. We have enough light to lead others to the safe harbours of God's peace. As people lost deep in the woods are drawn to the glow of a campfire, so too, according to God's word, others will find salvation in the light we radiate. But once again we come face to face with the central question: How can we shine in such a way that others will be able to find their way to God out of the darkness?
We are called to reflect God's light: If we have listened carefully to Isaiah's text, we have already heard the answer. The sequence of events is most important here. To the insignificant people of Israel, God in effect said this: "I will shine upon you, and then you will be able to shine and to draw others to me." In other words, God's people are not called to generate their own light. We are simply called to reflect God's light. If sincere Christians could only apprehend this truth, what a tremendous relief it would be. For what it says is this: our ability to attract others to God does not depend on anything inherent within us. It depends entirely on God's grace and love, which shine so brilliantly in Jesus, the great light who has dawned upon our dark world.
As for our part, we are simply to function like a mirror, whose sole task is to welcome light from another source and to reflect it back to whoever may be looking at it. We are to stand up, to arise, and reflect the light that has come, the light of Jesus. That is something the most ordinary person can do, just like the most ordinary mirror is capable of reflection. A mirror may be elaborate and ornate, or it may be simple and plain, it doesn't matter: if it is in the light, it will reflect the light. Therefore, when it comes to our mandate as the church to be the light of the world, our most important responsibility is this: to position ourselves properly, to expose ourselves to God's light, to God's presence, to God's love and grace. Arise and shine, for your light has come.
This is a very pleasant thing indeed. Sometimes when we hear that as Christians we are called to follow Jesus in life we freeze. We don't mind wishing people a happy new year, that asks no involvement from us; but it's another thing to obey Jesus and try to do the things that will bring others peace and well-being in the new year. We may assume that it will be a very unpleasant task, or a burden too heavy to carry. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It certainly won't always be easy, and at times it may expose us to danger. The journey will demand much of us. But if we are truly to follow Jesus and shine as God wants us to shine, we will above all find it a very enjoyable calling indeed. For it means, first and foremost, before anything else is done, that we bask in the light of God's love, that we bathe in God's healing rays of grace and forgiveness. Our main responsibility is to live daily in the light of God's goodness so that we may reflect it to our dark world, even as the moon glows in the black night simply by diffusing the light of the sun. The foundation for all our peacemaking is to enjoy, through prayer and worship, the sustaining power of God's love for us in Jesus Christ.
In this regard, the wise men whom we remember at Epiphany are a good model for us. They obediently followed the light which arose in the east, even though it meant a long and arduous journey to Israel. They also faced personal danger, for they travelled through the lands of King Herod the Cruel. But there is not a single indication that they ever regretted any of this. Rather, we read that when they arrived in Bethlehem they were filled with joy, and went into the house, and bowed before the child and worshipped him, and opened their treasure chests and presented him with rich and extravagant gifts. As they basked in the presence of the newborn king, surely they agreed it was all worthwhile. What a grand adventure! And simply by their presence in that humble home, they foreshadowed to all the world that Jesus came not only for the Jews, but for all people everywhere. As such, the wise men symbolize our primary calling, to spend time in the presence of Jesus, to worship him, and to offer him our gifts.
Worthy of Worship: Another Epiphany text, Psalm 72, reminds us that Jesus is fully worthy of our devotion. It too prophesies that a coming King will be visited by others, but then it also mentions what draws them. First of all, the prophecy: "He will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth....The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts. All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him" (vv. 8-11). And secondly, the verse that immediately follows tells us the reason why others are attracted to him: "For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight" (vv. 12-14).
What a wonderful picture! Epiphany is the joyous proclamation of a king like no other, a king who has come to set us free. The nature of this king's rule is entirely devoted to liberating his subjects–he reigns in order to deliver the needy, the afflicted and the weak. He will rescue them from all that diminishes their lives. Surely it is a glorious thing to spend time in the presence of a king like that! To worship Jesus is to acclaim and enjoy the presence of the all powerful one who tenderly uses his might to show love to orphans, widows and others who are in distress. If we ask why Jesus cares so much for others, the text answers: "precious is their blood in his sight." Human life is greatly valued by our Lord. What a stark contrast Jesus provides to some others who have ruled in this world, like King Herod, the butcher of Bethlehem, or like some leaders today who crassly call innocent civilians who die when bombs go astray "collateral damage." We worship Jesus because he isn't like that–he values each and every human life, no matter what the nationality, social position, or status. No one values human life as much as Jesus does, who considers all people precious, and who has a special heart for the "least of these." When we spend time in his light, worshipping him, enjoying his grace, then our lives too will become good news for others.
Conclusion: It is time now to conclude. May we do so in an Epiphany spirit of celebration, praising God that he sent Jesus to reveal his love to our dark world, to brighten the lives of people from all the nations. Let us go boldly into the uncharted territory of the new year, seeing the days that stretch before us as an opportunity to bear witness to God's love. "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you... Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." Happy New Year, and by reflecting God's love may we make the new year happy for others as well.