Arise Your Light is Come (Sunday, January 8th, 2017)

Bible Reference(s): Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn

According to the Christian calendar, today is either the Sunday we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, or the day we observe the Baptism of the Lord.  I suppose there are some who would just as soon have us accelerate forward thirty years in Jesus' life and focus on the baptism.  You all know who you are...the Christmas decorations are long since down, packed and stored away and you have started the countdown to Easter. Others, however, are not so quick to move forward.   These are the folks who are more than willing to sing some carols today, linger over the Christmas story one more week, bring in the Magi one more time, and make this morning an Epiphany Sunday. 

Based on the service thus far, you know which one I prefer, right? 

But to be quite honest with you, I was not raised in a church that observed Epiphany.  Like many folks, our family brought all of the birth narrative versions together into one Christmas nativity scene.  We sang The Twelve Days of Christmas as a countdown to Christmas, rather than as the twelve days between December 25th and January 6th, from Christmas Day to Epiphany,  which is the liturgically correct 12 days of Christmas.

I'm sure I am not alone.  Most of us grew up in churches that placed a greater emphasis on Christmas -- the day Jesus was born...than on Epiphany -- the day God was revealed in the baby boy.  That's just how things were for us.

In recent decades though,  the modern  church has become more intentional about including Epiphany in our worship.  Typically we read the story Amy shared with the kids today.   The visit of Magi, or Wise Men, or Sages or Kings...it all depends on which translation you prefer...has come to represent the moment that God was revealed to the world in the Christ child.   And the  star that appears in the sky becomes the focal point of the revelation...it is the light that reveals the location of the baby...the light that leads these most uncharacteristic travelers to come to worship him.  It is the light that fulfills prophecy of long-ago...the light that indicated to the world that God was among his people. 

Today's scripture lesson is another option for an Epiphany reading.   It's not about a star in the sky, but offers a similar message of a rising light - the light of God that rises in the darkness...the light of God shining on his people.  

Read Isaiah 60:1-6. 

The image of light that Isaiah uses as a metaphor for God's presence is powerful.  I mean, even those of us who are not early risers can envision that special moment of daybreak...the intersection in time when night ends and day begins...the moon is fading and the sun is about to rise.  If you've ever seen it then you know it begins not so much with light as with a radiating glow. 

It may not be so profound in the days of streetlights and dense populations, but in the wide open plains or the desert or unpopulated regions, especially on the eastern seaboard, there's nothing quite like the instant in time when the first glimmer of light emerges...and you KNOW that daylight is coming.  You KNOW that the darkness of night is about to be gone and light is on its way. 

It is a moment of true hope.  You can't yet see the daylight, in fact it could be awhile before you do, but there is no longer any doubt it has come.

This was Isaiah's message to the people of Israel.   Arise, your light has dawned...your hope is here.  Keep in mind though, he is speaking to people whose lives are in shambles.  They are returning to Jerusalem after having suffered under the Babylonians.  Yet, Jerusalem as they knew it was no longer there.  The former glory of both the city and the temple was destroyed.   They were coming back to nothing...yet, Isaiah's message is still one of hope. 

Now we tend to see this a Messianic prophecy...especially the part about the gold and frankincense.  And I won't say it's not.  But I will say that it doesn't have to be.  Isaiah's words were meant to encourage a downtrodden, dispirited people at a specific time and in a particular context.  He offered hope that God was with the returning exiles...even when it didn't feel like it.  In the moment, the darkness was still there, but so was the glow of the coming morning light.

Actually, Isaiah doesn't leave any room for doubt about what their future held. Arise. Shine. Lift up your eyes.  Look about.  These are imperatives - instructions for how they were to live in the light of God's salvation right then and there.  As if it God had already redeemed and restored Jerusalem to her glory among all nations.  This was Isaiah's prophetic word to the Israelites back then...and they are epiphany words to the church today.  God's light is already upon us...in us and shining through us.  Jesus Christ has made sure of that.

The light of God's salvation is not just about something to happen in some future millennium...nor is it just for the afterlife.  If the incarnation of Christ teaches us anything, it is that God is with us here and now.  Arise, shine; for your light has dawned...it's as true for God's people today as it was true for God's people any time in all of history.  God's love is here.    Morning has broken. The light of Christ is rising within us. And we are called to shine. 

But let's face it...

Sometimes the night seems excessively long...like it will never end.

Sometimes clouds hide the light of sunshine for days.

Sometimes the light of day reveals the dead brown grass, the muddy slush of plowed snow.  And sometimes, the bright sunshine fools us into believing that it's much warmer outside than it really is.

And so it can be with God's light in our life as well. 

Even in the light of God's love, we will have some long dark nights of our soul that may seem as if they will never end.

Sometimes we can't see the light of God's love because clouds of our sadness, grief or anxiety get in the way.

Sometimes we don't really want to see what God's light might reveal.

Folks, the light of God's presence in our life doesn't always change the reality of our circumstances...but it does give us hope and encourages us as we make our way through them...

Into the darkness of our despair

Into the darkness of difficult diagnoses

Into the darkness of broken relationships.

Into the darkness of addiction

Into the darkness of loneliness

Into the darkness of evil...of all the world's  -isms

Whatever darkness we might experience - personally or as a community of faith - into the darkness, the light of Epiphany promises us that God is there...shining grace and mercy and love...giving us hope and peace. And every time we choose to walk in his light, every time we choose hope over despair...we bring a glimmer of God's glory to the world.

So church...Christmastide is over...it's time.  Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! (NRSV)

Last year at FPC, we began a new Epiphany tradition.  We received Star Words...words that, like the star which led the wise men to Jesus, can serve as a beacon to draw us closer to Christ throughout the year. Many folks kept their star words in their heart and took note of the ways it showed up in their spiritual life throughout the year.

In a few minutes, as an act of spiritual discipline we will receive our 2017 Star Words.  The words aren't magic...but you might just get one that God's Spiri has chosen for you.  In 2017 this word may play a role in deepening your relationship with Christ...or it may be the epiphany light that inspires you to arise and shine for God this year.  What you do with the word is between you and God.  How it guides you...how often you remember it...or if you toss it in the recycle on the way out the door...none of those things are matters of your salvation or even a measure of your faith.  It's just a way, if you so choose, to be a little more intentional about your own spiritual growth.

Before we do that though, we've set aside some time for folks to share their stories from 2016 Star Words.  After all, ours is a god of lots of stories. Jesus told stories to teach and challenge and grow his disciples.  Telling our Star Words stories are a matter of bragging about what we've done this year, but what God has done in and through us.  Sharing the stories is how we all learn and grow.

I'll briefly share mine as well as one other.  

My star word for 2016 was faith.  It was the perfect word for me this year as a number of things happened in my ministry and in my personal life that forced me to have faith - to acknowledge that I was not the one in control and to trust that God was.  Of course one big moment of faith was when we put our daughter on a plane that would eventually take her to New York then LA.  But there was a call for faith in the little things too...like when we needed a Youth Director and I prayed God would send one.  He did.  When I was worried how we would get through Advent without a music director, God sent an answer.  When I wondered if we were doing the right thing with the midweek dinners this summer and over 100 people showed up for 5 of the 6 dinners, I knew that God was honoring our faith.  The most transformative experience of the word faith this year has been in the way I create sermons.  I used to worry about them...every day...stressed out about getting them done on time.  I would not schedule anything on Saturday ever so I had a back up day, just in case.  This past year I have learned to have faith that God is working on the sermon with me by giving me various experiences throughout the week...and to trust that after six years without a single Sunday where the wasn't a sermon ready, I'm probably always going be able to bring something.  My faith in the creative process has increased and the result is more trust in God's plan, less stress and greater peace