20150104 2nd Sunday after Christmas B (Epiphany) Web Site
Title: Light in a Dark Place
Text: Isaiah 60:1-6
Thesis: Jesus reveals himself by invading the darkness of the world.
This is the Season of Epiphany during which we mark the ways Jesus is made known. Epiphany means to show or to make known or to reveal.
Introduction
One morning I left our home early… it was dark outside. I had been navigating our back steps for nearly 8 years so I did not bother to turn on the back stoop light. I missed the first step. I lunged forward down the steps. I managed to keep my legs going almost as fast as my body was lurching as I sped head-long across our patio. About that time I plowed into our gas grill which also went airborne. I finally face-planted in the backyard. My face was scraped and I had grass in my mouth. My glasses were missing. My trousers were torn. Everything hurt… especially my right leg. I managed to crawl back up the steps and rang the doorbell until Bonnie rescued me. She found what was left of my glasses and when my leg turned black she took me to the doctor who put me on a blood thinner and told me to turn on the light next time. A little light dispels the darkness and shows us the way.
In Isaiah 9:2 the prophet looked forward hundreds of years and saw the birth of the Messiah… “A child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.” Isaiah 9:6-7
Isaiah prefaced those statements regarding the Messiah’s reign with these words, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” Isaiah 9:2
The gospels all affirm that Jesus is in fact the fulfillment of that prophecy. In Matthew 42 generations are played out in the genealogy that concludes: “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.” Matthew 1:16
Skipping forward 30 years we hear Jesus say, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus is the light that dispels our fears and shows us the way through life to eternal life saying, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
I would like to begin this morning with taking a closer look at the implications of darkness.
I. Darkness (Someone with a rather bleak outlook on life once said, “Life is one long road to darkness.”)
• Darkness and death (When we speak of this kind of darkness we speak literally.)
“Why did you bring me out of my mother’s womb? Why didn’t you let me die at birth? Then I would have been spared this miserable existence… I would have gone directly to the grave…” Job 10:18-22
If there is a bummer passage is scripture this is it. In the book of Job we find the ancient sufferer musing: “Why did you bring me out of my mother’s womb? Why didn’t you let me die at birth? Then I would have been spared this miserable existence… I would have gone directly to the grave… so leave me alone that I may have a little comfort before I leave for the land of darkness and utter gloom, never to return. It is a land as dark as midnight, a land of utter gloom where confusion reigns and the light is as dark as midnight.” Job 10:18-22
On December 16 LiveScience and more recently the Huffington Post reported the discovery of a million mummy cemetery in Egypt. The mummies are not typical mummies but the dead were mummified by the arid climatic conditions of desert Egypt. The mummies are not of the rich but are the poor of their day and are often buried in what we would call mass-graves.
They report that the mummies date back to the years through the 1st and 7th centuries when Egypt was under the rule of the Roman Empire. Those mummies had not seen the light of day for over 2,000 years. The grave is a place of a long darkness…
Darkness is also associated with depression.
• Darkness and Depression (Figuratively dark)
“Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, miserable, imprisoned in iron chains of misery.” Psalm 107:10
In Psalm 42 the Psalmist is deeply depressed and repeatedly cries out to God asking: “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad.” “O God, why have you forgotten me?” “Why must I wander around in grief…?” “Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?”
You may be familiar with the term Seasonal Affective Disorder. A person who has SAD has a psychological reaction to the lack of light. When the seasons change and the days are shorter and the nights are longer a person with SAD becomes increasingly depressed. Consequently many people who suffer from SAD take light therapy as a substitute for sunlight. Depression is associated to depression.
Years ago a friend of mine went through a painful divorce. He bought a home near where his ex and his children lived so the children could visit anytime they wished. He was grieving the loss of life as he knew it and the feeling the absence of his children and dealing with what he perceived as his failure as a husband and father. One night I stopped by his house and found him sitting in the darkness.
People who are depressed know well the sense of gloom and find themselves literally living in darkness.
Darkness is also descriptive of closed-mindedness.
• Darkness and Closed Mindedness
The bible also speaks of the darkness of a closed mind. “Live no longer as the ungodly do for they are hopelessly confused. Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him.” Ephesians 4:17-18
Closed mindedness is applicable to many topics of discussion… politics, etc. But for our purposes this morning the darkness of closed mindedness is spiritual in nature.
A couple of weeks ago Jim Ditter posted an adage on our church sign that read: “A closed mind is like concrete – mixed up and set.”
We recently heard of a renewed outbreak of Ebola along the border shared by Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa. Authorities there blame the renewed outbreak to two things: 1. Infected people crossing the re-crossing the border. 2. Traditional practices such as washing of bodies.
Despite being told of the dangers of contracting Ebola through contact the people refuse to believe and continue to practice traditional ways that perpetuate the spread of the disease.
A person’s mindset or closed mindedness may be thought of as a form of darkness.
Ultimately we think of darkness as being descriptive of being separated from God.
• Darkness and Separation from God
“Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.” John 3:19
Closed-mindedness certainly ultimately leads to spiritual separation from God. “…but many of those for whom the Kingdom was prepared will be cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teen.” Matthew 8:12
When Jesus spoke of the final judgment he referred to the separation of the sheep and the goats… the sheep inherited the Kingdom of God while goats were sent away into eternal punishment. Matthew 25:31-46
Just over a year ago, on December 31, 2013, a conservative pastor for over twenty years posted a blog stating: “For the next 12 months I will live as if there is no God. I will not pray, read the Bible for inspiration, refer to God as the cause of things or hope that God might intervene and change my own or anyone else’s circumstances. (I Trust that if there really is a God that God will not be flummoxed by my foolish experiment and allow others to suffer as a result.)”
He was soon jobless… he was no longer a pastor. He lost his teaching positions at Fuller Theological Seminary and Azusa Pacific University. By April he said, “I could very easily say there is no God.” He recalled the South Korean ferry sinking and killing 304 students and mused, “If God exists he seems to be doing a pretty bad job…”
It is unfortunate that when he opened his mind to doubt to closed his mind to belief. Today he neither feels at home in the Christian community nor the atheist community but calls himself a “weak atheist.”
To believe or to not believe are choices. Believing is an act of faith but it is more than that, it is an act of the will. We may either choose to live in darkness without God or choose to live in the light and life of Christ.
Darkness and light are contrasts… and just as there are implications associated with darkness there are implications associated with light.
II. Light (In the Season of Epiphany we readily connect Jesus and light…
• Jesus and Light
“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12
Simeon is described in Scripture as a righteous and devout man who was eagerly awaiting the coming of the Messiah. He is described as having the Holy Spirit upon him and God had promised him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.
He happened to be at the Temple on the day Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to present him to the Lord. When Simeon saw Jesus he took him in his arms and said, “He is the light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” Luke 2:25-32
John wrote his Gospel, “Life itself was in him and his life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it. Jesus is the one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone. The Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.” John 1:3-14
Bonnie and I often travel at night to maximize our time when we visit our family. I like it when there is no oncoming traffic and we can run with our headlights on high-beam. High-beam is wonderful in that we can see more from side to side and further down the road. When we cannot use our high-beams we may use of fog lights to brighten the way immediately before us.
What I have noticed is that the darkness cannot swallow up the light… the light shines into and penetrates the darkness before us though the darkness closes in behind us.
Similarly Christ lives in our lives and lights the way before us giving us guidance through life… and despite the literal and spiritual darkness about us we can see the way immediately before us as well as the way that awaits us.
Light is more than just a way to see through the darkness… it is a way to live in the darkness.
• Light and Transformation
“Though our hearts were once full of darkness, now you are full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it! For the light within you produces only what is right and true.” Ephesians 5:8
Apart from Christ we are living in spiritual darkness which is described in the bible as the kingdom of darkness as opposed to living in spiritual light which is to live in the Kingdom of God’s Son.
“For Jesus has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his Son. God has purchased our freedom and forgiven our sins.” Colossians 1:13
In Scripture darkness and light are juxtaposed against each other. They are held in tension. They are contrasts. Light exposes what is hidden in the darkness and darkness in turn tries to swallow the light. Light is associated with good while darkness is associated with evil.
In 2012 Jordyn Howe brought his step-father’s gun on the school bus. As he was playing around with the gun, it accidently discharged, killing 13-year old Jina Guzman-DeJesus. The mother of the victim faced her daughter’s killer and stunned the courtroom by reaching out to Jordyn and hugging him. There was no anger or rage. Instead she gave Jordyn a tearful hug.
The presiding judge remarked, “In 20 years I’ve been watching human tragedy unfold in this courtroom. I could have never imagined a victim’s mother embracing her child’s killer. What an amazing display of forgiveness.” (PreachingToday.com)
Living in the light is transformational. We live in the light when we are gracious and forgiving in a dark world that hatefully cries out for revenge.
There is no light in the darkness of riots and outrage and acts of retaliation and vengeance. The contrast of that darkness in the streets with the light of that mother’s life is remarkably apparent.
A singer-songwriter and author wrote in Decision Magazine of her failing eye-sight and of how at the age of 14 as she was stumbling up a stair way her mother asked, “Jennifer, can’t you see the stairs?” And she asked her mother with just as much curiosity, “What do you mean? Can you see the stairs?”
Driving home from the doctor’s officer where she and her family were told that she would soon be totally blind she recalled thinking, “I’m never going to drive a car. I’m not going to be an artist. Will boys want to date me? How will I finish high school?” Feeling her finger-tips she wondered, “Will I have to learn to read Braille?”
When they arrived home she went straight to the old upright piano in their living room and though she could not read a single note on the sheet music before her, she played from memory, “It Is Well with My Soul.” (PreachingToday.com)
Living in the light is transformational. We live in the light when, despite all is not well with our circumstances, all is well with you souls.
Living in the light and life of Christ is transformational. When we live in the light we turn the other cheek, we love our enemies, we speak the truth in love, we are patient and kind and considerate and generous and compassionate and passionate about Jesus and the things Jesus is passionate about.
Conclusion
Someone wrote a letter to the Denver Post just before Christmas noting how depressing it is to read the second page of the Post. Shootings. Domestic violence. Hit and runs. Robberies. Drug deals. Accidents. You name it… it’s happening all around the Denver Metro area. Then you jump to National and World News to catch up on the latest cruelties inflicted by Boko Haram and ISIS, the latest outbreak of Ebola, the latest cyber-attack, the latest terrorist threat, the latest protest, the latest accusations and the latest denials, the latest religious fanatics who deny their dying child medical attention, the latest hypocritical, homophobic preacher who gets caught soliciting gay sex.
The world is a dark place. Our text speaks of “Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth… but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.” Isaiah 60:2-3 “[And] the people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” Isaiah 9:2
On Christmas Eve we were reminded of the words of Jesus who speaks to us still, “You are the light of the world… let your light so shine that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Just as Jesus was the light that broke into the darkness long ago…
So it is, the light and life of Jesus shines on in us and through us so that everywhere we are, Jesus is! The light of Christ dispels that darkness… all that dark stuff is still out there but in here, the light shines and dispels the darkness around us.
We make Christ known as his life and light shine in us and through us.
