“God’s Glorious Gospel Glows In The Dark”
I. Lighting up the sin-darkened world
II. Attracting people from all nations
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I suppose its not too late to find people still celebrating the Christmas season in Jackson. Yes, you probably have seen a few Christmas trees by the roadside. Yes, you may have taken advantage of the unusually warm weather the last couple of days to take down some of your outside decorations. And, yes, there probably isn’t one single Christmas present in your house that remains wrapped in the colorful paper. For most, the Christmas season is over. But there are signs of Christmas that remain in and on many homes, and for a good reason –they are the Christmas lights.
If you have your Christmas lights and decorations still up, you have a valid reason why you’ve done so. It isn’t because you are lazy or haven’t had the time. It’s because you’re celebrating Christmas, the Gentile Christmas. It’s on this festival known as the Epiphany of our Lord, dating its beginnings back to the 100’s AD, that Gentiles celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is on this festival day that we celebrate the first known Gentile worshipers and visitors to the Christ-child. It’s on this festival that we particularly celebrate that the Savior born in Bethlehem shines out good news to all nations that he is the Savior of all.
Like a bright spotlight or a well-lit fire in a dark room, no one can miss the glowing message of this good news. Using the imagery of lights, spotlights, and candles, we’re going to let the prophet Isaiah illuminate our Epiphany celebration. He’s going to show us that “God’s Glorious Gospel Glows in the Dark.” I. Lighting up a sin-darkened world; and II. Attracting people from all nations.
I. Lighting up a sin-darkened world
A. One of the greatest fears people have is that of being in the dark. Why do you think that a majority of the scary movies are set during the nighttime hours? It causes people to be uneasy; they’re unsure of what’s around them; and most bad things seem to happen when it’s dark out.
Isaiah draws us into an eerie, gloomy, and frightening picture when he writes, “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples” (2a). Do you see the heavy dark blanket that covers every part of the world? It’s pure darkness and no continent, country, village, or home escapes it. The darkness envelops it. There isn’t a glimmer of moonlight that breaks up the darkness, but it is a complete darkness. It also says, literally, that a dark cloud is over the peoples. You can kind of relate if you have ever been caught in a violent rainstorm when the afternoon hours begin to look like 8 o’clock at night. No one escapes this dark cloud; all have it hanging over them.
When the Bible uses darkness or night it often uses to picture sin, gloom, and death. It’s hopelessness. The whole sinful world is covered in this darkness, with no hope of getting better. Take New Year’s Eve, for example. When the lighted ball in Times Square drops to the bottom of the pole at 12 midnight, people welcome in the New Year. They’re thinking, “It’s a fresh start. We’re starting new.” But has anything improved? There is still the deception taking place, still the heartaches, still lies, still death. The world around us puts on a good false show of things getting better, but Jesus tells us things are getting worse. The blanket of darkness continues to become darker.
B. There was no glow in our hearts either. The dark blanket, the black clouds were there. We were like everyone else –despondent, troubled, grief. Our sin and rebellion against God knocked us down into the mud of hell with the dark clouds rolling in ever so thick. Can you picture just lying down face first with no thought or hope of ever getting up? Frightening, isn’t it, being lost in the cold darkness?
C. But listen to the wake up call. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you…the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you” (1,2b). Get up out of the mud and from being flat on your face. Cast aside the troubles, the gloom, the death – your light has come. It’s the glory of the Lord and he’s pierced that darkness. Remember we said that darkness covered the earth like a dark blanket? Well, picture some beams of light shining directly on believers. Jesus lights up the darkness. God’s Glorious Gospel Glows in the Darkness. John says, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only…In him was life, and life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:14a,4,5).
When the angels appeared announcing the good news of the Savior’s birth, the glory of the Lord shone around them. On the mountain when Jesus showed some of his disciples his glory, they saw the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord was among us when Jesus beamed with perfection in keeping the demands of God’s law. That was the glory of the Lord. When Jesus was cast into the darkness of separation from his heavenly Father, all for you and me, that’s the glory of the Lord. When he radiated victoriously on Easter morning, having conquered death and guaranteeing that God had accepted his payment for us –that’s the glory of the Lord. The glorious Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, Glows in the dark world in which we had been trapped.
D. The good news of Jesus continues to radiate over you and me. He continues to shine, so that we now can arise and shine. We no longer wander aimlessly and hopelessly in the dark. God tells us we can arise and shine as his light reflectors. The darkened world can see that there is something different about you. Your light has come, and it’s on you in Jackson. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16). The ones who have the God’s glorious gospel glowing on them are going to reflect that light for others to see. God’s using us to draw people to himself. He’s using us to call them out of their cold darkness of separation from him.
But it isn’t just for you or me that God’s glorious Gospel glows in darkness. Isaiah also says, “Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (3). Those in high standing, the wealthy, lords of power will also be drawn to this light. The Magi are a shining example of this. These were powerful men who traveled a great distance. Imagine being one in their entourage and seeing these great leaders and wise men bow down at the cradle of an infant boy. It would be startling, yet even men like this would bow to the One who brought God’s glorious good news of forgiveness to fulfillment; they bowed to the one who lights up a sin darkened world.
But lets look at God’s glorious gospel glowing in the dark. We know what it does – lighting up a sin-darkened world – but notice for whom it is intended, all nations. God’s glorious Gospel glows in the dark, while attracting people from all nations.
II. Attracting people from all nations
A. The Lord addresses his Christian people saying, “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” (4). The Lord tells his people in the Christian Church, “Look around you. Look whose coming and whose here.” This glorious Gospel is glowing for all both Jews and Gentiles. In our second lesson from Ephesians this morning, Paul lets the cat of the bag about this fact when he spoke about this great mystery. He said, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, … sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Eph 3:6). This light of Jesus forgiveness in a sin darkened world glows for all. The Gospel is universal, intended for every tribe, language, people and nation.
For us that means the gospel and the message we have to share is not for a certain few. There are to be no prejudices in the Christian Church. It doesn’t matter what race you are, what sex you are, what your economic standing is. This Gospel has no barriers and knows no barriers. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
B. Well when the Christian Church sees this attraction to the light of Jesus from all nations, what do you think its response is going to be? It’s heart-pounding excitement! “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” (5). What really gets the heart of a Christian pounding with excitement is something better than a Super Bowl victory or winning the prize money. What greater joy is there than seeing another soul brought to Christ and joined to God’s people? If you have ever had the experience of sharing God’s Word with someone and then seeing God flick on the light of faith and shine it brightly, it’s a sight you won’t forget. What a glorious Gospel glowing in the dark, attracting people from all nations!
C. Did you see what those who streamed to the light of Jesus did? Having been taking out from the darkened world of sin, death, and separation from God, they reacted with hearts of thanksgiving. The light of God’s Gospel brought life to their hearts and then moved them to action. They brought wealth; they brought riches; they brought their best; their camel covered the land. There were so many camels and loads of riches brought to God that they covered the streets. Think of the riches of gold, incense and myrrh that were laid at the cradle by the wise men. God’s people from every nation will bring him nothing but their best laying them at Jesus’ cradle, but also at Jesus’ cross.
D. Christians in Jackson, we can bring our riches and our praises to the cradle and cross. Having been brought from the darkness of eternal misery in hell to the warm light of God’s compassionate love, we want to let God have all we have to offer in treasures and praise. Worship in our life in action gives him praise. Letting our light shine brings him praise. In these next couple weeks you’ll have the opportunity to plan to be wise men bringing our best treasures to our King this next year. How are we going to respond in 1998 to the one who has caused his glorious gospel to glow in our sin-darkened hearts? We can bring him our costliest treasures in faith. We can have our hearts reflect his glowing Gospel.
Concl. While gazing in the night sky, wise men from the east were led hundreds of miles by a burning light. What a treasurer they found under that light! Though only looking like a baby, they were staring face-to-face with the Glory of the Lord. Their faces fell down before the One who would light up a sin-darkened world with his glowing message of forgiveness and peace with God. Their face fell down before the One who radiate salvation and the promise of heaven for all people of all nations. Their faces fell down before the One who would say to them, and now says to us, “Arise, shine, for your Light, your saving Light has come!” Amen.
