Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! How often during these past weeks haven’t we heard these greetings? It seemed that everywhere we went people greeted us by saying, "Merry Christmas!" “Have a Happy New Year!” But now that Christmas is over, and the New Year come and gone people no longer use these greetings.
For Christians, especially Gentile Christians like us, Christmas isn’t really over. In fact, it has just begun. Tomorrow, January 6, is Epiphany. Next to Easter, Epiphany is the oldest Christian church festival. It is older than Christmas Day which we celebrated only a few weeks ago. Epiphany is called "The Christmas of the Gentiles."
But Epiphany actually means “to reveal or appear” and in the church we celebrate this festival because God revealed the Light of the World to us. Epiphany marks the coming of the Wise men to see the Christ child. Their coming was recorded in the Gospel Lesson for today. These Wise men were Gentiles. They were non-Jews just like you and me. They had come looking for the One who was born King of the Jews as we heard in our Gospel lesson for today. When they found the Christ child, they worshipped him. They worshiped him not only as the King of the Jews, but also as their Lord and Savior. The Wise men truly had a Happy New Year. They had found him who is the solution to their greatest problem. They rejoiced because they knew that they were members of God’s eternal family. In response to all these great things, the Wise men made use of the opportunity to praise God and to show their love in presenting him with gifts.
For many the greetings "Merry Christmas!" or “Happy New Year” is an empty expression. For them it is just another way of saying, "Hello" or "Good-bye." It doesn’t have a whole lot of meaning behind it.
In the words of our text, the prophet uses that same greeting. In essence he says, "Happy New Year to All." Isaiah does more than simply wish that we have a Happy New Year. He tells us why our new year is truly a happy one. We can enjoy the New Year because Our Big Problem Is Solved, and Our Eternal Family Is Growing.
We truly can have a glorious new year because our big problem is solved. Isaiah refers to our big problem when he writes, “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness the peoples” (Isaiah 50:2).
The darkness the covers the earth is not physical darkness. Isaiah is not referring to this time of the year when there are more hours of darkness than daylight. The darkness the covers the world is the darkness of sin and unbelief. Just as a person in total darkness cannot see a thing, so the people of the world cannot see anything spiritual. They are blinded by sin and unbelief. They don’t know that what they are doing is wrong. They don’t know that they are headed for an eternity in hell. This is true of every individual that does not know and believes in Jesus Christ.
For all believers this big problem of spiritual darkness has been solved. They are no longer in darkness. To believers Isaiah says, “Arise, shine, for your Light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises like the dawn upon you. ..The Lord rises like the dawn upon you, and His glory appears over you” (Isaiah 60:1-2)
Isaiah reminds us that our Light has come. In fact, the Light of the world has come. The one who dispels the great darkness of sin and unbelief is here. The one who does this is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus himself said, "I am the Light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).
As we look at the life of Jesus, hear his words, see his miracles, we come to the same conclusion that John did. The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth... In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness. [John 1:14, 4-5]
When we think of seeing the glory of the Lord in Christ, we perhaps think of his transfiguration. There on the mountain, the glory of his divinity shown through his clothing and was evident on his face. But the glory of the Lord was evident also in his living among us, his fulfilling of the law in our place, his complete work of salvation by giving up his life on the cross for you and me, and his sending of the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts, the seal that guarantees we are God’s children and heirs of eternal life.
Jesus has lighten up our lives. He has lightened our path taking us out of the darkness of sin and unbelief. The light we have is the light of the Gospel. That light brings comfort and hope. The Gospel assures us that all our sins are forgiven by God. Having our sins forgiven, we have the hope of spending an eternity with our Savior and God in heaven.
With our big problem solved we can truly have a happy new year this year and for all the new years to come. Our new year is happy also because our eternal family is growing. Having the light of the Gospel in our hearts, we are to let this light shine out in our lives. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8). In all we do and say we are to let our light shine out. Jesus says to us, "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
As others see the Light of the Gospel shining through us they will be drawn to that light, like a moth is drawn to a flame. Many who are drawn to the light of the Gospel will themselves believe that Gospel. They will become our brothers and sisters in the faith. Isaiah foresaw our eternal family growing. "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. “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." (Isaiah 60:3-4)
The light that first shone in Bethlehem, did not shine just in Judea. Although, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "salvation is from the Jews " [John 4:22] it was not to remain just with the Jews. Jesus told his followers "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation" (Mark 16:15). Just as darkness covers the whole world, so the light of the Gospel is to shine in all parts of the world.
To this day the Gospel light is shining out into the entire world. It is shining out through our mission efforts. Many nations are coming to the one true light which is Jesus Christ. We read of how the Gospel is shining in the hearts of Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, African, Latin Americans, Native Americans and European Christians. The eternal family of believers is indeed growing.
As we witness the light of the Gospel shining in our own hearts and in the hearts of so many others, opportunities for praise are present. Isaiah spoke of these opportunities when he wrote, "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. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD." (Isaiah 60:5-6).
As we see and hear more and more people being added to the eternal family of God, we have reason to praise God. Certainly if the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner that repents, we should be joyful when that happens. Such joy will spill over into praise of the Lord our God. We will praise him for having the Gospel proclaimed to others throughout the world. We will praise him for sending the Holy Spirit into the hearts of people and bringing them to faith.
We will praise the Lord not only with our lips but also with our gifts. The greatest gift we can give to the Lord is the gift of ourselves. Giving ourselves to the Lord means that we are willing to expend ourselves for him.
Our text also speaks of praising the Lord with material gifts. Isaiah mentions gifts of gold and incense. As we hear these words, we are reminded of the Wise men who came searching for the Christ child. When they found him, they present him with material gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. This was their way of praising the Lord for sending his Son as the Savior of the world.
The Lord also gives us opportunities to praise him with our material blessings. The offerings that we give for the support of the work of the Lord reflect our love of God. A portion of our gifts is used to spread the light of the Gospel into the world where darkness still abounds. When that light has reached all the corners of the earth, then truly everyone will have the most blessed of New Years then and for eternity. Amen.
