Isaiah 60:1-6 * January 8, 2006 * Epiphany * Pastor Pagels

In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:

This past Monday was a rude awakening for a lot of people. Or if you were fortunate enough to have the day after New Year’s off from work or school, the same can be said of Tuesday. The week between Christmas and New Year’s is a time when many families take a much needed break. Schedules are relaxed. Bedtimes are pushed back. And alarm clocks are turned off.

But then comes the dreaded day back, the day when schedules resume and sleep is cut short. If you are a parent, you have probably learned a few tricks to make the transition back to the regular morning routine a not so unpleasant process.

You can start by opening the door to the children’s room(s) when it’s time to get up. If that doesn’t work, you can turn on a couple lights. And if that doesn’t rouse them from their slumber, you can sit down at the edge of the bed, gently pull back the covers, quietly lean in and shout as loud as you can: “RISE AND SHINE.”

When Isaiah composed the words of our text, he was ready to shout out loud. In spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness, there was still hope. In spite of their spiritual slumber, they still had a Savior. And Isaiah was among the first to recognize that this Savior was not just the Savior of his own people. Isaiah announced that the promised Messiah would be the Savior of all people.

Jesus is the Savior of both Jews and Gentiles. This truth is what this day is all about. Epiphany means “to reveal” or “make known,” and today God reveals himself to us as the Savior of all. This is amazing news. This is exciting news. This is the kind of news that makes God’s people want to…

RISE AND SHINE!

I. You have glory to reflect

II. You have the gospel to proclaim

III. You have gifts to share

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you” (1).

The tone of the opening verse could not be more different than the tone of the previous chapter. Isaiah 59 is a prophecy of doom and gloom in which the prophet compiles a long list of Israel’s sins:

Here is just a sample: “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things” (59:2,3).

These words help us understand what Isaiah meant when he said: “See, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples” (2). Darkness is a common biblical symbol for sin, and according to Isaiah the situation in Israel could not have been much darker.

But Isaiah didn’t limit what he said to the nation of Israel or to that particular time in history. “Darkness covers the earth” he says. That means the darkness is everywhere. “Thick darkness is over the peoples,” he says. That means the darkness has settled over everyone… including us.

Many crimes are committed under cover of night. The majority of sins are committed when no one else is looking. Sinful people like hiding in the shadows. Sinners can become very comfortable with the dark. And we don’t want the light to expose what we have done. We don’t want the light to expose us for what we are. We don’t want to hear that our dark deeds eventually lead to the outer darkness of hell.

Even though the spiritual landscape of Israel was bleak and desolate, there was a ray of light. Even though the sinful human heart can be a very dark place, there is a beacon of hope. And that light emanates from “the glory of the Lord.”

“The glory of the Lord” is a special, sometimes mysterious phrase in the Old Testament, but it is almost always connected with God’s saving activity on behalf of his people. The glory of the Lord led the Israelites throughout their wanderings in the wilderness (it was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night). The glory of the Lord filled the temple at its dedication (I Kings 8:11).

And those words are still ringing in our ears two weeks after Christmas. Luke tells us that the glory of the Lord surrounded the shepherds when they heard the angel announce that a Savior had been born. John declared: “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (1:14).

We have never seen a fiery pillar in the sky, but we have seen glory. We have never been serenaded by angelic choirs, but God’s glory is visible in our lives. The sun may not shine very much this time of year, but God’s Son shines in our hearts every day.

Jesus called himself the Light of the world. He has scattered the darkness. He has defeated your enemies. He has forgiven your sins. He has risen from the dead. He has ascended into glory. And he wants you to know that his glory is yours.

Glory, eternal glory, is God’s gift to you, but he doesn’t want you to keep it to yourself. He wants you to share it. He wants you to reflect it. He wants you to shine. Rise and shine, Christians, because you have the gospel to proclaim.

The book of Isaiah contains a number of prophecies about the Messiah. Isaiah 7 predicts that he will be born of a virgin (14). Isaiah 11 prophesies that he will come from the family of Jesse (1). Isaiah 60 doesn’t make any specific predictions about the coming Savior, but it does make a bold prediction about the effectiveness of his message: “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” (3,4).

What began as a small following in a tucked away corner of the Roman Empire did not stay that way for very long. Within a generation the gospel had been carried across the continent, and within in a few hundred years the Christian church was well established in Africa and Europe and Asia. But it didn’t stop there. In fact, Jesus’ command to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” is still being carried out today (Mark 16:15).

Maybe you noticed that a new banner was hung in the narthex just in time for Christmas. If you haven’t seen it yet, I encourage you to take a look after the service. In addition to some snapshots and a nice picture of the church, there is a single Bible verse. It doesn’t come from Isaiah, but it matches the message of this text perfectly: Proclaim the gospel “to every nation, tribe, language and people” (Revelation 14:6).

It is significant that this verse is printed in five different languages. German is the language of our forefathers, and up until forty years ago the gospel was proclaimed in German from this pulpit. English is the language of the present, the language through which almost all of us came to know the wonderful works of God. Spanish has been called the language of the future, and the day is coming when Spanish speakers will outnumber English speakers in our country.

The other two languages are Chinese and Chichewa, and they remind us of our congregation’s commitment to mission work at home and abroad. Ten years ago who would have believed that this sanctuary would be a gathering place for Chinese Christians? And Chichewa is the language use by our Mission Partners to preach the good news in Malawi, Africa.

The new banner in the narthex wasn’t designed for any particular season of the church year (it has a winter theme), but it could easily be called the Epiphany banner because of its message. God does not discriminate on the basis of age or sex or language or skin color or social status. The gospel is for all. Salvation is for all. And the good news is that you know the good news.

You know that Jesus is your Savior. You know that your sins are forgiven. You know that when you die you will go to heaven. You have the eternal gospel in your possession. You have the gospel to proclaim. So let your light shine!

It wouldn’t be Epiphany without at least a few words about the Magi. And we can’t talk about the Magi without mentioning their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But instead of focusing on their gifts this morning, I would like to spend some time on your gifts, the gifts the Lord has given you to share.

So what are your gifts? Maybe you have lots of gold and incense (today we would say financial resources). And maybe you have been blessed in this way so that you can support the Lord’s work with your generous offerings.

But even if you don’t have much money, even if you are a person who lives from paycheck to paycheck, you still have gifts to share. Maybe you are a leader. Maybe you do your work behind the scenes. Maybe you are an encourager or a prayer warrior. Maybe you are the kind of person that other people seek out when they have problems.

All of these gifts are important. God uses each of these gifts to build his church. And he promises that these gifts will have an impact, not just on the recipient, but also on the giver. “Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy” (5a).

I am not much of a story teller, and I rarely tell stories from the pulpit. But I would like to share a personal experience from my ministry at St. John’s that gave me much joy.

I had spent twenty weeks with this person (I’ll call him Mike) in a one-on-one Bible Information Class. We always had good discussions, and if you spend that many hours with someone you get to know each other pretty well. Over the course of our conversations I learned that Mike had spent some time in the Middle East. And the week after we covered the Visit of the Magi in Matthew 2 he brought me a small bag of frankincense that he had picked up when he worked over there.

At the end of the course Mike expressed a desire to become a member of St. John’s. I was very happy for him and happy for me considering my investment of time. But only two days before Confirmation Sunday, he sent me an e-mail saying that he wasn’t ready. Not long after that he moved away, and I didn’t think that I would ever hear from him again.

Months later I received a package in the mail. In it was a card and a small bag of what looked like rock candy. Mike had written to let me know what he had been up to. He had sought out one of our churches (in a part of the country where WELS churches are few and far between) where he had been recently confirmed. He told me that the plastic bag contained myrrh to go along with the frankincense he had given me (and in case you are wondering, he told me that I would have to get the gold myself).

I will never forget that day. I will never forget how I felt that day. I can honestly say that my heart swelled with joy. What an honor it was to know that the Lord used me. What a blessed privilege it is for us to know that God uses our gifts to advance his kingdom and bring glory to his name.

According to the people who keep track of things like this, it has been sixteen days since the sun made its last appearance in our area. So many dark and dreary days in a row can be depressing. But Isaiah’s message for today is anything but depressing. Even if the sun never shines again, we have all the light we need.

The love of Jesus shines in hearts. Because of him our lives have purpose and meaning. Because of him we have a reason to wake up every morning. Because of him we want to rise and shine.