1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.
In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in
the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along
the Jordan — 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those
living in the land of the shadow of death a a light has dawned. 3 You
have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as
people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens
them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
- Isaiah 9:1-4, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
It is the end of January. That means we are officially in the dead of winter (even if it doesn’t look that way outside). Do you feel like your batteries are in need of recharging? Do you feel like you mind and body are stuck in low gear? Have the winter blahs set in? If so, you are not alone. Every year an estimated 56 million people experience these symptoms in varying degrees.
The medical community has even given these feelings a name, seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. SAD can cause energy loss, fatigue, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and decreased workplace productivity.
Research suggests that seasonal affective disorder results
from reduced exposure to sunlight, which disrupts the body’s circadian rhythms.
That explains why the symptoms intensify during December, January and
February, and in places that get less sunlight than others (for
example,
There is no magic pill that will make SAD go away. Instead, experts offer common sense solutions. Get enough sleep. Exercise regularly. Eat healthy. Even though there are fewer daylight hours in winter, make a point of getting outside during the day. And if possible, increase the amount of natural light in your home. Taking these steps won’t make the winter blahs go away entirely, but they will lessen the effects.
Perhaps seasonal affective disorder has a spiritual parallel. The church year begins with Advent. Advent prepares us for and leads up to Christmas. Christmas is an exciting time. We hold special services and put up special decorations to celebrate our Savior’s birth.
In only a couple weeks, we will enter the season of Lent. Again, we will hold special midweek services beginning on Ash Wednesday. And the six weeks of Lent will culminate when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning.
Sandwiched between Christmas and Lent is Epiphany. There are no special services in Epiphany. There are no special decorations for Epiphany. And because Epiphany always falls in January & February, the winter blahs can also affect the way we worship. So what can we do? What is the solution?
It’s quite simple, if we remember what Epiphany is all about. Epiphany is the season where we see God in man made manifest. Epiphany is the season where Jesus reveals himself to the world as the light of the world. The prophetic words of Isaiah before us chase away our spiritual winter blahs because they encourage us to...
The text begins: “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress” (1). Isaiah’s promise that conditions would improve implies that the present situation must have been rather gloomy. God’s people were in distress, but it wasn’t because of the weather. The shadow of gloom that hung over them was the direct result of their sin.
Because the children of
Originally,
God used the powerful nation of
The situation might have looked hopeless, but there was
still hope. Isaiah promised that the
same area God humbled in the past would be honored in the future. “The people walking in darkness have seen
a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has
dawned” (2).
How did God’s people understand Isaiah’s words? They were words of prophecy, but they were spoken in the past tense, as if they had already been fulfilled. Even though Isaiah was pointing to an event in the future, it was already accomplished as far as God was concerned. This was another picture God used to reaffirm his promises. For those people living in the darkness of sin, God promised to send a great light, a Savior.
How do God’s people understand Isaiah’s words today? We are blessed because we have both the prophecy AND the fulfillment. We know what Isaiah was talking about because God’s Word tells us.
In the gospel lesson for today, Matthew tells us that this
light is Jesus. He could have chosen any
place to be the base of operations for his public ministry.
Did you ever try to make a room completely dark during the day, maybe in an effort to darken a room for a child’s afternoon nap? You turn off all the lights. You shut all the doors. You might even put towels over the windows to prevent any sunlight from peeking in. But as hard as a person tries, it is almost impossible to shut out every trace of light.
When the Bible compares God to light, this property is especially comforting. There are times when people, even believers, try to keep the light out of their lives. When the children of Israel disobeyed the Lord again and again and again...when Peter denied that he even knew who Jesus was...when a child of God forgets about God in good times...when a child of God puts the blame on God for the bad times...when we know what is right and still choose to do what is wrong...when we don’t trust God’s power...when we doubt God’s love, we sit in the darkness of our own sin.
When Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, darkness came over
the land (Lk.
The second half of Isaiah’s prophecy is positive and uplifting. Recognizing that the “great light” is the promised Messiah, Isaiah calls out to the Lord: “You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder” (3). Isaiah piles up words so that it is hard to mistake his mood: “joy...rejoice...rejoice...rejoice.” And he uses two simple word pictures to explain the nation’s joy.
The first picture describes the farmer at harvest time. Why is he so joyful? Because he has worked very hard. He planted the crop. He cared for the crop. He watered the crop. And at the harvest he is finally able to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
There is satisfaction in a job well done, but the farmer is also thankful for God’s blessings. Without the Lord’s blessing, the seed would never break through the soil. Without the Lord’s blessing, there would be no rain to make it grow. Without the Lord, there would be no harvest and no joy.
The second picture is that of a victorious army dividing the
spoils of war. And to make his point
clear, Isaiah cites a specific battle from
In the time of the Judges, God called a man by the name of
Gideon to lead
To demonstrate his power, the Lord directed Gideon to trim his fighting force from 32,000 to 300 (less than 1%!). And then he sent them into battle with trumpets and clay jars. Against enormous odds, Gideon and his small army defeated the Midianites. And not one of them had any doubts that this victory belonged to the Lord.
Maybe these pictures don’t mean as much to us as they did to Isaiah’s contemporaries. We don’t rejoice at harvest time (unless we take great pride in our gardens). Not many of us know what it feels like to go into battle and emerge victorious. But we can fill in with our own examples.
We might work very hard in rehabilitation after a serious surgery or illness. We might struggle for many months to bring a child into the world. We might use our gifts to do the very best we can in school. Like the farmer, like the warrior, we rejoice when we are successful. But we are also thankful because we understand that the Lord is behind it all. His love motivates us. His love motivates us to love him. His loved motivates us to serve him. His love motivates us to share him.
When I chose this sermon text, I didn’t know what song the pre-school would be singing today. But the simple words of that song match the simple words of Isaiah perfectly. “This little gospel light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” Jesus is the light. We have it. And we have the opportunity to let it shine.
We let the light of Christ shine when God’s children, both young and old, sing his praises. We let the light of Christ shine when we defend his name. We let the light of Christ shine when we go to him in prayer. We let the light of Christ shine when we listen. We let the light of Christ shine when we speak the truth in love. When Christ’s love is what motivates us, we let his light shine in every aspect of our lives.
Even though the Epiphany season will always be in the middle of winter, we don’t have to succumb to the winter blahs. The Son is all what we need to remain spiritually healthy. His light shines on us. His love motivates us. Amen.