Morning Message Text: Isaiah 60: 1-6
The Glory of Zion
1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 “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 hip.
5 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.
6 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.
Morning Message:
What is Epiphany? According to the dictionary it is: A Christian festival, observed on January 6th, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi. While we don’t know the precise date of Jesus’ birth, we know from the biblical account that he was born in Bethlehem, in a stall, and placed in a manger. Our manger scene in our minds has Joseph and Mary, baby Jesus, the shepherds, some farm animals, the wise men, and the camels. Like everything else at Christmas time, we tend to just lump everything together for the sake of time and convenience. When the wise men actually arrive, the shepherds are most likely long gone and back taking care of their sheep. Epiphany is kind of pushed to the side today in our churches. Once we get through Christmas, we are usually ready to end the celebration and move on to our plans for the new year.
The shame of this is that Epiphany should be celebrated as a very important occasion, especially by us. Are any of you Jewish? We are gentiles. The purpose of the Magi following the star to find Jesus was so that Jesus, God incarnate, could be revealed to us, the gentiles. Jesus came for all people, not just the Jews. The blessing of a Savior came through the Jewish people, God’s promise through Abraham, but Jesus came to all mankind and Epiphany gives us our first glimpse of God through Jesus reconciling all mankind to himself. Actually, if you think about it, what good is a Savior if you never meet him or know him?
Our scripture today says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” The darkness that covers the earth takes us back to Genesis in the beginning of creation, but the darkness that Isaiah is depicting here is the darkness of sin. The thick darkness of sin hovered over all people: every race and creed. It was a darkness that separated God from man because a Holy God cannot dwell with sin. The same is true today; when we are covered in unforgiven sin, we are separated from God. The only thing that can break through the darkness is God himself. Only a Holy God can defeat the evil that man has left into the world. When Jesus is born, the darkness is shattered and God’s Holy light shines down upon His Son. Think about it, that star that appeared that had never been seen before, lit the way and directed those gentiles to the Savior. Apart from the light of God we cannot find our way to the manger and the salvation that God has prepared for us.
Listen, in verse three Isaiah says, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” He doesn’t say a nation or a king but nations and kings. God is drawing the whole world to himself, not to a throne or a castle, but to a stable and a manger, to the king of kings and the Lord of lords. From the very start God was calling all mankind to assemble before Jesus. This makes a light bulb go off in my head. I grew up watching the roadrunner and the coyote cartoons. Every time he would have a new idea the light bulb would go off in his head. I just had one of those moments, an epiphany of sorts. If God was calling us to gather together before Jesus from the very start, then why would anyone ever think that it would be acceptable to avoid such gatherings today? God, through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was reconciling us to himself so that we could stand before him; it seems odd that we would resist that.
In Epiphany we see God’s marvelous plan for the gentiles, us, all people. This is important because in this lies a blessing: the blessing of God’s inclusiveness. God doesn’t view inclusiveness as the world does. God invites all people to come to him and be saved from their sin. The world says, “You must include us no matter how we act or what we do, even if we go against everything that you believe in.” God says, “All are welcome to repent and come to the Savior; you can be part of the kingdom of God for all eternity; come as you are, but be willing to be changed from your sinful self and reconciled to a Holy God.” It’s actually kind of funny. Everyone these days wants things their own way. We are Burger King people; we want it our way and don’t you dare get upset if my way breaks God’s commands. God’s plans are perfect. Epiphany shows us that God had a wonderful plan for all from the very beginning.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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