Isaiah 60:1‑3, 19-21a
Arise, shine;
for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord
has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn…..
The sun shall no longer be
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give light to you by night;
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
Your sun shall no more go down,
or your moon withdraw itself;
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall be ended.
Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land forever.
They are the shoot that I planted, the work of my hands.
Last week, had we been here to hear it, we would have heard the readings for Epiphany. That word, epiphany, means manifestation. In churchy terms, this refers specifically to the time between Christmas and Lent, based on the story of the showing or manifesting of Jesus to the Gentiles in the persons of the Three Wise Men. Although Epiphany begins with those three foreigners, the theme that runs all throughout the season is Light: “Arise, shine out, for your light has come.”
I’ve told most of you all this before but it never hurts to have a refresher. There were at least three Isaiah’s. Our reading today is from the third Isaiah. First and Second Isaiah’s were written before and during the Babylonian exile. The parts written by our Isaiah today, Third Isaiah, were written during the restoration – the time when the Israelites were actually returning home again after the exile. Third Isaiah is filled with promises that God was even then in the process of re-establishing the people of Israel as a nation once again living in righteousness. It sounds good in the writings, but in reality it wasn’t all that smooth and easy. Their captors had set the Israelites free and allowed them to return home – but the people themselves could not seem to live in peace with each other.
At the time of the exile, most had been carried off to Babylon, but others had been left behind in Israel (to serve their invading conquerors) and so, never left home. Among those who went into the exile, some assimilated into the Babylonian culture, while others held fast to their Hebrew heritage. Now, all these different groups were more or less thrown back into Israel together, two generations later, and – rather than greeting each other with joy – there was jealousy and back-biting as each group claimed its own moral superiority.
The ones who had never left Israel believed they were the real Hebrews – while the Jews from the exile who had fought hard and suffered to hold fast to their Hebrew heritage saw themselves as the true salvation of the faith. Both of these groups hated the third group -- those who had actually assimilated into the Babylonian culture -- and no one trusted anyone else. There was fighting and back-stabbing -- all at a time we would expect there to be rejoicing and thanks-giving to God.
So even though the long-awaited restoration had already begun, things were not going well. The people were home, they have been restored – sort of – but they are still fighting. They’re home - but neighbor can’t stand to pray with neighbor. After having their hopes raised by the return home, they are still in darkness and they long for the light of God’s radiance to lift that darkness and lead them once again toward a life of integrity and wholeness.
This sounds a lot like where we are today, right? We are a divided, angry nation where, in some cases, neighbor can’t bear to talk with neighbor and some of us have started to suspect that people we thought we knew are really from another planet. It feels as if we are all stumbling around in the dark.
But, in spite of the darkness, this is what Third Isaiah promises: things are going to be good again – God’s light is shining on Israel again – but in order to see these marvels, the people must do one thing first – they have to lift up their eyes and look around. God is doing the rest, but they have to do this little bit – they have to at least look around for their salvation – and believe it is there to be found.
The people of Isaiah’s day were looking for something. So were the magi. And so are we – and all of us have to lift up our eyes and look around us.
Do we? Do we look around us – seeking – expecting -- to find Christ? Do we expect to find goodness in others? Or anywhere?
We have waited for the Light of the World – this is what we’ve been looking for – all throughout Advent, and all through our lives – and for those of us who call ourselves Christians, this Light is to be found through the love and teachings of Jesus. But Jesus has this annoying thing he does. He promises to be with us in every problem we face…..but he also expects us to be part of the answer.
Do we want light in the world? Then we can go out and be light. There’s a lot of dark out there these days, and seems as if a whole lot of people are busy hoarding their wattage all to themselves. All the more reason for the rest of us to go out and shine even brighter. If we want light, then let us be light – light in the dark corners, light for the darkest hearts. Open our eyes, look around, and if we aren’t seeing light, then I guess that means it’s our turn to be light. That is one reason we share “moments of grace” here each week – to remind ourselves and each other that small kindnesses do exist – they’re all around us. It is still possible to do good. But we have to open our eyes to see them.
Another dictionary meaning for that word, manifestation, is: an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something abstract or theoretical. Love and Light are always going to remain purely theoretical until we do them, become them. And it can be simple or complicated, as we choose. Feed the hungry, care for the lost and abandoned, smile at a stranger, stand up against injustice, march, look at each other with kindness for pete’s sake – light wears many faces. There is one to fit each of us. And the love of God will shine right there with us.
Rise up, people of goodness – rise up, and shine. The world needs us. The world needs our little lights
I’ve told most of you all this before but it never hurts to have a refresher. There were at least three Isaiah’s. Our reading today is from the third Isaiah. First and Second Isaiah’s were written before and during the Babylonian exile. The parts written by our Isaiah today, Third Isaiah, were written during the restoration – the time when the Israelites were actually returning home again after the exile. Third Isaiah is filled with promises that God was even then in the process of re-establishing the people of Israel as a nation once again living in righteousness. It sounds good in the writings, but in reality it wasn’t all that smooth and easy. Their captors had set the Israelites free and allowed them to return home – but the people themselves could not seem to live in peace with each other.
At the time of the exile, most had been carried off to Babylon, but others had been left behind in Israel (to serve their invading conquerors) and so, never left home. Among those who went into the exile, some assimilated into the Babylonian culture, while others held fast to their Hebrew heritage. Now, all these different groups were more or less thrown back into Israel together, two generations later, and – rather than greeting each other with joy – there was jealousy and back-biting as each group claimed its own moral superiority.
The ones who had never left Israel believed they were the real Hebrews – while the Jews from the exile who had fought hard and suffered to hold fast to their Hebrew heritage saw themselves as the true salvation of the faith. Both of these groups hated the third group -- those who had actually assimilated into the Babylonian culture -- and no one trusted anyone else. There was fighting and back-stabbing -- all at a time we would expect there to be rejoicing and thanks-giving to God.
So even though the long-awaited restoration had already begun, things were not going well. The people were home, they have been restored – sort of – but they are still fighting. They’re home - but neighbor can’t stand to pray with neighbor. After having their hopes raised by the return home, they are still in darkness and they long for the light of God’s radiance to lift that darkness and lead them once again toward a life of integrity and wholeness.
This sounds a lot like where we are today, right? We are a divided, angry nation where, in some cases, neighbor can’t bear to talk with neighbor and some of us have started to suspect that people we thought we knew are really from another planet. It feels as if we are all stumbling around in the dark.
But, in spite of the darkness, this is what Third Isaiah promises: things are going to be good again – God’s light is shining on Israel again – but in order to see these marvels, the people must do one thing first – they have to lift up their eyes and look around. God is doing the rest, but they have to do this little bit – they have to at least look around for their salvation – and believe it is there to be found.
The people of Isaiah’s day were looking for something. So were the magi. And so are we – and all of us have to lift up our eyes and look around us.
Do we? Do we look around us – seeking – expecting -- to find Christ? Do we expect to find goodness in others? Or anywhere?
We have waited for the Light of the World – this is what we’ve been looking for – all throughout Advent, and all through our lives – and for those of us who call ourselves Christians, this Light is to be found through the love and teachings of Jesus. But Jesus has this annoying thing he does. He promises to be with us in every problem we face…..but he also expects us to be part of the answer.
Do we want light in the world? Then we can go out and be light. There’s a lot of dark out there these days, and seems as if a whole lot of people are busy hoarding their wattage all to themselves. All the more reason for the rest of us to go out and shine even brighter. If we want light, then let us be light – light in the dark corners, light for the darkest hearts. Open our eyes, look around, and if we aren’t seeing light, then I guess that means it’s our turn to be light. That is one reason we share “moments of grace” here each week – to remind ourselves and each other that small kindnesses do exist – they’re all around us. It is still possible to do good. But we have to open our eyes to see them.
Another dictionary meaning for that word, manifestation, is: an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something abstract or theoretical. Love and Light are always going to remain purely theoretical until we do them, become them. And it can be simple or complicated, as we choose. Feed the hungry, care for the lost and abandoned, smile at a stranger, stand up against injustice, march, look at each other with kindness for pete’s sake – light wears many faces. There is one to fit each of us. And the love of God will shine right there with us.
Rise up, people of goodness – rise up, and shine. The world needs us. The world needs our little lights
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