Dense darkness. Darkness from a deep cave, darkness, rural darkness, from a starless and moonless night, darkness at the deepest part of the ocean. Darkness takes many forms all devoid of the natural lights of the world. Emotional darkness like grief, despair, longing comes from lack of hope, instead of lack of light. We all know how dark emotional darkness can be. Isaiah is writing to the Jews in Babylonian exile who are torn away from their homes, their families, living in a foreign land and culture, experiencing darkness on many levels. The temple has been destroyed and the dynasty of David has come to a disastrous end. They are people covered in thick darkness. Isaiah is offering them hope saying, Arise, Shine; Your Light has Come! God is revealing hope through Isaiah and reminding the people that Israel will be a light to the nations of the world.
Today is Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, or Three Kings Day. No matter the name, each marks the revelation of God coming into the world in Jesus. A star at its rising, foreigners seeking out Jesus, Herod forcing the fulfillment of the Messiah coming from Egypt. We often tell this story shortly after Christ’s birth, but scholars believe the travelers from the East did not arrive until much later, as much as two years later. This makes sense because the star appeared at Jesus’ birth and they had to plan and make the journey. But whenever this happened, it tells of God’s coming into the WORLD, not just into the Jewish tradition.
Biblical intrigue. Mean King Herod, strangers from afar, stars mysteriously guiding their way, clues from the prophets of old, dreams keeping the travels safe. With all this plotting it is easy to miss the bigger picture, the larger epiphany. God is revealing God ‘self to the world. The travelers, wise men, kings, Magi are all ways of saying that from the beginning Jesus is the Savior of the world. That Jesus came not just for the Jews but for the Gentile world as well.
In the 6th century a man named Venerable Bede wrote about these travelers: the first he named Melchior, an old man with white hair and long beard, Gaspar, young and beardless with ruddy complexion, and Balthasar a black-skinned and heavily bearded to represent varying ages and ethnicities. Many a nativity scene have claimed these identities as the faces of the wise men, even though there is no real basis for this. If I were to write a story today, I would say there would be a woman traveling in their midst. The point is people from all walks of life, young and old, rich or poor, kings are rich, and magi are not, of all ethnic parts of the world are welcoming Jesus as Lord and worshiping him.
The arrival of these foreigners from the east also speaks of Jesus being the light. Jesus is the light that will overcome every darkness. One commentator wrote, “The word used for the “East” anatole, really means “the rising,” that is, the rising of the sun. Our word “orient” comes from a Latin word with the same meaning: oriens. The rising of the sun in the East readily suggests the imagery of light, which is often associated with salvation in the Bible. Isaiah’s vision of salvation includes a pilgrimage of the nations, who will come to Israel’s light, to worship the God of Israel. The Gentile magi are to be understood as enacting the fulfillment of this prophecy” ( Stephen Hultgren Working Preacher).
Matthew begins with this inclusive, diverse understanding of who Jesus came to save and ends with, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nation…” Make disciples of rich and powerful, lowly virgins, homeless immigrants, Jews and Gentiles, disabled and outcast, every race, and people. Each one of us is a product of that commission. Your Light has Come! So, I want to ask you, “What is your light?” What is the light that is unique to you? What is your light? The light that Jesus has given to you to share with the world. The magi from the East came bearing gifts and I believe we each have gifts to share, gifts that are God given and gifts we develop to brighten the light of Christ in the world. Your gift might be helping, singing, serving, parenting, working, editing, golfing, doctoring, fixing, building, nurturing, smiling, being. When you are sharing your gift does it brighten the world? Do you find joy in sharing your gift? Hear and believe, “Your Light has Come!”
In my 40’s I took up piano and learned to play We Three Kings. It was one of my favorite tunes to play because it filled me with joy and reminded me of Christmas. But I did not stick with my lessons, I did not put in the time to develop that gift to then share it with the world. Don and Eileen, like many of you, put in the time, journeyed through the land of years of practice to share their gift. My guess is that there were some dark moments in those years of practice, just like there can be dark times trying to learn how to play golf, or get through your education, or raise a family.
Dark times when we cannot see the light of Christ, dark times when grief, despair and loneliness arrive,
times when we cannot find hope. But that is when we need Isaiah’s pep talk.
Arise, shine your light has come! Just like the star in the dark night sky led the wisemen to Jesus, when we focus on Jesus when we are faced with dark times, we find hope, we have a light within that gets us through. Jesus is our light.
Over the holidays I took a road trip with a friend and we talked about her work and what she liked most. One of the things she said was creating ways for people to be of service to their community. Now she is in Human Resources, and she is giving people in her tech company ways to serve. I am all for that! And I would like to point out one distinction. As Christians we do not just serve our community because it makes us feel good, or we think we should, or we like helping our community. We serve because we are sharing our light, our gifts with the world because we have received the great light, Christ’s light, and we know what God’s love means and how that motivates what we do and who we are.
The epiphany is that our motivation for sharing our gifts, sharing our light, is letting our light shine right along side of Christ’s light. Not so we get credit, but for God’s glory. We each have personal light, gifts we share, and we are to arise shine and let our light be known.
Do you have a gift that might need a little tending, intention, care? Do you want to make a commitment to work on sharing your light a bit more in the coming months, year? I want to be clear this is not a resolution to change what is not working, but rather a commitment to tend to what God has already given you, a light in your life, that you would like to shine brighter, to share with the world. And for some to be of greater service to God. I really hope you have each thought of a gift you have, one you share and might want to share more. One that is God given or you have worked hard to develop, but a gift, a light, to the world just the same.
Your Light has Come!
We are coming to Christ’s table. Nowhere is the truth of Epiphany more evident than in the Eucharist. We gather around the Lord’s table as members of the same body of Christ, heirs together of the promises of the gospel. We gather without distinction, at the same level, with the same needs, to eat the same food: young and old, men and women, gay and straight, rich and poor, weak and strong, of every tribe and nation. We look into the faces of our fellow Christians and we see the light of Christ. Share your gifts, let your light shine as you are fed by the love and light of Christ at this table. Trust that God has given you your light so that darkness can never overcome it. Share your gifts, like the wisemen shared their gold and frankincense while praising the Lord. Let your light shine and praise the Lord! AMEN.
