Isaiah 60:1-6.      The light of Christ has come into a dark world!                         8/1/17

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.

This morning we are reminded that in the midst of dark times God has promised that there is a light shining for us. As a result of Jesus coming into our world there is hope and life for us, no matter what we face in life. So as Christians there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Now it would seem that again I am being rather pessimistic and gloomy. For surely we are living at a time when we have got everything; and that by and large things appear to be relatively peaceful. We have made great advances as a society technologically. We are told that we have never had it so good. So why talk about darkness and troubles?

Yet it is right here in the midst of all of this positivity that we can see more and more the darkness growing. Despite all the talk and promises, somehow we are growing more and more uncertain and restless. Something is not right. Something is missing. The further we seem to go and the more that we have, the worse it all becomes. What is wrong here?

Well, God’s Word is quite clear in this regard; when we make something our idol, instead of it bringing blessing to us, it makes things far worse. Then it becomes even worse when we make me, myself and I the idol. When what I want, do and have, apart from God, is what we look for in order to be blessed and happy, we find God’s curse instead of blessing.

This extends into the Christian life and salvation as well. As we seek to do this life on our own and by our own methods, it does not work. So doing good works in order to be acceptable; changing God’s Word so that it is acceptable to our current society and thinking; thinking of worship as being all about experiences and what makes us feel good, rather than what we receive from God; and more, all lead to frustration and darkness.

So the problem is not the technological advances, or the things that we do in order to be acceptable to God. But the fact that we look to and see them as what is going to make us happy and acceptable, instead of looking to God himself, who is the creator and giver of these things. We think that these things that I want, are what will make us happy. Then we find that instead of life being easier for us we have to work even harder to achieve that happiness that we want.

Then when we find that we are not and cannot achieve this happiness and fulfilment that should be there for us, we are consumed by blackness and gloom. I would suggest that as we look around at all the suicides, drug, alcohol and sex abuse and more, we see this growing darkness enshrouding our nation.

We too, when we look to find life and happiness apart from God, find that it is hard work, or in the end it is futile and empty. In fact, more and more we are finding instead of fulfilment in these areas, are finding the opposite. When we fail to have God first in our lives, above and beyond what me, myself and I want, then we quickly find that we run into trouble. When God is relegated to only a small part of our lives we find a growing darkness coming over our lives.

So we all need to again hear this message that is before us. In the midst of this growing darkness there is a light that has come. A light that truly gives light and hope in the midst of this world that has got things so horribly wrong.

We are told here: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

God has come and given us a way through this fog and darkness that enshrouds us. The Lord God himself has come to us. He hasn’t left us to blindly go through life, desperately hoping that we are doing the right thing and instead finding that we just can’t do it on our own. He has come to do everything for us, so that we can have all the we need for this life and the next.

So his glory appears over us. Everything that is good, right and useful is there in our midst freely available to us. We don’t have to invent it, change it, do it by ourselves or any such thing. The Lord God has come and seeks to give it all to us.

In these days we have been reminded very clearly that God has come into our world in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, at a particular point in history. This Jesus grew up and did things that only God himself could do. He performed many, many miracles; drove out evil spirits; Raised that dead back to life; forgave peoples sins; and taught Gods Word simply and powerfully, as God would have us hear it.

Then he went to Jerusalem and allowed himself to be killed on the cross. There he took the punishment from God that we should have received because of our selfishness and sin. In doings so forgiveness of sins, life and salvation is extended to us all. He then is raised from the dead so that all can know for sure that what he did on the cross was God’s will. Also there we can know that he was raised from the dead so that he can live and reign for all to trust in him.

Through all of this he reminded us all that his Word is reliable and true. What we have in the Bible is all that we need to know with regard to the things that are important for this life; for our salvation; and how to live in light of all that he is and has done for us. We don’t need something more, extra or different than that which we have in the Bible itself.

Along with that he gave us baptism so that through it he could connect us to himself and the forgiveness and salvation that he has won for us. He does the work there that enables us to be sure that we have received all that he has won for us through his death and resurrection.

As well as that he gave us Holly Communion so that we again can be absolutely sure the Jesus Christ is with us and there imparts forgiveness of sins, life and salvation to us. So week by week we are reminded by God himself through Jesus Christ that he is with us, and that in him and in connection with him we have all the we need for this life and the next.

It all comes with the presence of Jesus Christ himself. So it all comes to us in down to earth, tangible ways that are easy to access. It is all there in the baby in the manger; in his life as he moved among the people; in his suffering death and resurrection; in his Word and the Sacraments. Everything that we need is there to give light to our lives. Forgiveness, life and salvation and much more is all there for us.

As we listen to and receive the things that he has freely and simply given, we can know for sure that everything will work out for good. It is only as we try to change, add to, ignore or do these things apart from Jesus Christ, that it all comes unstuck. Sadly, all too often our selfish pride comes to the fore and we will not receive these things as a free gift. We want to think that what I do, think, say, must be of some importance. The result then comes about that we do not receive these gifts as blessings, because we try to achieve them in some way because of our merit.

Here remember clearly the first and greatest commandment: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The Lord God is all important. He comes first in our thinking, or else we place an idol in his place; and so often that is we ourselves.

With God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit as all important, then Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us, is our only connection with him. He and his Word, the Bible, will then be that which enlightens life for us.

Then we begin to see the fulfilment of these words in our reading. 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 hip. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy;

In various places around the world we see this happening as people and nation willingly receive what God has to give, as of first importance. The light of Christ has brought many blessings to them, as it has to many others, throughout history. So again God is true to his Word.

May we too, live in his light and then receive the wonderful blessings that he has in mind for us also. To him be all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish