5 January 2014
Text: Matt 2:1-12 (Isa 60:1-6, Eph 3:1-12)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
Light
is a theme woven throughout Holy Scripture.
Light is mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis near the front of the
chapter, and light is mentioned in the last chapter of Revelation near the end
of the chapter. Light was the first
thing God created on the first day, and He created it by means of His Word,
through which He created all things.
“And God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light.’”
Light
is both matter and energy, both a wave and a particle. Light is foundational to the universe, and
its speed is a numerical formulaic constant in cosmological calculations.
There
is also a common human intuition about light.
We are disoriented by darkness.
Our senses don’t quite work right when deprived of light. Sin and violence are often lurking about in the
absence of light. Darkness is unnatural
to us as God’s creatures.
Since
the fall in Eden, we grope about in a kind of spiritual darkness caused by sin,
a result of our lack of communion with God, a manifestation of the gloom of
death itself. The entire narrative of
the Bible is about this darkness, and more importantly, about how this darkness
is overcome by the light, this great light promised by the prophets and
manifested to the world with the birth of Jesus Christ.
“Jesus
Christ is the light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome!”
The
universal darkness that enveloped the world was to be forever shattered by this
great and pure light.
“Arise,
shine, for your light has come,” prophesies Isaiah, “and the glory of the Lord
is upon you. For behold, darkness shall
cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon
you, and His glory will be seen upon you.
And the nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of
your rising.”
Into
this dark and lost world came a guiding light.
The nations were led to Him by the light of a star. And this light, this child of hope, this
Christ and Savior, is the “light of life,” His light shines upon the world with
a radiance never before seen.
We
celebrate the festival of the Epiphany today, a word that means a
manifestation, or a showing. And in
Christ, the love of God is made manifest, as the bright light of God’s
incarnation in the flesh gives light to all mankind, and illuminates us out of
sin, away from death, and beyond the grasp of the devil. And even as moths are drawn to the flame, the
peoples of the world, the Gentiles, those lost in sin and wrapped in the
darkness of death, have seen this light manifested by a star, and by the
testimony of the prophets.
They
were drawn to Him. “When they saw the
star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
And going into the house they saw the child with Mary His mother, and
they fell down and worshiped Him. Then,
opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and
myrrh.”
The
light, the true light, “God of God, light of light, very God of very God”, has
broken into our gloomy world as the Morning Star of our salvation. This is what drew the “wise men from the
east” to Bethlehem, where the star and the prophets led them to the Word Made
Flesh, the Word by which, and by whom, light came into being on that first day,
and through whom the world is enlightened by the Gospel, which brings to “light
for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created
all things.”
This
light is indeed for all the earth, for all men, for those living in every
corner of the planet, people of every tribe and tongue, and this great light
beams His grace and mercy upon us.
Dear
friends, we have been freed, liberated from darkness and the shadow of
death. We have been enlightened by the
Holy Spirit, who has drawn us to the light of Christ, who dispels our darkness
and whose blood has set us free. This
Christ manifested Himself to Peter, James, and John as blazing white light on
the day of transfiguration, and it is Christ whose rule among us means we “will
need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be [our] light.”
And
it is this light preached by the apostles and proclaimed by their successors
that brings “to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for
ages.” Christ, the light of the world,
is no longer hidden. He shines forth
brightly among all nations, beaming from His Word and gleaming in the Church’s
sacraments, “so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be
made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ, our days of the darkness of sin are over. Christ has come into our dark world shining
brightly not simply to expose our sins and illuminate our failures, but to
chase away the shadows where Satan lurks, to dispel the darkness of our sinful
flesh, and to enlighten our souls to eternal life through the forgiveness of
sins.
Dear
friends, we live in the light because we live in the hope that shines in us and
upon us, through Him who was manifested by a star, who was worshiped by the
magi, and whose light in this dark world is unable to be extinguished by anyone
or anything.
Let
us rejoice in this light! Let this
Epiphany shine with us day in and day out, not only in this season, not only
over the course of this year, but for the entire duration of our lifetimes, and
even unto eternity! Amen.
In the name of the
Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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