Arise, shine, for your light has come
Sermon for Epiphany Sunday, year B
Bible reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Once upon a time, in the history of Christianity, Epiphany used to be a major church festival. Now, it’s moved quietly to the back of that quiet part of that part of the month when people are winding down from celebrating after Christmas. We’ve had our presents, we’ve had New Year, and that’s all the festivities we can probably handle for a couple of weeks. And now tonight we meet an old friend, who has slipped away our the back door for awhile – Epiphany. Once a major church festival, but now, Epiphany is more of a backbencher church festival rather than a cabinet church festival.
So, let’s ask the obvious question, what are we here to celebrate tonight?
Our text tonight reads: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
Now, the words of Scripture, including these ones are spiritual words – that is, they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, they are filled with the Holy Spirit, and they bring the Holy Spirit to us. So every time we hear the word of God read, it involves not just words on a page, but it involves us—it involves us standing in the presence of God, in the presence of the risen Lord Jesus. Every time we hear the Scriptures, we are not so much trying to look for God, or seeking to understand God, but we are being searched, we are being understood, we are being changed. As the psalm 139 says: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts.
So now, listen to the words of Isaiah again in the presence of God, and let yourself be searched by him. Ask yourself where you fit into this text:
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
When I hear this text, I hear it like this:
Stephen, Arise, Stephen, shine, for your light (Stephen) has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you (Stephen).
Do you hear it like this too?
But now there’s a little twist. In our text, tonight, who is actually being addressed? Who is the ‘you’ that it speaks about? Is it talking about everyone, or is it talking about someone in particular?
Now I don’t normally getting into grammatical nitty gritty in sermons, but I think this is important tonight. In English, when we say ‘you’ it can mean a whole lot of things. It can mean ‘you’ – individually, it can mean ‘you’ – altogether, it can mean you – ‘men’, or it can mean you – ‘women’. Now, in Hebrew, which is the language which our text from Isaiah is written has four different words for you. There’s you – ‘an individual woman’, you – ‘an individual man’ and then there’s you – ‘a group of men’ and you – ‘a group of women’. So, when the words tonight say ‘the glory of the Lord has risen upon you’, which ‘you’ is the text talking about?
Answer: an individual woman.
So let me read the text again:
Arise (woman), shine (woman), for your light (woman) has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you (woman).
Which woman are we talking about? In the bible, countries are women (it’s a bit like saying mother England), cities are women (Adelaide is actually a woman’s name, because it’s named after a Queen – so that’s quite appropriate) It’s probably considered a bit old-fashioned and pompous to talk about the city of Adelaide and her busy streets, and her new tram system, and her parks and beaches. But in Hebrew, that’s pretty much how you talk.
So Jerusalem is often spoken of as a woman. For example, we read in Isaiah:
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
And a couple of chapters later in Isaiah, the prophet writes:
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth s brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch... For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
Yes, it’s talking about you; you, who are part of God’s city, the church; you, you were washed in the waters of Holy Baptism and made clean; you, who are coming with eager and ready hearts, waiting to join in and feast on God’s wedding banquet, the Lord’s Supper, ready to taste and see that the Lord is good … and the food is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And he cleanses your body with his body, he purifies your lips, your tongue, your heart with his blood, and he rejoices over you, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride.
He rejoices over you, with the angels, the archangels and all the company of heaven, who, as Jesus says, rejoice over one sinner who repents, one lost sheep, one lost coin, one prodigal son. And so, my fellow coins, rusty as we are, my fellow sheep, wandering in all sorts of directions, my fellow prodigal brothers and sisters: think what a feast is happening tonight, that God should rejoice over so many of us, and that so many angels should rejoice over so many of us.
So arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the risen Lord Jesus, whose conception was a miracle, whose birth was a miracle, whose death was a miracle, whose resurrection was a miracle … the glory of that Jesus has risen upon you.
This is what Epiphany is all about.
Have you ever thought about the fact that you’re not Jewish? Well, some of you might have some Jewish blood in you, I know that I don’t, I think. So when we read the Old Testament, it’s quite true that when it says Israel, this, and Israel, that, it’s not talking about us. And when it says, gentiles this, and gentiles that, that’s us. So how is it that all of us Gentiles came to be worshipping the God of the Hebrews this evening?
This is what Epiphany is all about. The God of the Hebrews who created the world, and everything in it, takes on a human body, and human soul, human flesh, and is born of the Virgin Mary and is laid in a manger. And now, who comes to worship the baby Jesus? Well, first of all, some Jews: Mary, Joseph, the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night … but also, for the first time in history, some wise men from a far away land, Gentiles like you and me. And our text from Isaiah contains a prophecy about them: All those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.
And maybe you think, well, I’m not a particularly wise gentile, maybe I don’t really fit in. Don’t worry about that – there’s some simple shepherds there too. In fact, there’s even a donkey in the corner, if you prefer, and if you’re still not convinced, there’s probably even a few bad smells in there too. Whoever you are, Jew or Gentile, shepherd or wise man, you fit into that stable in Bethlehem, you fit into the church of God – and on this Epiphany day, God says, to you as you stand in that humble stable to worship the baby Jesus: Arise, Shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
One more thing – the text says, Arise, shine, for your light has come …
where’s the light coming from?
In the Old Testament, there’s all sorts of places where God reveals himself with a special light. Think of when the Israelites were led out of Egypt, and God was in a pillar of cloud and fire, or when God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush – there must have been quite a light coming off that bush. And also, when the temple of God is filled with smoke, we read that the glory of the Lord came down and rested upon the temple. And if we follow our text closely, we would normally think that when God says to a city, Arise, shine, for your light has come,
he would cause this light to shine from the middle of his temple in Jerusalem, wouldn’t you think?
But what do you notice about Christmas and Epiphany? The events don’t take place in Jerusalem at all, they take place in a stable in a insignificant town called Bethlehem. In our current political climate, you will notice that the Jewish temple that once stood in Jesus day is no longer standing, and that now there’s a Mosque built on top, and Jews and Muslims have been fighting over the site for centuries. But the birth of Jesus happens in an unexpected spot, in a stable in Bethlehem. But unlike the burning bush, unlike the pillar of fire, unlike the temple, the light that draws the wise men to Jesus is a star.
That’s significant, because in the New Testament, we are part of a new city, a new Jerusalem, a new nation, a new city, a heavenly city. Listen to what St Paul says:
Our citizenship is in heaven, and from heaven we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
—Philippians 3:20-21
Let there be light, and there was light,is the baby.
Our citizenship is in heaven. In Galatians, St Paul writes about two Jerusalems: the one on earth, and one above. The one on earth is in slavery, and the one above is free. We are part of that free city, the city which is made glorious by the presence of the risen Lord Jesus.
The truth of the matter is this: the birth of Jesus doesn’t just bring Jews and Gentiles together, wise men and shepherds, it brings together heaven and earth. It brings together human beings and angels, it brings together earth and sky, it brings together a baby and a star. And the one who put that star there, who said, Let there be light, and there was light,
is the baby. The wise men don’t come all the way to Bethlehem to worship a star, they come to worship a baby. A baby who can’t speak, but when he is lifted up draws all people to himself.
So, little town of Bethlehem, little stable, little group of shepherds and wise men, Jews and Gentiles, men, women, Arise, Shine, for your light (the light of the World, our Lord Jesus Christ) has come. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
And now as we come tonight into the presence of God to pray and the receive the Lord’s Supper, to feast on the body and blood of Christ, remember that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has called you here this night, it is the light of the World who has drawn you to himself this night. And like the wise men, we bring to him our gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold, which symbolises our treasures, our riches, everything we hold dear, even ourselves. Frankincense, which symbolises prayer, which rises to God. Psalm 141 says: Let my prayer rise before you like incense.
And Myrrh, that bitter perfume for burials, which symbolises that we come to Jesus seeking the power of his death, and putting to death ourselves, because the sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit, a buried body, and body which is buried with Christ.
So come, and remember that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who meets us this night, who shines upon us, who enters your ears, your mouth, your heart, your mind, your eyes, your hands, your little stable, if you like. It is the glorious body of the risen Lord Jesus who comes to you this night, who gives you his blood, who overshadows you with his Holy Spirit, pours out his gifts, his grace, his forgiveness, his life, his salvation.
So arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Amen.