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Epiphany Arise, Shine, for Your Light has Come! Readings:
Isaiah 60:1-6 & Matthew 2:1-12 In
the Northern Hemisphere, this is the darkest time of the year, a time of
long nights and shortened hours of daylight.
Our
world, too, seems at its darkest. Our neighbour to the south has been on
a high alert throughout the Christmas season. That means that we
Canadians are also aware of the possibility of terrorist acts. We cannot
open a newspaper without reading about acts of violence on our city
streets. We worry about new strains of flu and the possibility of a
return of SARS. We need a
message of hope and healing. We need to keep before us the image of
Christ, the light of the world. We
need to remember that Christ came into the world to bring light, to be
light. There
is no doubt that we live in difficult times.
The painful circumstances, which surround us, may at times seem
to be more than we can bear. There
may be hours of physical pain, of economic need, of loneliness, or
frustration. There may be
deep hidden weaknesses or conflicts that we must continually confront in
our lives. We may not be
able to overcome all of the difficulties which life presents.
But whatever the circumstances before us or the uncertainties
about us, the aftermath of Christmas and the challenge of the New Year
is that we have been visited by God. God
is with us. The light of
Christ has entered into our dark world.
What a message of hope and healing that is! As
we begin a New Year, can we see in that image of light, hope, a renewed
sense of direction, new insights? Most importantly for us as Christians,
how do we communicate our hope to a world that seems to be caught up in
darkness? For that is surely what the birth of Christ is meant to
communicate to the world. It is surely what we as Christians are called
to communicate even
– especially – when the world seems to be at its darkest ebb.
"Arise,
shine; for your light has come," Isaiah's words ring out to the
people of Israel. They have lost their sense of direction. They feel
hopeless. He
calls out to them to take heart, for God comes as light in the midst of
darkness transforming the world. What
hope that brought to the people who had long been exiled from their
homeland! The Israel they
had returned to was poor and shabby, a pale shadow of its former
greatness. But God, Isaiah
assured them, had not abandoned them.
New blessings would transform Israel.
Isaiah saw his nation possessing such light that others could not
help but be drawn to it. Light
opens up the possibilities. Light
helps them to see a society in which there is peace and justice and
unity. We
hear that reading in the context of the salvation God offers us in the
birth of Christ. We see
prefigured the response of the world to the coming of Christ.
The light has come. The
glory of the Lord has risen upon the world.
The light stands out distinctly in the darkness.
Just as the star of Bethlehem drew the magi towards the Christ
Child, so that light shines out to each of us.
It beckons. It draws
all of humanity towards it. Light
does that; it shines out in the darkness.
We are drawn towards the light.
Today we celebrate the visit of the magi, drawn to Bethlehem by
the light of a star. It's
light beckoning to them, drew them in new directions, in new paths. It
led them to Christ, who became their light as he becomes light for all
of his followers. What
does it mean in a practical sense that Jesus is the light of the world?
There are individuals who bear light wherever they go.
We all know such people, people who simply light up a room when
they come into it. You like
spending time with them. You
enjoy their company. You
see the good that they accomplish in their lives.
It is not because life is easy for them.
They may have overcome great difficulties in their lives.
They are the ones that you can count on to give you the
kind word that you need, the warm smile, the caring gesture.
They are the ones who have a willingness to listen and a
readiness to understand what you are going through.
They are the loyal friends whom you can depend upon and trust
with your innermost thoughts. They
are the ones who show compassion. You
can see Christ in the way they live their lives.
They are the ones who are living out their call to be Christ
like. There
is a story of a lovely church that was built way up on one of the
highest mountains of Switzerland. The villagers who lived nearby had
built it with great care. Being
high up in the mountains, it had no source of light.
Every Sunday evening the church bell would ring and worshippers
would wend their way up the mountainside towards the church, each
carrying a lantern. Once
inside they would light their lanterns and hang them on pegs set in the
walls. A soft light would
spread through the church. If only a few people came to worship the
light would be very dull, but when the church filled up with people
there was plenty of light. The
most amazing sight happened after the service, for then the villagers
would use their lanterns to light their way home. Then it would be as if
a stream of light were pouring out of the church and over the
mountainside. For those who
watched it was a sign that all was well. God's light was with them and
in them. Our
faith in action means that light needs to pour out of this place into
our community. If we are
truly bearing the light of Christ into the world, then people will be
drawn here. They will come
to find out what it is that we have.
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