Transformative Light

Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12; Ephesians 3:1-12

You have made it. You have arrived at the end of the season of Christmas. Epiphany is here. We are entering the season of light. That’s great. I don’t know about you, but I’m not overly fond of dark mornings and dark evenings. The daylight hours are growing longer. Thank you, God.

The light is intensifying. We lit one, then two, then three, and finally four candles to mark the growing hope for the arrival of the Light of the world, symbolized by the one large white candle. The light arrived in the midst of night. It was announced by a new star, according to the stargazing magi, and the vocal praise of the host of heaven. The light now continues to grow as the presence, the ministry, the power of the Word made flesh is revealed in the wider world, beginning with the magi. The light will increase until the time when Jesus glows radiantly with Moses and Elijah before the awestruck Peter, James, and John on the transfiguration mountain. 

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not extinguish it. This light is not like the lights we have on dimmer switches, although the effect is the same. As the light grows, it will fill the nearly hidden corners of our individual lives and the far reaches of the world.

The light born on Christmas is not just an illuminating light. It is a transforming light. It changes each of us as it shines on us with increasing intensity. Joseph Mohr captured the image so well in his carol lyric:
“Son of God, love’s pure light 
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace, 
Jesus, Lord at thy birth.”
Church of England pastor Geoffrey Ainger also put the image to lyrics:
“Clear shining light, Mary’s Child, 
Your face lights up our way;
Light of the world, Mary’s Child, 
Dawn on our darkened day.”
Isaiah foretold the light:
Arise! Shine! Your light has come; 
the Lord’s glory has shone upon you. 
Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, 
the Lord will shine upon you; 
God’s glory will appear over you. 
Nations will come to your light 
and kings to your dawning radiance. 
(Isaiah 60:1-3)

Metaphorically for Isaiah, light is the power of God to break through the increasing despair of the Israelites who had returned from exile to a world that in an earlier message the prophet had promised would be lush and welcoming. They despaired because the reality of the Israel the exiles returned to was marked by poverty and famine. In this world, Isaiah then offered a vision of what will be—an apocalyptic vision in which abundance and honor will replace poverty and shame. Not only will all nations honor the restored Zion, but the light of God that the city reflects will attract the abundance of the natural world.

As a further development of this image the Patmos seer, John, said that he didn’t see a temple in the city, because its temple was “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The city doesn’t need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” (Revelation 21:22-24).

Isaiah said that our light has come. The problem is that not everyone sees it. Many of you, like, me wear glasses or contact lenses. Some of you have had cataracts removed. Some of you have even had lasik surgery, where your existing lens as been adjusted by means of a laser so that you no longer need corrective lenses. 

Yet it may take more than 20-20 vision to see the light the light Isaiah speaks of.  The light that we see with our eyes in a world is that it is full of light, even on dark and gloomy January days, is only a tiny sliver of all the radiance that is around us. Our human eyes are designed to detect only visible light – a tiny slice of the electromagnetic spectrum made up of light with relatively short wavelengths. All other forms of light are completely invisible to us. Above the visible light frequencies are very short wavelength light – ultraviolet  light, x-rays, and gamma rays – which we cannot see, but which produce heat. And there are on the electromagnetic spectrum below visible light long, stretched-out waves – infrared light, microwaves, and radio waves used to transmit radio, television, cell phone signals. In order to detect this kind of light, we’d have to have huge eyes, like satellite dishes.

The light that Isaiah calls “the Lord’s glory” (60:1) is a wavelength that doesn’t require satellite dish eyes to see. But it does require the eyes of faith. Exodus tells us “the Lord’s glorious presence looked like a blazing fire” (Exodus 24:17). It is a powerful radiance that changes the face of anyone who looks upon it. Remember that the face of Moses began to shine when he talked with God directly, so much so that he had to put on a veil to keep from frightening the people of Israel (Exodus 34:29-35). 

This is the same powerful light that appeared later when Jesus Christ was born – the Lord’s glory shone around the shepherds in Bethlehem, and they were terrified. Simeon said that the baby Jesus was “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:32). Glory appeared again in the transfiguration of Jesus, and in the resurrection. Looking back, the apostle Paul rejoiced that God was “the same one who shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). 

The glory of the Lord is intense, over-whelming, frightening at time. But most of all its illumination is transformative. It helps us to see the full power and personality of God. The gospel of John says that when the Word of God became flesh and lived among us, it was then that we saw “glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). 

Grace and truth. That’s what becomes so clear in the light of the glory of God. 

So how can God’s radiant light in Christ transform our lives as we venture into the year called 2017? 

God’s light is attractive. It draws peoples and nations to God. Rather than shielding our faith eyes from it, as we would bright sunlight, we can let God’s light draw us closer to our Lord. Possible ways of allowing God’s light to attract us could be intentional study of scripture, disciplined times of prayer, greater devotion to worship, increased activity in hands-on ministry. 

The Presbyterian “Directory for Worship” says that “daily personal worship is a discipline for attending to God and accepting God’s grace. The daily challenge of discipleship requires the daily nurture of worship. Daily personal worship may occur in a gathered community of faith, in households and families, or in private” (W-5.2000). The Holy Spirit can use all these activities to attract us to the holy light radiating from Christ. Eyes of faith see transformative light where other eyes cannot see God’s activity in the world.

Faith eyes can pick up divine light in times of deep darkness. This was as true in the first century as it is today. There wasn’t much brightness in Judea in the time of King Herod, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem – in fact, Herod’s reign was an orgy of violence and bloodshed. Full of insecurity and afraid of losing power, Herod ordered the killing of his brother-in-law, his uncle, his wife, his mother-in-law, and three sons. At one point, Caesar Augustus remarked that he would rather be Herod’s pig than Herod’s relative! Fearing that the baby of Bethlehem would grow to be rival king, he ordered a massacre of infants in a desperate attempt to kill the baby Jesus. 

The oppressive darkness of a non-seeing world desperately needed God’s transformative light. It still does. The season of Epiphany – between now and the start of Lent, almost eight weeks this year – allows us to see the increasing holy radiance of the light that transforms world, upsets the powers that be, and draws God’s people ever closer to the fulfillment of the prophet’s words: “the Lord’s glory has shone upon you.”

The magi had eyes of faith. They saw a faint flicker of light in the middle of the dark night skies, a light that signaled the presence of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Our challenge is to focus on this light as well, and to trust that Christ is always present — even in times of personal, national, or global chaos. Let God’s light in Christ continue to transform you this year.

General Resources:
Emily Askew, “Isaiah 60:1-6 – Theological Perspective,” Feasting on the Word, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), Year A, vol. 1.
“Dish Eyes,” Homiletics, January 4, 2004. http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=3217

Unless noted otherwise, all scripture references are from The Common English Bible, © 2011 www.commonenglishbible.com. 
Copyright © 2017 First Presbyterian Church of Waverly, Ohio. Reprinted by permission.