World News
Commentary
Everyone is welcome! So read many of our church signs and announcement boards. For the most part, the church is very intentional about making clear that the gospel is for everyone, regardless of race or social status. The Christian message is for all people. That has become such a truism that we take it for granted. What we may forget, however, is that it was not always this way in the church. There was a time when the church struggled to understand its relationship with Gentiles, that is, with everyone of the time who was not Jewish. The Christian movement began as a Jewish sect group and only gradually came to the realization that its message was for the world and not for Jews alone. The early Christians' realization that the gospel is world news stands as one of the most important insights in the history of Christianity. Everyone is welcome.
Epiphany Sunday celebrates the fact that God's act in Christ reached beyond the people of Israel to embrace "the nations," as our first reading puts it. The disclosure of God's grace is world -- not parochial -- news. The church has appropriately used the season of Epiphany to remember, study, and celebrate this international feature of the Christian faith. The epiphany (or manifestation) of who God is offers the whole of humanity an opportunity for new life.
Of course, to be honest we have to say that our congregations need an annual reminder that the gospel is world news. We have a tendency to restrict the relevance of the message. It is a propensity to become comfortable with a group of like-minded people of the same ethnic background, the same social class, and the same moral values. There is probably not a single congregation that would not say that the Christian message is for all people. Yet there are a good many congregations who feel uncomfortable when certain people who are "different" come into their midst to hear that message. This is not to condemn our congregations but only to say that we are human, and humans tend to cluster together in small groups comprised of people who are similar.
Maybe Epiphany Sunday is a time to remember that the grand display of God's grace was world news intended for humans of all kinds. Perhaps it is a fitting occasion to remind ourselves and our congregations of the universal importance of the manifestation of God. Likewise, Epiphany Sunday might occasion the invitation for a congregation to examine its own life. Are we allowing all people access to the gospel message and the community of faith gathered around it?
Isaiah 60:1-6
This first lesson gives us the background for the revelation of God's mercy in Christ for the whole world. This passage is God's promissory note written and delivered to the people of Judah. We should, perhaps, remember the condition of the first recipients of this message. This grand promise was received by a motley band of Jews trying their best to rebuild their homeland. The nation was small and weak. This vision of its exaltation must have sounded like a fantasy. There was absolutely no evidence that anything like this would ever come about. All the nations gathered together and coming to Judah? What a dream!
However, the promise is not premised on what the people could do, nor on what might seem plausible. Instead it was a promise of what God would do. God's glory -- honor and greatness -- would shine down upon them like cosmic floodlights illumining the world. The brightness of that glory would replace the cloud of darkness in which the people of the world lived. Moreover, this is a promise already in the process of being fulfilled. Note that the verbs in verse 1 speak of what has already happened: "your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Then in verse 2 the tense shifts to future. Jerusalem has already experienced the glory which is yet to come in all its brightness.
This is world news. Yes, it's a promise to Judah and Jerusalem, but it is also a promise to the world. "Nations" will see the illumination emitted by God's presence and stream into the city. With this international migration into Jerusalem, all the wealth and abundance of the world will center in this one place. To be sure, this is a promise of how great Judah will become. But there's more to it than that. This passage is part of Third Isaiah's vision of a grand worldwide recognition of YHWH and a uniting of the world's people in worship. God's grace and mercy are not Judah's private possession. God's dealings with the people of Israel have a purpose beyond a single nation. The prophet imagined the far-reaches of God's care and concern and pictured Jerusalem at the center of it all. God's grand design is not limited to the welfare of a select people but seeks to reach the whole human race.
The light that comes to the floundering people of Judah is a brightness for the whole world in its darkness. God's own presence (the glory) is universal.
Ephesians 3:1-12
The recipients of the world news are similar in this passage. They are simply "the Gentiles." There is no evidence of a singular crisis or particular occasion for the writing of this letter, and that is one of the ways it differs so markedly from the Pauline epistles. It may be a general letter written by Paul (or one of his disciples from Pauline fragments) and circulated among a number of congregations. One of the consistent themes of this writing is the unity of the Christian people. Part and particle of that unity is the oneness of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. So, chapter three is appropriately devoted to Paul's mission to the Gentiles. The inclusion of both Gentiles and Jews in the church is central to Ephesians, and this epistle exemplifies the early Christians' realization that the scope of the gospel is universal.
The inclusion of the Gentiles in the church is not accidental, the author claims, but a feature of God's whole plan for humanity. That divine design is referred to as "mystery" (v. 4). But it has been revealed to Paul and the apostles, and that revelation is the basis of their special ministry. The substance of the divine disclosure is that "the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body ..." (v. 6). Much as humble Judah is the location of the shining of God's glory for the whole world, Paul, "the very least of all the saints," is the messenger of the good news of the inclusion of the Gentiles.
The reading comes to its conclusion with the author's suggestion that the church has a cosmic function in God's plan for the unifying of humanity. Here it is expressed in terms of making known the wisdom of God (or wisdom about God) to those cosmic rulers and powers (v. 10). Paul frequently refers to the spiritual powers and authorities that inhabit the universe (e.g., 1 Corinthians 15:24). These are the transcendent forces that rule the universe under God's sovereignty. So, this is more than world news; it's cosmic news. The universes beyond our own are now informed of God's grand design to unite all humanity in the abundance of grace in Christ.
Isaiah had a vision of the gathering of the nations in Jerusalem to unite in their worship of God. The author of Ephesians (whether Paul or one of his disciples) has a similar vision of the unity of the human race in the body of Christ, the church universal. In both cases, this news of the consolidation of humankind is part of God's plan for creation. The singular importance of this passage is the idea that God had in mind all along the inclusion of the Gentiles. After having cultivated a faithful community among the Hebrew people, God is ready now in Christ to reach out beyond the beachhead of Israel into the whole world.
It is indeed world news and a captivating vision. What God has intended all along is one world, one church, one baptism (see Ephesians 4:4-6). How sad that after two thousand years we read this together as a divided church in a fractured world. The church has dissected itself over every imaginable issue, and now we worship in tiny clusters which we name denominations. On more than one occasion, the Christian body has systematically excluded some for whom the gospel was intended. There are doubtless many today who feel that the church denies them access to the benefits of the gospel. Perhaps Epiphany is the season to face ourselves honestly. We are a broken, fragmented, and incomplete church. We need the good world news of this oneness we have in God, and we need grace to appropriate and practice it.
Matthew 2:1-12
The world news is far different here in this familiar Gospel story fondly known as the three wise men (even though the story never mentions how many wise men were involved). Matthew's birth story is distinctively different from that of Luke. In the first Gospel, the announcement of Jesus' birth is made to Joseph, who lives in Bethlehem along with Mary. The birth is narrated with the greatest simplicity in one verse (1:25). Luke tells us how the news and the significance of that birth was disclosed to the shepherds. Matthew has a broader view. The world news reaches some astrologers, perhaps from Parthia where they served in the royal courts as priests and advisors. Preachers are better off if they take care not to harmonize the two birth stories and, in this case, focus exclusively on this Matthean story and the point it is trying to make.
The point of this story very simply is that Christ's birth is announced in a heavenly phenomenon which brings Gentiles from a far-off nation to the site to worship the infant. However, a subplot is skillfully woven into this main plot. The sub-theme has to do with kingship. King Herod the Great steps on stage because he represents the political powers of the time and in that region. He should not be confused with his son, Herod Antipas, who succeeded his father and ruled Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C.E. to 39 C.E. Herod the Great was one of Rome's puppet kings -- an indigenous pawn allowed to rule in Rome's stead. What is at stake here is the question of who is king. The wise men come looking for "the child who has been born king of the Jews" (v. 2), and they inquire of King Herod as to the whereabouts of this child. Perhaps they thought that the king would know of this momentous occasion and where the child could be found. However, the news that the king of the Jews had been born sends Herod and the whole of Jerusalem into a panic. The status quo is threatened by the birth of this tiny baby. Indeed, this infant is the new king, although a very different sort of king than Herod imagines. The irony of this story is that the infant is the real king of the whole of humanity, while his opposition is but a puppet ruler of a small region. Who really is "the Great" in this story -- Herod or the infant Jesus?
The wise men have found their way to Jerusalem, thanks to a star. The NRSV translation, "star at its rising," should not bother us nor our listeners. The Greek expression is simply ambiguous and may be translated either "star at its rising" or "star in the East." In either case, the point is that heavenly bodies are put into use to announce the special birth and to guide the foreigners to Bethlehem and eventually to the home of Joseph and Mary. (Luke accomplishes something of the same purpose with the angelic chorus that confronts the shepherds.) This birth is of cosmic portions. The foreigners see the star stop over one house, and they enter there to find the Holy Family. They present the child with their gifts and their worship. Being wise men, they know Herod is up to no good, and they do not return to Jerusalem to inform him of the child's location but head out for home. Herod's dastardly deed to find and destroy his competition for the throne is told in the following episode in Matthew (2:13-18).
Gentiles come to worship the Christ child, while the powers-that-be in the land are still uninformed. (This theme is much like Luke's story of the angelic announcement to the shepherds and not to religious and political leaders.) This child is not the exclusive property of any one nation or one religious tradition. He transcends all the boundaries we humans construct among ourselves. That universal importance of the Christ child is revealed to these wise men. Hence, they represent the future work of this tiny baby. They represent the way in which the gospel is received by persons of every nationality and race. It matters not that they are foreigners, nor that they practiced the ancient art of astrology, which functioned as a kind of religion in that time. What matters is that they are pulled from their homeland into a long journey to Bethlehem.
The birth of Christ is world news, not local news. Your authors were shocked to learn how much more popular the local news is than the network national and international news programs. The major networks, we are told, pour money into local stations to strengthen their news programs. Apparently there is a good deal of evidence that, if people become accustomed to watching the local news offered by a particular station, they are very likely to watch the network news that follows. What does this tell us about ourselves? Are we really far more interested in the events of our own locale than in the peace talks in Northern Ireland or the refugees in Kosovo? Unfortunately, there is a tendency for us to pull into ourselves, our local communities, and our neighborhoods. All the more important then that we understand the birth of Christ is world and not local news.
It is the manifestation of God's grace for all humanity, and the wise men represent that universal relevance of the birth of Christ. They represent the future work of that infant, especially in how the gospel he preached would spread throughout the whole known world. Christ is born for them. Most certainly, this world of ours needs something that draws it together. Amid the multiple ethnic clashes and the endless jealous competition among nations, we Christians need a vision of a single world treasured by God.
Some of us would like to keep the gospel closeted. We treat the good news of God's love in Christ like a fine painting we hang in our dens, when it should be displayed to the whole world. But Epiphany opens those closets and allows us to see the universal relevance of what God did in Christ. The gospel will not be penned up. The bright shining light of this season invites us to open the doors of our churches and our hearts to all who seek light in a darkened world.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Isaiah 60:1-6
This text was the stated lesson for Epiphany Sunday also in Cycle C. The preacher will find a full exposition of the text there in that issue of Emphasis. The repetition demands, however, that we use a different approach to the text for this year.
The first strophe or stanza of this passage actually ends with verse 7, but the lectionary has ended it with verse 6 in order to connect the gold and frankincense mentioned there with the gifts that the wise men took to the infant Jesus (cf. the New Testament reading in Matthew). The promises given in the passage are also actually addressed to the holy city of Jerusalem, but the lectionary envisions the passage as a prophecy of Jesus' epiphany or manifestation to all nations. If we listen to the text as it stands in its own historical context and then apply it to ours, however, there is much to be said.
Post-exilic Jerusalem of the sixth or fifth century B.C. is pictured by Third Isaiah in verse 1 as a woman mourning in the dust. But she is commanded to "arise," because the Lord has "risen" upon her in his glory (vv. 1-2).
What is the biblical meaning of "the glory of the Lord"? In many texts, God's glory denotes the honor and esteem belonging to him. "Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength," calls out the Psalmist (Psalm 29:1). In other words, honor him. But in this text and many others in the priestly writings, "glory" refers to God's shining light effulgence in which he reveals himself on earth (cf. Exodus 34:29-35). The glory of the Lord is God's physical manifestation of his Person. This is the "light" that has come upon Jerusalem in verse 1 of our text, and her light, in verse 3 then, is the reflected light from God's light, to which all nations are drawn.
Because God has come to save Jerusalem and has revealed himself to her, she is commanded in our text to "arise," to get up from her mourning in the dust (v. 1). That could also be an imperative to us, could it not? After all, at Christmas, we heard the glad announcement that the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, had been born. He came bringing the glory of his Father to us, and we "beheld his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father" (John 1:14). He came as Immanuel, as God with us. He worked the forgiveness of our sins and he overcame the gates of hell and defeated death forever. Why then do we still sit dispirited and mourning, like those who have not been saved?
To be sure, good Christians, the problems and sufferings of our common life are still very much with us. We still struggle with the burdens of this world and know its pains and sorrows. But in the midst of it all, is there also not some quiet joy and assurance that we have from our Lord? Is there not within our hearts and minds the knowledge that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord? Is there not the certain hope that God's is the victory over all this world's turmoil and evil, and that at the end, all knees will bow and all tongues confess their allegiance to him? Yes, as Paul once wrote, we can be afflicted at times, but we are never crushed; perplexed but never driven to despair; persecuted perhaps but not forsaken by our God; struck down by life, but never destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). The glory of the Lord has come to us in Jesus Christ; Immanuel! God has come to us! So the command of our text is "Arise!" Get up! "Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees" (Hebrews 12:12). Grasp hold of the strength and hope that have been given you by your present Lord, and live as those to whom a Savior has indeed been born. Reflect the glory of the Lord and not the darkness of your own misery. For God in Christ has delivered us from the gloom that dominates our world and transferred us into the light of his loving rule (cf. Colossians 1:13).
In other words, good Christians, you and I are now called to reflect the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus -- to live as those who now know and belong to him. And do you doubt that if his glory shines in our lives, it will draw others to worship and praise him also?
Our text speaks of all nations and rulers making pilgrimage to Jerusalem, because she reflects the light of God's glory in her life. That is the same thought that many of the prophets had. An earlier Isaiah saw all nations streaming to Zion to be taught by God's word (Isaiah 2:2-4). A later Zechariah proclaimed that persons of every language would say to Israel, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:23). If we live lives that reflect the fact that God is with us, will that not also draw others to his worship?
In other words, there is a strong missionary emphasis in our text. We are celebrating Epiphany Sunday today, in which Christ is made manifest to all the nations on the earth, symbolized by the fact of those foreign wise men following that star to Bethlehem. But there is no guiding star any more. There are only we Christians, little pockets of worshipers gathered together all over the earth in a fellowship called the Christian Church, little lights shining out into the darkness of a world lost and far from its Creator. And from us now -- from us sinners who have been forgiven, from us dying souls who have inherited eternal life, from us once lost who have now been given a new life in our Lord -- our God asks the witness to his glorious love. "You are my witnesses," he tells us over and over again in his word (Isaiah 43:10, 12; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 13:31; Hebrews 12:1, et al.). You are now the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). You reflect the presence of the glory of God in your life. So "let your light so shine before (everyone) that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
In your homes, good Christians, in your relations with your spouse and children, reflect God's light. In your job and your actions toward your co-workers and the task you have at hand, let God's light shine. In your work in society and in the church, bring light and not darkness. In your mission-giving and concern, support the glorious enterprise of the gospel. Arise and shine with the glory of the Lord and with the glad news of God with us. For then, in God's good time, individuals and groups and nations will indeed be drawn to such light. As our text says, they too "shall proclaim the praise of the Lord" (v. 6). And God's word in this text, given through his prophet, will be fulfilled and become reality.
Epiphany Sunday celebrates the fact that God's act in Christ reached beyond the people of Israel to embrace "the nations," as our first reading puts it. The disclosure of God's grace is world -- not parochial -- news. The church has appropriately used the season of Epiphany to remember, study, and celebrate this international feature of the Christian faith. The epiphany (or manifestation) of who God is offers the whole of humanity an opportunity for new life.
Of course, to be honest we have to say that our congregations need an annual reminder that the gospel is world news. We have a tendency to restrict the relevance of the message. It is a propensity to become comfortable with a group of like-minded people of the same ethnic background, the same social class, and the same moral values. There is probably not a single congregation that would not say that the Christian message is for all people. Yet there are a good many congregations who feel uncomfortable when certain people who are "different" come into their midst to hear that message. This is not to condemn our congregations but only to say that we are human, and humans tend to cluster together in small groups comprised of people who are similar.
Maybe Epiphany Sunday is a time to remember that the grand display of God's grace was world news intended for humans of all kinds. Perhaps it is a fitting occasion to remind ourselves and our congregations of the universal importance of the manifestation of God. Likewise, Epiphany Sunday might occasion the invitation for a congregation to examine its own life. Are we allowing all people access to the gospel message and the community of faith gathered around it?
Isaiah 60:1-6
This first lesson gives us the background for the revelation of God's mercy in Christ for the whole world. This passage is God's promissory note written and delivered to the people of Judah. We should, perhaps, remember the condition of the first recipients of this message. This grand promise was received by a motley band of Jews trying their best to rebuild their homeland. The nation was small and weak. This vision of its exaltation must have sounded like a fantasy. There was absolutely no evidence that anything like this would ever come about. All the nations gathered together and coming to Judah? What a dream!
However, the promise is not premised on what the people could do, nor on what might seem plausible. Instead it was a promise of what God would do. God's glory -- honor and greatness -- would shine down upon them like cosmic floodlights illumining the world. The brightness of that glory would replace the cloud of darkness in which the people of the world lived. Moreover, this is a promise already in the process of being fulfilled. Note that the verbs in verse 1 speak of what has already happened: "your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Then in verse 2 the tense shifts to future. Jerusalem has already experienced the glory which is yet to come in all its brightness.
This is world news. Yes, it's a promise to Judah and Jerusalem, but it is also a promise to the world. "Nations" will see the illumination emitted by God's presence and stream into the city. With this international migration into Jerusalem, all the wealth and abundance of the world will center in this one place. To be sure, this is a promise of how great Judah will become. But there's more to it than that. This passage is part of Third Isaiah's vision of a grand worldwide recognition of YHWH and a uniting of the world's people in worship. God's grace and mercy are not Judah's private possession. God's dealings with the people of Israel have a purpose beyond a single nation. The prophet imagined the far-reaches of God's care and concern and pictured Jerusalem at the center of it all. God's grand design is not limited to the welfare of a select people but seeks to reach the whole human race.
The light that comes to the floundering people of Judah is a brightness for the whole world in its darkness. God's own presence (the glory) is universal.
Ephesians 3:1-12
The recipients of the world news are similar in this passage. They are simply "the Gentiles." There is no evidence of a singular crisis or particular occasion for the writing of this letter, and that is one of the ways it differs so markedly from the Pauline epistles. It may be a general letter written by Paul (or one of his disciples from Pauline fragments) and circulated among a number of congregations. One of the consistent themes of this writing is the unity of the Christian people. Part and particle of that unity is the oneness of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. So, chapter three is appropriately devoted to Paul's mission to the Gentiles. The inclusion of both Gentiles and Jews in the church is central to Ephesians, and this epistle exemplifies the early Christians' realization that the scope of the gospel is universal.
The inclusion of the Gentiles in the church is not accidental, the author claims, but a feature of God's whole plan for humanity. That divine design is referred to as "mystery" (v. 4). But it has been revealed to Paul and the apostles, and that revelation is the basis of their special ministry. The substance of the divine disclosure is that "the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body ..." (v. 6). Much as humble Judah is the location of the shining of God's glory for the whole world, Paul, "the very least of all the saints," is the messenger of the good news of the inclusion of the Gentiles.
The reading comes to its conclusion with the author's suggestion that the church has a cosmic function in God's plan for the unifying of humanity. Here it is expressed in terms of making known the wisdom of God (or wisdom about God) to those cosmic rulers and powers (v. 10). Paul frequently refers to the spiritual powers and authorities that inhabit the universe (e.g., 1 Corinthians 15:24). These are the transcendent forces that rule the universe under God's sovereignty. So, this is more than world news; it's cosmic news. The universes beyond our own are now informed of God's grand design to unite all humanity in the abundance of grace in Christ.
Isaiah had a vision of the gathering of the nations in Jerusalem to unite in their worship of God. The author of Ephesians (whether Paul or one of his disciples) has a similar vision of the unity of the human race in the body of Christ, the church universal. In both cases, this news of the consolidation of humankind is part of God's plan for creation. The singular importance of this passage is the idea that God had in mind all along the inclusion of the Gentiles. After having cultivated a faithful community among the Hebrew people, God is ready now in Christ to reach out beyond the beachhead of Israel into the whole world.
It is indeed world news and a captivating vision. What God has intended all along is one world, one church, one baptism (see Ephesians 4:4-6). How sad that after two thousand years we read this together as a divided church in a fractured world. The church has dissected itself over every imaginable issue, and now we worship in tiny clusters which we name denominations. On more than one occasion, the Christian body has systematically excluded some for whom the gospel was intended. There are doubtless many today who feel that the church denies them access to the benefits of the gospel. Perhaps Epiphany is the season to face ourselves honestly. We are a broken, fragmented, and incomplete church. We need the good world news of this oneness we have in God, and we need grace to appropriate and practice it.
Matthew 2:1-12
The world news is far different here in this familiar Gospel story fondly known as the three wise men (even though the story never mentions how many wise men were involved). Matthew's birth story is distinctively different from that of Luke. In the first Gospel, the announcement of Jesus' birth is made to Joseph, who lives in Bethlehem along with Mary. The birth is narrated with the greatest simplicity in one verse (1:25). Luke tells us how the news and the significance of that birth was disclosed to the shepherds. Matthew has a broader view. The world news reaches some astrologers, perhaps from Parthia where they served in the royal courts as priests and advisors. Preachers are better off if they take care not to harmonize the two birth stories and, in this case, focus exclusively on this Matthean story and the point it is trying to make.
The point of this story very simply is that Christ's birth is announced in a heavenly phenomenon which brings Gentiles from a far-off nation to the site to worship the infant. However, a subplot is skillfully woven into this main plot. The sub-theme has to do with kingship. King Herod the Great steps on stage because he represents the political powers of the time and in that region. He should not be confused with his son, Herod Antipas, who succeeded his father and ruled Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C.E. to 39 C.E. Herod the Great was one of Rome's puppet kings -- an indigenous pawn allowed to rule in Rome's stead. What is at stake here is the question of who is king. The wise men come looking for "the child who has been born king of the Jews" (v. 2), and they inquire of King Herod as to the whereabouts of this child. Perhaps they thought that the king would know of this momentous occasion and where the child could be found. However, the news that the king of the Jews had been born sends Herod and the whole of Jerusalem into a panic. The status quo is threatened by the birth of this tiny baby. Indeed, this infant is the new king, although a very different sort of king than Herod imagines. The irony of this story is that the infant is the real king of the whole of humanity, while his opposition is but a puppet ruler of a small region. Who really is "the Great" in this story -- Herod or the infant Jesus?
The wise men have found their way to Jerusalem, thanks to a star. The NRSV translation, "star at its rising," should not bother us nor our listeners. The Greek expression is simply ambiguous and may be translated either "star at its rising" or "star in the East." In either case, the point is that heavenly bodies are put into use to announce the special birth and to guide the foreigners to Bethlehem and eventually to the home of Joseph and Mary. (Luke accomplishes something of the same purpose with the angelic chorus that confronts the shepherds.) This birth is of cosmic portions. The foreigners see the star stop over one house, and they enter there to find the Holy Family. They present the child with their gifts and their worship. Being wise men, they know Herod is up to no good, and they do not return to Jerusalem to inform him of the child's location but head out for home. Herod's dastardly deed to find and destroy his competition for the throne is told in the following episode in Matthew (2:13-18).
Gentiles come to worship the Christ child, while the powers-that-be in the land are still uninformed. (This theme is much like Luke's story of the angelic announcement to the shepherds and not to religious and political leaders.) This child is not the exclusive property of any one nation or one religious tradition. He transcends all the boundaries we humans construct among ourselves. That universal importance of the Christ child is revealed to these wise men. Hence, they represent the future work of this tiny baby. They represent the way in which the gospel is received by persons of every nationality and race. It matters not that they are foreigners, nor that they practiced the ancient art of astrology, which functioned as a kind of religion in that time. What matters is that they are pulled from their homeland into a long journey to Bethlehem.
The birth of Christ is world news, not local news. Your authors were shocked to learn how much more popular the local news is than the network national and international news programs. The major networks, we are told, pour money into local stations to strengthen their news programs. Apparently there is a good deal of evidence that, if people become accustomed to watching the local news offered by a particular station, they are very likely to watch the network news that follows. What does this tell us about ourselves? Are we really far more interested in the events of our own locale than in the peace talks in Northern Ireland or the refugees in Kosovo? Unfortunately, there is a tendency for us to pull into ourselves, our local communities, and our neighborhoods. All the more important then that we understand the birth of Christ is world and not local news.
It is the manifestation of God's grace for all humanity, and the wise men represent that universal relevance of the birth of Christ. They represent the future work of that infant, especially in how the gospel he preached would spread throughout the whole known world. Christ is born for them. Most certainly, this world of ours needs something that draws it together. Amid the multiple ethnic clashes and the endless jealous competition among nations, we Christians need a vision of a single world treasured by God.
Some of us would like to keep the gospel closeted. We treat the good news of God's love in Christ like a fine painting we hang in our dens, when it should be displayed to the whole world. But Epiphany opens those closets and allows us to see the universal relevance of what God did in Christ. The gospel will not be penned up. The bright shining light of this season invites us to open the doors of our churches and our hearts to all who seek light in a darkened world.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Isaiah 60:1-6
This text was the stated lesson for Epiphany Sunday also in Cycle C. The preacher will find a full exposition of the text there in that issue of Emphasis. The repetition demands, however, that we use a different approach to the text for this year.
The first strophe or stanza of this passage actually ends with verse 7, but the lectionary has ended it with verse 6 in order to connect the gold and frankincense mentioned there with the gifts that the wise men took to the infant Jesus (cf. the New Testament reading in Matthew). The promises given in the passage are also actually addressed to the holy city of Jerusalem, but the lectionary envisions the passage as a prophecy of Jesus' epiphany or manifestation to all nations. If we listen to the text as it stands in its own historical context and then apply it to ours, however, there is much to be said.
Post-exilic Jerusalem of the sixth or fifth century B.C. is pictured by Third Isaiah in verse 1 as a woman mourning in the dust. But she is commanded to "arise," because the Lord has "risen" upon her in his glory (vv. 1-2).
What is the biblical meaning of "the glory of the Lord"? In many texts, God's glory denotes the honor and esteem belonging to him. "Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength," calls out the Psalmist (Psalm 29:1). In other words, honor him. But in this text and many others in the priestly writings, "glory" refers to God's shining light effulgence in which he reveals himself on earth (cf. Exodus 34:29-35). The glory of the Lord is God's physical manifestation of his Person. This is the "light" that has come upon Jerusalem in verse 1 of our text, and her light, in verse 3 then, is the reflected light from God's light, to which all nations are drawn.
Because God has come to save Jerusalem and has revealed himself to her, she is commanded in our text to "arise," to get up from her mourning in the dust (v. 1). That could also be an imperative to us, could it not? After all, at Christmas, we heard the glad announcement that the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, had been born. He came bringing the glory of his Father to us, and we "beheld his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father" (John 1:14). He came as Immanuel, as God with us. He worked the forgiveness of our sins and he overcame the gates of hell and defeated death forever. Why then do we still sit dispirited and mourning, like those who have not been saved?
To be sure, good Christians, the problems and sufferings of our common life are still very much with us. We still struggle with the burdens of this world and know its pains and sorrows. But in the midst of it all, is there also not some quiet joy and assurance that we have from our Lord? Is there not within our hearts and minds the knowledge that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord? Is there not the certain hope that God's is the victory over all this world's turmoil and evil, and that at the end, all knees will bow and all tongues confess their allegiance to him? Yes, as Paul once wrote, we can be afflicted at times, but we are never crushed; perplexed but never driven to despair; persecuted perhaps but not forsaken by our God; struck down by life, but never destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). The glory of the Lord has come to us in Jesus Christ; Immanuel! God has come to us! So the command of our text is "Arise!" Get up! "Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees" (Hebrews 12:12). Grasp hold of the strength and hope that have been given you by your present Lord, and live as those to whom a Savior has indeed been born. Reflect the glory of the Lord and not the darkness of your own misery. For God in Christ has delivered us from the gloom that dominates our world and transferred us into the light of his loving rule (cf. Colossians 1:13).
In other words, good Christians, you and I are now called to reflect the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus -- to live as those who now know and belong to him. And do you doubt that if his glory shines in our lives, it will draw others to worship and praise him also?
Our text speaks of all nations and rulers making pilgrimage to Jerusalem, because she reflects the light of God's glory in her life. That is the same thought that many of the prophets had. An earlier Isaiah saw all nations streaming to Zion to be taught by God's word (Isaiah 2:2-4). A later Zechariah proclaimed that persons of every language would say to Israel, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:23). If we live lives that reflect the fact that God is with us, will that not also draw others to his worship?
In other words, there is a strong missionary emphasis in our text. We are celebrating Epiphany Sunday today, in which Christ is made manifest to all the nations on the earth, symbolized by the fact of those foreign wise men following that star to Bethlehem. But there is no guiding star any more. There are only we Christians, little pockets of worshipers gathered together all over the earth in a fellowship called the Christian Church, little lights shining out into the darkness of a world lost and far from its Creator. And from us now -- from us sinners who have been forgiven, from us dying souls who have inherited eternal life, from us once lost who have now been given a new life in our Lord -- our God asks the witness to his glorious love. "You are my witnesses," he tells us over and over again in his word (Isaiah 43:10, 12; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 13:31; Hebrews 12:1, et al.). You are now the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). You reflect the presence of the glory of God in your life. So "let your light so shine before (everyone) that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
In your homes, good Christians, in your relations with your spouse and children, reflect God's light. In your job and your actions toward your co-workers and the task you have at hand, let God's light shine. In your work in society and in the church, bring light and not darkness. In your mission-giving and concern, support the glorious enterprise of the gospel. Arise and shine with the glory of the Lord and with the glad news of God with us. For then, in God's good time, individuals and groups and nations will indeed be drawn to such light. As our text says, they too "shall proclaim the praise of the Lord" (v. 6). And God's word in this text, given through his prophet, will be fulfilled and become reality.
