The Porch Light's On
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
All of us have heard various short, sarcastic sayings that describe people and groups who seem to lack plain, old common sense. These folks appear to understand what's happening in their lives. However, when it comes to coping with reality, they just don't seem to get it. Here are some examples: "One brick short of a load." "Just one French fry short of a Happy Meal." "His elevator's stuck on the first floor." A good phrase that can describe many Christians celebrating Epiphany might be, "Their porch light's on, but nobody's home."
Christmas is over. Decorations are boxed up in the attic. Silent nights are once again filled with stress and anxiety. Joy to the world has become terror and violence in the world. Good Christian friends and families who were rejoicing during Christmas are back gossiping and quarreling today. Outside, our porch light is on, but inside there is little happiness at home. Isaiah states, "For darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples" (Isaiah 60:2). You got that right, Isaiah!
Nevertheless, God's light pierces the darkest places. God's light shines with brilliance in our world of shadows. God's light is always at home in our families, in our community, and in our souls. No darkness can overcome it. In chapter 9, Isaiah declares:
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness -- on them light has shined.
-- Isaiah 9:2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light
This day we celebrate the coming of that light, Jesus Christ, into our world. Together with Christians all over the earth, the Christ light has defeated the dark and chaotic nightmares of our souls. It often seems as if our lives are just one dark tunnel after another. We celebrate the light bursting through the tunnel, and it isn't the train of the tempter or the semi of Satan. That light is a baby in a manger; a guiding star of hope; a messiah on a cross; a folded shroud in an empty tomb. That light is the glory of God's own self.
In our text, Isaiah proclaims: "The glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (Isaiah 60:1). He continues that although darkness may seem to cover the earth, God promises that: "The Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you" (Isaiah 60:2).
For the past twenty centuries, Christians have celebrated Epiphany, the glorious good news that the light has already come, and it continues today.
Chapter 60 of Isaiah is filled with good news, first intended for those who had just returned to Jerusalem, after fifty years of captivity in far off Babylon. In their absence, nothing much had been done to rebuild the city or its temple. Even the moral, social, and religious practices had become perverse and polluted. The joy of the returning exiles quickly dissipated into despair. Their resolve quickly degenerated into a submissive fatigue and apathy.
Yet, God's resolve to reform them as God's faithful people remained powerful. God's resolve to bring goodness and well-being to them remained firm and unchanging. Through this band of returning refugees, God would make light shine as a glorious beacon, gathering the nations of the world to experience God's own glory. Through them, God's loving purpose would become a visible reality. A dimly burning wick would become a brilliant star in the heavens, beckoning the nations to experience God's glory.
In chapter 51, verse 18, Isaiah describes the disintegrative and leaderless situation of the children of Israel. "There is no one to guide her among all the children she has borne; there is no one to take her by the hand among all the children she has brought up." Indeed, their light had become nothing but a dimly burning wick.
God was acting to reverse reality for Israel. In former days, the people were subordinate and subservient to other nations. At first glance, it appeared as if they were still nothing more than tiny, dark, and insignificant blots among the powerful nations of the world. Their reality still looked like rejection and ruin. Their identity was shaped by their status, or lack of it, among the nations. Who shapes your present identity? How do you define yourself? Your family? Your community? Your congregation? How does this shape your future?
In our text, God promised a new and glorious identity to the downtrodden and discouraged people in Judah. God promised to reverse their identity from dark, distressed, and oppressed to light, ransomed, and redeemed.
This complete reversal was God's action; not theirs. This new identity as children of the light was given by God; not achieved by them. This new identity is also God's free gift to us through the light of the world, Jesus Christ. Our new, God-given identity is not given by others' perceptions. It is given by God in Jesus Christ.
Of course, it is not easy to see this guiding light every moment of our lives. It is often difficult to see anything but more darkness in our future.
There's a story about a man who had experienced a seven-year series of setbacks in business and in his love life. Every decision that he made, every relationship that he had, seemed to end in failure. One evening as he was walking home he saw a bright spotlight on the porch of a previously abandoned home. As he approached the house, he noticed that the light was illuminating a sign advertising the presence of a fortune-teller. "Fantastic futures forecast inside," he read. So, thinking that nothing else seemed to offer any hope, he walked through the door. The fortune-teller placed her hands on the crystal ball on the table between them. As she did so, a frown spread across her face as she predicted, "The next seven years will be just like the past seven ... filled with despair, unhappiness, and disappointment."
"Oh, no," said the young man. Still clinging to a tiny spark of hope, he asked timidly, "Then what?"
"You'll get used to it," responded the fortune-teller.
Her porch light was on, all right! But there was no hope in that home.
Left to their own efforts to rebuild the city walls and temple in Jerusalem, this also might describe the experience of God's children in our text. The hope of a glorious return from captivity had diminished into a dimly burning wick. Even that tiny spark of hope was nearly extinguished when they observed the enormous construction tasks and the lack of enthusiastic support from the people who had remained. It would be easy to simply give up and get used to it.
Maybe this happens to us as well. In difficult, dark, disappointing situations that assail us, we first follow any sort of light -- gimmick -- promise -- that appears to offer a little bit of hope. We try anything that might suggest even a temporary relief from the stress and anxiety of life. Some of us spend a good portion of our income on unneeded material things. Some buy lottery tickets and risk their livelihood by gambling on card games and athletic contests. Others drink alcohol and take illegal drugs to blot out the pain. Some become trapped in shallow relationships that promise love and yield only more heartache. Still others grasp desperately to the latest fad of "feel good" philosophy that promises happiness and success but results only in more hopelessness and helplessness.
The porch light's on, but nobody is really at home.
Isaiah's message, God's Epiphany message, to all God's children, shines brightly tonight. The good news here is that God's true light of everlasting hope has already come into our midst. The light of Christ has arisen upon us. The glory of the Lord has appeared to us and shines upon us this very Epiphany day.
This is the light that led the wise men to the Bethlehem manger. This is the light that inspired them to bring gifts of gold and frankincense to God's baby, God's own Son. This is the light that "proclaims the praise of the Lord" to all the world, to you and me (Isaiah 60:6). This is the light that shines from the cross and ascends from the empty tomb.
So what? What can we do to overcome the darkness that is descending on our darkening world? Wrong question, folks! The right question -- the Epiphany question -- is what has God already done, is doing and has promised to continue doing to overcome that darkness?
And the answer -- God's Epiphany answer -- is, "Here is Jesus, my Son, my very self, my forever and promised light of love."
So what? So that "you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice" (Isaiah 60:5). So that in and through God's Epiphany light shining above and within you "nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn" (Isaiah 60:3). God's light shining above and within is contagious. That light that guides our journey through darkness will gather others along the way.
"Arise, shine; for your light has come," declares Isaiah (Isaiah 60:1). Here, now, tonight in this very space where we are all gathered, becomes God's holy space. Here, now, on this Epiphany day, the porch light is on. The light of the world is always at home here shining from the font of baptism; beckoning us to the table where Christ is serving the light of himself in bread and wine. God's Epiphany light glistens in the eyes of the people gathered. God's light of wisdom and power and understanding glows within the word of promise proclaimed here.
Arise, shine; our porch light is always on. Why? Because Christ is always home right here, right now, and forever. Amen.
Christmas is over. Decorations are boxed up in the attic. Silent nights are once again filled with stress and anxiety. Joy to the world has become terror and violence in the world. Good Christian friends and families who were rejoicing during Christmas are back gossiping and quarreling today. Outside, our porch light is on, but inside there is little happiness at home. Isaiah states, "For darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples" (Isaiah 60:2). You got that right, Isaiah!
Nevertheless, God's light pierces the darkest places. God's light shines with brilliance in our world of shadows. God's light is always at home in our families, in our community, and in our souls. No darkness can overcome it. In chapter 9, Isaiah declares:
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness -- on them light has shined.
-- Isaiah 9:2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light
This day we celebrate the coming of that light, Jesus Christ, into our world. Together with Christians all over the earth, the Christ light has defeated the dark and chaotic nightmares of our souls. It often seems as if our lives are just one dark tunnel after another. We celebrate the light bursting through the tunnel, and it isn't the train of the tempter or the semi of Satan. That light is a baby in a manger; a guiding star of hope; a messiah on a cross; a folded shroud in an empty tomb. That light is the glory of God's own self.
In our text, Isaiah proclaims: "The glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (Isaiah 60:1). He continues that although darkness may seem to cover the earth, God promises that: "The Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you" (Isaiah 60:2).
For the past twenty centuries, Christians have celebrated Epiphany, the glorious good news that the light has already come, and it continues today.
Chapter 60 of Isaiah is filled with good news, first intended for those who had just returned to Jerusalem, after fifty years of captivity in far off Babylon. In their absence, nothing much had been done to rebuild the city or its temple. Even the moral, social, and religious practices had become perverse and polluted. The joy of the returning exiles quickly dissipated into despair. Their resolve quickly degenerated into a submissive fatigue and apathy.
Yet, God's resolve to reform them as God's faithful people remained powerful. God's resolve to bring goodness and well-being to them remained firm and unchanging. Through this band of returning refugees, God would make light shine as a glorious beacon, gathering the nations of the world to experience God's own glory. Through them, God's loving purpose would become a visible reality. A dimly burning wick would become a brilliant star in the heavens, beckoning the nations to experience God's glory.
In chapter 51, verse 18, Isaiah describes the disintegrative and leaderless situation of the children of Israel. "There is no one to guide her among all the children she has borne; there is no one to take her by the hand among all the children she has brought up." Indeed, their light had become nothing but a dimly burning wick.
God was acting to reverse reality for Israel. In former days, the people were subordinate and subservient to other nations. At first glance, it appeared as if they were still nothing more than tiny, dark, and insignificant blots among the powerful nations of the world. Their reality still looked like rejection and ruin. Their identity was shaped by their status, or lack of it, among the nations. Who shapes your present identity? How do you define yourself? Your family? Your community? Your congregation? How does this shape your future?
In our text, God promised a new and glorious identity to the downtrodden and discouraged people in Judah. God promised to reverse their identity from dark, distressed, and oppressed to light, ransomed, and redeemed.
This complete reversal was God's action; not theirs. This new identity as children of the light was given by God; not achieved by them. This new identity is also God's free gift to us through the light of the world, Jesus Christ. Our new, God-given identity is not given by others' perceptions. It is given by God in Jesus Christ.
Of course, it is not easy to see this guiding light every moment of our lives. It is often difficult to see anything but more darkness in our future.
There's a story about a man who had experienced a seven-year series of setbacks in business and in his love life. Every decision that he made, every relationship that he had, seemed to end in failure. One evening as he was walking home he saw a bright spotlight on the porch of a previously abandoned home. As he approached the house, he noticed that the light was illuminating a sign advertising the presence of a fortune-teller. "Fantastic futures forecast inside," he read. So, thinking that nothing else seemed to offer any hope, he walked through the door. The fortune-teller placed her hands on the crystal ball on the table between them. As she did so, a frown spread across her face as she predicted, "The next seven years will be just like the past seven ... filled with despair, unhappiness, and disappointment."
"Oh, no," said the young man. Still clinging to a tiny spark of hope, he asked timidly, "Then what?"
"You'll get used to it," responded the fortune-teller.
Her porch light was on, all right! But there was no hope in that home.
Left to their own efforts to rebuild the city walls and temple in Jerusalem, this also might describe the experience of God's children in our text. The hope of a glorious return from captivity had diminished into a dimly burning wick. Even that tiny spark of hope was nearly extinguished when they observed the enormous construction tasks and the lack of enthusiastic support from the people who had remained. It would be easy to simply give up and get used to it.
Maybe this happens to us as well. In difficult, dark, disappointing situations that assail us, we first follow any sort of light -- gimmick -- promise -- that appears to offer a little bit of hope. We try anything that might suggest even a temporary relief from the stress and anxiety of life. Some of us spend a good portion of our income on unneeded material things. Some buy lottery tickets and risk their livelihood by gambling on card games and athletic contests. Others drink alcohol and take illegal drugs to blot out the pain. Some become trapped in shallow relationships that promise love and yield only more heartache. Still others grasp desperately to the latest fad of "feel good" philosophy that promises happiness and success but results only in more hopelessness and helplessness.
The porch light's on, but nobody is really at home.
Isaiah's message, God's Epiphany message, to all God's children, shines brightly tonight. The good news here is that God's true light of everlasting hope has already come into our midst. The light of Christ has arisen upon us. The glory of the Lord has appeared to us and shines upon us this very Epiphany day.
This is the light that led the wise men to the Bethlehem manger. This is the light that inspired them to bring gifts of gold and frankincense to God's baby, God's own Son. This is the light that "proclaims the praise of the Lord" to all the world, to you and me (Isaiah 60:6). This is the light that shines from the cross and ascends from the empty tomb.
So what? What can we do to overcome the darkness that is descending on our darkening world? Wrong question, folks! The right question -- the Epiphany question -- is what has God already done, is doing and has promised to continue doing to overcome that darkness?
And the answer -- God's Epiphany answer -- is, "Here is Jesus, my Son, my very self, my forever and promised light of love."
So what? So that "you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice" (Isaiah 60:5). So that in and through God's Epiphany light shining above and within you "nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn" (Isaiah 60:3). God's light shining above and within is contagious. That light that guides our journey through darkness will gather others along the way.
"Arise, shine; for your light has come," declares Isaiah (Isaiah 60:1). Here, now, tonight in this very space where we are all gathered, becomes God's holy space. Here, now, on this Epiphany day, the porch light is on. The light of the world is always at home here shining from the font of baptism; beckoning us to the table where Christ is serving the light of himself in bread and wine. God's Epiphany light glistens in the eyes of the people gathered. God's light of wisdom and power and understanding glows within the word of promise proclaimed here.
Arise, shine; our porch light is always on. Why? Because Christ is always home right here, right now, and forever. Amen.
