Sermon Isaiah 9:2-7 “The Light Has Shined”

 Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon Isaiah 9:2-7 “The Light Has Shined”

Presbyterian Church of Easton

December 24, 2020

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This is the Eve of Christmas.  Our wait for the coming of Immanuel, God with us, is almost over.  Five candles are lit on the Advent wreath.  The amount of light the wreath gives off has been increasing each week as we prepare ourselves to walk in the glory of God.  Tonight we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Light of the World.  We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

Father in Heaven we long for the day when you will be Immanuel, God with us.  We have been waiting so long, walking in darkness, and hoping for your light.  Come quickly and bless us with your presence.  We pray all of this in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Nineteen years ago, I boarded a train at Union Station in Washington DC bound for New York City.  I arrived in midtown Manhattan at Penn Station and dropped my bag at a nearby hotel.  Then I began to walk down Fifth Avenue toward Wall Street.  It was a long walk and I could have taken the subway or taxi, but I needed some time to think and pray.  So I began the long walk buried deep in the canyons of skyscrapers that make up New Your City.

That day, I was walking in darkness as was much of our nation.  Just a few months before, on September 11, 2001, two groups of terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center.  Another group flew a plane into the Pentagon.   Another plane was forced down by its passengers in Pennsylvania.  We all watched as those towers fell to the ground.  And now I was in New York walking slowly to the site where those buildings once stood.  

In December,  we are all walking in darkness.  The nights are long, we have just passed the Winter Solstice, the day each year when, because of the tilt of the earth, the northern hemisphere experiences the shortest days and the longest nights of the year.  But coinciding with the Winter Solstice is Christmas where we place our hope in the coming light.   So as we walk in darkness, Christ gives us light, the glory of God as a lamp to our feet.

As I walked down Fifth Avenue on the afternoon of the Winter Solstice I realized that I was seeing a great light.  Normally the sunset cannot be seen from the streets of Manhattan because of the great height of the buildings.  But the streets have been designed in such a way that the avenues point in the direction that the sun sets on the shortest day of the year.  So as I walked south on Fifth Avenue the sun was setting directly in front of me, all the way to the horizon, filling the canyons of New York City with amazing light.  On the shortest day of the year, the people of Manhattan receive the maximum amount of sunlight.  So while I walked in the darkness of the tragedy of 9-11, I saw the great light of God’s creation setting before me.

A group of shepherds was caring for their sheep.   It was a very dark night.  But, suddenly, they saw a great light.  It was God’s glory coming from heaven to earth.  Angels were dispatched from heaven to tell them not to be afraid.   They followed God’s command to see a baby lying in a manger.   And they told everyone they met about the glorious light they had seen.

Walking in darkness is not unfamiliar to us.  We have all walked in darkness not knowing what the doctor will say, not knowing if we have enough to pay the bills, not knowing if the ones we love will stay with us.  We live in the darkness of a virus that has killed many and a shutdown that has affected the livelihood of so many Americans.  In darkness, we walk in fear, guilt, and loneliness thinking that maybe God has abandoned us.

The people of the 8th Century before Christ in Jerusalem certainly walked in darkness.  The hated Assyrians had destroyed Aram and Israel, their neighbors to the north.  Their king Ahaz polluted the temple in Jerusalem by permitting the worship of Assyrian gods.  God seemed to have abandoned them and with the absence of the glory of God in Jerusalem, the people walked in darkness.  

The prophet Isaiah ben Amoz, the great prophet of God who wrote the first 39 chapters of the Book of Isaiah, spoke into the darkness of his time.   Here is what he said.

Isaiah 9:2-7   2 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.  3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.  4 For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.  5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.  6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Isaiah predicted that a young woman would conceive and bear a son who would be called Immanuel, God with us.  This boy was born, And as he grew the people placed their hopes and fears on him, a descendant of David.  They hoped that this child, Hezekiah, would return the Glory of God to Jerusalem.  And with the death of King Ahaz this eleven-year-old child was about to be crowned king.

The prophet Isaiah was there for the coronation and witnessed the great joy of the people.   It was the same joy they had experienced when the harvest was brought in, the same joy they felt whenever peace replaced war.  The people felt this joy because young Hezekiah had great faith in the LORD, his God.  They called him “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  And they believed that Hezekiah would bring the nation endless peace because he would rule, as God wanted, with paramount concern for the poor, and the widows and orphans.  They hoped that if Hezekiah would rule with justice and righteousness then peace would reign, because God would mobilize the army of heaven to defend them against their enemies.  With Immanuel coming to the throne, even as a little boy named Hezekiah, the glory of God had finally returned to Jerusalem and the people who had walked in darkness for so long finally saw a great light.

We too, as we walk in darkness, are searching for a great light.  Maybe this light is the light of Saturn and Jupiter joining together in the night sky, or the light of the sun on the Winter Solstice, the light of the child Hezekiah, or the light of the candles burning here today.  All of these may point us to the light, but they are not light.

The light we are searching for came into the world two thousand years ago.  He was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, and was baptized by his cousin John in the river Jordan.  He began his ministry in the region of Galilee.  He is the light we have all been looking for.  Listen to these words from the Gospel of Matthew.

 Matthew 4:13-1613 (Jesus) left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea …14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: … 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."

The light the prophet Isaiah was looking for, the light we who walk in darkness are looking for, is Jesus Christ.  In Jesus Christ, the light of the world has come.  This is what we celebrate at Christmas.  Even though we walk in the darkness we have the Christmas hope that the light of Christ will shine in our lives.  

As I made my way down Fifth Avenue in New York I realized, as I felt the warmth of the sun on my face, that God was with me.  The great darkness that I had experienced was lifted and I experienced joy for the first time in months.  As a result of this experience, I decided to make some changes in my life.  I wanted to be closer to my church where I was becoming more involved as a Bible teacher.  I sold my home and moved into the city a mile from my church.  I took a part-time job at the Washington National Cathedral and lived in an apartment across the street so I could pray there whenever I wanted.  All of this prepared me for a decision a year later to go to seminary and pursue ordination in the Presbyterian Church.  While walking in darkness on the Winter Solstice I saw a great light that led me to Jesus Christ.

This is my Christmas wish for you.  That no matter what darkness you are passing through right now, the light of Christ will fill you with God’s love and the assurance that God is with you no matter what happens.  This is the message of the Book of Isaiah that whatever is past is over and we can now celebrate with great joy the coming of Immanuel, God with Us.  Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, Happy Birthday!  We thank you for being the light of our lives.   We thank you for being with us as we deal with a virus and a lockdown.   We thank you for being with us so that we are never alone.   Basking in your light we pray.  Amen.