Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon - Isaiah 60:1-6 - Be Radiant
Epiphany Sunday
January 2, 2022
Time never stops. Just as 2021 became 2022, so too does the church calendar keep moving. We have completed our celebration of our savior's birth. Today we celebrate Epiphany, the appearance of God on Earth. Traditionally the church has associated this day with the visit of the Magi, and the coming of Gentiles, non-ethnic Jews to belief in Jesus. In Jesus Christ, God has offered his son not just for the children of Abraham but to everyone on earth. And this is really good news. We will get to this, but first let's pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Towards the end of the sixth century before Christ the people of God were returning to Jerusalem after a generation of exile in Babylon. The Babylonian empire had been crushed and Persia was the new power in town. King Cyrus of Persia told the Hebrews that they could return to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and their temple. Some of them preferred to stay in Babylon where they had built homes, farms, businesses and families. But many returned to their homeland to begin the rebuilding.
When they arrived in Jerusalem they found people living there. The city had been reduced to rubble by the Babylonians, and people were trying to eke out whatever life they could on top of a pile of rocks. The Babylonians had left behind in Jerusalem anyone they didn't want. So the poor, the sick, the aged, and the disabled were left to fend for themselves for forty years. The Jews coming home from exile also found aliens in their land. These people had come there as refugees from the wars of the sixth century BC. Some had brought their own pagan religions. But some aliens had begun worshiping the God of Israel.
Many of the returning Jews wanted nothing to do with these people. They were poor, disabled and many were foreigners, not descendants of Abraham. Some had even been castrated to serve in the Imperial Government. So they were excluded from the religious and social life of the community. The returning Jews would live in gated communities and worship God by themselves. They thought that if they maintained their Sabbaths and fasted that God would bless them. But God was not happy with this and he sent a prophet to tell them what to do. And we have the writings of this prophet in the last ten chapters of the Book of Isaiah. Let's hear what this prophet has to say.
Isaiah 56:1-7
56 Thus says the Lord:
Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.
2 Happy is the mortal who does this,
the one who holds it fast,
who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,
and refrains from doing any evil.
3 Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and do not let the eunuch say,
“I am just a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give, in my house and within my walls,
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
and hold fast my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
So God demanded radical inclusiveness. God’s people must not exclude believers from other countries simply because they are not descendants of Abraham. They must not exclude believers who had served the imperial government simply because their bodies had been mutilated. All who believe in God, including the alien and the eunuch, must be admitted into the assembly if they believe in God and obey his commands. The temple that was to be built in Jerusalem would be known as a “House of Prayer for all Nations.”
The returning exiles thought they could hide behind their worship and fasting and still be able to cheat people in business and to not care for the poor. They would worship in the synagogues on Friday evenings and fast when they were told to, but when the sun rose on the first day of the week they could take away someone's home or farm on some technicality and ignore a hungry beggar on the streets. The prophet put it this way.
Isaiah 58:3-7
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
So inclusiveness was not the only thing God wanted. God wanted all people to receive justice and for the poor and needy, and the widows and orphans to receive what they needed. God demanded justice and righteousness for all people. But the returning exiles ignored what God wanted and fell into sin.
Isaiah 59:2-9
2 Rather, your iniquities have been barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one brings suit justly,
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
conceiving mischief and begetting iniquity.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs,
and weave the spider’s web;
whoever eats their eggs dies,
and the crushed egg hatches out a viper.
6 Their webs cannot serve as clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil,
and they rush to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8 The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths.
Their roads they have made crooked;
no one who walks in them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us;
we wait for light, and lo! there is darkness;
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
So what's the solution to all this? Will we live in darkness forever? We will, if we depend on ourselves to get us out of the mess. What we really need is a redeemer.
Isaiah 59:20-21
20 And he will come to Zion as Redeemer,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the Lord.
21 And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.
The Glory of God will come and when we see it our sins will be forgiven and we will be free to welcome the outsider in our congregation, to act justly in all our dealings and to care for the poor. And so the prophet commands us.
Isaiah 60
60 Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
3 Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
For the next 500 years the people waited for this light, the light of a savior, to come into their darken world. And they knew that the sign of its coming would be messengers from Sheba bringing gold and incense. And then, amazingly, it happened.
Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11
1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”
9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
In fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, Magi from a far off country saw God's Glory light the heavens. They came to Jesus bearing gold and incense and praising God. Our redeemer, our savior has arrived.
And with the coming of Christ the time for our repentance is at hand. We are to welcome into our fellowship all regardless of nationality or physical condition. We are not to exploit others or continue in strife and quarreling. We are to speak the truth and demand justice for everyone. We are to bring our gifts, tithes and offerings to the church to advance the Kingdom of God.
And the Redeemer will come into our lives with great blessings and joy. These blessings are not only for us but also for our children and grandchildren after us. So, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
Today the Glory of God is here with us on this Epiphany Sunday. And we are not ethnic Jews, descendants of Abraham. We are aliens who have benefited from the radical inclusiveness of the church. We are called to be a people of justice, treating others as we would want to be treated. We are called to be a people who cares for the poor in our community and around the world. And like the wise men who visited Jesus we bring our gifts to the church to advance God's mission on Earth. Let us pray.
Father in heaven let your light shine on us this day. Help us to be the people we were created to be not just in worship but every day of our lives. Forgive our sin and lead us to new life. Help us to do your will on earth as in heaven. Amen.
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