Epiphany
Sermon: Weldon
D. Nisly
TITLE: “Arise,
shine, for your light has come”
THEME: With
arms outstretched
TEXTS: Isaiah
60:1-6 “Arise,
shine, for your light has come”
Matthew 2:1-12
“We have observed the star at its rising”
The
Epiphany Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
Please stand for the reading of the Gospel.
In the time of King
Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
wise men
from the East came to
"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."
When King Herod
heard this, he was frightened, and all
and
calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people,
he
inquired of them where the Messiah was to
be born.
They told him,
"In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
'And
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of
Judah;
for
from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod secretly
called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had
appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,
"Go
and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me
word
so that I
may also go and pay him homage."
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.
When
they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.
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.
And having been
warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they left
for their own country by another road.
The Light has come
“Arise! Shine! For your light has come!”
Isaiah is speaking of an epiphany – a showing forth
of God’s glory. The prophet is
encouraging
hearers to see the glory of God in dark times.
“See darkness covers the earth and clouds cover the
people” Isaiah proclaims. Yet “you shall
see
and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice….”
This is Isaiah’s prophesy and promise. Even now it is taking place.
“Arise! Shine! For your light has come!”
The star
has come
In the long darkness God appeared in Jesus in a new
way to a war-weary world.
Epiphany proclaims that the light of Christ has come
into the world, and Jesus Christ is the savior
of the whole world.
God’s promise of salvation is for all peoples on earth.
“Wise men” came from the east, we are told, because
they have seen a star lighting the sky.
In a
war weary world at least somebody was watching.
“Arise! Shine! For your light has come!”
In following the star these earnest seekers of light
encountered empire in Herod king of Jerusalem
and Judea.
Herod’s allegiance was with the Roman empire. Yet this Herod sputtered his desire
to also pay homage – worship – at the feet of Jesus, if
only the “wise men” would inform him.
It was a lie no matter how loud Herod’s claim. You cannot serve God and empire. The lies and
the fury won out and led to the slaughter of innocents –
Herod’s killing of all baby boys around
Bethlehem.
The wise men wisely see the lie and refuse to abide
by Herod’s false promises returning home by
another way. They
have seen the Light.
“Do not be
afraid….God is with you.”
This great season of Advent-Christmas-Epiphany is
gathered up in the great words of annunciation
by an angel sent from God with the message to two
unexpected and ordinary people, Zechariah
and Mary: “Do not be afraid….God is with you.”
Zechariah and Mary’s respective responses come in
what have become great prayer-hymns of the
Church: the Benedictus
and the Magnificat. These two great prayer-hymns are inspiring
and instructive to me as I pray Zechariah’s song every
morning and Mary’s song every evening.
Mary sings, “I acclaim the greatness of the Lord,
I delight in God my savior.” With
that
acclamation Mary’s goes on to boldly sing:
The
mighty arm of God
scatters the proud in the imagination of their hearts,
pulls tyrants from their thrones,
and raises up the humble.
God
fills the starving
And
lets the rich go hungry…..
Zechariah sings equally boldly,
Out
of God’s deepest mercy
A
dawn will come from on high,
To
give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
To guide our feet in the way of peace.
Mary and Zechariah give us great words of promise and
hope, of compassion and commitment.
The world is being turned upside down if we are
“wise” enough to follow the star-light.
Light for
the world today
Epiphany is playing itself out today in our hearing
with claims of paying homage to God’s light
come into the world and cries of warring empires
slaughtering the innocent.
Long time war correspondent Chris Hedges, has written
a brilliant and disturbing book, War is a
Force That Gives Us Meaning, in which he sheds rare light on the lies of empire.
God came in Jesus to make us citizens of another
kingdom. Where is the star of epiphany lighting
the way to Christ?
God has set many possibilities for peacemaking before
us. One of those came as an “epiphany”
at the December Leadership Council meeting a few days after Walter died. It is
offered
as a vision for “An Epiphany of an Extravagant God
of Peace” to turn $100,000 into peace-
making efforts standing in the way of empire’s war on
Iraq. Next Sunday we will prayer-
fully listen to God together on this matter. How is God guiding our feet in the way of
peace?
Whether or not Walter would have given his consent to
giving money for peacemaking, he came
to a “peace church” out of his traumatic experience of
war and “saving” experience at the hands
of a Mennonite woman.
In the complex layers of Walter’s life, I believe Walter
wanted his life and legacy to do some good and to make some
peace in a warring world.
“Arise! Shine! For your light has come!” “To guide our feet in the way of peace.”
Weldon Nisly, pastor
Seattle Mennonite Church
3120 NE 125th Street
Seattle, WA 98125
206-361-4630
wdnisly@mennonite.net
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will
break upon us,
to give light to those who
sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the
way of peace.
Luke 1:78-79