The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep... 1

Transcription

1 Epiphany 2014 January 4, 2014 Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio Pastor Kevin Jud Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12 Genesis 1:1-2 (ESV) 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep... 1 In the beginning was darkness and then God said, Let there be light and there was light. God brought light into the world through His Word. But darkness is still around warring against the light. God said, Let there be light, and the devil s first attack is against the Word of God. Did God really say? Grandpa Adam and Grandma Eve are deceived by the lies of the Prince of Darkness and they choose the darkness over the light. Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; The darkness in the world is thick. The evil that people are willing to do to others is unspeakable. The hatred and anger expressed towards others is profound. The abuse of the most vulnerable is abhorrent. The darkness in this world is deep and deadening. The darkness robs you of peace and joy and hope, and leaves you feeling empty and angry and alone trying to fill the void with whatever you can find to numb the pain. Darkness shall cover the earth but darkness is not God s plan. God brought light in the beginning and He sends the light again to the little town of Bethlehem. 1 The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

2 2 In thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. Lying in a manger in Bethlehem is the light of the world hidden in the flesh of the baby Jesus, the son of Mary, the son of God. The savior has come; the king has come. But the savior does not make a grand entrance; He does not arrive as a celestial King in a flaming chariot. The savior comes as a baby born to a poor, young woman who is far from home because of her submission to an order by the Roman Emperor. But in the humble streets of Bethlehem the light has dawned. Isaiah prophecies, Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. But who comes to visit Jesus. That first night, shepherds come to visit. Shepherds are hardly kings; or even appropriate visitors for a king. But here in Bethlehem we see shadows of the past and signs of the future. Bethlehem is the city of David, the King, Joseph s greatgreat-great grandfather David was a shepherd before he was a warrior and a king. The baby will grow to be the Good Shepherd who will lay down His life for the sheep. How wonderful that shepherds come to visit that first night. And some time later the Magi come to visit. We are not sure exactly when they arrive. Likely it is sometime between 40 days after Jesus birth when Jesus is at the temple with Simeon and Anna and before He is 2-years-old based on Herod s order to his troops. We don t know exactly when they arrive, but the Magi do come to visit. From all we can gather about Magi they are pagan magicians, soothsayers, servants of pagan kings from the east. Strange people to appear in this Jewish story and yet here they are, coming from the east seeking the newborn king. How bizarre? These are not the kind of people you would think would be interested in one born king of the Jews. And yet they come bearing gifts for the new king.

3 3 In an attempt to translate the word magi we sometimes call them wise men, but it seems that they are not particularly wise or they would have known better than to inform Herod about the new king. They are certainly not kings themselves. They don t know exactly where to look but go bumbling into Jerusalem and need to get help from the scribes who tell them that the Christ is to be born in Bethlehem. The Magi alert the psychotic King Herod to the newborn King of the Jews. They would have led Herod right to the child except they are warned in a dream to depart by another route. So Jesus is visited by these bumbling, pagan magicians. These magi, with just a rumor to go on, traverse afar to visit Jesus. It seems so improbable; they are not Jews but based on a rumor and a star they seek the King of the Jews. It doesn t make sense. It doesn t make sense, but they do visit. They seek Jesus and find Jesus and fall down and worship Him. They bring to Jesus kingly gifts. Where are the scribes? They are just a few miles away in Jerusalem but they don t bother to go to visit Jesus. They have great knowledge but they are not willing to make a short walk with the magi to see Jesus. The scribes have great knowledge, but they do not have the truth. Isn t that the way it is? There are so many who have great knowledge but who don t have the truth. And those who have the truth can be the most unlikely ones. The homeless woman you meet in Over-the-Rhine does not seem to have much knowledge; she is living hand to mouth with no roof over her head, but in the midst of addiction and mental illness she has the truth of Christ. She trusts in Jesus. The inmate in prison for a heinous crime is an unlikely one to know the truth. But the inmate knows the truth. He knows the true power of forgiveness and restoration in

4 4 the death and resurrection of Jesus. The inmate does not have great knowledge, but he has the truth. We find truth in the most unlikely people. Little children have great faith; they have the truth of Jesus. They trust in Jesus. They don t have great knowledge but they have the truth. The light of Christ shines in unlikely places; it shines in a homeless camp, in a prison cell, in the small voice of a young child. The light of Christ dawns to the world in simple, humble ways. The light of Christ shines in every nation, among every people. It shines in the darkest corners of the world even as the darkness continues to try to extinguish the light. Some of the darkest places these days are those with the greatest cathedrals and churches; a remnant of a bygone era of great faith that too often was replaced by great knowledge. Too often we watch our young people go off to college to get great knowledge but while they are at the university they lose the truth. They are convinced by the deception of great knowledge that the truth of Christ is improbable and childish. They give in to the question, Did God really say? Too often the university, for all its promotion of the light of great knowledge, snuffs out the light of the truth. And so while we pursue knowledge we must be on guard not to lose the truth. The followers of Christ are often not those we think of as likely followers. We think it is likely for those who look like us; those who live like us; those who think like us, but the light of Christ; the truth of Christ, shines in the most unlikely places. And, as was prophesied, the nations have come to the light. Not right away, but the light of Christ spreads from Bethlehem and Jerusalem to the whole world. There are

5 5 followers of Jesus throughout the world. Kings came to Jesus; not at first, but as the light of Christ spreads it spreads also to the kings of the world and many became followers of Jesus. The light of Christ spreads with His truth; the truth. There is forgiveness of sins for all through the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This baby born in Bethlehem is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This baby in Bethlehem is the light of God come into the world. And His light pushes back the darkness of the world. As a baptized follower of Jesus you are the light of the world. You may or may not have great knowledge. Some of you are doctors of medicine, dentistry, philosophy, law; many of you have master s degrees in education, business, divinity and other fields, some of you are college graduates, some are high school graduates, some are high school dropouts, some haven t yet completed school, some have not yet started school. Our little ones are just beginning to gain knowledge of the world. But when we think about those with the greatest faith, it is often the unlikely ones; the seven-year-old who knows for certain that Jesus died for her. The dropout who has had to work hard for everything in life and never got ahead but who trusts in the forgiveness of Jesus. The Jewish leaders thought they were the likely ones to look for the coming Messiah, but they couldn t be bothered to walk six miles to Bethlehem with the most unlikely magi. The scribes knew better that those pagan magicians. But they did not know the truth.

6 6 This world is a dark place but the light has dawned. The light of Christ given to the shepherds and the magi has been given also to you. You know the truth. The light of Christ which shines in you pushes back the darkness little by little. You are the light of Christ and you shine the light in faith and love and service until the light returns in full glory to destroy evil and darkness forever. Amen.