Arise - Shine

Epiphany; Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12; St. Paul’s 1/6/2019

Jim Melnyk: “Arise - Shine”

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you…Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn...”

These are words spoken by the prophet Isaiah – calling for fallen Jerusalem to understand and experience her calling to be a light to all nations – a reminder, a beacon of God’s glory.  The city destroyed – the walls in ruin and the people in exile – yet God says, “Nations shall come to your light!”

Matthew tells the wondrous tale of wise men from the east who follow a star – a heavenly light which brings them to the one who is The Light of The World.  This morning we meet Jesus once again – most likely as a young child – maybe by now in his “terrible two’s” – and in a child’s face we see the manifestation of the glory of God.

We tell the stories of our faith: Isaiah proclaiming the promise of God’s call for Israel to be a light to the nations. Wise Men from the east, following a star to meet a newborn King who will challenge the rulers of this world in ways many of his people won’t recognize or understand.

Sometimes we wrestle with the stories.  We wonder about prophets hearing the word of God or mysterious stars traveling through the night sky and we realize the stories are important – whether we understand them literally or not – if we spend our time trying to figure out if there was a star and what the star was, we’re just wasting our time.  The stories are important because they allow us to catch a glimpse of God in ways that speak to our hearts and our souls rather than our rational minds.

We tell the stories, and in doing so we meet God.  We tell the stories, and in doing so we invite God to somehow become a part of who we are. We recognize God’s place in our own lives – in our own histories – in our own stories.  The stories of our faith invite us into the life of God – and as Christian people – into the light and life of Jesus, the Christ.

In the season of Epiphany – and especially on this day – we invite God to give us a glimpse of God’s glory – we ask God to manifest God’s presence in our lives and in the life of this world – for that is what Epiphany means – manifestation, or showing forth.  In the Collect of the Day we pray, “Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face…” and we might ask ourselves, “Are we serious? We who have difficulty dealing with the minute amounts of glory that we glimpse from time to time in the lives and faces of those around us?  Do we really want to see God’s glory face to face?” (Glyn Ruppe-Melnyk)  And at some level – at least on our best days – the answer is yes…though perhaps followed up with “Just not necessarily this day, or this moment.”

Epiphany means seeking, seeing and experiencing the light of God revealed in this world – especially in the life and ministry of Jesus.  It’s also about our being a light to the nations – it’s about seeing, then becoming the manifestation of God’s light in this world.  And it’s about looking for that manifestation in others – seeing even the smallest spark – the slightest glimmer of light – and affirming its presence and its power to make God’s love known in the world.

Seeking that light – being that light – isn’t the easiest calling to follow.  Somehow the clouds move in and the star is lost in the dull overcast or the raging storm.  Sometimes we just forget to look up and wonder.  And sometimes, sometimes we just simply close our eyes.

I think we each know what it feels like in our lives when we lose sight of the star – or when we pull the shades down – or when we cover or close our eyes.  We know when we do it, and we know what it’s like – and hopefully we don’t like the feeling.

Across our country this morning there are approximately 800 thousand people either working without pay or sitting at home without pay – people with rent, car payments, or medical bills due – all over a bitter, partisan fight about a wall. And we can be for the wall or against the wall, that's not what this is all about – whichever way we support, it doesn’t change the lives of those 800 thousand – their rent is still due. No impact on us - or at least most of us. All the while we completely ignore that just last week the Church marked the Feast of the Holy Innocents – a feast day remembering the children slaughtered by Herod as he sought to kill the Christ Child. And we either forget or purposely ignore how the Holy Family avoided Herod’s massacre by becoming refugees and fleeing to Egypt.  Sometimes we close our eyes to the glory of God.

Epiphany invites us to seek – to wander in the light of God’s grace and love – to be Christ-lights for others who seek to see God face to face. Epiphany invites us to reach out to our neighbors, whoever they may be, and be Christ’s presence for them.

But we must beware.  To be led into the brightness of God’s light – to be led into God’s presence where we might see God’s glory face to face – will change us.  Things always look different in the light of day – things always look different in the presence of God.  “A child of glory seeks and affirms the light of glory in others.  A child of glory will not be content until God’s love is revealed to all. 

And a child of glory sees God’s glory face to face by looking into the faces of all God’s children” (Glyn Ruppe-Melnyk).

“Lead us, [most gracious God,] who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face.”

“Arise, shine [people of St. Paul’s,] for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”  Hear what the Spirit of God is saying to God’s people.  You, my sisters and brothers, are the light of Christ.  Amen.