Emmanuel Baptist Church 275 State St.  Albany, NY 12210 (518) 465-5161 Click here for directions
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If Our Light Has Come, Why Are We Still In The Dark?

Rev. Lois Wolff

1/4/09

O.T. Lesson:  Isaiah 60:1-6

N.T. Lesson:  Matthew 2:1-12

“Arise, shine!  For your light has come!”

       the prophet proclaimed some 25 centuries ago.

              The star, that great light, shone down upon the babe of Bethlehem

                      revealing the hope of all creation

                           some 10 centuries ago.

So … if our light has come,

       why are we still in the dark?

               If salvation has come, the end of exile

                       and the end of the reign of evil,

                             and if Messiah, Prince of Peace,

                                   is the reigning monarch,

                                         then what are we doing battling disease,

                                               and poverty, and ignorance, and war?

Even the prophet Isaiah noted that

       “darkness covers the earth

               and thick darkness is over the peoples…”

                        and we only need to read some of the rest of history

                              to know that this was not the end of calamity.

In fact, we need go no further than the next few chapters of Isaiah’s prophecy,

       to hear exclusion and judgment right next to visions of restoration.

             Christopher Seitz, in his commentary in the New Interpreter’s Bible,

                       asks the questions that are very much on our minds today:

                             Should God’s word of salvation lead to rejoicing, or to lengthy

                                     penitential response?  What is it like to hear such words of hope

                                     and promise, when they stand in apparent disjunction with present

                                     reality?

What is it like to hear promises of peace and prosperity

       in a time of war and recession?

               Do we tend to resist the good news

                      as much – maybe even more – than the bad news?

                             We may bounce back and forth from “awfulizing”

                                      and “romanticizing”,

                                             not sure whether we want to hope or despair.

We do tend to want to romanticize the story of Epiphany from Matthew’s Gospel

       and we conflate it with Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth.

              M. Eugene Boring asserts that the two stories have

                          no relation or points of contact … With [the Matthean story’s] setting

                                 among royalty, chief priests, and wealthy foreigners, it moves in a

                                 different world from the manger and shepherds … Efforts to combine the

                                 stories miss the message of both.                           

Luke’s infant Jesus is born in lowly estate, in a stable;

         poor shepherds accompanied by their sheep visit him,

                   and his mother sings of the Lord raising up the lowly

                            and pulling down the powerful.

Matthew’s baby Jesus is royal, is known and discussed in the king’s palace,

         visited by important foreigners who bring him expensive gifts.

                   These two accounts are difficult to harmonize

                             if we’re concerned about facts.

Still, when we consider eternal truths both stories are true:

         Jesus Christ is Lord of all – the poor and the powerful,

                   the Jew and the Gentile,

                             the simple and the sophisticated.

And the star?

         I believe it represents the light of life, of truth, of God.

                   And it means that Jesus is revealed, uncovered, as savior of all,

                             as the light of God shines upon him.

The darkness in the story is portrayed in Herod:

         Herod, who feared that Jesus’ birth would mean his fall from power.

                   Like many in power, he is duplicitous.

                             He pretends that he wants to worship this newborn king,

                                      but he quickly reveals that what he wants to do

                                                is eliminate his rival.

Of course, we rarely read those verses on Epiphany.

         Dealing with the “slaughter of the innocents” is too difficult.

                   And yet, we surely know that politicians

                             are sometimes not above even killing

                                      so they can hang onto their power.

The magi – the wise men from the east –

         traveled a long and difficult journey

                   to worship Jesus, and that reminds us

                             that he is King not just of the Jews but of all peoples.

I wonder if we haven’t all – even we Christians – bought into the idea

         of America as savior, the “hero of the world.”

                    But Jesus Christ is the savior of all!

If we look once again at our passage from Isaiah,

         we might notice that the prophet asserts

                   that the light has already come,

                             whereas the darkness will come.

There is where I find the hope and the promise today:

         the darkness, the violence, the sickness, the power plays,

                   the war, and the destruction will happen – are happening,

                             and will continue to happen.

         But the light – the light of God’s Christ –

                   has already come and is even now, slowly, inexorably,

                             coming to fruition.

It is perhaps a good thing for us, as American Christians,

         to remember also the words of the prophet Micah,

                   that it is from lowly little Bethlehem,

                             not from wealthy, powerful Jerusalem,

                                      that “shall come forth … one who is to rule in Israel …”

My hero, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann, reminds us

         The way beyond is not about security and prosperity but about vulnerability,

            neighborliness, generosity, a modest future with spears turned into pruning hooks and

            swords into plowshares.

         The wise men, and the eager nations ready for an alternative, made the trip.  It would be

            ironic if the “outsiders” among us made that move and we who are God’s own people

            resisted.

It would not only be ironic,

         it would be tragic.

                   The light has come …

                             and it shines on in the dark.

                                                Thanks be to God.  Amen.