Arise, Shine, for your Light Has Come
Isaiah 60 , Matthew 2:1-12
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, and his glory will appear over you. (Isaiah 60)
I don’t remember many of the programs that I have watched on television over the years but there are a few that for some reason I can still recall as having a significant message. I can remember years ago watching a certain episode of M*A*S*H that stands out for me. There was an incident where the whole staff took up the cause of a child who was born of a Korean mother and a U.S. father and had been left on their doorstep. The staff felt that if the child was returned into Korean society she ran the risk of being ostracized and maybe even killed. Even in an orphanage she probably be rejected by others because of her mixed blood. They tried every way they could to get her into the U.S. through the Red Cross, the Embassy and the Army but were frustrated at every turn. They worked together long and hard to give this child chance to have a relatively normal childhood. In the end there was only one choice left to them and that was to be taken into a monastery with the slight chance that when she reached adolescence she might get into the U.S. Now as all these M*A*S*H characters took the child to the monastery to place her in a cradle there, they all kissed her, hugged her, held her and said a few words:
“We will not forget you because for a short time you brought some light into the world of a war wearied people”
What they found was that when the child came upon them unexpectedly like that, it broke the day by day ugly and tired routine of their existence. They were given something else to think about – a new purpose, new vision, new lease on life as they struggled for the child’s dignity. It was a like a light coming upon them in the midst of their darkness.
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The story presents a fitting picture in our minds and hearts as we prepare for the celebration of Epiphany . This is the day of the Christian year called Epiphany and means “Manifestation” or “Appearance” and we read of the wise men of the East finding a light in the midst of darkness and following it all the way the stable where the Christ Child was born.
In these times I think there are a lot of people searching for a light in the midst of darkness . The last days of an old year is a time of remembering the events of the past twelve months. Sometimes it seems like a litany of disasters and tragedies. There has been massive job losses in many companies. There has been large flooding on the East Coast due to Hurricane Sandy. There have been tragic cases of teen suicides, many connect with bullying in school and on the internet. There was the massacre at Sandy Hook Connecticut with some adults and many children killed. There have been road accidents killing and injuring many. There have been protests against Government actions such as invasion of privacy issues, scandals, cutbacks etc. There is always war and rumors of war. There have been an assortment of strikes disrupting services. There have been shootings in Malls and restaurants, E Coli outbreaks and many other diseases disrupting our lives and many more things that I’m sure that you could bring to mind. There seems to be much darkness that invades our world and our personal lives. The words of Isaiah ring in our ears “darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples.”
We realize in the midst of all this like the people in the M*A*S*H story as well as many other people in history and like the Magi in the biblical story, following a star, we will have to seek the light in the midst of darkness.
We start with the belief that there is light. Certainly the Christian Gospel asserts that there is such light. In John’s Gospel the writer talks about the light being in all people and says, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” Most other religions of the world and beliefs center around finding light in the midst of darkness. Sometimes it is not all that perceivable but it is there. But where is it in our world today? Where do we find it? Where do you even look for it?
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I don’t think you necessarily look for mountain-top experiences to find the light, not in the supper sensational religious experience. I think that you really look for it in the common, mundane, everyday happenings of life. The Magi found the light in a baby born in a stable. Were they disappointed that they didn’t find him in a palace or in some spectacular setting and circumstance? No! They were overwhelmed with joy, knelt and paid homage and offered their gifts. How often did Jesus draw people to the very things around them where they were to discover God and the ways of God. He drew their attention to the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, people sowing seed in a field, a person traveling to Jerusalem from Jericho, a little child , some bread and a little wine, or a family meal. No matter how miserable the circumstances may be that surround us we can find light. In the disasters and tragedies that we see each day, we can also see heroic efforts of people to rescue those in danger and people pulling together in compassion to help victims. We can find those things that inspire us all around us. There are inspiring stories of people in words and on the screen. There is art of all kinds and experiences in nature that move us. There are instances of people overcoming disabilities that motivates us. There are acts of Love, laughter, perseverance, courage, healing, giving, growing and living in the midst of all the circumstances of our lives. No matter how dark it is, you can find light.
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Also, I think we find light within ourselves as we struggle with life. In the little book Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl found light in the midst of a concentration camp as he struggled and found meaning for his life even there. Sometimes it was the beauty of a sunset that appeared in contrast to their gray dead, tired, surroundings. Frankl goes on to say:
Another time we were at work in a trench:
The dawn was gray around us; gray was the sky above; gray the snow in the pale light of dawn; gray the rags in which my fellow prisoners: were clad, and, gray their faces. I was again conversing silently with my wife, or perhaps I was struggling to find the reason for my sufferings, my slow dying. In a last violent protest against the hopelessness of imminent death, I sensed my spirit piercing through the enveloping gloom. I felt it transcend that hopeless, meaningless world, and from somewhere I heard a victorious “Yes” in answer to my question of the existence of an ultimate purpose. At that-moment light was lit in a distant farmhouse, which stood on the horizon as if painted there, in the midst of the miserable gray of a dawning morning in Bavaria. “Et lux in tenebris lucet”- and the light shineth in the darkness.
(p.63-64)
Jesus has said “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). There was also an image presented by Jesus to the woman at the well in Samaria of “a spring of water gushing up from within to eternal life”. Paul prayed in Ephesians, “That you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:16-17). He also said in Romans that the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5) and in Corinthians 4:6 “For it is God who said ‘Let light shine out of the darkness’ has shone in our hearts—“.
We do have the light within ourselves. We have to learn to listen to our lives and become aware of what lies beneath the surface. You need to listen when you take your children to school, kiss your wife goodbye, eat lunch with a friend, try to do a day’s work, hearing the rain patter against the window. There is no event so commonplace where God is not present always hidden leaving you room to recognize God or not, but all the more fascinating, compelling and haunting. Frederick Buchner says in his book Now and Then:
Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and the pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch taste small your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life is grace. (p. 87)
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So we find God in the midst of life. Even in the midst of our struggles to find meaning. We have to accept the possibility that the one we struggle with, even in our remorse, discontent, in adversity and darkness, may be God. For that is where we are likely to find God when throwing everything we have in the struggle and where pain and heartbreak seem to outweigh the fulfillment. There is where we meet God face to face. To be in touch with God does not mean the end of suffering but is there as well that God is pushing through and confronting us. I catch a glimpse in the Hebrew Scriptures of Jacob wrestling with God in the darkness of the night then finally receiving a blessing and limping into the daylight.
As we celebrate another Epiphany season may we all find light in the ordinary events of our lives and may be find within our selves, and may we find light in all our struggles to understand the world around us and what is happening in our lives at this time. May we have the courage to move ahead, strength to even accept the pain and like Jacob, go limping into the daylight.
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