Let There Be Light!

Isaiah 60:1-6
Matthew 2:1-12


Rockville United Church
The Rev. Suzanne Rudiselle

January 7, 2007

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, ... Then God said, ‘Let there be light!”; and there was light.’”

Do you know that Light is the oldest member of the universe and yet researchers are still baffled by it. They can’t agree on how it works. Is it a wave? A particle? And whereas they’ve sliced and diced every known molecule, they can’t reduce light because light has no volume. No one can define it, although many such as Plato and Aristotle, have tried. Einstein based his theory of relativity upon the principles of light. Scientists have learned to control the spread of light and aim it as a laser to do miraculous things. NASA uses it to measure distances in the universe. Fiber optics uses it as a vehicle of transmission. One fifth of our brains deals only with light. (Ron Walters, VP of Pastoral Care of WAVA, in “Gatekeepers”)

“Arise, shine, for your light has come!” God issues an imperative spoken through the prophet Isaiah in a time of darkness and insecurity. The Babylonian exile has ended and those who have returned find the Temple in ruins and the city with no wall for protection. Many other exiles have not returned. Despair begins to take hold. Isaiah calls the people to rise from their despondency, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Note the past tense. This deliverance has already been accomplished. Even in the midst of the darkness that covers the nations, God’s glory will appear in Jerusalem. God’s light, God’s radiance will be reflected in that city, and will draw other nations to it, and other exiles who had not returned. (Herzog, New Proclamation) It will be the great universal home-coming. “Your hearts will thrill and rejoice!” All are drawn by God’s glorious light.

We come to this Epiphany Sunday hearing these familiar words and the story of the Magi who follow the star. Tradition has named them Caspar king of India, Balthasar king of Arabia, and Melchior king of Persia, but there is no real basis for this. But this too is a story of light - star light in a dim and cruel world, seen by the outsiders who are looking for a sign, and unseen by those to whom the promise is given. Again contrast the darkness of terrible cruel King Herod and the light of hope seen in the star which guides the Magi. Since those Gentiles have no scripture they go to the heart of Jewish life to learn of the coming Messiah. There is great consternation. Herod is frightened and so is everyone else. The scribes cite Micah and 2 Samuel and direct Magi to Bethlehem. No one of the religious establishment is curious enough to go - or perhaps they remain because of fear.

The Magi find the child, aided by the star and scripture and, overjoyed, they present gifts worthy of royalty and worship the child/king. Then go home by another way. They are the 1st Gentiles to hear the good news of God’s embrace and redemption for all people. Now astrologers were thought to possess secret wisdom concerning the movement of the stars and the influence they have on human history, but this is not about their wisdom. It is about God’s light ignited in their hearts and eyes, and in ours as well.

Darkness is real. Difficult circumstances can threaten to extinguish our human spirits. There are times when human resources are exhausted and we are at our wits end. There are promises we have counted on that have not come to fruition and we lose hope. There is a world at war and thousands of homeless refugees with little prospect of a rich future. There is a widening gap between rich and poor the world over. There are leaders who relish power more than of the greater good of their people. Think of the darkness in which we live, and then think of God’s light - sometimes a mere sliver, sometimes like the sun bursting forth unexpectedly from behind an ominous cloud. Think of Job in the midst of suffering who affirms, “I know that my Redeemer lives…” think of “hunted Christians in catacombs (and in parts of the world today) who maintained their lives of prayer and worship; think of Black slaves in antebellum US who sang of Elijah’s chariot swinging low to carry them to freedom; and Jewish prisoners in concentration camps who painted butterflies on the walls of their cells; and Dutch Calvinists who gathered in defiance of Nazi orders, and think of Oscar Romero, with the sight of his assassin’s rifles trained upon his heart, raising the host and offering both the bread of life, the body of Christ, and his own life as a sacrifice to God.” (Hanson, Isaiah, p.220) They saw the Light of the World and dared to remain faithful.

Just as the word of the prophet came to a people shaken by uncertainty and adversity, and just as the Magi set out with destination unknown to follow a light, so we are called to listen and look; to hear and see the Light of the World in the Child of Bethlehem. Where is the glory of God’s light shining in your darkness? Where is it shining in our congregation? How are we at RUC “reflecting the glory of God” in ways that truly bless and heal the city and the nation? Who will be the human face of God’s light?

Hear the words of Isaiah to you and to me, “Arise, shine! Get up and look alive! Step out in faith, out of lethargy into action. This imperative is grounded in the promise that your light, the glory of the Lord has already come. That’s what we have been celebrating this Christmas season, the glory of God’s incarnation. But it’s not enough to sing carols and worship the Child. There is a world full of fear and hatred and cruelty, of pain and suffering, and indifference and selfishness that can be transformed by the power of God’s light and love. How will we do it?

On Christmas Day 1939, King George VI spoke to the people of Great Britain facing the onslaught of Hitler’s powerful advancing army, and quoted Minnie Louise Haskins poem “The Gate of the year.”
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand
into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and
safer than a known way.”

Here we are in 2007, where there is much darkness, but there is also light, and many souls looking for a sign of it. There is a promise given to strengthen our hope and equip us to persist in our vocation as Christians. There is a divine commission, in spite of conditions, and an affirmation that light will ultimately prevail. God said, “Let there be light!” And there is light. Arise! Follow the star, worship the Child who is our risen Christ and then return in another way to share the love of the Light of the World.