Sunday, January 5, 2020

Light in Our Darkness (Epiphany Sunday)

Isaiah 60: 1-6 & Matthew 2: 1-12
Roger Lynn
January 5, 2020
(CLICK HERE for the audio for this sermon)

“Arise! Shine! For your light has come, and the glory of God has risen upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1) When the prophet Isaiah wrote these words the people to whom they were addressed had a hard time believing them. There wasn’t much happening that seemed to indicate there was any light shining in their lives. It required looking beyond the present circumstances and beneath the surface of what appeared to be true. It required a hopeful vision which was deeply rooted in a trusting confidence that God was, in fact, still present and still active.

It is a message which we still need to hear in our lives and our world today. It certainly feels as if darkness has covered the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. Everywhere we turn there is war, and violence, and suffering. There is environmental destruction and widespread despair and apathy. It is hard to even listen to the news anymore.

We are not alone in this experience. People since the dawn of time have faced overwhelming circumstances and the temptation to despair. One of the ways they have responded is by establishing traditions which remind them of the truth that there is more to life than what we can see or understand in any given moment. Long before Christians began celebrating Christmas and Epiphany at this darkest time of the year, earth-based religions recognized the importance of celebrating the winter solstice as the time when light began returning to the world. The message, for them and for us – it may seem dark, but it will not last. The Light is coming! 

We get to choose. We can give in to the despair or we can allow faith and hope and trust to penetrate the gloom and shine new light into the world. I confess that there are times when believing seems like nothing more than a fool’s game. And yet, it really is the only game in town. Choosing despair is no choice at all. In response to a question about what he would do if he knew that the world would end tomorrow, Martin Luther is said to have replied, “I’d plant a tree!” I can choose to focus on all that is wrong in the world (and there certainly is a lot to keep me busy with such thinking). But then I glance out the window and see the air literally filled with beautiful flakes of snow, and I am reminded once again that the darkness and gloom do not define the world. 

It is a step of faith to see the world in this way. Often it does not make sense in any sort of immediately verifiable way. And yet, when we choose to live with such a perspective the world is transformed, not only for us but for others as well. It’s not that the problems vanish, but new possibilities emerge that allow us to live life more fully and richly. 

The story of the Magi in Matthew’s Gospel does a marvelous job of inviting us to experience the world in this new way, partly I think because it captures our imagination. It is a story about scholars (Professors of Philosophy and Astronomy, if the truth be told) who find themselves so drawn to a new way of understanding the world that they actually get up from their desks, leave the security of their tenured positions, pack their bags, and set out in search of something they can’t even fully describe, explain, or predict. They only know that light is coming into the world. Somehow things are about to change and they want to be a part of it. The cost is high – their life as they had known it was about to change forever. And the reward is even higher – life as they had never known it was about to take center stage. They gained a perspective that changed everything. They would always and forever know beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is wonder in the world beyond all imagining. Anything is possible. All they had to do was choose to follow the light.

In this world of darkness and shadow that we live in today, where do we catch glimpses of God’s light? Where is the glimmering star inviting us to follow? Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy, Ph.D., is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She offers these thoughts on the business of helping to bring light into the darkness.

Dare to Vision
Out of this darkness a new world can arise, not to be constructed by our minds so much as to emerge from our dreams. Even though we cannot see clearly how it's going to turn out, we are still called to let the future into our imagination. We will never be able to build what we have not first cherished in our hearts.

Roll up your Sleeves
Many people don't get involved . . . because there are so many different issues, which seem to compete with each other. Shall I save the whales or help battered children? The truth is that all aspects of the current crisis reflect the same mistake, setting ourselves apart and using others for our gain. So to heal one aspect helps the others to heal as well. Just find what you love to work on and take joy in that. Never try to do it alone. Link up with others; you’ll spark each others’ ideas and sustain each others’ energy.

And then she adds this bit of fun and creative wisdom, just to help us keep it all in perspective.

Act your Age
Since every particle in your body goes back to the first flaring forth of space and time, you're really as old as the universe. So when you are lobbying at your congressperson's office, or visiting your local utility, or testifying at a hearing on nuclear waste, or standing up to protect an old grove of redwoods, you are doing that not out of some personal whim, but in the full authority of your 15 billion years.

So, whatever specific forms the light takes and wherever we find it, we still must act. At the end of the day the world will be filled with light when we allow it to shine in us and through us. When we choose to open ourselves to God’s light we become bearers of God’s light. That is how the world will change. That is what it means to be people of God. May it be so for us.

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