ARISE AND SHINE
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.’—Isaiah 60:1-3
The prophet makes a bold claim…OUR LIGHT HAS COME! The image of light and darkness is highlighted in the Book of Genesis with the first act of creation being the separation of light and darkness. The people are called to “rise up and shine,” as a response to God’s glory and the light of the Lord arriving in their midst. The world is mired down in darkness; but, God is doing something about it.
The Gospel of John will make much of this metaphor of light. In John 1 it refers to Jesus arriving on the scene: The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world (John 1:9). Here we learn five things about light:
- Jesus is the light of humankind (1:4)
- The light is the source of life (1:4)
- The light shines in the darkness and is not the darkness (1:5)
- John is not the light, but John told others about the light (1:6-8)
The true light gives light to everyone, but is also not recognized (1:9-10) John (3:19–21) Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But, whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Later, John 8:12 has Jesus saying: “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” In fact, John 12:36 says, “Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” So, now we move from Jesus alone being identified as the light, to people becoming “children of light” by faith in the light of Jesus!
For the authors of Scripture, a world filled with darkness was a very real experience: No light switches, just oil lamps and hopefully, a clear starlit sky or full moon to give any hope of illumination in their darkened existence. We gain a tiny glimpse of their fearfilled world when the power goes off in the midst of a storm and we are left to navigate ourselves through a house of daunting shadows and obstacles. Many of my neighbors have the convenience of a generator that seamlessly restores the light in the midst of darkness. To many of us, prolonged darkness is unknown. How will we be light and offer light in this new year? What does the coming of Christ bring into our lives that can allow us to reflect the splendor of His coming?
Let’s “spark” some faith in action in the days ahead!
Happy New Year,
Pastor David