"Light for Darkness"

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

Said the prophet Isaiah some seven centuries before Christ,"‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.’"

When God first spoke these words through Isaiah, He meant them to be extremely good news—the kind of news worth getting excited about, the kind of news worth shouting about. Thick darkness covered the people, but the light of God’s glory has come! Exclamation point! Wow! Amazing! Go crazy!

Maybe you didn’t hear me. This is unbelievably good news we’re hearing here. This is stand up and dance good news here. Let me say it again: Thick darkness covered the people, but the light of God’s glory has come! Wow! Amazing! Go crazy!

You’re not jumping up and down. You’re not very excited. I’m sure you think this is good news, but maybe it’s not THAT good of news. This is news we’ve heard before. This is news we’ve heard a hundred times before.

And besides, this business about thick darkness covering the earth is a bit overstated, don’t you think? Things aren’t all that bad. We live in a very enlightened era. These are very bright and prosperous times. Today’s world is not nearly so dark as Isaiah’s must have been. So when we hear that the light of God’s glory has come, we yawn, we say "ho-hum," we move on to other things. If we are convinced that the world is bright enough as it is, then news that the light of God’s glory has come is not a big deal.

But as far as Isaiah was concerned, this news was a big deal. This was huge. As far as Isaiah was concerned, the world was desperately dark, and the light of God’s glory was a much needed solution. So what was this darkness of which he spoke? What made that darkness so bad? And what made the light so good? Maybe if we can see what Isaiah saw, we’ll be more ready to join him in celebrating the coming of the light.

In the several chapters preceding the passage I read to you a moment ago, Isaiah gives us several examples of this darkness he speaks of.

In Isaiah 56, the prophet speaks of the darkness of unfaithful shepherds—prophets, pastors, the people whom God had called to watch over His people, spiritually. These pastors weren’t doing their jobs, says Isaiah. These pastors are blind, says Isaiah. They lack knowledge. They’re watchdogs that won’t bark when danger comes near. These pastors, these prophets do nothing but lie around and get drunk and think only of their own selfish gain, telling the people what they want to hear, what makes them comfortable, rather than what they need to hear. A blind shepherd makes for blind sheep. That’s part of the darkness Isaiah speaks of.

But it’s worse. The darkness deepens.

In Isaiah chapter 57, the prophet speaks of the darkness of worshiping false gods. Idolatry, in other words. Almost as soon as God had called the Israelites out of Egypt, they struggled with idolatry. In Isaiah’s day, hundreds of years later, they struggled with idolatry. They were attracted and tempted by the gods that the nations around them were worshiping—false, invented gods that promised quick prosperity and easy sensuality. False gods which in some cases were in fact demons that demanded child sacrifice, and sometimes the Israelites obeyed. These blind sheep led by blind shepherds were worshiping idols. That’s part of the darkness Isaiah speaks of.

But it’s worse. The darkness gets even thicker.

In Isaiah chapter 58, the prophet speaks of the darkness of false worship. In other words, even when the people were gathering to worship the one True God, they were doing so falsely, they were faking it. They were going through the motions of worship without taking it seriously. On the same day that they worshiped, they ignored the poor. On the same day that they fasted before the Lord, they refused to provide clothes for the naked. On the same day that they cried out Hallelujah, Amen before the Lord, God of Israel, they refused to speak to their own families. These blind sheep led by blind shepherds were worshiping idols—and even when they worshiped the true God, their worship was a sham. That’s part of the darkness Isaiah speaks of.

But it’s still worse. The darkness becomes overwhelming.

In Isaiah chapter 59, the prophet points to the sins of the people. In verses 3 and 4 he says "your hands are stained with guilt, your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice, no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies, they conceive trouble and give birth to evil." And what is the result of all this rebellion against God? In verse 2, "your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." Is there anything darker than that—to be separated from God? Isn’t that the core definition of hell itself—separation from God?

So, it was very dark in Isaiah’s day. Thick darkness. Darkness covering all the peoples. It was a nasty situation.

But what about today? Are we in darkness? Is today’s darkness as thick as it was back then? Let’s do some comparing of our day with Isaiah’s day.

Are there pastors today who, as in Isaiah’s day, think only of themselves and tell the people only what they want to hear, pastors who are blind watchdogs that won’t bark at the spiritual dangers threatening us?

And do we struggle with idolatry today? Are we tempted to worship false gods around us, false gods that promise quick prosperity and easy sensuality? Are we attracted to the idols of money, and shopping, and pornography, and substance abuse, and gossip? Are we attracted to that greatest of all false gods—ME?

And is our worship sometimes a sham—do we say one thing in church but practice something else at home or at work? Do we nod our heads at the news that God loves us, then turn around and refuse to love our neighbor? Does God’s calling to live lives that please Him go in one ear and out the other?

And are we sinful? Do we rebel against God, doing things He has specifically told us not to do?

Our answers to these questions can only be "yes." Yes, we are in darkness—as much, if not more, than in Isaiah’s day. Yes, it is a thick darkness, so thick that we’re blinded to the things of God. Yes, it is a darkness that covers the nations. Yes, the whole world struggles and stumbles in this darkness called sin. Yes, this is a darkness from which we cannot free ourselves.

It would appear that we’re finished. But God isn’t finished yet. In 59:15.  "The Lord looked and saw that there was no one to intervene, so his own arm worked salvation for him. The Redeemer will come to those who repent of their sins, declares the Lord." We cannot save ourselves, but God can. We can’t find our way out of this darkness, but God can find us. And God, in fact, has. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you." You and I hear that news as people who were lost, people who were blind, people who had no way out. Now, there is a way. Now, there is light.

That light is the Lord’s Redeemer, the One He sent to save us from our sins. In John 8:12 Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Jesus came to overcome the darkness of sin. He healed the sick, He made the blind to see, He fed the hungry. He died on the cross in payment for the sins of the whole world and rose again in victory over sin and death. Your light has come. Your light is Jesus.

And God has taken that light of Christ and planted it within you. He has called you to repentance and faith in Jesus. He has called you to be His own. 2 Corinthians 4, "For God made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." Your light has come. That light is Jesus. That light lives within you. It gives you peace with God, and forgiveness of your sins, and a new life, and an eternal life.

And that light living within you also brings you a calling. A calling to live in the light. A calling to be the light wherever God sends you. Ephesians 5 says "you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light—light which consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth—and find out what pleases the Lord."

How appropriate it was that at Jesus’ birth, a light shined. A star shone in the heavens. A light which proclaimed the good news "‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.’" Wow! That’s amazing! Alleluia! Amen!