1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word as we observe the Epiphany of Our Lord is taken from Isaiah 60:1-6, it’s entitled, “An Epiphany Moment,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 60:1-6 says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
3. Jack & his children were traveling down the road early one morning. He was driving the children to school. It was one of those foggy mornings, but the day promised to be bright and sunny. As Jack and his children drove along through the murky, cloudy mist, they suddenly broke through the fog into a bright, brilliant clearing. The sun was shining, reflecting off the nearby water! Everything was, at least for that brief moment, crystal clear. Then they drove right back into the fog. Nothing particularly unusual, nothing uncommon about this experience, at least not in the great Northwest in which they lived. But, it was the reaction from the back seat that stood out.
4. The two boys exclaimed to their father Jack, “Daddy, we just had an epiphany moment!” Jack knew what an epiphany moment was, but he was not so sure that his boys had a clue. So, he asked. Jack was wrong! His boys knew exactly what an epiphany moment was. They explained to him that it is when something that is unclear suddenly becomes clear. Suddenly, you can see, you get the point, something is revealed that had been hidden. Just like driving through the fog into the bright light. They knew! They learned it from their Pastor in their Lutheran School chapel service.
5. Isaiah 60:1-3 says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Sounds like an epiphany moment to me. But there is darkness . . . darkness that engulfs and overwhelms, thick darkness that covers and spreads despair. There is the darkness of sin that obscures the face of our God and his relationship with his people.
6. It is an oppressive darkness that weighs heavy upon our souls. It blinds our eyes, it stops our ears, and it blankets our hearts with dread, for we can’t see, nor can we hear, our God. What is he thinking? What does his face look like? Are his eyes filled with hate and loathing at our sin? Has he covered his ears in anger to avoid the noise and chaos of this wayward world? What is our relationship with God now that sin has been brought into the land? Darkness. There is darkness. How shall we see?
7. How shall we see beyond the thick darkness of our secular world? The clouds have thickened and descended into our homes, and they surely now also threaten our places and ways of worship. How do we navigate the cold, wet, dark, and damp of this present age of ours? And how do we blindly grope our way out of the dark prison of our own sinful, corrupt, diseased flesh and blood? How do we? Darkness. So much darkness.
8. How shall we part this darkness? What must we do to pull back the veil? Where is the lamp that we might light it and drive out the darkness? How shall we . . . ? We shall not, we cannot, we do not . . . With man this is impossible. How can those blinded by the darkness lead the blind out of the darkness? How do we avoid the ditches on either side and walk the path with no light? We can’t . . .
9. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” A Light to pierce the darkness, a Light to drive away the despair, a Light that will overcome the shadow of death, dispelling it with the brilliant glory of the Lord. So says the prophet Isaiah. The day is coming when the Light shall arise.
10. And so I say to you . . . the day has come, for the Light has come into our world and revealed the face of God! The Light has revealed that which was previously hidden from our sight—an epiphany moment! Take heart! The true Light, which enlightens everyone, has come into our world. Yes, the darkness is deep, and sin, death, and the devil are worthy adversaries. Our sin is a burden we can’t bear, a darkness we can’t penetrate, and an evil we can’t escape, but take heart! The Light has come! The Light has come, and in spite of the world’s dark attempt to destroy this Light, it shall never be! The battle is fierce, the warfare long. The fight is exhausting, the struggle daunting, but take heart. We have received a great Light whom the darkness can never overcome. This is our epiphany moment!
11. And what has been revealed to us? What do we see? The baby in a manger? Yes, a baby, but so much more! The baby that Herod and Satan could not destroy. The baby that the thick darkness could not overcome. The baby, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Take heart and be of good cheer, for we have received the Light that shines forth the love and grace and mercy of God.
12. The Light, a beacon that shines forth into all the world . . . but it shines from a cross. The darkness attempted to snuff out the Light. The darkness nailed our Light to a tree and rejoiced with fiendish delight that the Light was extinguished and that thick darkness prevailed. The darkness was wrong! What appeared to be the end of the Light, a terrible defeat, became the greatest of victories. Yes, there was blood, but the blood cleanses us from sin. Yes, there was suffering and agony, but the sacrifice paid the demanded price. Yes, there was death, but the life laid down was taken back up with a resurrection! The ultimate victory of Light over darkness. The ultimate epiphany moment! The Light beams forth from the cross and the empty tomb and the darkness is defeated! Now we see! In Jesus, we see the face of God! In Jesus, we see the will and plan of God. In Jesus, we see and we walk in the light of God. An epiphany moment . . . that which was hidden is now clear.
13. Now we, the children of the Light, walk in the Light. A clear path lies before us. The Light has dispelled the darkness, and the path is revealed. There is still darkness on every side as we walk the way. There is an evil one who lurks and prowls in the shadows. And there is danger all about. The voice comes from the darkness, “Did God really say . . . ?” “Surely God would not want you to be unhappy.” “A little darkness never hurt anyone.” The voice whispers, tempts, taunts, nags, and wears on us. Suddenly the darkness does not seem so dangerous and dark. Maybe we could explore the shadows a bit. And we wander and we slip and we stumble and we fall as the darkness threatens to engulf us once again.
14. But we are children of the Light, and the darkness that could not overcome the Light shall not overcome us. Again and again the Light rescues us from the evil clutches of Satan and his twin weapons of sin and death. Again and again we receive rescue and restoration as we receive the forgiveness for our foolish wandering. Again and again we are strengthened and nurtured through Holy Word and precious Sacrament. Again and again he returns us to the path! The Light will not let the evil one snatch us from the Father’s hand.
15. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” An epiphany moment . . . that which was hidden is now clear. Now we shine with the brightness of the One who has pierced the darkness. We shine with the brightness of the One who has clothed us with his light from the cross. We shine with the brightness of the One who has emerged from the tomb and revealed the face of God to us. Jesus Christ Is Our Epiphany Moment. Our epiphany moment . . . that which was hidden is now clear! Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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