“God Sends His Light” Isaiah 9:1-4

St. John’s - East Moline 01/27/08

Intro.: Have you ever been in a place where there’s no light whatsoever? If you’ve ever gone on a cave tour you may have gotten to that point when they turn out all the lights. Within seconds you can feel the darkness pressing in on you, surrounding you, tightening around you; for some the experience is terrifying. What a relief it is when they turn the lights back on and continue the tour. The moment light returns darkness flees and you begin to feel more at ease.

This morning the Prophet Isaiah speaks to us about darkness and light. He speaks to us about living in the gloomy darkness of this sinful world, but also offers a message of hope and encouragement. As we live and work in this sin-darkened world we are not overwhelmed by it because in Christ God has sent His saving light into the world. He sends us a light that shines out of the darkness and a light that shines out for all.
I. A Light That Shines Out Of Darkness.
A. The kingdoms of Judah and Israel at the time of Isaiah were living in moral and spiritual darkness. It was a darkness of the soul that was more smothering and terrifying than the blackened depths of any earthly cave. To truly understand their darkness we have to go back to the time of King Solomon’s death, when the nation of God’s people was divided into two kingdoms, Israel to the north and Judah to the south.
Now, God had given his people very explicit instructions about how and where they were to worship Him. He had commanded them to worship him only at the temple in Jerusalem. God didn’t want his people to be caught up in the culture and false worship of the Canaanites who lived around them.

The Canaanite religion involved fertility gods, who were worshiped with emotional frenzies and by engaging in carnal relations with shrine prostitutes. These activities took place on the hilltops and sacred groves all around the land of Canaan. To prevent His people from offending Him with such displays God gave His people unique ways and a specific place for worship. At the temple in Jerusalem as they received His gifts, heard the words He had spoken, and offered the prophetic sacrifices He commanded He promised He would be with them and bless them.
It didn’t take long for the people of the northern kingdom to become involved in the idol worship of the Canaanites around them. They prostituted themselves to the false gods, they may have even sacrificed children to some of the idols, and they forgot the Lord. They were plunged into a horrible spiritual darkness.
To punish the spiritually lost ten tribes, around the time of the prophet Isaiah, and during Isaiah’s ministry, the Lord used a nation from the north called the Assyrians to sweep down and carry them off, never to be heard from again. The Assyrians passed through the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali along the western side of the Sea of Galilee, and they slaughtered or deported the majority of the people who lived there. Now we can see why Isaiah refers to Zebulun and Naphtali as living in the land of the shadow of death.

B. Yet, in spite of their idol worship and the way the people had deserted Him, God still loved them, and intended to keep His promise to bring salvation to all people, beginning with them. Isaiah announces this gracious promise to them saying, “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—— The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

In the land of darkness God sent his light into the world. To the people walking around in a great spiritual darkness, a light dawned. That light was none other than Jesus Christ.
Our Gospel announces that this prophecy was fulfilled when Christ came to Galilee, where He carried out the greatest part of his earthly ministry? He performed his first miracle at Cana in Galilee. He resided at Capernaum in Galilee. He preached and taught and performed miracles in the regions around the Sea of Galilee. It was there, in the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali that God chose to let His saving light first shine. Jesus came to the people living in darkness, and opened their eyes to see the truth that their Savior had come and God’s promise was fulfilled. He took away the gloom of their sin, overcame the darkness of their souls, and dispelled the shadow of death that loomed over them. He filled them with the certain hope of forgiveness for their idolatry and eternal life. Jesus was the light shining out of the darkness. He was the promised messiah that would save the people from their sins.

Transition: We can all give thanks to God that the light he sent into the world was for us too.

II. A Light That Shines Out For All.
Like the children of Israel we also have fallen into the sin of idolatry. God commands us to put him first above all things. He is to come before work and play, treasure and pleasure, even friend and family. Yet, how often are we guilty of disobeying that commandment. You see anything that we give priority over God becomes an idol. None of us truly put God first and few of us really take a stand for Him. Some of us have to work with people who constantly curse and swear and brag about the evils in their lives, but are afraid to warn them about what God has to say about it. We live in a world that mocks Christianity and condemns it as a religion of fools and hate mongers, but we rarely speak out to correct these misunderstandings. Daily the false gods of our society surround us and we worship them. The evils of an unchristian sin darkened world bombard us from every direction and we ascend to their high-places. The fertility gods of our society tell us to give into our carnal desires and surrender the temples of our bodies to others and we prostitute ourselves and pollute the sacred gift of sex that God has gave us to be celebrated in marriage, alone. The gods of silver and gold tell us to forsake everything in search of the almighty dollar.

We, like the people of Israel, the people living in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali come before the Lord determined to follow him but become easily distracted and quickly fall into the ways of this world of darkness. We, the people living in the lands of Illinois and Iowa are people who feel the gloom of our sin, the darkness of our souls, and the weight of the shadow of death that covers us.
But God has sent his light into the world to save us, all of us. Jesus tells us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” God sent His Son to bring us the light of salvation. He is the light who has come into the world, misunderstood and rejected, He became our substitute under the law and under God’s judgment. Jesus kept all of God’s commandments perfectly because we do not and can not. Where we fail to put God first, above all things, Jesus succeeded. It was God’s will that Jesus suffer and die for the sins of the world and Jesus carried out his Father’s will. The night be he died on the cross for you and me Jesus prayed “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” For Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, His Heavenly Father and His Heavenly Father’s will always came first. By carrying out God’s will to saves us from our sins by offering His life into death as our payment, our debt of sin to God has been wiped out and we have been brought out of darkness into the marvelous light of salvation and life with God.
Right now, in this Gospel, Christ continues to come to us as a light shining out of the darkness. Here we leave the gloomy haunts of darkness and Jesus shines on us, the love of God warms our souls, and we see the glory of God’s grace in our Savior. As we come to this place where the Lord promises to offer us His gifts in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to hear Him speak to us in His own words, and to offer our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, God promises to come to us and bless us with life and salvation. We are the people who have seen a great light – the light of Christ! And just as the shining of the dawning sun chases away the darkness of night and brings light to us in the morning so also God’s light of salvation in Christ shines out for us and through us to all people.

God is using us to bring His saving light into the lives of others. You are the people who live in the lands of darkness. You live among people for whom you are to be a light and beacon for Christ, so that the holy nation of God’s people may be multiplied and the kingdom of heaven spread to the ends of the earth. Equipped with the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit, you have the privilege of bringing God’s light into your world to drive away the darkness of sin, guilt and death for others. You have the privilege of let your light, the light of Christ, shine so that the gloom of others may give way to joy. Isaiah tells us that the rejoicing of those upon whom the light has come will be like the joy people have at harvest time; a joy that acknowledges not only the fruits of God’s labor but a joy that give thanks for the abundance of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus. This is our joy and the joy we have to share! God has made our lives glorious and bright! Our light has come! Jesus is our light and our salvation! Praise God, Amen.