December 26, 2021 Text: Isaiah 9:2
Dear Friends in Christ,
Ever asked an older person what they want for Christmas and they tell you that they don’t need anything, they have everything they want. I get that sentiment as I get older. I would not have understood it as a child. But you and I look around at all the blessings the Lord provides and we really do have everything that we need.
Almost everything. We need the Lord. You light up every room in your house like the 4th of July but it is not the same as being in the sunshine. You can live places that get over 300 days of sunshine like Toni and I did in Littlefield, Texas and a person can still be in spiritual darkness.
Without God’s sunrise in our lives, without God’s Light of day, Jesus Christ, the darkness can be frightening and oppressive. It’s the day after Christmas and we continue to celebrate . . .
“THE GREAT LIGHT OF JESUS”
Our text once again, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” Israel is in darkness at the time Isaiah wrote this. The Assyrians have invaded and destroyed the land. A few survivors struggle to hang on in desolation. When all hope seems lost, God’s promise comes. A Light will dawn on them. It is so certain it is even described in past tense. “They have seen a great light,” and “on them has light shined.”
This light is not just for those people despairing in Israel. It is for all people, Jew and Gentile. That means when we see our nation growing morally and spiritually weak, when we see so many signs of the last times and when we deal with the upheavals in our own lives, the Light shines for us. The light shining from Jesus shows He is the way to the kingdom of God. He keeps us safe through faith no matter what darkness we walk through. When we have faith in Jesus as our Light, guess what happens to our fears of death and darkness? They melt away. They are replaced with joy.
Seven hundred years after this promise from Isaiah, the Light, dawned. That’s the message of Christmas. A few shepherds first receive him. Later a few Wise Men receive the Light of the world. While the world is filled with those who received the Christ child in faith the last few days, the doubters and rejecters are all around.
Herod rejected him. The priests, Pharisees and Sadducees, for the most part, reject Jesus. Not many people welcomed Jesus as the Light. Most people liked the way things were. After three years of Jesus’ ministry, how many were there in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost? Only about 120. John says in his Gospel that Jesus “the true light, which gives light to everyone . . . came to his own and his own people did not receive him.” (John 1:9, 11) The people who needed Him the most rejected Him.
A Pastor once called on a woman who was very ill. She was not going to get better. She was so afraid that she kept her light on all the time figuring if she were awake she wouldn’t die. It couldn’t possibly work. She got exhausted. Sooner or later she was going to die. On a spiritual level, she didn’t understand, she was right. If she could just see the Light, Light with a capital L, she wouldn’t die. She didn’t need a light bulb. She needed the light of Christ. Living by this Light when she took her last breath she would live. That is the message for us that shines in the Gospel. Jesus the Light shines in the darkness of death. He receives us into the eternal light of His heaven.
There is another story the complete opposite of the lady who was afraid to die. This woman was in her 80’s and in and out of the hospital. Her world was shrinking but she still exhibited her faith and generosity.
Another trip to the hospital came and the Pastor rushed to visit. She was barely conscious. The Pastor read Scripture and said a prayer. He prayed for healing. He left things in God’s hands and returned a few days later. His parishioner was now sitting up and talking. She scolded her Pastor, “I was ready to go and be with Jesus. But you prayed for me and I got better.” That woman did not need electric light bulbs to keep her awake. She’d seen the light in Jesus and could go to sleep in his arms anytime.
We don’t stumble in the dark to find Jesus. On Christmas, the day after Christmas and all the other days we have, Jesus the Light is God’s gift to us through His Word. Hear the Word with faith, and the Light will dawn.
Amen.