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Hi, I'm Lori, and I'm part of the Oakland community.
Today's reading is first from Isaiah 60, verses 1-16, and second from John 1, verses 14-18.
A reading from the prophet Isaiah.
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 on you, and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look about you.
All assemble and come to you.
Your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip.
Then you will look and be radiant.
Your heart will throb and swell with joy.
The wealth on the seas will be brought to you.
To the riches of the nations will come.
I'm sorry, to you the riches of the nations will come.
Herds of camels will cover your land.
Young camels of Midian and Epa.
And from Sheba will come, and all from Sheba will come,
bearing gold and incense, and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you.
The rams of Nebioth will serve you.
And they will be accepted as offerings on my altar.
And I will adorn my glorious temple.
Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?
Surely the islands look to me.
In the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your children from afar,
with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel.
For he has endowed you with splendor.
Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you.
Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion.
Your gates will always stand open.
They will never be shut, day or night,
so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations.
Their kings led in triumphal procession.
For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish.
It will be utterly ruined.
The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
the juniper, the fir, and the cypress together,
to adorn my sanctuary.
And I will glorify the place for my feet.
The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you.
All who despise you will bow down at your feet,
and will call you the city of the Lord,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Although you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one traveling through,
I will make you the everlasting pride and joy of all generations.
You will drink the milk of nations,
and be nursed at royal breasts.
Then you will know that I, the Lord,
am your Savior, your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Jacob.
The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.
A reading from the Gospel according to John.
John.
The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John testified concerning him.
He cried out, saying,
This is the one I spoke about when I said,
He who comes after me has surpassed me,
because he was before me.
Out of his fullness,
we have all received grace,
in place of grace already given.
For the law was given through Moses.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God,
but the one and only Son,
who is himself God,
and is in closest relationship with the Father,
has made him known.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Good morning, Christ Church.
We are about five days out from Christmas Eve,
and some of us are thinking,
hurry up,
some of us are thinking,
slow down.
Our presents are beginning to pile up
under the tree just a bit,
and I've mentioned to you
that the tree we got this year was huge,
because I wanted to get my money's worth this year,
so lots of girth.
And, you know,
I kind of feel dumb with our tree,
especially with the job of putting the lights on.
That's typically Catherine's job,
because it's a geometry problem
that's way beyond my competency.
I'm not really qualified for this eight-foot cone,
and, like, 40 feet of string,
and the question is, you know,
how many times do you bank it around that cone?
And for me,
I'm going, like, two-thirds of the way up
and running out of lights.
So, and once I'm not going back down,
I'm not going to unwind.
I'm just going to take what's left,
string it straight to the top,
and there's, like, one light at the top of the tree.
So that's why that's Catherine's job.
Although my way would be a nice way
to share the Gospel, you know,
here's all the light at the bottom of the tree.
That's paradise.
Here's all the darkness in the middle of the tree.
That's paradise lost.
And here's the one light at the top.
That's Jesus Christ.
He's the hope and the light of the world.
Catherine has our tree.
I want to start today by saying
that light is the opposite of darkness.
I know I just blew your minds,
so I'm going to say it one more time.
Light is the opposite of darkness.
And the people of God receiving this text of Isaiah 60
are a people who are living in darkness,
people living in distress and gloom,
sorrow and anguish and oppression.
Because of the Babylonian invasion,
the Babylonian exile,
as we said before, they've had loved ones die.
They've had their families ripped apart.
They've had their homes torn down,
their city burned to ashes,
their temple has been reduced to rubble.
And they've been living as refugees
in a foreign land for quite a long time.
And perhaps you feel that you're living in darkness today.
You look at your life and you wonder
if God is present with you in any way.
Maybe you feel like these people,
like a smoldering wick that's about to burn out.
All the color in your life has gone away.
And all you can see is brokenness and bondage and suffering.
And the image here with two words of Isaiah 60
is sort of like a teenager that's asleep on a Saturday morning
and they're in a dark room.
It's just, they're dead to the world.
And mom comes into that dark room
and she throws back the curtains
and light comes flooding in.
And what does she say?
She says, rise and shine.
A new day has dawned.
And of course, the teenager so appreciates
the wisdom of his mother
that he just bounces out of bed.
But the message today from Isaiah 60
is that God's light will draw all nations
to know him as savior.
That's the promise of Isaiah 60,
that God's light will draw all nations
to know him as savior.
And I want us to think for a minute about God's,
these two words that God speaks to his people,
rise and shine.
Verse one, arise and 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.
God is likening himself to the sun,
the sun that rises at dawn,
the sun that breaks the darkness with light,
the sun that scatters the night away.
And how is it that God is the light of the world?
Well, we know that the sun gives life
and that if the sun were to go out,
if it were just to never come back out again,
we would all freeze to death, right?
If the sun went down tonight
and didn't come up tomorrow,
all of our plants would begin to die
and it would kill the food chain
and we would be dead pretty soon.
And so imagine a world with no sun.
It's all darkness and death.
And now imagine a world with no God,
no one to give us life,
no one to give us being and existence.
The light of the sun is an image of life.
But the light of the sun is also an image of the truth.
We were locking up here on Sunday night
after Lessons and Carols
and Walter, our third child,
began turning out the lights
as I was moving around the sanctuary.
So I started bumping into pews, right?
Because without the light,
I didn't know the truth about where I was
and what was in front of me
and where I was going.
And it's similar with us.
Without the light of God's truth,
we get hurt.
We feel pain.
This is why the psalmist says in Psalm 36,
in your light, we see light.
The sun is not an object that you look at.
It's the way that you see everything else.
If you look directly at the sun,
you're going to burn your eyes out.
But if you look,
but you look at everything else
by the light of the sun.
And God says,
I'm going to shine my light on you.
And when I shine my light on you,
I'm not only going to give you life,
I'm going to pour out all of my knowledge
and my wisdom and my truth on you.
Light is life-giving.
Light is truth-revealing.
And light also is joy-producing.
Why do we post all of our sunset
and sunrise pictures on social media?
Right?
Why do we go in search of these things?
Why do I go out on these dark days of December
and look for that one sunny spot
on those steps over there
and on the steps out front of the church
to read my book for 15 minutes?
Because it makes me feel good.
Because we're searching for beauty.
We're searching for joy.
We're searching for something to gladden our heart.
And God is reassuring his people
that sit in the deep darkness
of the Babylonian exile
and their return
and all their collective despondency
and their individual depression.
He says to them,
I'm going to shine on you like the rising sun.
And my light is going to give you life
and truth and joy.
Notice the double imperative
that God says to his people.
He says, in light of that,
rise and shine.
Rise and shine.
Get up, my people,
and glow in the dark.
Why?
Because, verse one,
the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
The light of my eternal glory
is going to shine on you.
And because of that, verse three,
nations will come to your light
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Because my light
and my glory
is flooding you,
the people,
you are going to shine
with brightness
and radiance
and brilliance
and glory
and beauty.
And when you do,
you're going to have this magnetic
drawing power
that's going to cause the world
to run to you
to get the life,
to get the truth,
to get the joy
that the light of my glory
brings.
One of the most audacious claims
that Jesus makes
in the Gospels
is he says,
I am the light of the world.
But I think what's even more audacious
than that
is in the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus turns to his disciples
and he says,
you are the light of the world.
And the Apostle Paul
says this in Ephesians 5,
he says,
for you were once darkness
but now you are light
in the Lord,
live as children
of the light.
And I just want to encourage us
as we think about
the light of God
shining like the sun
that we would start our days
over these stressful days
of the holidays
as the sun is coming up
that we would begin our days
with 10 minutes
or 15 or 20 minutes
just letting the objective reality
of God's light
come flooding in
and become the subjective experience
of our lives.
That we would allow
God's light
to dawn upon our souls.
That we would allow
the light of God's word
and God's spirit
to flood us
on the inside
and illumine us
from the inside out
that his life coming in
would give us his life
and his truth
and his joy
and when it does that
it will make us
a radiant
and an attractive people
that Isaiah says
will glow in the dark.
We will arise
and shine.
You with me so far?
God's light.
What a beautiful image.
God's light
it says
will draw all
the nations.
God's light
will draw
all the nations.
How many
nations or cultures
do you think
are represented
here at Christ Church
this morning?
You can look around
take a guess.
How many nations?
How many cultures?
I can't even begin
to parse
the complexities
of just this little room
of people
but I think
that's directly tied
to Isaiah 60
this vision
of the city of God
this picture
of Jerusalem
renewed
this image
of Zion
exalted
and it shows us
this text
shows us
what it means
when the Lord's prayer
is answered.
When the kingdom
of God
comes on the earth
as it is in heaven
Isaiah 60 says
when it does
all the nations
and all their kings
will come
to live and worship
in the city of God
and when they do
enemies will be reconciled
war will be over
there will be no more
ethnic divisions
everyone will live together
in unity
and peace
it's a vision
of the city of God
as a place
of spiritual
brightness
and illumination
where the light
of God's glory
is drawing
the nations together
for their healing
and in verse 5
it says
then you will look
and be radiant
your heart will throb
and swell
with joy
why is this
such a thrilling
and exciting
vision
because it's a city
that no human
efforts
at urbanization
have yet been able
to produce
it's a city
that's built
by God
and what is the first
thing that God does
for this city
of Zion
we're told in verse 4
it says
lift up your eyes
and look about you
all assemble
and come to you
your sons come
from afar
and your daughters
are carried
on the hip
the last of the scattered
and exiled
children of Abraham
are going to be
willingly
and gently brought
from all parts
of the world
north, south, east, and west
the people of God
are all going to come
and be at home
and be at rest
with their God
but then it gets better
it says
in verse 5
look and be radiant
your heart will throb
and swell with joy
why?
because the wealth
on the seas
will be brought
to you
the riches
of the nations
will come
surprisingly
all the Gentile nations
will stream
to Zion's light
they're going to be
like moss
to the flame
of God's glory
and it's this great image
of a caravan
of nations
all coming
to this
one city
and as they come
they're carrying
Zion's exiles home
but when they arrive
what do they do?
they bring all
of their wealth
all the abundance
of the nations
all the finest
that they have
and they give it
to God
I love verse 11
it says
your gates
will always stand open
they will never be shut
day or night
so that people
may bring you
the wealth
of the nations
the gates
of the city
are open
24-7
because the wealth
of the nations
is being continually
hauled
through those gates
in a constant
unending influx
of accumulated
foreign goods
to transform
and to glorify
the city
of God
you guys with me
so far?
can you mind
if I just nerd out
for a second
on this text?
I went to seminary
for three years
so it's got to be
worth something
okay?
when you hear
these places
Midian
Ifa
Sheba
Kedar
Nebeo
Tarshish
Lebanon
what does that
mean to us?
it means nothing
to us
but these were
the seven most
important trading
centers of the
ancient world
New York
London
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Tokyo
Singapore
Frankfurt
this is where
it's at
and this is where
it's all coming
from
and I want to
explain to you
the camels
and the ships
that are coming
from these trading
centers
in verse 6
the herds of
camels will
cover your land
young camels
of Midian
and Ephah
and all from
Sheba will come
bearing gold
and incense
we'll come back
to that in a second
and proclaiming
the praise
of the Lord
these camel trains
were the ships
of the desert
that came from
the east
from Arabia
and they were
symbols of great
economic power
and mobility
and they came
bringing what?
gold
and incense
and then in
verse 9
we're told
that surely
the islands
look to me
in the lead
are the ships
of Tarshish
bringing your
children from
afar
and with their
silver and gold
to the honor
of the Lord
your God
the Holy One
of Israel
for he has
endowed you
with splendor
just as these
camels come
from the east
from Arabia
so these ships
of Tarshish
come from the west
from Spain
and they're these
impressive
vessels of transport
that bring people
and silver
and gold
through the whole
Mediterranean world
and it's this image
of busy ports
endless loading
docks
crowded scales
agents hurrying
and scuttling about
shipping
and receiving
it's an image
of exotic
cultural products
in enormous
commercial wealth
coming flooding
and pouring
into the city
of God
and remember
who's hearing
this vision
it's people
maybe like you
who've given up
hope
that any sort
of quality
of life
is possible
for them
anymore
these are people
who lack
sufficient materials
to rebuild
the temple
of God
these are a people
for as long
as they can remember
the people of God
have been paying
imperial tribute
to other nations
to Assyria
to Babylon
to the Persians
and now here
all the goods
that have been
flowing out
from the people
of God
are somehow
miraculously
dramatically
reversed
and flowing
back in
the light
of the glory
of God
is so filling
the people
of God
that they glow
in the dark
and they draw
all these nations
to bring with them
their wealth
so that the camels
of Midian
why are they coming
in verse 6
they're coming
to proclaim
the praise
of the Lord
these ships
of Tarshish
in verse 9
why are they coming
they're coming
to honor the Lord
the Holy One
of Israel
all the technological
and cultural
and military
and commercial goods
that once were signs
of pagan power
are here in this moment
being cleansed
of all their prideful
and idolatrous functions
to serve a very different
purpose
all the camels
of Arabia
all the ships
of Tarshish
are coming
from the east
and coming
from the west
why
for the glory
of God
why
all of this
luxury
and extravagance
and prosperity
and generosity
this vision
tells us
that just as
the kings
and queens
brought tribute
to Solomon
so he could build
Yahweh's first temple
now he's doing it again
but this time
bigger
and better
you see all these
this gold
in verse 6
from Sheba
is going to beautify
the house of the Lord
and all that incense
is going to make
for a fragrant
sweet smelling
worship to God
and these flocks
from Kedar
in verse 7
these are going to become
costly sacrifices
on the altar
of the Lord
to adorn
his glorious temple
with his merciful
substitutionary
atonement
in verse 13
the timber
from Lebanon
is going to come
and strengthen
and adorn
the Lord's sanctuary
and glorify
the place
it says
where his feet
mysteriously
walk
among us
mortals
and verse 10
is shocking
the nations
and the kings
are not only
going to provide
the raw materials
but they themselves
are going to roll up
their sleeves
and get their hands
dirty
as they
begin to build
the house
of the Lord
themselves
you see
this new city
exists
for something
beyond itself
and beyond
its own
pleasure
and self
actualization
this is a place
where every knee
can come
and bow
and every tongue
can come
and confess
that Yahweh
the Holy One
of Israel
is the Savior
and Redeemer
of the whole world
Isaiah 60
reveals
that the world's
achievements
and wealth
and power
are destined
not for destruction
but for transformation
that each
cultural artifact
of every
diverse
and distinct
people group
will be put
into the service
of the glory
of God
this is a place
for all nations
and all cultures
to come
and surrender
allegiance
with extravagant
generosity
for the enhancing
of God's worship
for the building
up of the house
of the Holy One
of Israel
for the extending
of His kingdom
in every direction
every culture
is bringing
their best
to worship
the Lord
and that's why
friends
that's why
we come here
every Sunday
to bring
our unique gifts
to bring the best
that we have
to proclaim
the praise
of the Lord
to put our
sacrificial offerings
on His altar
and to adorn
and beautify
the glorious temple
of His diverse
global
multicultural
international
church
amen
God's light
we're told
is going to draw
all the nations
arise and shine
glow in the dark
my people
because I want to draw
all the nations
to myself
why
God's light
will draw
all nations
to know Him
as the Savior
to know Him
as the Savior
it's December 19th
so some of you
may be wondering
okay this is great
but what does all this
have to do with Christmas
I want to draw
your attention
back to verse 6
where it says
herds of camels
will come
from Midian
Ephah
and Sheba
and they're going to come
bearing gold
and incense
and proclaiming
the praise
of the Lord
and also verse 14
where it says
the children of your oppressors
will come bowing before you
all who despise you
will bow down
at your feet
and then in verse 16
then you will know
that I am the Lord
I the Lord
am your Savior
your Redeemer
the Mighty One
of Jacob
the question with these
prophetic texts
is always
when
and where
and how
is this going to happen
and the Gospels tell us
the Gospel of Matthew
tells us
that these wise kings
from the east
from Arabia
they came on camels
to the city
of Zion
and they asked
where is the one
born king of the Jews
and when they finally
found him
they saw the child
and were told
in the Gospels
that they bowed down
and they worshipped him
and what did they do
they opened their treasures
to him
and what were the gifts
of those Gentile kings
presented to him
gold
incense
and myrrh
kids you can come
study our little
nativity set
here from Rwanda
to see these gifts
that these kings
have brought
to Jesus
and why do they
give these gifts
to him
is it because
he's such a cute baby
these are wise kings
who've been seeking
the mystery
and meaning
of the cosmos
all their lives
these are men
who plumb the depths
of the wisdom
that history
and religion
and philosophy
has to offer
and at the end
of all their searching
they find themselves
drawn to this reality
from John chapter 1
verse 14
the word became flesh
and made his dwelling
among us
we have seen his glory
the glory of the only son
who came from the father
full of grace
and truth
why do these kings
from the east
bow down
why do they worship
why do they
pour out their treasures
because here is the word
the logos of God
the logic of God
the deep inner wisdom
that made the worlds
the logic that is beyond
all human logic
and that logic of God
has been made flesh
in a real historical person
the divine
preexistent
eternal
all creating
lord of nature
and of history
has become human
what mattered
has become matter
what gives meaning
is now material
and the life of the universe
is embodied
in this vulnerable
child
so that when they see
his face
they see the face
of God
and when they look
in his eyes
God is looking back
at them
and when they speak
the name of this one
who's born from the womb
of Mary
and birthed in a cave
in Bethlehem
they're calling on the name
of almighty God
the word
became flesh
he made his dwelling
among us
literally
it says
the word became flesh
and he tabernacled
among us
he became a temple
in our midst
so that these words
of Isaiah 60
about all the nations
streaming
to worship
at the house
of the Lord
John 1
tells us
that this child
is that point
of intersection
between the timeless
and time
between heaven
and earth
between humanity
and divinity
here the light
of the glory
of God
shines
and draws
these wise kings
from the east
they thought
to themselves
we have gone
to extraordinary
lengths
to get to this
cradle
but when they get
there
they only realize
that God
has gone to
extravagant lengths
to get into
a personal
relationship
with each
one
of them
and when these
kings see
in Jesus
this God
who is full
of grace
and truth
this God
who is full
of love
and faithfulness
what do they do
they bow down
and they worship
him
and they pour
out the best
that their culture
has
to offer
if you got
on a plane
today
and you
flew
to Israel
and you
went to
the church
of the nativity
in Bethlehem
the site
of Jesus
birth
you would
find that
the door
of that church
is so small
and so low
that you're
literally forced
to stoop down
if you want
to enter into it
it's one of my
favorite churches
in the whole world
you have to bow
down
to go inside
and once you're
in there
if you want
to go
to the cave
where Jesus
was born
you have to
walk down
these steps
and you have
to bend
your head
low
to get down
there
and then many
people once
they get down
to that level
they bow down
on the ground
so that they
can touch
the rocks
of that cave
and some people
just kiss
the dirt
that's in there
and you might
think well
what's up
with all this
stooping
and bending
and bowing
well when Isaiah
says in verse 16
then you will know
that I
the Lord
your Savior
your Redeemer
the Mighty One
of you
no one could
have imagined
that God
was going to
empty himself
of all of his
glory
and stoop down
as low as a
tiny crying
baby in a
manger
to be our
Savior
no one
could fathom
that God
would bend
as low as
a man
of sorrows
and a friend
of sinners
to become
our Redeemer
no one
could even
conjure up
this image
of the Mighty
One of Jacob
bowing down
as low as a
slave
to wash
our feet
no one
could have
possibly come up
with the idea
that God
became like us
so that he could
stretch out his arms
to give us
a hug
and absolutely
no one
would have
ever
ever imagined
that that God
on Good Friday
would stretch out
those arms
on his cross
and that the light
of the world
the light of the glory
of God
would be plunged
into the darkness
to bear the weight
of our guilt
and shame
to pay the debt
of our selfishness
and sin
and to die
the death
that we deserve
to die
and you see
that's the reason
we stoop
and we bend
and we bow
as Christians
because the Holy One
of Israel
stooped
and bent
and bowed
to become
our Savior
and to become
our Redeemer
and so Christ
Church
that's my prayer
for us
that we would
arise
and that we
would shine
that we would
glow in the dark
that God
would so shine
the light of his
glory on us
the glory of his
one and only son
that we would
become transfigured
into brilliant
illumined
radiant
beautiful
Christ-like
life-giving
truth-revealing
joy-producing
people
who in our
stooping
and our
bending
and our
bowing
before God
and before
other people
we would shine
the light of God's
glory into this
world
that we would
shine the light
of God's glory
into the city
where every
people and tribe
and nation
and tongue
could be drawn
to this
stooping
bending
and bowing
Savior
whose light
shines in the
darkness
and the darkness
has not
overcome it
this is my
prayer
in the name
of the Father
Son and Holy
Spirit
Amen