November 27, 2022 Text: Isaiah 2:1-5
Dear Friends in Christ,
OK, I admit it. I love the darkness. If I lived alone, you would never know I was home. When we go out at night and I am the first one back in the house, I don’t turn on a light. I hang up my coat, walk up the stairs and then maybe flip on the TV. If I work at night at church – same thing. I come in the front door and walk to my office in the dark. I leave the same way. One of the greatest sleeps I ever had was in a room with no windows. Loved it.
How about you? Same thing or do you flip a light on as soon as you can? You don’t care for the darkness or walking down the hallways with your hand on the wall. Any adults still have a night light?
While I enjoy the dark, I do not care for the dark times we live in. The heart of men and women can be cruel and nasty. Some people want their way so bad in the world they will lie and cheat and manipulate and their soul is so cold it almost isn’t there.
Ancient Judah was living in the same conditions. When Isaiah was doing his prophetic work, Israel had split in two. It was a time of darkness. We know. We need the reminder . . .
“A NEEDED LIGHT IN OUR DARK TIMES”
In Judah the people were far from God in their hearts. They didn’t trust the Lord, they were looking to the outside for peace and security. They were selfish and greedy. The courts could be bought. Most people preferred injustice if it benefited them.
Has a ring of plausibility, doesn’t it? Look around. People today are so selfish that they don’t care about justice. As long as it benefits what they believe then it is ok. People today don’t care about the minds of our young people. It is the adults making the decisions who are messing with these young brains. People today can attack the faith around the world, and nobody seems to think it is important. People today in their speech take the 1st Amendment way past what the framers of our Constitution had in mind. You can’t just say what you want at all times. If we let all this continue, we will no longer live in a civilized society. The road ahead can be dark and lonely, and we can get depressed thinking there is no end in sight.
What we need is a light in our dark times. Isaiah called the people of Judah to do that by looking ahead. Days will come when people from all nations will stream to worship the true God. The little hill where the temple stood in Jerusalem will become the greatest mountain. People will listen to the teachings of the Lord, and do them. There will be peace. Swords will become plows to provide food to eat. Isaiah’s message is simple: walk in the promise of this light of the Lord during dark times. Better days will come.
And they did. The days of light arrived a little over seven hundred years after Isaiah wrote these words. Jesus, the light of the world, came down from heaven above. “Peace on earth,” the angels sang when Jesus was born. People flocked to listen to the Savior when he preached His Sermon on the Mount. He instructed Peter to put away the sword when Jesus was arrested.
Jesus is the light in our dark times. On the cross, the world was plunged into eternal darkness in the middle of the day. Jesus took the selfishness and the cold hearts and the injustice and the filthy language and the power plays, all these dark times melodramas, it all went with Him on a wooden cross on a hill outside of Jerusalem. He died there for everything the world has done or will do to blacken our hearts. After death, His darkness continued in a tomb with a stone rolled in front of it. Dark, dark, dark.
The dark, dark, dark was shattered. The tomb had light. Jesus as he was surrounded by angels shone brightly. He came walking out and the promise of Isaiah was kept.
Do you see the fulfillment of the prophecy? All nations worship the true God. On every continent this day worship services were held. People on every continent heard God’s Word. People on every continent were reminded of the light – Jesus Christ their Savior from sin. Hundreds of languages were heard. People on every continent were in church and Bible study and they want to do what is right. With the Holy Spirit’s help, they want to walk in the light.
Yet, we still wait for the final fulfillment. Where nations worship God without persecution. Swords are laid down. When will this all happen? On the Last Day. On the day Jesus returns in power and glory and light. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. We still wait.
While I enjoy the darkness do you know what I always see when I leave the church at night? This eternal light in our sanctuary. A reminder that I don’t go out into a dark world alone. Jesus goes with me in His Word. Jesus goes with me in His Sacrament. Jesus goes with me in my prayers. A Needed Light In Our Dark Times.
Amen.