The Lutheran Hour
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"Arise! Shine! Your Light Has Come!"
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Text: Isaiah 60:1 "Arise, and shine; your light has come, the glory of the LORD has risen upon you."
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PRAYER: O Lord of love, O God of hope, we are now stepping out of a difficult year, 2001, and stepping into the uncertainties of 2002. Bless all our listeners, O Lord, with the divine assurance that You are always with Your children, even to the end of the age. O Lord, this is our prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The tumultuous year of 2001 is now behind us. The year 2002 is now before us. Those who prepare Gospel centered messages of hope on this program, which focus on the crucified and resurrected Christ, wish you a blessed new year in the crucified and resurrected Savior.
As you begin this new year of 2002, be absolutely assured your gracious heavenly Father fervently desires to give you and your entire family the solid foundation of an unfaltering faith. And upon this rock-like spiritual foundation comes God’s positive call and His promise for the new year spoken through Isaiah the prophet when He says, “Arise, and shine; your light has come.”
There are many things nowadays that might be overshadowing your hope for a blessed and a positive new year: the darkness and uncertainty in financial matters; the cloudiness of your failing health; the fear that may now continue to cover your heart from an ongoing anxiety of terrorism. All of these shades of darkness are banished. They are driven away as you focus your eyes of God-given faith upon the crucified and resurrected Christ. Jesus is the One who, with all power of heaven and earth, says to you today, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness but shall have the light of life.” This, friends, is the new life and new attitude God desires to give you through His gift of repentance and faith in the Lord.
You see, life is challenging. Life consists of getting up in morning; life consists of eating two or three times a day; of getting the children off to school; of getting to work each day; doing your part to make a marriage work; and of getting to bed at a decent hour so you’re not so tired the next day.
Now, every one of these activities can be a real struggle. However, in all of these things, God graciously desires to give you a new attitude and a new approach to life, a new strength to cope, all built upon His love, His mercy, His forgiveness, and His endless strength. This is why in Jesus Christ and through His living Word, God is saying, leave the darkness behind you. “Arise, yes, arise and shine. Your light has come!” God is now standing before you waiting to assure you of His complete forgiveness and His promise of help and strength for the new year.
Last November 11, the New York Times published an article titled “Acting Normal When Nothing Is Normal.” The author explained a “trend” for people to “fake it till you make it.” This means even if you’re scared of hijackings and bombs and anthrax or whatever, just say it is not so and keep going. Fake it!
This same New York Times author then pointed out, “Not knowing what to do with ourselves makes us react in the same old way by flying flags from car antennas and wearing ribbons on our lapels, all the while wondering whether we really ought to be aspiring to something much higher.” Then the New York Times columnist concluded: “We look everywhere for the assurance that the old life is returning.” But, we have this vague realization that looking back is not going to give us what we really need in life!
Friends, you and I need the blessed assurance that there is something larger than us. And “faking it” is simply not going to cut it! We need the divine assurance that even as thousands suddenly disappeared in the bombings of the trade towers; and just as certain as we also will soon leave this life, we increasingly seek the blessed assurance of a divine light in the darkness of the uncertainty of this life. Yes, you and I need a light for the tunnel that each of us will surely pass through as we travel from this life into the next.
This is also why it is important, so absolutely crucial, for you and your family to cling to God’s messianic promise, “Arise, and shine, your light has come!” You see, it is Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah; He is the One who has fulfilled this prophecy. Therefore, let Jesus Christ be the One who takes you out of the fog and uncertainty of the year 2001 and into the light of life, during this new year. Trust the Lord Jesus. Through God’s gift of faith, cling to His promise “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Now when you look back over the year 2001, when you recall in shame some of the things you did, and some of the things you said but now regret, this is when the devil’s darkness of guilt and shame settles over your heart. But, this is also why God is now urging you to hear the Good News — it was for all of your sins of 2001, and all your 2001 failures that Jesus bled profusely on the bloody cross and He died a death He did not deserve. He did it for you! Cleansed by the blood of Christ, forgiven from the heart of God, you can now live each day of this next year, rejoicing that you can arise each day, knowing with absolute certainty that in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, your light and your future has now arrived!
According to the Princeton Religion Research Center, immediately after the September 11 bombings, 60 percent of all Americans said they had gone to church; 74 percent prayed more than they usually do, and 77 percent said they are now showing more affection to their loved ones. Eighty seven percent said September 11 was the most tragic event in their entire lifetime, and 70 percent said they actually cried tears over the tragedy.
The aftermath of September 11 continues and impacts virtually everything we do and every decision we make. For example, The Wall Street Journal wrote that September 11 made all of us feel a little bit more mortal. This means we realize we are not going to be here on this earth forever! This has led quite a few people to go on a buying binge. According to The Wall Street Journal, there is now the “seize the day” factor, where people have decided “life is too short to hold off any longer in buying the car of their dreams.”
Well, all of these reactions are part of the mixed response to terrorist attacks. And, there is surely nothing wrong with buying things you need. However, the first thing God wants you to do is acknowledge Him. Acknowledge that your gracious heavenly Father is the One who, through His Son Jesus, has brought light and life into the world and into your life. So, when we hear the prophet Isaiah say, “Arise and shine, your light has come,” this is a solemn reminder that God does not want you to seek either light or help apart from Him. It is a solemn reminder your deepest spiritual needs are not met by some “self-help” book, or a CD, or some tape or lecture on positive thinking. Real and genuine long-lasting help comes only from the Lord. The psalmist says, “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
In the Old Testament, the word “light” is associated with the Lord. In Psalm 27:1, we read, “The Lord is my light.” In Isaiah 60:19 we read, “The Lord will be your everlasting light.” Job said, “By His light, I walked through darkness” (Job 29:3). And in Micah, we read, “When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me” (Micah 7:8).
You and I, by the grace of God, need to recapture this ancient attitude of hope all based on God’s promise that He is the light of the world. And, when darkness and uncertainty come into your life, by His grace and mercy in Jesus Christ, God will indeed drive this darkness out.
The same spirit of hope carries on, unbroken, into the central message of the New Testament. The Old Testament rabbis said the name of the Messiah was “light.” When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” He was proclaiming that He was the fulfillment of that glorious prophecy. Jesus made the strongest, the most powerful, and the most divine statement He could possibly have made. And as the drama of the New Testament unfolds, Jesus, the Light of the world, is also there. For example, when prior to his conversion, the Apostle Paul was traveling to Damascus, “Suddenly,” the Bible says, “a light from heaven flashed around him.” This was the presence of God. And then, Paul heard the voice of His Savior speaking graciously unto him! This was the new light of His new world.
The Apostle John continues to build on Jesus and His message of light and hope when he writes, “And this is the message we have heard from Jesus and announce to you that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” The Apostle John says, “If we say we have fellowship with God and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as Jesus is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).
Last November Business Week magazine reported that “antibiotic resistance is now one of the world’s most pressing public health problems.” This means bacteria and other life-threatening organisms are building up a defense against modern day medicine. This further means that in the not too distant future, medicines may no longer be able to protect us from infections.
However, in the midst of this bad news, there is God’s light of His Good News. In His holy Word, God says we should not be primarily concerned about those things that can destroy our bodies. Rather, we should be primarily concerned about those powers and spiritual infections that can destroy our souls.
And, that is precisely why Jesus is the GOOD NEWS for you today. You see, Jesus, who is the Light of the world, is always effective against the temptations and spiritual infections of the devil. And, this is why, in the midst of the bad news and the uncertainty of our day, you can “rise and shine.” In Jesus Christ, and through God’s gift of faith, your light has come. When Jesus lives in you by God’s gift of faith, no power of the devil will be able to enter your soul and destroy you. Let the promise of God spoken through the apostle John be your daily consolation and hope. “Greater is He” (Jesus Christ) the Bible says, “who is in you by faith than he (the devil) who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Two years ago, our nation’s largest newspapers carried a story about a country-western singer who is a very well known female celebrity. One day, as she traveled across the country, this celebrity stopped at a fast food restaurant. When her fans saw her name on the side of the tour bus, they began screaming for her to come out. This celebrity refused. The bus driver said she did not want to come out into the light of day because she did not have her makeup on.
The fear of finding out who one really is, is a fear of millions. No one wants to have the “light of day” exposing who we are. But the Word of God is different. God’s Word is light. And when God’s Word comes to us and shines into the deepest recesses of our hearts, this divine light exposes all of our sins and failures. We are ashamed, deeply ashamed, that we can’t cover ourselves with the makeup of excuses and alibis. And, this is, again, why Jesus and the light of His Word is so comforting. Through God’s gift of repentance and faith, Jesus places over your sin His divine makeup, His robe of perfect righteousness. You see, the Bible says God the Father, on the crucifixion cross, made Jesus to be sin in your place. And, He did this so you can now stand pure and righteous in God’s sight, never again ashamed to come into the very presence of your heavenly Father.
Arise and shine. Arise and shine, your light has come. Arise out of the fear and uncertainty of 2001. In 2002, shine with God’s gift of faith. Face your frustrations and fears with courage. Say with St. Paul, “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.” Arise and shine. Finally, let your light so shine among your neighbors and friends so they, too, may glorify your Father who is in heaven. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for January 6, 2002
ANNOUNCER: We’re here now with Dr. Wallace Schulz, Associate Lutheran Hour Speaker. I’m Mark Eischer. Dr. Schulz, you talked about research being done by organizations such as the Gallup poll which measures the unprecedented reaction to the September 11th bombing. You pointed out that 87 percent of all Americans felt this was the most tragic event of their lifetime. I’m sure perhaps most people in Canada might feel the same way. Do you think the after-effects of September 11th are still quite strong in the lives of most people or has it pretty much dissipated?
SCHULZ: Well, frankly, Mark, I think the after-effects are still quite strong. But, I wouldn’t say we are always aware of this as we begin a new day. I think there is definitely a subconscious religious or spiritual feeling among the majority of our population.
ANNOUNCER: Now, what is the foundation of this subconscious feeling?
SCHULZ: Well, here again, I think many of us perhaps feel like the San Francisco businessman whose wife was a flight attendant. He said, “September 11th may have made all of us feel a little bit more mortal.” And this means that prior to September 11th, perhaps many of us lived as if we were going to live forever.
ANNOUNCER: Why is that?
SCHULZ: Well, you see, man is interesting in that he always is spinning around himself sort of a cocoon or an atmosphere that denies a certain part of reality.
ANNOUNCER: What part of reality is the devil trying to get us to deny?
SCHULZ: On this question, let me be very honest. Being a part of this broadcast ministry for a quarter of a century and after reading many letters, I would have to say many people, at least quite a few, are tempted by the devil to deny they will someday die. I remember some years ago the well-known radio personality, Arthur Godfrey, said he always felt he was going to be an exception and would be the first person to defeat or escape death. Of course, as we know, this didn’t happen.
ANNOUNCER: What is the second most important subject that many people deny?
SCHULZ: Now, the second. I think a significant section of our population tries to deny who God really is.
ANNOUNCER: Why is that?
SCHULZ: Well, according to many modern journals and social experts, a significant percentage of our culture goes through much effort at trying to create the type of God or religion they want instead of simply and honestly opening the Bible and reading God’s own revelation of Himself. A lot of people want to create their own supreme being — that is, a God they are comfortable with.
ANNOUNCER: But why would they do that?
SCHULZ: I think the answer is really quite simple. They want to avoid finding out who God really is as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures. You see, none of us likes to hear God saying there is going to be a day of judgment, and on that day, all of us will be paid back according to what we have done — good and evil. This is what the Bible says.
ANNOUNCER: I guess it is frightening to consider because none of us has lived the life we should have lived.
SCHULZ: Exactly. Precisely. This is also why it is so important for us to proclaim God’s message of grace and mercy as we do each week on this program. God is asking you and me and our listeners to arise and shine. He is telling us that through the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ, all our sins were atoned for or paid for. The Apostle Paul says in the book of Corinthians, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Schulz, what is the bottom line?
SCHULZ: The bottom line today is this: Believe this message from God. Be baptized as the Apostle Peter says in his Pentecost sermon. Have your sins washed away. This will give you a new start for the year 2002. This is the solid spiritual foundation you need. This foundation of faith will give the light that will light up your life. This will put the old uncertainties behind you. This is the way to start the New Year — rejoicing and building upon the foundation of God’s hope in Jesus.
ANNOUNCER: May that be true for our listeners today. Thank you, Dr. Schulz. The next Lutheran Hour message is titled, “Getting a New Start.”