Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 60:1-6
Epistle Lesson; Ephesians 3:2-12
Gospel Lesson; Matthew 2:1-12
Sermon Text; Isaiah 60:1-6

This morning I begin with a cute little story, leading into the introduction of my sermon.

When I was in seminary, I lived two houses down from the president of the seminary. At that time, the president was Wilhelm Petersen. President Petersen walked in the neighborhood, every afternoon. He would always be giving me a hard time, if he would see me. For example, if I would be mowing the lawn, he would come to me and say, "I think you should be studying. When you are mowing the lawn, you should have a textbook in your hand, preferably the Book of Concord, so that you are studying, while you are mowing the lawn."

Or, if I were out running in the neighborhood, he would say the same thing. "If you are out running, you should have a textbook in your hand, the Book of Concord, and you should read that, while you are out running through the neighborhood."

That is just the type of person President Petersen was. He would also, jokingly say to myself and the other students, "If you don't do well in your school work, your first call will be to Tok, Alaska."

Well, I was thinking about Tok, Alaska, these last few weeks. So, I went to the encyclopedia and looked up the location of Tok, Alaska again. It is in the mainland of Alaska.

Well, while I was looking at the map of Alaska, my eyes drifted 700 miles to the north and just a little bit to the west. I came to the northern most city of the United States. Actually, it is the northern most city of all of North America. It is Barrow, Alaska. It is the largest city that far north, with 4,000 people.

Right now, they are in darkness. Being in the Arctic Circle, and being that far north, right now the sun does not rise. And since the sun doesn’t rise neither does it set. You see, from November 10^th until January 24^th, for sixty-five straight days, the sun does not rise. They are in darkness. But, when January 24^th comes around and the sun rises for the very first time, and the sun is out for just a few mere moments, the city of Barrow, Alaska comes out to celebrate. They come out to celebrate, because their light has come!

Today is Epiphany. It is a day on which we celebrate something being made known, something being revealed. Well, on January 24^th, when the sun comes out in Barrow, Alaska, it is an epiphany, because the sun is revealing itself to the residents of that city.

Today as we look at the words of our text, we see that Isaiah was not speaking only to those people who live north of the Arctic Circle. He was not speaking about physical light and he was not speaking about physical darkness. He was speaking about spiritual light and spiritual darkness. And so, on this Epiphany Sunday, as we look at our scripture readings, and particularly, as we look at this section of Isaiah, let us rejoice, because your light has come!

The light of God's Word shines in this dark world. Isaiah, along with many other sections in scripture, tells us that we live in a dark world, spiritually. All we have to do is pick up the newspaper each and every day to see spiritual darkness that is mentioned all over the place – prostitution ads, dioceses fights allegations against priests, woman demands money for good deed, Christian doctor killed overseas, embezzlement in a local bank. As we look at the newspaper each and every day, we see the spiritual darkness that is all around us.

Isaiah, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, today encourages us to,

"Arise,

shine, for

your light has come."

But, we see that we cannot even arise and shine on our own. It is like Jesus telling the man who had leprosy in the New Testament, "Be clean." Well, that man with leprosy could not cleanse himself of his leprosy, and so it is with us, too. We cannot on our own arise and shine. It is the Holy Spirit who comes into our lives that brings us to faith in Jesus, as our Savior.

So often the world tells us to look inside of our self for strength and for wisdom. At the beginning of every year, there are hundreds of self-help books that encourage us to look inside of ourselves for life, strength, and for wisdom.

I don't know about you, but every time I look inside myself I can't help but see utter darkness. As we look inside ourselves, we can't help but see our selfishness, and our materialism. And, as we continue to look inside of ourselves, it just keeps getting darker and darker, because of who we are, because of our sin.

But, in God's Word, the birth of Jesus is considered to be a light that shines in the darkness.

Do you feel guilty, committing sin, after sin, after sin? Well, let the light of Jesus shine in your heart. As the light of Jesus shines in your heart from God's Word, it can't help but remove the darkness of our sin.

The more that we dive into the light of God's Word, the more

it keeps shedding the light of Jesus' grace.

It keeps shedding the light of Jesus' forgiveness that He has so graciously given to us.

It keeps shedding the light of salvation that He fully and freely paid, with His death on the cross, for us.

Just as the light of the sun shines on Barrow, Alaska, on January 24^th, may the light of God's Word shine in your heart. And, may it be a light and a lamp that guides your way.

The light of God's Word also draws many people out of darkness. It was a physical light that brought the Wise Men from the East to see the newborn King. How was it that the Wise Men knew to follow that light? Well, someone had to have told them. Now, scripture does not reveal this to us, but people often times speculate, "Was it Daniel, who was carried off into captivity, off to the east in Babylon? Was he one of those first Wise Men who brought with him God's Word and shared with the people of that area that a Messiah was coming?"

And so, when the light of that star showed itself in the air, the Wise Men thought back to what perhaps Daniel said, and followed that star to the Savior and the King of the world.

God guarantees that when the light of His Word shines into this dark world, there will be results. God promises that His Word will not come back to Him empty. That is why we rejoice, particularly during the Epiphany season. Salvation is not just meant for the nation of Israel. Salvation is also meant for all people, including you and me.

This last week I was having a conversation with a member in the hallway. The conversation was about Epiphany. Is Epiphany the beginning of a new season, or is it the end of the Christmas Season? While it is true that Epiphany is the beginning of a new season, it does conclude Christmas. Epiphany is the Gentiles’ Christmas. The Wise Men were the first Gentiles to come and see the King, the Messiah, the Savior, and come and worship Him.

The light of our Savior, Jesus, is also meant for you and for me. May the light of our Savior, Jesus, (as He has come to you in your lives), then be one that radiates from you.

Jesus encourages us to let the light of His Word so shine from us that others may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven.

May the light of our Savior, Jesus,

be a heart-pounding excitement

in your lives.

This last year, the Packers had a very good season. They won 13 games. I don't know why it was the case, but many people would come up to me after a win, and with heart-pounding excitement say, "The Packers won, again!" J

Well, more than a Packer win, as our Savior, Jesus, has come into your heart, may it be that heart-pounding excitement! And, may it be something that you simply cannot keep to yourself, but is something that you want to and you desire to share with others.

Maybe this is your first time, here at Holy Cross. Maybe you have been here for your whole life. But, may the message of the light of our Savior, Jesus, be one that just can't help but radiate from your heart!

No matter how dark the world is, the light of our Savior, Jesus, will continue to shine.

I shared with you how Barrow, Alaska is in darkness and will continue to be in darkness until January 24^th. Conversely, in the summertime, from May 10^th until August 2^nd the sun does not set. For eighty-four straight days the sun continues to shine. Once the light of our Savior, Jesus, rises in your heart, may it not set. And may this Epiphany Season move you. May it move you because,

‘Your Light Has Come’.

And may it move us to say with the Wise Men,

"We have seen His star

and we have come to worship Him."

Amen.