Epiphany Sunday, January 27, 2008
By pastor John Jorgenson
God’s presence is felt as we follow Jesus and see how people respond to His call. Jesus spoke directly to each one. Follow me and I will give you a reason for living that you never even dreamed about. Look at the changes in Peter, Andrew, and James and John. Each of them left what they were doing and became part of something that changed the entire world. Can we do the same?
The idea really is quite simple. God has given us what we need for life and we are to make use of the gifts to meet the needs that we see around us. That is what Jesus was talking about when He made the comment: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the dominion of heaven has come near.” Actually that is what we experience every day as we read the news and talk with one another about what is going on.
We see darkness all around us. Just last week a woman was found by her friend shot to death in Trinity Lutheran Church up in Coopersburg in Upper Bucks County, just beyond Quakertown. Bishop Burkat asks that we include her family and friends in our prayers this morning as well as the rest of the congregation and the Trinity UCC church also.
We also read about child molesters. We read about drug gangs and warfare and we read about girl gangs also so the darkness Jesus spoke about is universal and not limited to areas, to gender, to communities or whatever. The Satanic influence that generates darkness is all over. Even in our own selves, our families, among our friends and our community.
Now it is in this world that is filled with all this anxious stuff that upsets us every day so much that God speaks through Jesus to each of us. We may have become disillusioned or dismayed because of what we have read, seen or experienced. However, in spite of the ugliness of our world, Jesus says to us: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.” I would like us to focus on that comment, that idea of light dawning.
What is light? Well, light makes it possible for us to see, to observe for ourselves, to recognize what is going on, to better understand what our lives contain. We become not only objective observers, we also become interpreters of what is going on. We see meaning in the actions of what is taking place in our world.
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the dominion of heaven has come near.” This is a very practical suggestion for each of us. We are to repent. Well what does that mean? Shall we sit in a corner and cry? Are we to feel sorry for ourselves and share our religiously based guilt feelings with each other? I am not so sure that is what Jesus intended when he calls upon us to repent.
If we examine the word we find that repent means also that we are to change. No longer are we to be the greedy, selfish, self-centered, egotistical, blundering, well, I guess I have run out of adjectives unless I continue to look at myself. Anyway as I suggested, Jesus is calling upon us to change. That change is not on the outside where we can be so kind of like sorta nicey nicey religious goody goody folk that is on the outside. This is what irked Jesus so much about the priests, the rabbis, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and other religious leaders.
Instead, Jesus was very direct that this change He was advocating was to be deep in side. The change Jesus advocated was a change of heart, our values; the essence of who we are and what we do. This light Jesus talked about revealed the true nature of who and what we actually are. That private person so deep inside that no one else ever knows.
This light Jesus refers to reveals and exposes that condition to us privately and we are enabled then with Jesus help to make the change Jesus refers to and that God demands; that is if we are to be a member of God’s family and enjoy the benefits of that relationship. That is not easy. That is not comfortable either. Honesty is not the best policy. In this case, honesty is the only policy. How in this world would I ever hide anything from God who is present watching every one of my actions and listening to every word I say and aware of every single thought my goofy mind generates. That is the God who created each of us and the one who cares enough to urge and enable us to make the changes Jesus suggests.
Now how is this done? Well each week we get together for an hour. In that hour we admit our stupidities, we accept God’s forgiveness and then we express our awareness of that renewed relationship singing songs of praise and appreciation. Then we share our gifts and accept the foundations of nourishment for our faith and then celebrate our new and renewed relationship with God as we have coffee and visit with our friends each week after our worship activity.
It is this regular seeding and feeding that encourages the changes in life that Jesus was referring to in our lesson this morning. It is the function and purpose of this weekly activity to enable and to encourage the changes we each need to confront the ugly darkness of the world around us. This is the light Jesus continually shares with us. This is the light we are to share as well. With Ash Wednesday coming in a week and our regular Wednesday Lent study we will refill our lamps, we’ll trim our wicks to become the bright shining lights Jesus predicted.
Amen.