Daily Dose of the Word of God - Isaiah 60: 1-2, 19-20

Erin Pacheco, Director of Worship

Transcript

Erin Pacheco  0:08 

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God. It’s Friday, October 18, and Sunday is coming! I’m Erin Pacheco. Today’s reading is from Isaiah 60:1-2, 19-20.

Erin Pacheco 0:24 

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. Behold, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.

Erin Pacheco 1:10 

We’ve reached the time of the year when the air is getting colder and the days are getting shorter. My morning alarm now goes off when it’s still dark outside and there are several hours of darkness in the evenings before we go to bed. It’s the season for cozy things — scarves and slippers, warm tea, and soft blankets. And as the darkness lengthens, maybe, like me, you find yourself drawn a little more to the light. We make our homes glow with soft lamps. We carve pumpkin lanterns. We sit around fire pits in the backyard. We light candles. (You may even have some friends or neighbors who are already thinking about Christmas lights...) There’s something centering and beautiful about a single flame, pushing back the darkness. It doesn’t deny that the darkness is out there, but it creates a circle of warmth and light, and welcomes us in. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” And Isaiah describes the coming of God like a light, shining in the darkness.

Erin Pacheco  2:26 

What starts like a single flame, or like the first ray of sunrise, steadily grows and overwhelms the darkness with light. This is the mission and movement of God. The light of Christ, pushing back the power of our sin, pushing back our pain and evil, healing our brokenness, shedding light on our lies and filling us with his truth and life and hope and peace until there is no space in the cosmos for anything else. Isaiah says a day is coming when there will be no more sun or moon, but “the Lord will be your everlasting light and your days of sorrow will be ended.” And Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, closes with this exact same vision. “There will be no more night – and no need of lamps or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever.”  This is good news! Because we know, of course, that the darkness of these days is not just literal darkness. There is so much brokenness and heartache and need – all around us and in us. I wonder what would happen if we turned our eyes from the shadows and set our gaze on the light of Christ – like a candle, shining in the darkness.

Erin Pacheco  4:14  

Let’s pray. Jesus, you are the light of the world. Please shine your light into my dark corners, and help me walk in the light. And as your church gathers for worship on Sunday, we ask you to fill us with your Holy Spirit and make us shine, like a lamp on a stand or a city on a hill, pushing back the shadows with your light, and welcoming others into its glow, until the day when your kingdom comes in all its glory. Amen.