WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:02.700 Our sermon text for consideration this morning 00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:05.299 is found in Isaiah chapter 60, verses 1 to 6. 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:11.439 We read, Arise, shine, for your light has come, 00:00:11.539 --> 00:00:15.220 and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:17.960 darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:21.219 is over the peoples. But the Lord rises upon 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:24.620 you, and His glory appears over you. Nations 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:27.839 will come to your light, and kings to the brightness 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:31.469 of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about 00:00:31.469 --> 00:00:34.490 you. All assemble and come to you. Your sons 00:00:34.490 --> 00:00:36.909 come from afar and your daughters are carried 00:00:36.909 --> 00:00:40.210 on the hill. Then you will look and be radiant. 00:00:40.869 --> 00:00:44.369 Your heart will throb and swell with joy. The 00:00:44.369 --> 00:00:47.390 wealth and the seas will be brought to you. To 00:00:47.390 --> 00:00:50.770 you the riches of the nations will come. Herds 00:00:50.770 --> 00:00:53.869 of camels will cover your land. Young camels 00:00:53.869 --> 00:00:57.409 of Midian and Ephah and all from Sheba will come. 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:04.780 bearing gold and incense. As you read those words, 00:01:04.939 --> 00:01:07.680 did you kind of see the picture Isaiah was painting? 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:11.620 Did you see that shining light that just pierced 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:15.120 the darkness? People being drawn to that light, 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:16.900 bearing their gifts along the way from all over 00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:20.959 the world? Whenever I read those words, the image 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.640 that comes to my mind is the image of a lighthouse. 00:01:25.430 --> 00:01:27.629 And you know, I've never really seen a lighthouse 00:01:27.629 --> 00:01:29.890 from the sea before. I've done the tourist thing, 00:01:29.969 --> 00:01:32.170 right? You go and you kind of walk through the 00:01:32.170 --> 00:01:34.469 lighthouse and they show you the lighthouse keeper's 00:01:34.469 --> 00:01:36.189 quarters and they tell you the history and the 00:01:36.189 --> 00:01:39.769 story behind it. I've done that. But I've never 00:01:39.769 --> 00:01:42.930 been at sea at night when the sky is overcast 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:46.349 and the moon and the stars aren't shining. I 00:01:46.349 --> 00:01:47.750 don't know what it's like to sit in a boat and 00:01:47.750 --> 00:01:49.829 have those waves just blindly hit you, wondering 00:01:49.829 --> 00:01:52.390 when the next one's going to come. And to know 00:01:52.390 --> 00:01:54.170 that the shore is out there, but to be unable 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:56.290 to see it, it's got to be an unsettling thing. 00:01:57.670 --> 00:01:59.829 And in that kind of situation, those lighthouses, 00:01:59.870 --> 00:02:02.989 they serve a vital function, even in the days 00:02:02.989 --> 00:02:06.549 of GPS, because they show you where the land 00:02:06.549 --> 00:02:11.629 is and they guide you in. And when they fail 00:02:11.629 --> 00:02:15.930 to do their job, the consequences are disastrous. 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:21.560 In 1860, the lighthouse of Cape St. George was 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.319 commissioned. It was along a section of the Australian 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:27.400 coast that was problematic, right near Jervis 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:31.419 Bay. And they commissioned it, and they got started 00:02:31.419 --> 00:02:33.199 building it, but it was a comedy of errors to 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:35.159 begin with because the maps didn't line up, and 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:37.520 the contractor wanted to build it a little closer 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:39.120 to the quarry to make sure he could save some 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:41.280 money. And at the end of the day, they ended 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:42.900 up building the lighthouse about two and a half 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:45.629 miles away from where they needed it. And that 00:02:45.629 --> 00:02:47.590 two and a half miles meant that ships approaching 00:02:47.590 --> 00:02:50.949 from the south could barely see it. And ships 00:02:50.949 --> 00:02:53.069 approaching from the north couldn't see it at 00:02:53.069 --> 00:02:57.069 all. And in its short time of operation, there 00:02:57.069 --> 00:03:00.509 were 23 shipwrecks along that small part of shore 00:03:00.509 --> 00:03:03.629 it was meant to guard. Because it didn't do its 00:03:03.629 --> 00:03:07.189 job. So what do you do with a lighthouse that 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:10.509 doesn't shine? Well, what they did is they ended 00:03:10.509 --> 00:03:12.229 up building another one. They took down the light. 00:03:12.250 --> 00:03:14.610 They decommissioned it. But even still, you could 00:03:14.610 --> 00:03:16.610 see it once in a while from the south, and it 00:03:16.610 --> 00:03:18.330 became misleading. And so you know what they 00:03:18.330 --> 00:03:22.129 did with it? From 1917 to 1922, they used it 00:03:22.129 --> 00:03:24.750 as target practice for the Australian Royal Navy. 00:03:26.129 --> 00:03:29.009 Today you can visit it, and this is what it looks 00:03:29.009 --> 00:03:34.469 like. It's a ruin and a reminder of what happens 00:03:34.469 --> 00:03:40.830 to a lighthouse that doesn't shine. Israel was 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:44.930 a lighthouse of the ancient world. From the time 00:03:44.930 --> 00:03:47.150 God told Abraham the promise would come from 00:03:47.150 --> 00:03:49.650 his family, that was their role, that was their 00:03:49.650 --> 00:03:52.090 identity, and everything about them pointed to 00:03:52.090 --> 00:03:54.550 that. The Old Testament laws of Moses made them 00:03:54.550 --> 00:03:57.189 different, made them weird, made them strange, 00:03:57.370 --> 00:03:59.710 and it's as if it set them upon a point like 00:03:59.710 --> 00:04:02.189 a lighthouse to shine out to the world. And at 00:04:02.189 --> 00:04:04.389 the center of all they were and did was a temple, 00:04:04.430 --> 00:04:07.430 and its sacrifices and its services pointed to 00:04:07.430 --> 00:04:09.610 the glory of the Lord, that thing that makes 00:04:09.610 --> 00:04:12.689 God great. And if you think about all the stories 00:04:12.689 --> 00:04:14.210 in the Old Testament of the glory of the Lord, 00:04:14.250 --> 00:04:16.389 that cloud the Israelites followed out of Egypt, 00:04:16.430 --> 00:04:18.709 through the Red Sea and to the Promised Land, 00:04:18.850 --> 00:04:20.730 and all the other times it appears, it always 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:26.350 has this in common. God is acting to save. Because 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:28.290 that's one of the things that makes our God great. 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:34.029 He does what He says. But by the time Isaiah 00:04:34.029 --> 00:04:38.209 writes, that light was flickering at best. Because 00:04:38.209 --> 00:04:40.800 they forgot who they were. And they broke the 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:42.680 law of Moses, and they neglected the worship 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:44.720 of the temple, and they followed other gods. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:46.800 And instead of being a people that could draw 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:48.939 people to the truth, they were chasing them away, 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:54.000 and so many were being lost. So what do you do 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.680 with a lighthouse that won't shine? God tried 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:01.079 to wake them up. During Isaiah's time, the Assyrians 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:02.899 came, and they destroyed the northern tribes, 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:04.560 and they came right to the doorstep of Jerusalem. 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:06.779 If you remember the story, they surrounded before 00:05:06.779 --> 00:05:10.750 the Lord delivered them. But still, they didn't 00:05:10.750 --> 00:05:14.810 learn their lesson. In the end, they would end 00:05:14.810 --> 00:05:17.629 up like the lighthouse of the Cape of St. George, 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:23.189 a ruin, as they face the consequences of failing 00:05:23.189 --> 00:05:29.069 to shine, to be what God called them to be. You 00:05:29.069 --> 00:05:32.689 see, we are the lighthouse of the world. We are 00:05:32.689 --> 00:05:34.389 the people that promise today, and we are the 00:05:34.389 --> 00:05:36.509 people now who have a chance to show that love 00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:39.170 to others. And now as we sit here at the end 00:05:39.170 --> 00:05:42.089 of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, it's maybe 00:05:42.089 --> 00:05:44.649 a time for us to take stock on all the opportunities 00:05:44.649 --> 00:05:46.610 God gave us over the past year. And if you were 00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:50.230 to play it back like a highlight reel, if you 00:05:50.230 --> 00:05:51.889 were to think back on all the experiences you 00:05:51.889 --> 00:05:57.189 had in the past year, what would we see? How 00:05:57.189 --> 00:06:00.189 many times would we see situations where we showed 00:06:00.189 --> 00:06:02.949 people who our God is and what he did for us 00:06:02.949 --> 00:06:05.329 through our words and actions? And how many times 00:06:05.329 --> 00:06:07.740 would we see... People that hid who they were 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:11.740 because we were ashamed of him. How many people 00:06:11.740 --> 00:06:13.560 were there this past year? We had a chance to 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:15.800 lead to the truth. And how many people do we 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.980 drive away with thoughtless words and careless 00:06:18.980 --> 00:06:25.360 actions? Selfishness. You see, you and I have 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:27.660 such a valuable role to play. To some people 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:30.220 in our lives, we're the only lights they have. 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:34.959 How many times do we waste opportunity after 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:39.670 opportunity? And what is God supposed to do with 00:06:39.670 --> 00:06:44.490 the light that won't shine? See, when Isaiah 00:06:44.490 --> 00:06:48.129 writes the words of Isaiah 60, he is not writing 00:06:48.129 --> 00:06:52.009 to the people of his time. He's writing to generations 00:06:52.009 --> 00:06:55.269 that would come. Generations that would live 00:06:55.269 --> 00:06:58.209 in the aftermath of what the people of his time 00:06:58.209 --> 00:07:01.430 had done. People that would live in the ruin 00:07:01.430 --> 00:07:04.490 of Jerusalem, live with the temple that had been 00:07:04.490 --> 00:07:06.689 destroyed, live in captivity in faraway lands. 00:07:08.649 --> 00:07:12.290 And he told them something. They had broken promise 00:07:12.290 --> 00:07:15.069 after promise, but the thing that makes God great 00:07:15.069 --> 00:07:17.910 is that he does what he says, oftentimes in spite 00:07:17.910 --> 00:07:21.490 of us. And so despite all that had happened, 00:07:21.550 --> 00:07:24.129 he tells them in Isaiah 60 that light would shine. 00:07:24.250 --> 00:07:29.990 Let me read it again. Arise, shine, for your 00:07:29.990 --> 00:07:32.910 light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises 00:07:32.910 --> 00:07:36.149 upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and 00:07:36.149 --> 00:07:38.410 thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord 00:07:38.410 --> 00:07:41.529 rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 00:07:42.610 --> 00:07:45.529 Nations will come to your light and kings to 00:07:45.529 --> 00:07:48.750 the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes 00:07:48.750 --> 00:07:51.009 and look about you. All assemble and come to 00:07:51.009 --> 00:07:54.050 you. Your sons come from afar and your daughters 00:07:54.050 --> 00:07:57.009 are carried on the hip. Then you will look and 00:07:57.009 --> 00:08:00.120 be radiant. Your heart will throb and swell with 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:02.519 joy, the wealth and the seas we brought to you. 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:06.079 To you the riches of the nations will come. Herds 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.360 of camels will cover your land, young camels 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:11.339 of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:17.120 come, bearing gold and incense. In spite of all 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.079 that had happened, in spite of all they'd experienced, 00:08:20.660 --> 00:08:23.670 in spite of the ruin that was Jerusalem, and 00:08:23.670 --> 00:08:25.990 the tragedy of a temple that was destroyed, God 00:08:25.990 --> 00:08:28.350 says Israel would serve its purpose. That light 00:08:28.350 --> 00:08:32.070 would come. And can you see the picture? Of this 00:08:32.070 --> 00:08:35.570 people living in ruins, shining once more. Of 00:08:35.570 --> 00:08:37.470 a light that pierces a darkness, and people from 00:08:37.470 --> 00:08:41.350 all over the world being drawn to it. People 00:08:41.350 --> 00:08:43.389 that were scattered, their sons and their daughters, 00:08:43.470 --> 00:08:45.730 it says, coming back home. People they had never 00:08:45.730 --> 00:08:48.549 known. Kings from other parts of the world being 00:08:48.549 --> 00:08:52.860 drawn to that same light. And at the center of 00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:57.799 it all is the glory of the Lord. That thing that 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:00.019 makes our God great. And one of the things that 00:09:00.019 --> 00:09:04.860 makes him great is that he acts to save. He doesn't 00:09:04.860 --> 00:09:08.519 just make promises, he keeps them. He doesn't 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.539 wait for us to come to him. He finds us through 00:09:11.539 --> 00:09:14.759 his word, through baptism, and he draws us in. 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.870 And so the wise men appear. And there are so 00:09:20.870 --> 00:09:22.350 many things about the wise men we don't know. 00:09:22.429 --> 00:09:24.129 We don't really know exactly where they came 00:09:24.129 --> 00:09:27.490 from. We don't know exactly who they were. We 00:09:27.490 --> 00:09:29.309 don't know how in the world they associated that 00:09:29.309 --> 00:09:32.210 star they saw with the promise. And we certainly 00:09:32.210 --> 00:09:33.929 don't understand how it led them right to the 00:09:33.929 --> 00:09:38.710 house of Joseph and Mary like a GPS. But we know 00:09:38.710 --> 00:09:44.049 this. They belong there. I think it's funny how 00:09:44.049 --> 00:09:46.029 often we set up those nativity scenes, right? 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:48.129 You got the angels, you have the shepherds, you 00:09:48.129 --> 00:09:49.590 have the wise men, and then sometimes you take 00:09:49.590 --> 00:09:51.389 the wise men, you put them way off in the distance 00:09:51.389 --> 00:09:53.889 because they weren't maybe there when the shepherds 00:09:53.889 --> 00:09:57.549 were. And that's true chronologically. But thematically, 00:09:57.690 --> 00:10:01.669 the shepherds are as much a part of that picture 00:10:01.669 --> 00:10:05.769 as Joseph and Mary were. Because he is a savior 00:10:05.769 --> 00:10:07.389 for the nations, and that's what Epiphany is 00:10:07.389 --> 00:10:10.669 all about. It's remembering that the wise men 00:10:10.669 --> 00:10:12.789 were just the beginning of a procession that 00:10:12.789 --> 00:10:15.909 has went through the ages since. And think of 00:10:15.909 --> 00:10:18.690 how many people have been drawn to the light 00:10:18.690 --> 00:10:22.490 of that dawn. Ethiopians who maybe first heard 00:10:22.490 --> 00:10:24.490 about the gospel through the Ethiopian eunuch 00:10:24.490 --> 00:10:27.649 that Philip baptized. To Chinese Christians that 00:10:27.649 --> 00:10:29.730 according to church tradition were first reached 00:10:29.730 --> 00:10:32.110 by the Apostle Thomas. To Christians sitting 00:10:32.110 --> 00:10:35.149 in America today that procession has continued 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:41.100 from all over the globe. Because God acts. God 00:10:41.100 --> 00:10:45.259 saves. God finds his people from distant corners, 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:47.659 and he brings us together to be a part of one 00:10:47.659 --> 00:10:54.000 body. And now here we sit. And we are surrounded 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.120 by the gifts that people before us have brought. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.820 As we sing hymns we didn't compose, we confess 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:02.720 creeds we didn't write. And just like them, we 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:04.779 are gathered from all different places in life. 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:08.080 And who knows at what part of the procession 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:10.679 we find ourselves in, huh? Maybe we're toward 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:12.340 the ends of the parade. Maybe we're more towards 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:14.139 the middle than you realize. Whatever the case, 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:18.639 now you and I as Christians are people that have 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.500 been brought here by our God. People that look 00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:23.259 at that child in the manger and have a chance 00:11:23.259 --> 00:11:25.460 to celebrate that this Savior is for me. Who 00:11:25.460 --> 00:11:27.340 see that Savior go to the cross and know He bore 00:11:27.340 --> 00:11:29.620 my darkness there. And that when He walked out 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:31.779 of the empty tomb, that light shone for me. That 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:34.740 is my life, my resurrection, just as it is yours. 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:39.000 And then the vantage point changes, doesn't it? 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.240 And we realize that now we are the lighthouses 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:46.860 of the world. And like I said, when you think 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:50.399 back on the previous year, perhaps we think we 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:52.299 look a lot like that lighthouse of Cape St. George. 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:55.860 Just a wreck, because we think about all the 00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:59.019 wasted opportunities, all the times that instead 00:11:59.019 --> 00:12:01.039 of drawing people to the truth, we chase them 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:05.759 away. Remember what it is that makes our God 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:13.179 great. He acts. He forgives. And he gives us 00:12:13.179 --> 00:12:15.419 a new day in which to serve, and so maybe that's 00:12:15.419 --> 00:12:19.820 not the best picture for us. This might be a 00:12:19.820 --> 00:12:23.740 better one. This is the Tower of Hercules. It 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:26.419 stands on the peninsula along the coast of northwest 00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:29.779 Spain. It's a lighthouse that was built by the 00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:32.000 Romans in the first century, and it's still in 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:36.100 operation today. Still shining as it always had. 00:12:38.309 --> 00:12:42.070 You see, that's us. For all of our failings and 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:45.409 all of our faults, God wipes us clean in his 00:12:45.409 --> 00:12:48.669 blood, forgives us for the past, and he gives 00:12:48.669 --> 00:12:50.929 us a new year. And think about all that lay in 00:12:50.929 --> 00:12:53.929 front of you this year. And I don't know what 00:12:53.929 --> 00:12:55.549 blessings and what challenges you're going to 00:12:55.549 --> 00:12:57.110 face. I don't know everything that stands around 00:12:57.110 --> 00:12:59.990 the corner, but I know this. As long as the world 00:12:59.990 --> 00:13:02.269 turns, there are more that God will bring to 00:13:02.269 --> 00:13:06.279 that light. And you play such a role. Think of 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:07.759 the people in your life. Think of the people 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:09.639 you have a chance to know that maybe no one else 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:12.299 in the building does. People that maybe you are 00:13:12.299 --> 00:13:16.200 the only light they have in their life. As you 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.960 head into 2026, know that God has given you opportunity 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.460 after opportunity to show them the love that 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:26.460 Christ has shown for you. Take a moment to see 00:13:26.460 --> 00:13:29.940 their faces. Take a moment to think about those 00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:33.649 opportunities. And then hear the words that God 00:13:33.649 --> 00:13:37.470 spoke through Isaiah so many years ago. Arise 00:13:37.470 --> 00:13:43.909 and shine, for your light has come. Amen. Thanks 00:13:43.909 --> 00:13:47.750 for listening to Emmanuel's Sermon Podcast. If 00:13:47.750 --> 00:13:50.110 you'd like to learn more about Emmanuel, you 00:13:50.110 --> 00:13:53.830 can follow us on Facebook or visit us at imluth 00:13:53.830 --> 00:13:58.950 .org. That's I -M -M -L -U -T -H dot O -R -G. 00:13:59.309 --> 00:14:00.509 Have a great day.