Howdy Man get a chance to come all the way back
from from Germany after a week. It was a fascinating
I think I'm back on central standard time more
or less So although I did wake up at 5 this morning.
That's not normal for me But I had a chance to
be able to go step away for a bit. Very grateful
to Reverend Kirk for coming to preach and to
be here with you all and being able to see what
it is to worship and to be in a completely different
environment. Being off in Germany with my sister
and her family, we went to Berlin, we went to
Wittenberg, we went to Erfurt, we went to Munich.
so had a chance to basically eat way too much
food every time every two or three hours we'd
be like ooh that looks like a good restaurant
well let's just try one more thing oh man schnitzel
is great and it was huge is huge oh my goodness
and and it turns out that Bavarian cream is actually
not a donut who knew there's actually such a
thing it's delicious it looks like a little like
a little cheesecake but it's much lighter oh
my goodness it's it's great and everything and
and went to Hofbrauhaus, the original from the
16th century. So, ugh, yeah, it was pretty epic.
So, lovely place. Discovered that, you know,
with the Christmas markets and all the different
places, too many wonderful things to buy. You
know how in like Disney movies you see all those
different castles? You know, the Sleeping Beauty
Castle, the Beauty and the Beast Castle, the
one at the very beginning, blah, blah, blah.
No, there actually was a German church, a German
castle that it was... designed off of so yeah
got to go there in Neuschwanstein so it was it
was pretty amazing and I practiced saying Neuschwanstein
so there you go it was great turns out my sister
brought a Jenga board game that we could play
and I needed to be reminded not to play competitive
games against my brother -in -law that is that
is a recipe for disaster so but yes it was it
was a wonderful time ringing the new year and
and Yeah, it was just amazing and getting a chance
to discover more about it. But you know, one
of the most important parts I felt of it was
getting to go on some of the tours that were
there. There were a couple that we went on. And
one of them was in Berlin. And we were checking
out all the different sites in regard to the
Berlin Wall and what it was to divide East and
West Berlin and seeing how the old communist
buildings were being re -seen from a democratic
standpoint, all those different things. And then
later on, how to... to tour and see the castle
church where Luther had nailed the 95 theses.
Got to see where that was at. Even the monastery
where he was trained in Erfurt. And then when
we were in Munich and we went up and saw Dachau
and saw what had happened to the people that
were imprisoned there and treated so poorly and
killed. You know, there were so many things that
we learned and discovered there. It wasn't just
about architecture and food. It was about history.
It was about seeing what had gone wrong in the
world. About what Germany had to face, confess,
and learn from in order to move forward. And
that's when it struck me about how fitting this
is for Epiphany. Because epiphany it's not about
the light emerging from the darkness. It's not
as if the darkness somehow produces light by
itself Epiphany is about light shining into darkness
Light comes from outside that distinction matters
more than we often realize Because that's the
distinction that Isaiah is talking about today.
We're looking at Isaiah 60. When you look at
59 and 60, those chapters, they come at a time
that's after the exile. The people had been taken
out of Judah. They were taken to Babylon. And
then after 70 years, they finally came back.
They had been humbled. They had lost their land,
their city, their temple. Repentance? definitely
was happening. They were very sorry for what
it was that they had done. The confession for
knowing that they were sinful and idolatrous.
The old illusion of the people of Judah, we are
the people of God, so nothing bad can happen
to us. Oh, that is gone. That is very gone. They
have clearly gotten past that idea. But a new
illusion was starting to sneak in. You know how
that is, right? Whenever you feel like you've
grown and matured through something you've really
pushed through and you're like man I Got that
conquered. I've taken care of that addiction.
I've taken care of that emotion. I've taken care
of that obsession I've taken care of this thing
that's been plaguing me for so long and only
to realize that you are succumbing to something
new and That's the belief at that point the belief
that Judah had that if they just try hard enough,
if they rebuild the temple and the city faithfully
enough, if they repent, if they change thoroughly
enough, then they themselves can fix what was
broken. Isaiah acknowledges it. He sees it. He
doesn't dismiss their repentance. They want to
change. They want to be different. But it becomes
painfully clear that human effort, even as sincere
as somebody may be, that they want things to
be different. It's not enough. Justice is still
absent. Truth still stumbles moving along. And
the people, the people are trying, but something
deeper is still wrong. Isaiah names it Redemption
cannot be generated from ourselves. Redemption,
it cannot come from us. It never can be. And
that was the thing looking at everything happening
in Germany is that even when Germany tried to
redeem their own story by themselves after World
War I, look what happened. World War II. The
war to end all wars gave way to the next war
to end all wars. They tried to redeem themselves
in their own way and they fell deeper into their
own self -centeredness. And that's not just coming
from me. That was what every person touring us
there was reminding us of. But at the end of
Isaiah 59, something decisive happens. God looks
and sees that there is no one who can truly set
things right on his behalf. He's looking out
there. There is no reformer among Judah. There
is no perfect leader. There is no one that is
a mere human solution that can stand as the perfect
beacon for righteousness. Moses, Joshua, the
judges, the kings. all of those to come, the
prophets, none of them were able to do this on
their own, to set everything right. So God acts.
God puts on righteousness Himself. God becomes
the Redeemer. There are a lot of discussions
about whether this last section of Isaiah was
written by Isaiah before the exile. or by one
of his students later on after the exile. You
know, often times, you're trying to figure out
how far you can see what is to come. Can you
predict the weather? Can you predict the economy?
Can you predict whether or not that text mix
is going to agree with your stomach? Whatever
it is you think you can figure out, whether it
was written before or afterward, the message
from God was obvious. Even after you repent,
Israel will still stumble. Even after returning
home, they are still going to need saving. They
are not good on their own. Repentance matters.
Wanting to change. It matters. Wanting to go
a different direction. It matters. It does. Wanting
to be different. Wanting to shift. All of these
are good. We need to be willing to admit we've
stumbled. We've pursued our own selfishness.
Instead of always just trying to justify our
actions and trying to say there is some reason
we did what we did. We need to be willing to
change. But repentance does not replace God's
action and how much we need Him. Because ultimately
it is God's Son for us and God's Spirit in us
who must do what human beings cannot do on our
own. See, salvation is not something that we
finish. It is something God accomplishes within
us. That is the only reason hope is real. Because
after Isaiah 59, comes Isaiah 60. Arise, shine,
for your light has come. Notice what it does
not say. It does not say, arise and look inside
of yourself and see the light that is inside.
No. It does not say, close your eyes, just really,
really tight, and you can create the light inside
of you. It does not say, prove yourselves worthy.
It says the light has come. arise shine is a
response to the light arising arriving into our
lines because let's be honest darkness it keeps
existing how many times that we've said things
are getting better things are moving forward
and yet the darkness still somehow creeps in
We've done something to work on our health. We've
done something to work on our mind We've done
something to work on our relationships and still
something keeps creeping in and we have to face
that reality That the darkness it doesn't just
come from out there We have to be honest the
darkness comes from in here the darkness comes
from us not just them, whoever them might be.
God's presence, it's unmistakable. But that's
what the nations must see. The nations, they
don't come because Israel is perfect themselves.
They don't come to see Israel. They come to see
God. Because the witness that we have, it flows
from God's action, not from human self -improvement.
It is not just trying to be the best version
of yourself that is going to somehow save the
world. The more our actions are based on what
seems to make the most sense to us, like Germany
invading Belgium just to get to France, in World
War I, even when Belgium wasn't even involved
in the first place. The less our actions are
based on God's timing, God's mercy, God's righteousness,
the more we base it on our sense of how to improve
things, the less it is about doing things that
are right in God's eyes and according to His
plans. See, people do not become a beacon by
polishing themselves. It doesn't matter how well
you polish yourself. It doesn't matter how much
you try to make yourself shiny. The only light
is by being illuminated by God. If a lighthouse
is just mirrors reflecting itself without a light
inside, it's useless. But you see, there I was
in Germany at this historic place that is so
important. to our church, to our history, to
what we've learned and grown from. Germany, it's
this little parable in many ways. Germany was
what you would call a Christian nation in the
20th century. Germany was the birthplace of Lutheranism,
one of the main birthplaces of Protestantism.
Martin Luther fought to save German Christians
from the abuses of the Catholic Church. But those
a century later who followed more after Luther
the person and the Pope as their figurehead rather
than Christ the Messiah Began a war that killed
a third of central Germany Because of their power
their economics their personal rage after the
80 years war the good Christians and Catholics
Destroyed each other in the 30 years war for
Jesus. And Germany today, they're honest about
the brokenness. After World War II, after the
Cold War, Germany could not redeem itself by
simply deciding to be better or justifying its
past actions. You can't justify the things that
they did. There was outside intervention. There
was accountability. There was confession. There
was rebuilding. There was repentance. But as
beautiful as Germany may be looking at those
castles on the mountains Seeing the snow falling
and enjoying so much of what there is No Christian
will ever be a beacon on a hill if it's more
about being Christian Than it is about being
like Christ Redemption does not erase history.
It's the only time to transform it into a new
beginning And that's how God works. Redemption
does not pretend that the past didn't happen
or try to rewrite it into something better than
it was. It creates a future that learns from
it. A future that does better, not based on its
own understanding or efforts, but based on trusting
Christ for each and every action that we take.
each and every emotion, each and every motivation
we should be honest about. Every time we are
making a decision that we say is a godly decision,
can we stop and say, not is this what a good
Christian would do, but instead, is this genuinely
what Christ would do? And that brings us to the
Magi. The wise men. See, the Magi, let's be honest,
they could have just stayed home. It was a long
way away. I mean, did you really want to have
to go all that distance, okay? They could have
just said, hey, we believe in the idea of a Messiah.
Okay, we like the idea. We believe in that. That's
wonderful. We trust God from a distance. They
had the knowledge. They had the star. They could
have said, hey, look. Hey, that must be the king
of the Jews over there. Let's just sit here in
our living room and watch it. That'll be awesome.
Really great. Can you replay that? No, that's
awesome. That was really well done. Skip the
commercials. That would be good. But that's the
thing is that Epiphany is not a distant admiration.
They traveled. They risked. They sought. They
pursued. Messiah that they desired. They did
not come for an idea within themselves. They
came for a person. They wanted the true God.
You see, an epiphany is a revelation of an idea.
A theophany is a revelation of God. The Magi
wanted God Himself. In a sense, it's more than
celebrating an epiphany. It's a celebration of
the theophany, the light of the world. And light,
real light, it demands that we move. See, that's
where this meets us. We cannot fix ourselves
by deciding harder. We don't just need a new
idea or a better plan or a stronger resolution.
We need God. We need God Himself. Not just our
idea of what we wish God would want. We are called
to pursue new life, but not to pretend like we're
the ones creating it. Redemption always comes
from outside of us. Yet it meets us personally.
It changes us. It restores us. It sends us forward.
And that is what the nations will see. That is
what the nations will pursue and that is what
changes the camels of warfare to the camels of
righteousness and discipleship. That is what
the world needs more than our strength or our
great ideas. But are you ready to spend the time
pursuing that? Are you ready to pursue reading
God's Word? Are you ready to worship together?
Are you ready to grow together? Are you ready
to serve this community together? Are you ready
to give what God has called you to give together?
We've been talking about this for a year now.
All the things that we want to see with all of
you, are you ready for it? Are you ready for
Christ and His church to be more than just a
great idea that you made sure your kids learned
about and that your glad exists on the corner?
Are you ready to go beyond just trying to figure
things out in your own head and solve your own
problems? To move beyond looking for epiphanies
and instead pursue THE epiphany? Because the
invitation of epiphany is not be better. The
invitation is come to Christ. So as this new
beer begins, my question to you is straightforward.
Are you ready for this year to be about pursuing
Christ rather than trying to remake yourselves
by yourself? Your New Year's resolutions will
mean nothing without Him. And more than that,
your actions and your reactions will reflect
more what is in this world than what is in God's
Kingdom if you do not. So please, the light is
already shining. The question is, Are we ready
to get up and to pursue Him? Thanks be to God.