January 2, 2010

Here's Epiphany in Two Words!

Epiphany Sunday, 1/3/10
Isaiah 2:2-5


Here’s Epiphany in Two Words!
I. Proclamation
II. Invitation


Have you noticed how our forms of communication have decreased to the barest of minimums even though our methods of communication have expanded exponentially? The Apostle Paul nearly 2,000 years ago wrote a sentence at the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians that covers more than 10 verses in English. The German sentences Martin Luther wrote nearly 500 years ago are complex and convoluted to modern ears and eyes. We’re much more succinct and to the point. We don’t even use full words anymore. Our text messages to each other are filled with the newest form of shorthand. “OMWH” informs me that someone is “on my way home.” I’m sure you could give me countless others. My point is, we tend to boil our communication down to the fewest words possible.

Today we’re celebrating an important Christian festival called Epiphany. It occurs every year on January 6. So, tell me what Epiphany is all about and please try to use as few words as possible. Some of you might be tempted to launch into the story of the wisemen coming to visit the Savior. Too many words. Others of you might get that story boiled down to the truth it proclaims—that Jesus is the Savior not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles. Still too many words.

Isaiah helps us boil Epiphany down to two words. I think you’d be hard pressed to get it any shorter. And since it’s so short, it ought to be easy for all of us to remember. Here’s Epiphany in two words. I pray that you’ll work with me in discovering what those two words are.

Part I.

A common way of sharing mixed news with someone else is to say, “I have bad news and good news. Which do you want to hear first?” I don’t know about you, but I usually want to hear the bad news first. I want to get it over with so that I can focus on the good news and what I can do with that good news to reverse the effects of the bad news.

Our text is from Isaiah 2. Isaiah is one of the longest books in the Old Testament. The Lord had much to say to the Jews through his prophet Isaiah. Some of it was incredibly bad news. Some of it was incredibly good news. The Lord gave the good news to Isaiah first.

He said, “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.” What’s all this talk about mountains and hills and one being higher than all the rest?

What the Lord is really speaking about here is his Church, the gathering of all believers in the Savior. The time during which Isaiah lived was one of intense political turmoil. Several nations in that area of the world were vying for world supremacy. Each wanted to establish its kingdom as the lasting world power. Isaiah refers to them as mountains. But one kingdom would come out on top and would never be overcome. That kingdom is the one established by the Savior, Jesus Christ. The foundation of that kingdom is the truth that he is the eternal Son of God who has won forgiveness and salvation for sinners.

For all sinners. Again, hear these words of Isaiah, “All nations will stream to it.” The wisemen, who were Gentiles, were the first Gentiles that we know of to worship Jesus as their Savior. God’s eternal Church would not be limited to the tiny nation of Abraham’s physical descendants. It would be comprised of people from every nation on earth. How vastly different from other kingdoms! His kingdom is for all. It’s eternal. How glorious!

But as Isaiah describes it further, it doesn’t sound all that different from the kingdoms of this world. He says, “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Those last two sentences are inscribed on a wall in the United Nations Plaza across the street from the United Nations building. The United Nations uses these words to describe what the citizens of our world hope for—a lasting, earthly peace. But that’s not what Isaiah is speaking about here.

He’s speaking about a spiritual and eternal peace. That’s what the Savior came to establish. By his life and death Jesus won peace for us with God through the forgiveness of sins. That’s a peace which can never be taken from us. Even though our outward circumstances may be filled with turmoil and strife, we have a spiritual peace with our God won for us by Christ.

Isaiah uses these words to proclaim the coming of a glorious Church that would provide eternal peace. And that’s what Epiphany is all about. In one word, it’s proclamation.

When a child has been born to a relative or friend of yours, you probably receive a birth announcement, telling you the date of birth and the name of the child. It’s also common for such an announcement to speak about this child as a gift from God, a precious blessing in their lives and a reason to rejoice with them and give thanks.

Many of the Christmas cards you recently received and sent were an announcement of the greatest birth ever, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Instead of being a blessing just for one family for a lifetime, this Child was and is a blessing to all people of all time. Such a birth deserves an announcement not just once a year at Christmas, or even once a week at worship, but every day of our lives. Our daily lives should be a proclamation that Jesus is our Savior and the Savior of the world. If you agree with me, and I hope you do, how’s that going for you? Are you thinking more about putting Christmas away for another year rather than how you can proclaim it throughout the year? Are you giving your family and friends the distinct impression that Christmas peace and joy still fill your heart, or are your words and actions at odds with that peace? And one more thing. You and I are a fulfillment of these words today. We are Gentiles from all the nations who have streamed to the Holy Christian Church. Does that truth fill you with awe and gratitude, or is it another one of God’s blessings we tend to take for granted?

Do you see how much we need this Savior? We don’t even proclaim his birth in our lives as we should. But he knows that and that’s why he came. He came to win our forgiveness and bring us into his glorious kingdom by faith in him. He brought us sinners peace with the holy God. And now he gives us the privilege of proclaiming that Epiphany glory and peace. Here’s Epiphany in two words. And the first of those words is proclamation.

Part II.

I spoke about baby announcements a moment ago. Those announcements also might include an invitation to come and see the infant.

That’s exactly what Isaiah does here in our text. He writes, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths.” Isaiah’s proclamation includes an invitation to came and learn, to learn about our God’s saving truths. That’s an important invitation because we can’t learn those saving truths on our own. By nature we’re blind to spiritual truth. But our gracious God enlightens us. He reveals to us how he saved us through the life and death on Jesus.

And he does that through his word. Isaiah says, “The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Here the word “law” has the same meaning as God’s word. It’s God’s saving revelation from himself. Your gracious God has invited you to learn his saving truths. He’s acting on that invitation right here and right now.

But don’t think that those truths only have application for you at the moment of your death. Your gracious God invites you to walk in those truths every day of your life. Again, Isaiah writes, “Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” That means two things. First, it’s living each day knowing that you are a child of God whose sins are forgiven through Jesus. Your guilt is gone. You’re headed for eternal life with your God.

Second, it means living according to his word. Sin doesn’t bring joy and happiness into our lives; it brings heartache and frustration. God’s blessings come to us when we resist temptation and follow his will for our lives, when we walk according to his truth. One of the reasons we meet together each Sunday is to encourage one another in our lives as Christians, to share our problems with one another and to receive help and encouragement from others. In this new year, let’s extend and accept that invitation more often than we did in 2009. That’s what Epiphany is in a word. It’s invitation.

One of the things that people look for in a church is that it’s an inviting congregation of Christians. Some churches do a better job of that than others. I don’t know how well our congregation does that, but I’m sure it could do it better. So let’s make that one of our goals in 2010. Let’s carry this word of what Epiphany is all about throughout the year. Epiphany is invitation. Invite others to come and learn what you know—that Jesus is your Savior from sin. Invite others to walk with you in the light of God’s word. Then we will have the blessed privilege of fulfilling these words of Isaiah.

The meaning of Epiphany can be conveyed in just two words: proclamation and invitation. May the Lord bless us and others through us as we keep those Epiphany words before us in this Epiphany season. Amen.