Can You See the Light of Your Salvation?

3rd Sunday after Epiphany, 1/26/14
Isaiah 9:1-4


Can You See the Light of Your Salvation?
I. It shines from an unlikely place.
II. It fills you with inner joy.


There are situations in life in which the ability to see a light is important, even critical. How long has it been since you had your driver’s license renewed? Part of that process is a vision test in which your peripheral vision is tested. Can you see the little light far to the left and then far to the right? If you can’t, your driver’s license might not be renewed.

And once you’re out driving on the road, seeing the light can be a life or death situation. Failure to see that the stoplight ahead is red can be deadly.

Seeing the light also can bring tremendous security and comfort. We’ve all had the experience of fumbling our way in the dark, stubbing toes and nicking shins on unseen objects along the way. What a relief it is when we reach the light switch and turn it on! Now we know our surroundings.

God’s prophet Isaiah speaks to us this morning about a light. No doubt you’re aware he’s not speaking about physical light which is necessary for our life on this earth. He’s speaking about spiritual light, the light of our salvation. He states, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Matthew connects these words of Isaiah with the beginning of Jesus’ preaching ministry. Jesus had come to share the good news that he is the light of the world.

Can you see the light of your salvation? That’s a critically important question to ask; so critical, that it’s good to ask it over and over again. And when, by God’s grace, we’re lead to state that we can and do see the light of our salvation, our God strengthens our faith and fills us with his confidence. So let’s ask it again this morning. Can you see the light of your salvation? May our God send us his Holy Spirit and empower us to see his saving light.

Part I.

The proper location can foster the success of what you’re trying to accomplish. For instance, if you are really serious about making it big in the world of financial investments, you want to be as close to Wall Street as possible. If you want to make it big in the world of country music, you need to be in Nashville. If you want to appear on TV and movie screens, you probably should be near Hollywood. The location enhances your chances for success.

Isaiah opens our text this morning with the mention of locations which may or may be familiar to you. Listen to them again. “In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles.” No doubt you’re familiar with the name “Galilee.” It’s the name of the sea we meet so often in the Bible. It’s also used for the area around that sea. But what about Zebulun and Naphtali? Perhaps you recognize those as the names of two of the tribes of Israel. These two tribes lived in the area of the Sea of Galilee.

So why does Isaiah mention them? Recall the very first words he wrote for us this morning. “There will be no more doom and gloom for those who were in distress.” During Isaiah’s day and into the future, this area of the Holy Land was not the place to live. It was the unfortunate area in which conquering armies would march and even enter battle. And every time it happened, destruction would result. The crops and trees were ruined. Buildings were destroyed. Lives were devastated. And just about the time that the people living in this area got things back to normal, another conquering army would arrive. In fact, not long after Isaiah wrote these words, the Assyrians invaded Israel for the final time, deported the Jews who were living there and repopulated the area with foreigners. That’s why it became known as Galilee of the Gentiles, not Galilee of the Jews.

Back once more to the observation that location lends itself to the success of an endeavor. If you were going to start anything during Isaiah’s day or well into the future, would you choose this area—Zebulun, Naphtali, Galilee—as your base of operations? Probably not. The likelihood of an interruption or even destruction by a foreign army was too great. And if it were some Jewish religious endeavor, this is would not be the place at all. There were too many Gentiles here. The place to be for anything having to do with the Jewish religion was in Jerusalem. That’s where the Temple was. That’s where important Jewish religious people were. That’s where things were happening, not in the backwoods of Galilee. Every good Jew knew that not much good, if any good at all, could come out of Galilee.

But listen again to what Isaiah sees, “In the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” Isaiah sees the light of salvation coming, not from Jerusalem, but from Galilee. How can that be? How did it happen? By God’s grace you know. This is the place where Jesus began his preaching and teaching. Here in Galilee Jesus performed more miracles than any place else. Here in Galilee Jesus gathered his disciples and gathered crowds of thousands around him. Here in Galilee and not in Jerusalem Jesus freely proclaimed his word and, in doing so, brought people to see the light of their salvation.

Can you see the light of your salvation? By God’s grace you can and you do, even though it shines from an unlikely place.

When are the times in your life when you need to see the light of your salvation shining brightly? I won’t answer that for you, but I will for me. I need to see it shining brightly when my life is at its worst, when I think I’ve hit the deepest pit of my life, when it seems like nothing is going to work out for me, when I’m trying to do what’s right and I’m getting push-back from unlikely places, when pain and disease and death come slamming into my life. How about you? Aren’t those the times when we look for some great sign from God that he still loves us, that he still will help us, that he still is guarding and protecting us? But we often look in vain. There is no divine hand-writing on the wall. No divine display of power in the sky or in our lives. Worse yet, the difficulties persist. They drag on. The gloom and doom press down on us. And we can’t see the light of our salvation. We’re not so sure anymore that we are God’s own child. So where do we look? Look back to the font filled with water and hear again the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Stand shoulder to shoulder with your brothers and sisters in Christ and receive the body and blood of your Savior with the bread and the wine. Dig into God’s holy word and drink deeply of the waters of life and feed your soul on the Bread of Life. Those may seem to be unlikely places from a human perspective, but they are God’s power to shine with his grace into our hearts and lives.

Part II.

What have been the joyous occasions in your life? You might think of your wedding day. Perhaps it was the day your child was born. Maybe it was the day you won some award after working hard for months.

Isaiah and his fellow Jews also had joyous occasions in their lives. He mentions two of them in these words, “You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.”

First he speaks about the time of harvest being a joyous occasion. If you’ve ever spent time on a farm, you can appreciate what Isaiah writes. The hard work of planting and weeding and the months of waiting and worrying are over. The crop is ripe, harvested and in the barn.

But he also speaks of military victory as a joyous occasion. Our senior members may recall the celebrations all across our country when WW II ended. Many of the rest of us have seen pictures and watched video footage of it.

So what do either of these two joyous events have to do with us? How do they give us any joy? First, the crop that is harvested didn’t get ripe on its own. That was an act of God, a powerful act of God, who is ultimately responsible for sunshine, and rain and the all the laws of nature that go into producing a crop. Our God used that same almighty power to save all sinners. With almighty power Jesus raised himself from the dead and won eternal life for us. What a joyous occasion!

But what about a victory in battle, especially the one Isaiah cites—the victory over Midian? Recall what God did. He whittled Gideon’s army of 32,000 down to a mere 300 and then had those few men attack Midian using torches and broken clay jars. Sounds foolish, but it worked. Midian was routed. It was a visible sign that our God is a gracious God. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. Instead he saves us. What a joyous occasion!

Someone once said that the Christian is an optimist. That person didn’t consult me and I don’t suppose he consulted you. Figuratively speaking, when it’s not raining on our lives, the dark clouds of doom are still there. We never seem to catch a break. But the Christian optimist is still spot on. Even in the dark moments of life the Christian possesses an inner joy. Our God is still using his power to rule over and guide his church, his believers. And he’s still showering his saving grace on us no matter how gloomy life may be. Aren’t we still forgiven by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus? Indeed we are! Isn’t heaven our eternal home? Indeed it is! Can you see the light of your salvation? By God’s power and grace we always can, and that fills us with inner joy. May God grant it to you because of Jesus, your Savior. Amen.