2603AFC011626 – A Towering Light for All ← PODCAST LINK 😀
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Isaiah 49:1-6 – 1 Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
Psalm 40:8-9 – 8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:3 – 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 1:29-31 – 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. I am excited to bring this topic to you, Adelphos! The readings we will enjoy on the Second Week in Ordinary Time (Lectionary 64) are passages that outline some of our responsibilities as citizens of The Kingdom of God. we will be ear-witnesses to the beginning of Jesus’ Ministry and the fulfillment of John 3:16 decades before that was ever written down. We will also see and hear God’s unfailing steadfastness in keeping his part of the First Covenant. There’s some real GO-POWER in these passages! Let’s start with our good friend Isaiah.
In these Key Verses, God is speaking to us about Someone who is being formed in the womb to be his servant, who will bring Jacob back to him, Someone who is honored in the sight of the Lord. we know, in this Age, the Age of the Church, that Isaiah is relating to us the everlasting love of a father. (↔ Music Link) When we contemplate on Love like that, we recall how God chose Israel to be his unique people, a chosen race to be a light to the nations. One of the passages we hear about that is in Isaiah 42:6 – 6 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations. All the Hebrew pronouns here – you, your – are first-person singular. This prophecy is part of a description of the Messiah. It is often used to illustrate that we carry that light in us. One reason that association is made is because of Matthew 5:14-16 – 14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. We rejoice in that we are called to be The Light of The World. (↔ Music Link) Again, it is the Messiah who is indicated in Isaiah 49:6 – 6 he says,
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Here, “too light a thing” means something that is a “mere trifle.” Being the Servant of God, the Messiah, and to restore God’s people to their rightful presence in his Kingdom is a small thing compared to being a light to the gentiles as well thereby allowing for their salvation. There’s the APP again, assuring that God wants everyone to be saved, not “just his chosen ones, the people of Israel.” THE APP IS WAY BIGGER THAN THAT.Isaiah 52:10– 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God. And so we sing about All the Ends of the Earth (↔ Music Link) because God wants us back! Why? Why does God want us back?
I’m going to just do this in a sort of outline form:
- God created us in Love and for Love. He Loves us and wants our Love.
- When our First Parents learned sin, they also learned death, and darkness, and separation from God. God, on his part, immediately set up a Plan of Correction for that – and Absolutely Perfect Plan – and we are part of that plan!
- Israel was chosen by God to demonstrate his goodness, his power, and his love. He did that so “Not-Israel” – the gentile nations – would be as in Isaiah 60:3 – 3 Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn. - By adoption, we are All One Body (↔ Music Link). As such we are heirs of The Promise in the APP, coheirs with Christ.
- Through Christ, who is the Light of the World, we have Christ’s Light in us. This is a special thing I want us to understand:
- We can reflect the Light of Christ to others and shed his light on them, OR
- We can radiate the Light of Christ and share his light into them
- WHICHEVER WE CHOOSE, God’s Light goes out from us and God is glorified in that ministry of our giving to others what he has given to us. The easiest way to say that is “It’s all good, adelphos, because it’s all God.”
- We have the Light! We, though sinners, have the Light of Christ. (OK, Please go ahead and sing [Music Link ↔] This Little Light of Mine). Here’s how we got it: John 12:36 – 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”
- What are we supposed to do with the Light? Belovéd, we share it!. And we don’t just “pass the candle to spread the Light.” We put up a TALL candle, like the Easter Candle, then we put it on a TALL candlestick, and then we put it at the TOP of the Sanctuary, or on the rooftop. We put it where it can be seen as a signal of Hope for miles and miles, years and years – Ha! for MILLENNIA! A TOWERING LIGHT FOR ALL! “Why,” you ask? Ask Matthew.
- Matthew 5:14-16 – 14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (In this passage, unlike the previous passage in Isaiah 42:6, all the personal pronouns are second-person plural! That means it includes US!!)
- The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:8 – 8 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light — We are Children of light not of darkness, so we can say (and sing) I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light (↔ Music Link).
- Now, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE WALK IN THE LIGHT? We ….. (say it …) Repent and Believe the Gospel! And when we do that, our sins are washed away. Do you remember this? I Know a Fount (↔ Music Link). When our sins are washed away, when our Towering Light shines (radiates), it is still outshined by the Light of God who is Christ, the Lord of Light and The Light of our Salvation.
Now, all of this takes some “presence of mind;” we have to pay attention. When we do, we see how working with God is the same as God working with us. Look back at that passage in Exodus where Israel “backslid” and made a Golden Calf. God was REALLY ticked off! He was ready to toss that bunch of idolators aside, as when God says to Moses, “of you I will make a great nation.” Moses says, in effect, “Let’s not forget the Promises you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We wouldn’t want the Egyptians to say you brought our people out here just to slay us.” (See Exodus 32:11-14) Moses did not usurp the authority or Promise of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Because of his commitment to Truth, God relented in his just wrath.
Because of that, Jesus was able to fulfill God’s promise by coming to save sinners like The Apostle Paul – and like us. In Christ Jesus we have the fulfillment of the covenant promised first to Eve and Adam, then to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the nation of Israel, the prophets and judges, the gentiles, and finally, to us. In God’s absolutely perfect plan Jesus notifies us saying in John 8:12 – 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I AM the Light (↔ Music Link) of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” This is later confirmed in the Acts of the Apostles: Acts 26:22-23 – [The Apostle Paul said,] 22 To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: 23 that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan is that everyone would see HIS Light and radiate his light because HIS Light will be IN us. (Check out Ephesians 5:8 again)
If we believe God keeps his promises, then we should be shouting for joy from the rooftops. God is real, God is present, God is Love, and that means he’s not some secret to be hidden from view of the world. Shine, Belovéd! Shine at the top of the hill! When we do that, it’s called evangelization which means we are living out Jesus’ command to the Apostles and to all of us. You can find that in Matthew 28:19. THERE IS A PLAN, and Jesus is counting on us to remember we are part of it. Get out there and SHINE like a BEACON! (↔ Music Link) so we can all be A Towering Light for All!
(This message created with recycled electrons as part of a Demonstration Project to edify the Elect that they too, can be Elect-trons which can work together to Shine like The Light of the World!)
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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FOLLOW HIM!!
