January 6th 2008 Sermon By Fr Perry

Sunday, January 6, 2008 Matthew 2:1-12 “Moving Toward the Light”

When he sat in captivity in the city of Babylon, he had longed in his heart to be reunited to his homeland in Jerusalem. To be reunited to this place that he called home was the opportunity to be reunited with God. You see, beloved, if the Jews were allowed to go home, then they could rebuild the temple. If this most sacred icon in Israel, the temple, was rebuilt, then the people of God could offer their sacrifices and have their sins forgiven and encounter the living God of Israel. So, as Isaiah the prophet sat in captivity for forty years, he began to see and understand that the time was quickly coming to fruition, when his prayers and vision would be answered. A world-changing event was unfolding before his eyes. King Cyrus of Persia would invade Babylon from the north. When the Babylonians were defeated, Cyrus would free all of the political prisoners. The ancient Jews were at liberty to go home. There was nothing there holding them back. A voice resounded throughout the countryside, “Go back to Jerusalem. Go back to your God.” But something very strange happened. When King Cyrus announced his edict of emancipation, the people stayed right where they were. The birdcage was open. The doors were no longer an obstacle to freedom but the bird wouldn’t fly out. The Jews had grown accustomed to their captivity! Now, before you think that these people were crazy, you first need to know that when the Babylonians conquered Israel and drug their captives back to the capitol city, they didn’t take all of the people. Those who were taken into captivity were the doctors, the teachers, skilled craftsmen and anyone else who had education or training. The Babylonians left behind the poor, the crippled, the widows and those who would be a burden to their society or could not contribute in their new surroundings. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? The Babylonians only wanted those individuals who would be of value to their society. Consequently, those talented, gifted Jews that were resettled in Babylon were able to open up shops. They established businesses. They made contributions to society. They even profited from their captivity. Not only did they profit, the reality was that they were free to do anything they wanted to do provided they didn’t cause any trouble in their new homeland. So, after forty years those who were taken into captivity had gotten comfortable with their new life, their environment and they planted themselves right where they were. That is, until King Cyrus established himself as the new ruling authority in the land. When King Cyrus took possession of the land, Isaiah the Prophet figured it out. He understood that Cyrus was an agent of God who had come to set his people free. The prophet then had to shout out, “Hey folks. The doors are open. Get up and go home.” Not so much in these words. He was much more eloquent than I. He said it in this way, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” In the next breath, he tells them, he pleads with them, that if they pick up their bags, move from Babylon back to Jerusalem, God was going to do a mighty thing. Isaiah predicted

that God would once again manifest his glory through his people. Once they go back, the Lord God was going to bless them and the wealth of the nations would follow them. All the nations will see this great event that the God of Israel was doing and come to understand and know the Living God and the greatness of Israel’s God. As a result, they would bring gold and frankincense and glorify God. More than that, these nations would become believers in the power of Israel’s God. To a limited extent, what the prophet Isaiah saw came true. Israel was reestablished. We read in the scriptures how those people went back. Yes, they left everything that had meaning for them – their homes, their businesses, their friends – to go back and rebuild a city and nation. Just think about that undertaking. Would you have picked up and moved? Would you make the sacrifice, not for yourself but for God? This move took a lot of courage, faith and discipline. But, beloved, this was only Phase One of God’s plan for redemption. But Phase One went incomplete. You could read the rest of the Old Testament. You could read the Books of the Prophets or the Wisdom literature and the vision remained incomplete until you got to the Gospel reading today. Matthew picks up where Isaiah left off. Today’s reading in Matthew inaugurates the Feast of the Epiphany. Matthew sees the connection between Isaiah Chapter 60 and the great event of Christmas. The Glory of God would be made known. The Light that would illuminate the world from its darkness would begin to shine and could be found in a stable in Bethlehem. What the Hebrews waited for, prayed for, cried out for had finally arrived and His name was Jesus. So, as the prophet envisioned, people would come from different parts of the world to pay homage. With them, they would bring gold, frankincense and myrrh and proclaim the praise of the Lord. Matthew connects what had happened hundreds of years before in what is historically called the Babylon captivity to what was taking place in Bethlehem. Those words, “Arise, shine, for your light has come,” were on the mind of Matthew, if not his lips. “Arise, shine” was a command, not a request. It was a command to get up, get out. The door of the cage that once held you in was open. You are free! Matthew was talking to the audience of his day and he was talking to us. Matthew was just not offering nice thoughts or a pep talk to rally the troops that they might buy into the Jesus movement. Matthew was addressing a fundamental change that was about to take place in human history. A man, born of God, full of grace and power, would let his light shine. Jesus, when he began his ministry, taught about the Glory of God, glory meaning the power and presence of God made available to you. He not only taught about the Glory of God, he demonstrated what that glory could do. So, to those who were crippled, he commanded them to walk. To those who were blind, he opened their eyes. To those who were deaf, he commanded them to hear. To those who were imprisoned with feelings of guilt and shame, he forgave them their sins. To all, who like their forefathers in Babylon, Jesus was telling them, “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” Your light has come if you are young. Your light has come if you are in the twilight of your years. Your light has come if you live in fear. Your light has come if you hurt. Can you feel the power of this message, beloved? Not in your minds, but in your heart! “Arise, shine!” It’s a command to get up and live a new life.

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Free yourself from that which holds you captive. Free your mind so that your body can follow! You see, beloved, we live in a culture that is held in captivity. We are held by our aversion to booze, to drugs, to pornography. We consume them like we consume a Double Whopper with cheese and bacon, then ask the clerk to supersize our order at Burger King. We have a society that has become addicted to our schedules and we have lost control of our own time. Our time controls us rather than we controlling our time. We have been fooled into believing that the more we have the happier we will be so we max out our credit cards, refinance our home, then live in fear that we can’t keep up with the pressure. Arise, shine! Those words echo from the past and point us to the future. You don’t have to live in fear and you don’t have to live in the past. The Good News of the Gospel and the prophetic words of a prophet are, “Rise up and go!” There is nothing holding you back except you. We are given a new life and a new reality in Jesus Christ. But those who lived in ancient times in Babylon and those who lived in the small city called Bethlehem tell us that if you want this new life and a new reality, you have to get up and get moving. Move toward the light – the light that has pierced the darkness of our lives.

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