1-3-2021 Grace-Tucson Sermon

Pastor Tim Patoka

The Epiphany of our Lord: January 3, 2021 Get to Know Jesus as the Savior of the World Isaiah 60:1-6 1) See Jesus’ Saving Light that Dawns on All His People 2) Bring Your Joyful Gifts and Praises to Your Savior

What would it take to get you out of your house and gon on a trip somewhere? Maybe it’s a moot question because of current safety concerns. Maybe it’s possible if you had the time to prepare for it and could determine the destination and itinerary. Or maybe you already have one planned or you’d happily go this very afternoon if you had the chance. The Magi were willing to go on a trip to Bethlehem and do what was needed so they could see the Christ child. There are many things we don’t know about them and their trip. Yet we can deduce a few things. They likely came from Persia in the east and were somewhat well-off in life being of their Magi position in society. Their trip could have taken around 3 months one way and certainly required planning. And they came for a single purpose – to worship the Christ child with their joyful gifts and praise.

Epiphany is the word we use to describe this joyous day when the Magi finally found the Christ child and worshiped him in Bethlehem. And to help us know who this Christ Child is, we look to Isaiah chapter 60. In these verses, Isaiah uses his typical poetic style that’s steeped in prophetic imagery and Old Testament references to introduce Jesus to us as the Savior of the world. And as we look these verses over, we’ll see how Jesus’ saving light dawns on all his people while also receiving encouragement to bring our joyful gifts and praise to our Savior.

1) See Jesus’ Saving Light that Dawns on All His People One of the things I’ve appreciated this last month is how I can see the sunrise on my way into work most days. While I’m not a night owl, I’m also not an early riser. But because of the sunrise being at a later hour at this time of year, it usually works out that I get to see it over the Rincon Mountains as I pull into the parking lot. And I like having that view at the start of my workday. For the sun’s dawning light is great to look at, especially if you have clouds. It chases away the darkness of night so you can easily see what’s around you. And it signals the start of a new day where we get to live for God in whatever way we uniquely have.

Isaiah compares Jesus’ light of salvation with the sun’s dawning light when he writes, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is dawning upon you. 2Look, darkness covers the earth, and deep darkness covers the peoples, but the Lord will dawn upon you, and his glory will be seen over you.” (Isaiah 60:1-2 EHV) As the sun’s dawning light is a good thing, so is Jesus’ light of salvation. It chases away the darkness of sin with his forgiveness and love. It also shows us what all God has promised to us and will do for us as through his Son. 1

Pastor Tim Patoka

The Epiphany of our Lord: January 3, 2021

But who exactly gets to see this light? It shines on the Church – the body of believers of every place and every time. We visibly see this Church when its members gather together around God’s Word whether it be in front of an altar or in front of a screen. And the only requirement to be in this Church is to simply have faith in Jesus as your Savior. As the Apostle Paul told us in our 2nd Lesson, in God’s sight there are no differences amongst his believing children. Not even the racial, cultural, economic, or educational differences that we highlight today. If a person has faith, then they are in the Church. And if a person is in the Church, then they will see Jesus’ light of salvation dawning upon them.

But that doesn’t include everybody in the world. There are plenty of people who are outside of the Church because they don’t have faith. If there is no faith, then their sins dominate their soul and blind them to Jesus’ light of salvation. But how many of them are still in darkness because of our failure to witness to them, to tell them about the Savior of the world? We let others do the work that Grace’s members and leaders had agreed to pursue on a congregational level. We don’t reach out to people who aren’t like us or agree with us on things like the transition of power in the White House or a proper reaction to our global pandemic. In so doing, we leave out whole segments of society from Jesus’ light simply because of our personal biases.

Or perhaps, worst of all, we fail to practice any sort of personal evangelism in our own lives, let alone on a congregational level.

It can also be difficult for we, who are within the Church, to see Jesus’ light of salvation that dawns upon us. Because sometimes it can seem more like a sunset that’s getting darker and darker as time goes by. We let the worries of this life sap the energy right out of us instead of placing it all in the Lord’s hands. We allow wrong priorities and sinful wants crowd out our time and attention for God time and time again. The danger signs are there! And they’re telling us to do a course correction before that sun of Jesus’ light sets for good and we are left in sin’s darkness with only ourselves to blame.

There’s a reason why we’re primarily talking about the Christ child and the light of salvation he shines. Because he alone is our Savior. He alone was born of a virgin as Isaiah prophesied elsewhere. He alone was true man yet truly lived like no other man or woman in his perfect obedience of the law. He alone died on the cross to pay the price for all our sins. He alone rose from the dead to prove that his payment for sins was accepted by God. He alone has earned the title “Savior of the world” which no one will ever take away from him or also receive.

As Jesus makes no distinctions on who within his Church sees his light of salvation, so he indiscriminately shines his light of salvation for all sinners. The one thing that we and everyone else in the world has in common is that we need a Savior in the highest degree. Not just Christians who fail to tell others about Jesus as they know they should, but also everyone who is 2

Pastor Tim Patoka

The Epiphany of our Lord: January 3, 2021

born with a sinful nature and therefore struggles to do what’s right on a daily basis. It’s for all of us that Jesus has his light of salvation dawn for as the Savior of the world.

And those who see Jesus as their Savior also see his saving light. It is this Savior of the world that the Magi saw in Bethlehem on the first Epiphany Day. And that’s who we see as Isaiah prophesies in these verses – the only Savior there is who has his light of salvation dawn upon this world. This light is for all sinners, yet it only those who believe in him who have his wondrous light shining upon them.

2) Bring Your Joyful Gifts and Praise to Your Savior For those who see Jesus’ saving light, they also bring joyful gifts and praise to him. The prophet Isaiah describes all sorts of people from all walks of life who are coming to their Lord.

We have Jews and Gentiles, mighty kings, young ones who need to be carried at a person’s side, and residents from the Arabian regions of Midian, Ephah, and Sheba. And they are coming with joyful gifts and praise – great riches of the sea, the wealth of nations, luxurious gifts like gold and incense, and needing caravans of camels to carry them all to their Savior. On top of that, they are coming with joyful hearts that cannot help but announce the good news of the praise of the Lord.

Epiphany’s Magi visitors who likewise brought joyful gifts and praise were just forerunners of Isaiah’s prophetic vision with all God’s people coming to their Savior. We too can fill in Isaiah’s picture as we bring our joyful gifts and praise to our Savior as well. Yet, how well do we do that? Thinking of all the preparations the Magi had to make to go to Bethlehem, what happens when you fail to plan something? You plan to fail, fail to show our thanks to God with the gifts he has graciously given us in the way we prefer. Thinking of the hefty price tag the Magi had to pay for their specific gifts, how often would we classify what we give to the Lord chump change or leftovers by our own standards? Thinking of the joyful praises that accompanied the Magi’s giving, we often find sin at work in our hearts that distorts what should be a happy fruit of faith into something far worse.

To encourage us to bring joyful gifts and praise to our Savior, let us review how bounteous our God is in all that he provides for us. When it comes to our spiritual lives, our God has taken care of it all. Not only did he send his Son to be the Savior of the world, he also gave us faith so that we could believe in him. We have all of God’s spiritual blessings now and the guarantee of life eternal afterwards! When it comes to our physical lives, we need never worry about life’s bare necessities. God will provide as he has promised. On top of that, he also generously meets so many of our wants simply because of an overabundance of his grace.

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Pastor Tim Patoka

The Epiphany of our Lord: January 3, 2021

And that remains the case as we start a new year. Even though we still have last year’s sorrows hanging over us, God will still provide for us in these same bounteous ways.

Spiritually, it’s all good. Physically, nothing to worry about. And even if the worst were to happen and we pass away, God continues to provide for us with our eternal release from sin and its every effects in the joys of heaven that await us.

In light of what all God will surely do for his believing children, bring your joyful gifts and praise to your Savior as did the people in Isaiah’s vision and the Magi themselves. Use the occasion of a new year to review how you and your family can be a faithful manager of the blessings that God has granted you. This is something my wife and I typically due in early January where we review our family finances and change things as needed to make sure we are giving first to the Lord while also paying the bills and saving up for future expenses.

Whether you do this or something else, follow the example given to you by the Magi as you consider how to give your joyful gifts and praise to the Lord. Thinking of their necessary preparations, practice firstfruits giving. Let your gifts to the Lord of time, talents, and treasures be of first priority instead of what’s leftover because you failed to plan. Thinking of the hefty cost the Magi paid, let your gifts be in keeping with your income and commitments.

Everybody’s situation is different and may not be secure. But chances are, you can still be generous to God in your own way. Thinking of the joy that the Magi and all of Isaiah’s people had, let your giving be marked with cheerful hearts and a faith-driven motivation that comes from calling Jesus your Savior. If we indeed keep these three things in mind, we’ll surely help fill in Isaiah’s prophetic vision as did the Magi of old.

Conclusion What would it take to get you out of the house and go on a trip? I’m guessing we have as many different answers as we have people listening now. But for the Magi, all it took was the birth of their Savior. As Isaiah describes with his prophetic vision, these Magi are just one small part of all those who are coming to Jesus. We know who this Jesus is – the only Savior for all sinners. This same Jesus shines his light of salvation on his believing children in the same way that the sun’s dawning light brings good things for a new day. For those who see Jesus’ saving light, they also bring him joyful gifts and praise in much the same way as did Isaiah’s people and the Magi themselves. And on this Epiphany Sunday, we review who Jesus is and how we can honor him as the Magi did so that we may continue to spread the good news of Jesus, the Savior of the world. Amen.

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