This day after Epiphany I want to share some more thoughts on “Rise and Shine.”

Paul, who identified himself as the apostle to the Gentiles, had the proper understanding  of the mystery of God’s grace that had been revealed to him:

Ephesians 3:6 This mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus

It was not just the Jews who were to be saved. The Magi, or Wise Men, were from the East. They were not Jews. Yet they are the first ones in the Scripture of whom it is said that they worshiped Jesus. Not Jews, but Gentiles were the first to worship the Christ child. The shepherds may have gone to see Him when He was born, but it does not say that they worshiped Him.

Salvation for the Gentiles, the nations, is what Epiphany is all about. Jesus showed Himself to be God to those outside of the descendants of Abraham. And that is what you are called to do as well: RISE AND SHINE–show Jesus to be the Savior to those outside of God’s grace. When Isaiah told the people to rise and shine, darkness and despair were realities for them. He was prophesying to those who would be captives in Babylon. In the midst of their darkness, their captivity and slavery in Babylon, light would shine. They would receive the light of God’s deliverance from their captors that would be but a glimmer of the deliverance to come in Christ Jesus.

It is in Christ that we see the theme of darkness and light played out most graphically. In order to overcome the darkness of sin, your sin, Jesus left the glory of heaven to come and live among us in this darkness. As part of His battle, he allowed the world to be plunged into even deeper darkness. That happened when he died bearing your sins.

Mark 15:33 Darkness came over the whole land

However, He did not leave us in that darkness. He restored light to the world by conquering death through His resurrection. He burst forth from the tomb with radiance. Jesus was the literal embodiment of what it means to RISE AND SHINE. The angel that rolled the stone away reflected that light: His appearance was like lightning and his clothes were as white as snow. Jesus endured the darkness of your sins so that you might have light.

There is still darkness and despair in our world today. We have plenty of it in our lives. Depression. Illness. Relationship problems. People who disappoint you. Loss of job or income. Watching the declining morality or our nation and wondering just how bad it will get. Having changes thrust upon us that were not our idea. Uncertainty about the future. The darkness deepens. It comes to each of you at different times and in different ways. It is to you, when you find yourself in trying circumstances that Isaiah 60 declares Your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you…the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. This is the confidence that you have through faith. You know that the salvation God accomplished through Jesus Christ was for you. You trust in His deliverance. Let that light shine through you.

I remember a time I was at the grocery store. I had four boxes of instant pudding, a tootsie Roll pop, and a Gallon of milk. (Who do you think I was shopping for?)  The young lady was a little distracted when she rang up my purchase. She rang up the four boxes of pudding, then the Tootsie Roll pop, and then she rang up one of the puddings again which evidently didn’t scan the first time. Then she told me the total that I owed. I said, “You didn’t do that right.” She said, “What do you mean?” I told her, “you didn’t charge me for the milk.” She was a little embarrassed, because her manager was standing right behind her. He heard the exchange and said to me very sincerely, “Thank you for being honest.” I could have just said, “You’re welcome” or “It’s okay.” But what I said was, “It’s what I do as a follower of Jesus.” It doesn’t take much to let people know that the light of Jesus has shined in your life and to let it shine through you, too.