"What Now?
Isaiah 60:1-6
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Mid'ian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Mid'ian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
I remember a Christmas several years ago, when my nephew, Ryan was about 5 years old. It was the end of the day, we had opened the gifts, eaten the food, and played with most of the new toys. There was wrapping paper strewn about the room, there were dishes in the sink and crumbs on the table. Everyone was full, content and tired. Everyone, that is except for Ryan.
He looked around at his family with heavy eyelids, and asked in all seriousness, “so, guys, what’s next?”
For days we had been gathering with friends and family and celebrating, so it seemed to him that there must be something else, some other party or engagement to attend.
This is the way many of us may feel in this time when Christmas has come and gone, and the next major Christian holiday is way off in the horizon. We kind of look around and ask “so, guys, what’s next?”
There are many ways that people answer this question. While I was in the bank once not long after Christmas, I overheard a conversation between two women. One was talking about how she couldn’t believe with all the money, time and energy she spent getting ready for Christmas that it had already come and gone and she had nothing to show for it but a messy house and a deficit in her bank account.
The other women replied that she couldn’t wait to get all the Christmas decorations packed back up and get on to her “normal” life.
These are both common reactions after Christmas. There are some people who kind of glaze over, not sure of what that blur of green and red that whizzed past them really meant. There are those people who kind of go through the motions, anticipating the end of all the merriment so they can just get on with their lives.
There are others who kind of go into hibernation once Christmas is over, and wake up somewhere about Maundy Thursday.
So I wonder, how do we, as Christians, answer the question of “what’s next”? How do we respond to the birth of Christ, incorporating this event into our daily living?
Every Christmas Eve I am reminded that most of us, if not all, wonder about this question.
As I know many of you are aware, every year at the end of our Christmas Eve service, we each have a small candle. I light my candle from the Christ candle in the center of the Advent wreath and then make my way down the aisle, lighting the candles of those people sitting on the ends of the pews. Those people then light the candles of the people sitting next to them, and on it goes until every candle in the church is lit.
We finish singing “Silent Night”, and then the confusion begins! Some people blow their candles out immediately, others prefer to let theirs burn; the confusion comes from the fact that there is really no liturgical moment when we have decided is the “right” time to blow those candles out.
Now, if I had it my way, we would never blow those candles out! We would walk out of these doors with our lit candles burning brightly and held up high for all the world, or at least all of Orange to see!
I would keep them burning because they are the symbolic reminder of Christ’s light coming into the world.
Allowing these candles to keep burning, I believe is the answer to that question of “what’s next”
What’s next, after all the cookies have been eaten, the gifts have been exchanged and the egg nog is gone is that we must keep the light burning!
Listen again to the words of our Scripture lesson this morning, this time from the “Message” version of the Bible. “"Get out of bed, Jerusalem! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. God's bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, but God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you.”
This passage from Isaiah, of course, is not written directly to us, in 2019 America, and yet this message is so important for us!
In this time after Christmas, we are called to keep the light of Christ’s birth burning brightly for all to see.
In the Christian Observer was the story of a lighthouse keeper on Robbins' Reef off the rocky shore of New England.
After years of faithful service of minding the lighthouse, Jacob Walker caught a cold and rapidly grew worse and died.
His wife buried his body on the hillside above the shore, on the mainland, in plain view of the lighthouse upon the reef.
She then applied for and received the appointment as the keeper of the light.
For twenty years she carried on alone. Upon hearing her story, a New York City reporter took an interest and went out to get her story.
In the course of the interview she told him this: "Every evening I stand in the door of the lighthouse and look across the water to the hillside where my husband sleeps. . . . I always seem to hear his voice saying, as he often said when he was alive, 'Mind the light! Mind the light! Mind the light!'"
Mind the light. This is what our Scripture lesson tells us is what is next.[1]
Recently I came upon another story that I don’t believe I’ve shared with you. In this story the three wise men, Gaspar, Balthassar and Melchior, were three different ages. Gaspar was a young man, Balthassar a middle aged man and Melchior an elderly man.
They found a cave where the Holy One was and entered to do him homage one at a time. Melchior the old man entered first. He found an old man like himself in the cave. They shared stories and spoke of memory and gratitude.
Middle aged Balthassar entered next. He found a man his own age there. They spoke passionately about leadership and responsibility.
Young Gaspar was the last to enter. He found a young prophet waiting for him. They spoke about reform and promise. Afterward when the three kings spoke to each other about their encounter with the Christ, they were shocked at each other’s stories. So they got their gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh together and all three went into the cave. They found a baby there, the infant Jesus only twelve days old.
Fr. Pellegrino continues: “There is a deep message here. Jesus reveals himself to all people, at all stages of their lives. He reveals himself to us, Christians throughout the world, so we can reveal his presence to others. So many people throughout the world are walking in darkness. Their lives are a nonsensical wandering from one pointless, frustrating experience to another. They seek light but do not know where to find it.
We Christians have been exposed to the light that is strong and the love that is near. It is up to us to be epiphanies, people that show the presence of the Lord to others. Each of us is called at the Epiphany to let our light shine and brighten our own corner of our troubled world. We are called to reveal Christ to others. We are called to be Epiphanies of the Lord.”[2]
To mind the light, to be epiphanies of the Lord, to shine Christ’s light for the world around us, this is what’s next.
[1] Christian Observer.
[2] “The Epiphany: His Light Beaks Through Our Darkness” Fr. Joseph Pellegrino http://www.st.ignatius.net/01-07-07.html
He looked around at his family with heavy eyelids, and asked in all seriousness, “so, guys, what’s next?”
For days we had been gathering with friends and family and celebrating, so it seemed to him that there must be something else, some other party or engagement to attend.
This is the way many of us may feel in this time when Christmas has come and gone, and the next major Christian holiday is way off in the horizon. We kind of look around and ask “so, guys, what’s next?”
There are many ways that people answer this question. While I was in the bank once not long after Christmas, I overheard a conversation between two women. One was talking about how she couldn’t believe with all the money, time and energy she spent getting ready for Christmas that it had already come and gone and she had nothing to show for it but a messy house and a deficit in her bank account.
The other women replied that she couldn’t wait to get all the Christmas decorations packed back up and get on to her “normal” life.
These are both common reactions after Christmas. There are some people who kind of glaze over, not sure of what that blur of green and red that whizzed past them really meant. There are those people who kind of go through the motions, anticipating the end of all the merriment so they can just get on with their lives.
There are others who kind of go into hibernation once Christmas is over, and wake up somewhere about Maundy Thursday.
So I wonder, how do we, as Christians, answer the question of “what’s next”? How do we respond to the birth of Christ, incorporating this event into our daily living?
Every Christmas Eve I am reminded that most of us, if not all, wonder about this question.
As I know many of you are aware, every year at the end of our Christmas Eve service, we each have a small candle. I light my candle from the Christ candle in the center of the Advent wreath and then make my way down the aisle, lighting the candles of those people sitting on the ends of the pews. Those people then light the candles of the people sitting next to them, and on it goes until every candle in the church is lit.
We finish singing “Silent Night”, and then the confusion begins! Some people blow their candles out immediately, others prefer to let theirs burn; the confusion comes from the fact that there is really no liturgical moment when we have decided is the “right” time to blow those candles out.
Now, if I had it my way, we would never blow those candles out! We would walk out of these doors with our lit candles burning brightly and held up high for all the world, or at least all of Orange to see!
I would keep them burning because they are the symbolic reminder of Christ’s light coming into the world.
Allowing these candles to keep burning, I believe is the answer to that question of “what’s next”
What’s next, after all the cookies have been eaten, the gifts have been exchanged and the egg nog is gone is that we must keep the light burning!
Listen again to the words of our Scripture lesson this morning, this time from the “Message” version of the Bible. “"Get out of bed, Jerusalem! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. God's bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, but God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you.”
This passage from Isaiah, of course, is not written directly to us, in 2019 America, and yet this message is so important for us!
In this time after Christmas, we are called to keep the light of Christ’s birth burning brightly for all to see.
In the Christian Observer was the story of a lighthouse keeper on Robbins' Reef off the rocky shore of New England.
After years of faithful service of minding the lighthouse, Jacob Walker caught a cold and rapidly grew worse and died.
His wife buried his body on the hillside above the shore, on the mainland, in plain view of the lighthouse upon the reef.
She then applied for and received the appointment as the keeper of the light.
For twenty years she carried on alone. Upon hearing her story, a New York City reporter took an interest and went out to get her story.
In the course of the interview she told him this: "Every evening I stand in the door of the lighthouse and look across the water to the hillside where my husband sleeps. . . . I always seem to hear his voice saying, as he often said when he was alive, 'Mind the light! Mind the light! Mind the light!'"
Mind the light. This is what our Scripture lesson tells us is what is next.[1]
Recently I came upon another story that I don’t believe I’ve shared with you. In this story the three wise men, Gaspar, Balthassar and Melchior, were three different ages. Gaspar was a young man, Balthassar a middle aged man and Melchior an elderly man.
They found a cave where the Holy One was and entered to do him homage one at a time. Melchior the old man entered first. He found an old man like himself in the cave. They shared stories and spoke of memory and gratitude.
Middle aged Balthassar entered next. He found a man his own age there. They spoke passionately about leadership and responsibility.
Young Gaspar was the last to enter. He found a young prophet waiting for him. They spoke about reform and promise. Afterward when the three kings spoke to each other about their encounter with the Christ, they were shocked at each other’s stories. So they got their gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh together and all three went into the cave. They found a baby there, the infant Jesus only twelve days old.
Fr. Pellegrino continues: “There is a deep message here. Jesus reveals himself to all people, at all stages of their lives. He reveals himself to us, Christians throughout the world, so we can reveal his presence to others. So many people throughout the world are walking in darkness. Their lives are a nonsensical wandering from one pointless, frustrating experience to another. They seek light but do not know where to find it.
We Christians have been exposed to the light that is strong and the love that is near. It is up to us to be epiphanies, people that show the presence of the Lord to others. Each of us is called at the Epiphany to let our light shine and brighten our own corner of our troubled world. We are called to reveal Christ to others. We are called to be Epiphanies of the Lord.”[2]
To mind the light, to be epiphanies of the Lord, to shine Christ’s light for the world around us, this is what’s next.
[1] Christian Observer.
[2] “The Epiphany: His Light Beaks Through Our Darkness” Fr. Joseph Pellegrino http://www.st.ignatius.net/01-07-07.html