Flora First Christian Church - Flora, IN

January 6, 2008

Isaiah 60: 1-5

Vacation on Tybee Island, Georgia

This past August, Bev and I took our daughters Stephanie and Michelle, to Tybee Island, Georgia, just off the coast of Savannah for a week’s vacation before they headed back to college. Tybee Island is a place that Bev & I had been before and this time we wanted to take the girls. One of the more noted landmarks on the island is a lighthouse that was built prior to the Civil War. On our last afternoon on Tybee we dropped by the lighthouse to take a few pictures before the park closed. I had forgotten my camera when we took the tour earlier in the week. I have a slight fascination with lighthouses. Several of you told me that you too have this condition when I wore this tie back in the fall. In the lighthouse parking lot I had taken a few pictures with my camera, when a guy with camera and a zoom lens about a foot long ask, “You got the bug too?” I must have looked confused because the guy then said “You know . . . lighthouses?” He appeared to be about my age and we began to talk. Within the past year his employer had relocated him from the West Coast to Atlanta. While on the West Coast he had begun visiting light house, and now was working up and down the East Coast. He had photographed over 200 light houses. That Saturday afternoon he had driven down from Atlanta, an almost three hour drive, just to snap some pictures. I thought I had the lighthouse bug, but I guess I just had a little sniffle.
There is something about lighthouses that draws many of us to them. Maybe our infatuation is with their serene locations. Perhaps it’s the thought of living in a by-gone era in a simpler time. Or maybe it’s the image of the lighthouse standing firmly in the world’s darkness as its beacons burst into a dark sky with light that gives direction.

Christmas Eve

Perhaps it’s that last image that draws many of us to the Christmas Eve service where we raise our candles lighting up the entire sanctuary as we sing “Silent Night,” proclaiming that Jesus Christ, the light of the world, has been born into our lives.
Today is Epiphany; that day when most of Christianity traditionally celebrates the Wise Men’s visit to the Christ Child by a star’s guiding light. Upon their discovery the words of the prophet Isaiah are proclaimed to us “Arise, Shine for your light has come.” With this announcement we acknowledge that things are no longer the same.

What Isaiah Meant?

When Isaiah first spoke the words “Arise and Shine” he was warning the people of Israel of a time when a foreign power would come and take them away as captives. Of course that foreign power was Babylon. In this morning’s Bible passage, it is quite clear that Isaiah’s words also had a second fulfillment. Through Isaiah, God foretold the coming of the ultimate deliverer - the eternal deliverer, who would come to save all people from their sins.
Because of Christ’s birth, we are no longer the same and therefore we cannot stay in the same place, its time to live in the light . . . His light.

Lighthouses—Two Purposes

A lighthouse has two main purposes: 1) to warn ships at night of dangerous areas along the rocky and shallow shores, and 2) to act as a traffic signal sign on the sea. Lighthouses say to sailors: “This is exactly where you are, travel with care.”
With this knowledge, lighthouses have become symbolic of my faith in Jesus Christ.

On the Threshold of 2008—We Need Preparations

As we stand on the threshold of 2008, let us look at some preparation we need to make as we travel in the light that has come.

Some Guidelines for Traveling in His light!

Fourteen years ago, our family attended the General Assembly of Christian Churches in St. Louis. Our daughters were six at the time. The church we attended Sunday worship was located half way between the airport area and downtown St. Louis. When we left the church that morning I got turned around, went out the opposite side of the parking lot and made a right turn when I thought I turning left. It wasn’t very long before the streets and the buildings looked . . . different.. Most of the store widows had security bars on them. There was no one on the streets this Sunday morning to ask which way do we go? So I glanced at the map and tried to go back to where I had been. Soon Bev began to say: “This place looks familiar, and I think we’ve been here before. Actually I think that we’ve been here two or three times before.” One of the girls was crying: “We’re lost and we’ll never get out of here.” Of course my reply as a Dad was: “We’re not lost!” I finally stopped glancing at the map, pulled over and studied it. After retracing where we had been, we found the right way.
Just like when traveling, we need a spiritual MAP if we are going to travel safely to our destination. We must know where we’re going and how to get there.

Point 1: Know where you are going?

Psalm 119:50 is a familiar verse: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

God’s instruction that comes from His written Word, the Bible, must be accepted with faith and in obedience, or it does us no good. We may even discover that we have separated ourselves from God, without ever knowing it.

Join us in Reading Daily

Since we’re early in our 2008 journey, I challenge you to join me in seeking to read the Bible daily. In the back of the sanctuary and on the table in the new building, Phyllis has placed “Daily Reading Guides” from the American Bible Society. This is a thematic and devotional means of reading the Bible each day. Read the passage, then ask yourself, what is God saying here and what is Christ saying to me? Another reading guide is the through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. A Daily Reading is best used by reading at the same time each day. If you miss a day, pick back up where you left off. Those who are new to the Bible, I suggest starting with the Gospel of Mark, which is the oldest and the shortest of the gospels. Those who desire to make this your prayer time, I recommend beginning with the book of Psalms, read a psalm a day. After reading a psalm, put it in your own words.
God wants to speak to us through his word a little bit each day. When we find ourselves at a crossroad, his Word can come to us and give us direction.

Point 2: Be Equipped

Have you seen the commercial that shows a brain surgeon holding a do it yourself manual? The commercial asks why would you ever go to someone who holds your life in their hands if they’re not properly trained.
Why should we think we can live in an ungodly world as Christians without being instructed and prepared? Just like in the work force, the New Testament calls this preparation equipping.
In the book of Colossians early Christians were instructed “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, as you sing psalms, and hymns and spiritual song with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3: 16-17)
Worship and study equips us to face the unknown.

The Church’s Job

It is the job of the church to equip one another that we may travel “in the light” in the coming year.
Sunday School classes, C.W.F. groups and Bible studies aren’t offered just to have something to do—these are offered that we may be equipped for the journey.

Wizard of Oz

Last year I was channel surfing the TV one evening when I came across the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz.” I came in just as Dorothy was leaving Munchkinland and was setting off on her journey to meet the Wizard. It wasn’t long before Dorothy and Toto had hooked up with the Scarecrow and the Tin Man and they entered the forest at nightfall. Fear set in and they grabbed arms and began talking about all of the possibilities of “lions, tigers and bears, oh my!” That scene is a picture of a group of newfound friends who are traveling companions into the unknown. I believe that this is an image of what the church is to be to one another: a place where we make new friends who become our traveling companions as we journey in the light of Christ.

Point 3 - Early Church Were Traveling Companions

In those first one hundred years that the church was formed, life was difficult—Christians were often persecuted for their faith. There was good reason God’s Word instructed Christians to: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.” (Romans 12: 12, 14)

You Witness This

As your pastor, allow me to tell you that your actions witness that your have traveling companions. People tell me weekly: “I don’t know what I would have done without people in the church supporting me and praying for me.”
In the church we ARE to be traveling companions to one another. I challenge you to be regular in worship, study, and fellowship in the coming year. Our companions keep us focused.

Point Four—Don’t Be Afraid, Be Smart.

The message of Christmas is not just –to you a Child is born—it is also “Don’t be afraid—I am here—I am Immanuel—God with us.” (Luke 2:10 & Matthew 1: 23).
However, allow me to add to that “Don’t be afraid, live with confidence . . . be smart.”

A World That Plays By Other Rules

We live in a world that doesn’t play by God’s rules and will do everything it can to sidetrack us from staying by His side.

The Themes of the Past Fall

We live in a world that says restraints are wrong and that there should be none. This is not what the scriptures instruct us. If not careful, even Christians find themselves basing their values on Hollywood’s values and Madison Avenue’s. Some of these behaviors include society’s total acceptance of all gambling, pornography, the party life with excessive alcohol, the use of non-prescription drugs for recreational purposes, and sexual relationships outside of marriage. There will be times that I will address some of these issues; not to judge anyone, but that you may know what the scriptures teach and that we may not be ill informed. I addressed these issues out of my love for all of you as brothers and sisters in Christ. The world has a way of making these behaviors look innocent, alluring, and acceptable.
However, these are not Spirit-controlled behaviors set by God’s Word. An important scripture to latch onto is in Ephesians 5 puts it: “Be imitators of God, live a life of love, just a Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” (Ephesians 5: 1-3)

We Must All Know Where We Are Going

We must all know 1) the direction of where we are going in this life. 2) Be equipped that we may “travel” with spiritual security, 3) we need traveling companions and 4) we need to not be afraid of living in this world, but to be smart about it.

Be Luminous

To arise, and shine, in the words of Isaiah means to be luminous—for others to see and know who we are and whose we are, that others may come to the same light because God has a wonderful gift that no one should be without.
Amen!