Isaiah 62:1-5Dear fellow people of God and members of his church,We are currently in the Epiphany season of the church year. Think of Epiphany as “the time of shining forth.” First of all there’s the manifestation, or “shining forth,” of Jesus Christ as the very Son of God. That’s why we had Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding of Cana for our Gospel lesson this morning, providing proof of his divine power. But Epiphany is also a “shining forth” of the Savior for all the world to see, especially for Gentiles – those not born into the chosen nation of Israel. Our second lesson from Corinthians works nicely here as well, as we are encouraged to use our God-given gifts to serve him by revealing his salvation plan to the world. So you might say that Epiphany is all about seeing Jesus’ glory as the Son of God and then letting that glory reflect through us for others to see.

That’s the message we can take home this morning from the words of Isaiah. Let’s take a look at how:

“The Lord’s Church Shines Forth”

I. In the righteousness of Christ
II. As the bride of Christ

Much of the prophet Isaiah’s message is one of doom and gloom for a nation that had it coming. The people of Judah had forsaken their Lord. In his opening chapter Isaiah proclaims (Isa 1:21), “See how the faithful city has become a harlot!” The nation of Judah had been unfaithful to their God and as a result had forfeited many of the blessings God had in store for them.

So how do we explain the unrestrained joy expressed by the Lord himself in the opening verse of our text (v 1), “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.” In chapter one Judah is described as a “harlot,” but 61 chapters later they’re shining with righteousness and blazing with salvation! What happened? We know it wasn’t anything that Judah had done as a nation. Even their best efforts still met Isaiah’s description of “filthy rags” (Isa 64:6). No, the change didn’t come from within themselves. The change came from the outside! Jump back a chapter and Isaiah gives us the answer (Isa 61:10), “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.” The Lord was able to sing the praises of “Zion” and “Jerusalem” – names for his people, his church – because of what he had promised to do for them in Christ! The Lord looks ahead to their ultimate deliverance on the last day when the righteousness won for them by Christ would be shining “like the dawn” and his salvation plan would blaze “like a . . . torch.” There would be no hiding what the Lord had done for his people through his promised Messiah. Yes, “the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory” (v 2). There would be no hiding what the Lord had done for his people!

That’s because God expects his church to shine forth. Notice how he describes those made righteous in Christ (v 3), “You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” You and I and all believers are literally the “crown” of God’s creation. It all began that way, back in the Garden of Eden. But then that crown was tarnished when we rolled around in the mud of sin. But now that “splendor” has returned as God has redeemed us – bought us back – and cleaned us up in the blood of his Son. We once again belong to him, resting securely in his powerful and gracious hand, ready to shine forth as his glorious church!

That’s what makes our message such a wonderful one. We have nothing of ourselves to brag about, but we direct all attention to our Lord and Savior. We shine forth as the Lord’s church, simply reflecting the light of the Son of God, much like the moon reflects the light of the sun in the sky. The light isn’t our own, but we still shine forth because of the light of Jesus Christ. His light first came to us by the miracle of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul tells us that God “made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Co 4:6). Now we’re called to let that light shine forth for others. We’re like the stained-glass windows depicting the saints that a little girl saw in her church. One Sunday she asked her mother, “Who are those people?” “They’re saints,” her mother answered. “Oh, I get it,” said the little girl, “saints are those who let the light shine through them!”

You and I are saints, washed clean in the blood of a Savior who now tells us (Mt 5:16), “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” We need to let God’s light shine through us, because we live in a world that is surrounded by darkness. Even when the Savior arrived, John tells us in his Gospel that mankind was still hesitant to follow him (Jn 3:19), “Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light.” So with God’s power behind our message, he wants us to shine forth and shatter the darkness. He wants people to see a difference in us, to see a light that they don’t have, a light that shines all the way to eternity, a light that reflects the righteousness of Christ!

As we shine forth as the Lord’s church, we proclaim the special relationship that we now have with our God. Because of God’s love, we now shine forth, privileged to do so as the bride of Christ.

It’s still common for a bride to receive a new name on her wedding day. That new name signifies a major change in her life. Every time she hears her new name, she’s reminded of the special relationship that now exists between her and the one who loved her enough to make her his own. In the same way, the Lord of glory promised to give his people a new name (v 2), “You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.” And what would that new name be?

Remember what these people had coming. Isaiah had prophesied that they would be taken from their homeland, the Promised Land, and led away as captives. It would become so bad that they would have to admit the unthinkable. In chapter one Isaiah pictures the people lamenting (Isa 1:9), “Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” In anticipating what the future held for them, who could blame them if they thought of themselves as “deserted” and as their land as “desolate”?

But the Lord had new names for them and their land (v 4), “No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married.” Instead of “Deserted,” as the bride of Christ they would be called “Hephzibah,” which means “my delight is in her.” Instead of “Desolate,” as the bride of Christ their land would be called “Beulah,” which means “married.” The Lord would bless them with his love and restore the relationship they once shared as his people. We sing of this transformation in the words of the familiar hymn (CW 538:1), “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord; She is his new creation by water and the Word. From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride; With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.”

Because of Christ, everything has changed for God’s people, for his church (v 5), “As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you.” The Israelites would again possess the land once deserted, as a man takes possession of a woman in marriage. There’s more (v 5), “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” As Christ makes us his own by taking us to be his bride, his Father in heaven rejoices. Jesus tells us that “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Lk 15:7). So every time one of us became one of God’s children, there was a party in heaven! That’s because each of us is now able to shine forth as the bride of Christ!

What does this mean for you and me today? It means that just like Judah, we’re no longer deserted or desolate. We no longer have to be afraid of being alone, lost in the darkness of this sinful world. Christ has taken us as his bride, caring enough for us to make us his very own. Now we’re surrounded by his love. Our status has changed. In Romans the Lord promises (9:25), “I will call them ‘ my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one.” He can do this because the wall of sin that separated us from him has been destroyed by the wrecking ball that is our Savior. Now we’ve been cleaned up and adorned as his glorious bride. But we haven’t been “all dressed up with no place to go.” On the contrary! In Revelation we’re told (19:7), “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” And in Daniel it says (Da 12:3), “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” We have work to do! We have a message to share! We have a light to shine!

I can’t help but think of the song the children in our child care center sing: “This little light of mine – I’m going to let it shine! . . . Hide it under a bushel? No! – I’m going to let it shine!” We’ve been given the righteousness of Christ. We’ve been made his bride. The light burns brightly in each of us. Hide it under a bushel? Never! As the Lord’s church, we’re going to let it shine!

Amen

–Pastor Jonathan Rockhof