The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.
Epiphany
Ephesians 3:6-12
Inside Light: Outside Light
Have you been for a drive or a walk in the past few weeks to have a look at the Christmas lights around your community? It is becoming more and more common in many of our communities for people to decorate their houses and front yards with fairy lights. Some communities hold competitions for the best-decorated house and some people spare no expense in trying to outdo their neighbours. Yet, besides the competition it creates, this custom of decorating the outside of our houses helps to spread the joy of the festive season. One person who had decorated his house commented, “If you put your Christmas lights outside they give joy to many more people than if you have them inside.”
That comment warrants some thought from a Christian perspective, especially at this time of the year. Jesus described himself as “the Light that has come into the world” (John 3:19; 8:12). When the infant Saviour was presented in the temple, the old man Simeon took the child in his arms and proclaimed that Jesus would be both “a light to bring glory to the people Israel” and “a light to reveal God’s will to the nations” (Luke 2:32). Jesus, the light of the world would be both an inside light – bringing glory to God’s people; and an outside light – bringing God’s good news to others who were yet outside the kingdom of God. The name ‘Epiphany’ given to the season of the church year beginning on January 6th means ‘shining out’ and hails the shining out of the Glory of God into the world through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
In our Christmas worship the inside light has been burning within our Christian communities as we joined in celebrating the good news of the Saviour’s birth for us. Now we are reminded of the need to light the outside light and share this good news with the world. The birth of a Saviour is good news, not just for those inside the family of God, for the Lutherans in our congregation or the Christians in our community. It is good news for the entire world, for our wider community, for our non-Christian friends and neighbours too.
If there is one person from whom we can take an example in this regard, it is St. Paul. When he wrote his letter to the Ephesians he was doing some ‘time’ in prison. His crime had been carrying the light of the Christian Gospel to the Gentiles, to those outside of the people of Israel. From prison he wrote that God had revealed a mystery or ‘secret’ to him, which he had ‘kept hidden through all the past ages’ (v.9). St. Paul wrote: The secret is that, by means of the Gospel, the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God’s blessing; they are members of the same body and share in the promise that God made through Christ Jesus (v.6)
Now, let’s face it; there is no ‘secret’ here as far as we are concerned. The news has been out for over 2000 years, but this secret reminds us of something we Christians can easily forget as we celebrate the love of God and serve one another in our congregations. As Christians we have a mission to those who are still outside the kingdom of God. Our congregations do not exist just to serve those people inside with the good news of Jesus. We are here to serve God’s ‘eternal purpose which he achieved through Christ Jesus’ (v.11) – his plan for the salvation of all people. We are here for the people in our own community in whom the light of Christ is not yet shining.
Whose job is it to ‘turn on the outside light’ for these people? Who is to take the good news of God’s salvation to them? The light of Christ will shine from ordinary people like you and me, from the ordinary houses and streets in our community, as Christ lights up our lives, as he shines from our homes, as he makes a difference to the kind of people we are, and as he helps us to share the good news of Jesus.
Now some of us may be thinking, “No, not me. I’m not qualified to do that sort of thing. It would be better to leave that to the experts.” St. Paul could have thought that way too, but he explained to the Ephesians that it was not by his own expertise or experience that he came to share the Gospel with the Gentiles: I was made a servant of the Gospel by God’s special gift, which he gave me through the working of his power. I am less than the least of all God’s people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the good news about the infinite riches of Christ (v. 7,8). By his special gift, God gives to ordinary Christians, like Paul and like you and me, both the power and the privilege of taking the good news about the infinite riches of Christ to those outside his kingdom.
How does God bring ‘the good news about the infinite riches of Christ’ to people outside his family? St. Paul writes that he does it ‘at the present time by means of the Church’ (v.10). If we take note of what he means by ‘the Church’ in other parts of Ephesians we learn that he is not talking about an organization; he is talking about the people of God. The church is the family of all believers. The ‘good news about the infinite riches of Christ’ shines so brightly in the lives of ordinary Christians and in Christian congregations that others cannot help but see the light of Christ in us. In fact, St. Paul says that when we let our outside light shine, it shines so brightly that even the ‘angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world learn of God’s wisdom in all its different forms’ (v.10).
Just as our faith in Christ gives us ‘boldness to go into his presence with all confidence’ (v.12), it also gives us boldness and confidence in shining the outside light of Christ in our daily lives and in our communities.
This leaves us with a post-Christmas challenge. In our churches and in our homes we have just celebrated the good news about the infinite riches of Christ who was sent into the world to be our saviour. That is the inside light. Now let us turn on the outside light, ‘in order that, by means of the church, the world might learn of God’s wisdom’ (v.10).
As individual Christians, what are we doing to let the light of Christ shine in our communities?
As the Church in this community, are our activities focussed more on programs and activities within the church, or on the mission of Christ outside the four walls of our building and the structures of our organization? Do we plan our church programs and activities around what suits us or around Christ’s mission to the lost?
How do we, as individuals, turn on the outside light of our faith? The good news of Christ shines out of our lives by what we do and in what we say. It shines in the way we operate our business, the way we do our work, the way we play our sport, the priorities we choose in life, and in the way we respect and care about others. It shines whenever we share St. Paul’s secret with others who are outside of the kingdom of God.
How do we, as a congregation, turn on the outside light of our faith? We are the body of Christ in our community and, as such, we are Christ in our community. When people witness our worship, our love, acceptance, forgiveness, fellowship, serving, or caring they see Christ in action. When people hear our public, verbal witness to the Gospel, they hear Christ himself speaking to them. Our outside light shines when our attitude says to them, in the words of St. Paul: “Youare members of the same body and share in the same promises that God made through Jesus Christ” (v.6).
The Christmas season is almost over. Most of the decorations and fairy lights are already taken down from people’s houses. Yet, for Christians, the work of Christmas is just begun. We do well to remember the comment of that person who adorned his house with fairy lights: “If you put your Christmas lights outside they give joy to many more people than if you have them inside.” We have celebrated the coming of the light of Christ into the world and reflected on what that good news means to us.
Now may the outsidelight of our witness to the gospel shine even more brightly so that ‘God’s secret plan’ is no longer a secret and we can bring the joy of Salvation to those who are still outside his kingdom.
Amen!
The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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