Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. (Isaiah 60:1-6)
The Magi following the Light of Epiphany. How might we follow the Light in our lives?
Sorry for the delay on this, folks! But for 2 Christmas/Sunday before Epiphany (4 January 2015), I was back home at the United Church of Christ of Vermillion, SD as a guest preacher. And when I preach in front of a congregation, I typically decline to write my sermon out. I spend hours preparing my message, absolutely. But I consider myself a storyteller by nature and by trade; and if I can’t keep my story straight without the use of notes or a written text (I’m of the school that holds that a sermon should be no longer than 12 minutes), my congregation probably won’t be able to either. Anyway, the Spirit tends to come through most clearly in those moments that I don’t plan – in which respect preaching is a lot like jazz. So, I prefer to go it without a script – meaning I had nothing to post last weekend.
As it turns out, however, just today I was able to get my hands on the audio of my sermon from last Sunday. And so rather than transcribe it, I offer it at the link below for your edification (or at least entertainment, if I can’t aspire to edification). It’s a reflection on protest songs (specifically #BlackLivesMatter protest songs) and the very Epiphanic theme of light: what it means to follow the light, and to let our light shine for others. 🙂
//yourlisten.com/embed/html5?17267015
Amen. –Tom
Revolutions Per Minute 