Nations shall come to your light

 As always, the 12 days of Christmas ended in Epiphany. Strictly speaking, that’s January 6, but we celebrated the visit of the Magi the following Sunday. Despite steady and fairly heavy rain that morning, about 20 people attended the Divine Service (nearly all members of our congregation walk to church). After the service, we distributed school supplies to the youth and children, as schools, including our preschool, are scheduled to open this week.

The first week of the new year was bookended by the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus on January 1, and Epiphany Sunday on January 8. This fit in well with the theme of our midweek vacation Bible school. We counted 17 in attendance for VBS on Thursday and 26 on Friday. 1 Peter 2:9 provided the theme.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people; that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”

These words are what the Lord said to Moses that He would make of the nation of Israel in Exodus 19:6, if they would stay true to the covenant He made with them on Mount Sinai. St. Peter uses them to describe the church, the communion of saints “which is gathered together from every nation under the sun” (Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Art. VII & VIII: Of the Church). The focus of our VBS was on the similarities and differences between the old covenant with Israel and and the new covenant with all nations in the blood of Christ. The old covenant was fulfilled in every way by Jesus, the Messiah that Israel as a nation rejected, not only the moral law, God’s will for how all humans should live, through His perfect obedience, but also all the civil and ceremonial laws that God set forth especially for Israel in His old covenant at Mount Sinai.

Now the church, “not only the fellowship of outward objects and rites, (but also) a fellowship of faith and of the Holy Ghost” (Apology), is the new Israel and all who believe and are baptized are heirs to the promises God made to Israel in the Old Testament. The first ray of Christ’s light to shine on the Gentiles was when the Magi came bearing gifts for the Babe of Bethlehem.

The Greek word ἐπιφάνεια, epipháneia, means manifestation or appearance. It is derived from the verb φαίνω, phainó, meaning "to appear". In classical Greek it was used of a manifestation of a deity to a worshiper. The word is used in 2 Timothy 1:10 to refer either to the birth of Christ or to his appearance after his resurrection. Jesus in His public ministry proclaimed the Gospel first to His own people, the Jews. It was after His resurrection that He gave the apostles authority to make disciples of all nations. But the revelation of God’s mercy and grace in Christ began with His birth.

Even as the announcement of His birth to shepherds (common people of Judea) prefigured his earthly ministry, the visit of the Magi, who were not exactly kings, but were foreign dignitaries, began the fulfillment of Isaiah’s messianic prophecy in Isaiah 60:1-6. “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising (zerach: a dawning, shining)”. The Old Testament reading from Isaiah also explains certain details not mentioned by Matthew that nevertheless appear in Christian art. Camels, for example.

After Epiphany Sunday, it was back to school. We also took up the subject of the Magi with the preeschool children.

Final tally on fund drive

The Go Beyond! campaign was first-ever attempt to do an annual fund drive by Global Lutheran Outreach (GLO) to finance the support services for missionaries that GLO provides.The Rev. James Tino, GLO executive director, declared the campaign a success wih a total amount raised of $133,852.75. “We can begin this new year on solid financial footing, thankful to the Lord for His blessings!” he said. Our thanks to all who contributed!