"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you." Amen.

O Light of the world, continue to come to us, we pray, in Your mighty Word and Your forgiving Sacraments, that being strengthened in heart, mind, and soul, we may proclaim this Good News to others. Give us courage to speak courageously the Gospel of Jesus Christ to neighbors who live nearby and to nations in far away lands, that Your salvation may extend to the ends of the earth. Amen.

Many people complain about how dark it is this time of the year. But imagine living in the little town of Barrow, Alaska. It’s located on the farthest northern tip of the state of Alaska, above the Arctic Circle. If you think it’s dark in Wisconsin this time of the year, you haven’t seen anything. In Barrow Alaska, the sun sets in the afternoon on November 18, and it doesn’t rise again until January 24. 65 days of darkness. 65 days when the sun doesn’t shine. Up there, the earth is tilted in such away that the sun never shows itself for over two months out of the year. But when the sun does rise for a moment on January 24, the whole town comes out to celebrate, because finally, there is light again.

Isaiah says in verse one of our sermon text, "Arise, shine, for your light has come!" God’s Word is talking about a different kind of light and a different kind of darkness. And when this special light begins to shine through that ugly darkness, the results are much more spectacular and joyful than anything you could experience in northern Alaska.

Today we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord. What does the word "epiphany" mean? An "epiphany" is when something reveals itself. For example, in Barrow, Alaska, after 65 days of darkness, the sun finally reveals its glory for everyone to see. That’s an epiphany. In the church year, the Epiphany season is when the Son of God reveals his glory for everyone to see. What an appropriate name for our congregation – "Epiphany" – we are witnessing Jesus Christ revealing his glory to and through us. In the coming weeks during the Epiphany season we will celebrate our church’s name with a sermon series entitled: "Be an Epiphany Christian!" I know it isn’t the most original title for a series, but it’s all I’ve got.

You can sum up the festival of Epiphany with one phrase, and that one phrase is the theme for our sermon this morning: From darkness to light.

"See," God says, "darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples." God pictures our world as a very dark place. Spiritually dark. Think of some of the top news stories of 2004. They definitely show the darkness inside the human soul. The murder trial of Scott Peterson, where he was convicted for the murder of his wife and unborn son; the kidnapping, beheading and slaying of innocent people by terrorists in Iraq; the hostage massacre of school children by terrorists in Russia; and the slaying of six hunters in Hayward, Wisconsin. All of these stories have one thing in common – the depth of sin and darkness within the human heart! Look around you, watch people, listen to them talk, see what they do, and it will become very clear to you that our world is a very dark place spiritually.

But the most frightening place to look is within yourself. Daytime TV talk show hosts, like Dr. Phil or Oprah, will tell you that there is an incredible amount of good and an incredible amount of strength inside yourself. But they’re not right. If you truly look inside yourself, you won’t find good hiding there, waiting to come out. Instead, you will find evil lurking, waiting to escape. The more closely you look within yourself, the more clear it becomes that there is nothing there but selfishness and materialism and lust and greed. God sees your soul as a very dark place, a place full of sin.

More crimes are committed at night than in the light of day – just ask a policeman who patrols the streets at night. Sin draws us into the darkness. It tries to blot out the light – to kill the light. Sin hates the light and refuses to come into the light. As the Bible says in John 3: "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." (John 3:19-20) Adam hid from God in the darkness of the trees. Samson went in to see a Philistine prostitute at night. During the evening hours, David lusted after another man’s wife and committed adultery with her.

The same is true with us. That doesn’t mean that we commit more sins during the nighttime hours than during the daylight. It means that we sin when we hide ourselves away from God and the light of his Word. Maybe that is watching certain movies, viewing certain web sites, telling certain jokes, saying certain words that we would be ashamed of if we knew someone else saw or heard us. So we commit those sins away from everybody else. Sneaking that drink, sneaking that cigarette, sneaking that peek at that good-looking person, sneaking some office supplies from work. We fear that our deeds will be exposed.

We hide in the darkness when we close our ears to God’s Word, when we make ourselves absent from the Lord’s table, when we turn away from the Church, and when we choose to go with the flow of the world rather than deciding to go against the grain with God – choosing to do what is right. We need the light of God to shine into our sin-darkened world, our sin-darkened lives, and even our sin-darkened souls.

Tom tells the story of when he was a teenager. He and his friends were walking around the neighborhood. It was a warm night and very dark. Suddenly one of them saw a police car and shouted. They hadn’t done anything wrong, but they didn’t want to be seen, either. So they began to run. The police car saw them and watched them turn down an alley. Tom tripped and knocked over some trashcans. The police officers got out the car and began to go after them. One of the officers turned on a searchlight. Tom looked around for his friends, but didn’t see them. All he saw was that burning, searing searchlight, looking for him.

Tom jumped behind those trashcans, only to find his friends huddled there. They tried to hide by pulling trash over their heads and hoping to blend in. The spotlight fell on Tom. "Come out where we can see you," said the voice behind the light. Tom stood up where he was, covered in garbage. "What are you doing?" said the voice. Tom stammered, "Nothing." The voice said, "I can’t hear you. What are you doing?"

Tom said, "Officer, I wasn’t doing anything wrong; I saw the light, I ran, I knocked over these garbage cans. I’m sorry about the disturbance." The searchlight was beaming into his eyes, blinding him. He stood there in the light with nowhere to hide. Then the voice said, "I think I recognize you. Don’t you live around the corner?" "Yes," he stammered. His heart was racing, and he thought to himself, "My life is ruined. If I don’t get arrested for disturbing the peace, something worse will happen: this officer is going to tell my parents."

But then the voice behind the light said something unexpected. "Son, I’m not here to punish you; I’m here to protect you." As he stood before that searchlight, Tom says he caught a glimpse of what it means to stand before Jesus, who is the Light of the World. There he was, fully exposed yet completely protected. He was fully revealed, yet free from unnecessary punishment. He stood hip-deep in garbage, yet cleaner than he had ever felt, somehow cleansed by a light that cast no shadow. In that moment, he saw something of what it means to stand in the presence of Jesus Christ, who is full of truth and full of grace.

One of our greatest fears is darkness. That is why our kids have nightlights in their bedrooms – to shine the comforting light into the scary darkness filled with monsters under the beds and bogeymen in the closets. "See," the Lord says, "darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you."

"Thick darkness is over the peoples, but…" God says, "…but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you." The birth of the Lord, Jesus Christ, is described in the Bible as the rising of the sun on a very dark place. The sun rises, and the darkness disappears. What happens to the darkness of your sin and guilt when Jesus rises in your life? It disappears! Jesus shines his forgiveness and grace into your life. Then the darkness of your sin, the monster of Satan, and the bogeymen of your temptations all disappear. There is nothing to be afraid of anymore! The darkness has gone! The light has come!

If you feel guilt in your life, guilt from committing sin after sin, guilt from trying to make things right with God, even though you know you can never do enough, then you are someone who is trapped in darkness. But then you learn that Jesus Christ was born into the world. You learn that he came for the sole purpose of doing what you could not do – making everything right between you and God. You learn that your sins are freely forgiven because Jesus has died for all of your sins on the cross. You can feel your guilt melt away. It is as though the sun has risen in Barrow Alaska for you. Finally you can see that, because of Christ, everything is good between you and God. You have gone from darkness to light.

Another pastor told me the story about a woman who was burdened under the deep conviction of sin. She sat night after night in dejection and depression. But then, after years of her friends patiently telling her about the forgiveness found only in Jesus Christ … it happened … the light went on in her soul … the Holy Spirit converted her and brought her to faith. She had been given a new life in Christ and the burden of sin fell from her heart. She became radiant. On that glorious night when she was brought to faith, she happened to stop by a store to do some shopping. The store clerk had known her for some time and said, "Why, you look as if someone had just lit a candle inside of you!" "That’s right," she replied. "What I mean," said the clerk, "is that you look as if you have just fallen in love!" "I have!" exclaimed the woman. "I have fallen in love with the One who loved me when I didn’t love Him – Jesus!"

This is Epiphany – when someone trapped in the darkness of sin sees and believes in the glory of Jesus Christ. When someone finally stops trusting in himself for salvation, and starts trusting in Christ. This is what happened to the wise men from the East. They traveled great distances following God’s miraculous star, but finally, they found the Messiah. Isaiah talks about the wise men in verse 3: "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." Later in verse 6 it says, "… all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord." There, in the form of a little child, the wise men saw the light of the world. There they saw the glory of God, and this is what filled them with a spirit of awe and worship. They had gone from darkness to light, and they rejoiced, and gave this child who was their God their gifts from afar.

Don’t feel too sorry for the people of Barrow, Alaska. While it is true that right now, the sun never rises there, that’s not how it is during the summer. Six months from now, the earth will tilt a different way, and then, in Barrow, Alaska, the sun will never set. From May 10 until August 2, for almost three months, the sun will not stop shining in Barrow. People call that place "the land of the midnight sun."

And so it is with your soul. Once the grace and mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ rises in your life, it will never stop shining. You are living in the "land of the midnight sun." Christ is the Light who has defeated the darkness by dying in the darkness. Christ is the Light who has filled the grave with His life. Christ is the Light who absorbs the darkness into Himself, and fills us with His light. Amen.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come. And the glory of the Lord rises upon you." Amen.