SERMON TITLE: Come, Light, Come
TEXT: Isaiah 2:1-5 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 11/30-12/1/19
It’s great to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church as we begin the season of Advent. And one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and I love you too.
This Christmas season we’re going to be spending our time in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Isaiah has some great passages that remind us of what the season of Advent is all about. And when we use the word Advent — what we’re meaning — is a season of longing — a season of anticipation — a season of expectation as we wait for the coming of our Savior. And at Christmas we celebrate Jesus’ first coming — but we’re also to be reminded about our longing for his second coming — his return to earth.
And one thing you may have noticed — if you’re regularly part of our church family — is that our usual practice is to take communion together during the first weekend of the month. But during Advent, we pause. Why? Because communion is a time of feasting on the grace and remembering all that our Savior accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection — so during Advent — instead of feasting — we fast — as we anticipate his coming. So we pause from taking communion during this month as we — together — long for the coming of our Savior once again. Thus the title for this Christmas series — come.
And each week, we’ll look at a different way that Isaiah speaks of the coming of our Savior. And today, we’re going to see how Isaiah describes the coming Savior as light.
Now before we get too far along, let me acknowledge that I know not everyone believes we need a Savior. There are many who look at the problems in our world, and believe it’s solely up to us humans to figure out how to solve the wrongs going on. So — though they may celebrate Christmas — the holiday is viewed as a nice excuse to take some time off work, spend some extra time with family, and maybe slow down a bit for a few days. But there’s not really any significance to the birth story of Jesus — because — in this view — there’s no need for a Savior.
Now I love the fact that Christmas is a time when most of us try to slow down. Schools take a break. Families — who may not see much of each other throughout the year — tend to get together. It’s a beautiful thing how the Christmas holiday draws people together, how it increases a spirit of generosity among folks — no matter their religious beliefs — lots of good happens around Christmas time. Even the sharing of gifts — as a way to express love for one another — is to be commended.
But even with all of these good things, what’s missing is that we’re all in need of God’s greatest gift to us — a Savior. Without the importance of Jesus — God’s Savior — coming into our dark world to shine the light of the Good News that God saves sinners — without any of that — Christmas is ultimately meaningless.
And while gift giving and slowing down and spending time with family are all wonderful things, the Christmas season is really about the coming of God in our midst — Jesus coming to save a lost and broken world, coming to make all things right, coming to draw people from all nations to himself. Jesus came so that — people living in darkness — might walk in his light.
So let’s turn to our passage and see what it means for us that the light has come.
If you have your Bible please turn with me to Isaiah chapter 2. We’ll be looking at verses 1-5.
And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do at Gateway is let you ask questions that we answer on our podcast — just know that we’re taking a few weeks off from recording new episodes — but keep sending in questions as we’ll get to them in the New Year. So if you have a question, you can text it in to the number printed on the bottom of the sermon notes sheet or you can submit it on the Gateway app.
Now since we’ll be in the book of Isaiah for this Christmas series, let’s do a quick overview of who Isaiah is and what his book is all about.
So what do we know about Isaiah? Well he was a prophet — meaning he spoke on behalf of God — and he lived during the 8th century BC. (John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 8.) We know that his ministry was pretty long — it overlapped the reign of at least four different kings of Judah. (Geoffrey G. Grogan, “Isaiah,” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Proverbs-Isaiah Vol. 6 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 436.) And most of Isaiah’s ministry takes place in and around the city of Jerusalem.
Now — during Isaiah’s lifetime — the Jewish people are divided into two nations. You may be familiar with the fact that there were twelve tribes of Israel. And eventually these tribes ask for a king. The first king was Saul — who didn’t turn out to be a very good king. Next came David — who you’ve probably heard of. Then David’s son — Solomon — became king.
Now after Solomon, there’s conflict over who gets to be king and the nation ends up dividing. Ten tribes join together and keep the name Israel — they’re in the north — and two tribes join together and are named Judah — they’re in the south.
And for some time, neither nation experiences external conflict — conflict coming from other nations — most of their troubles are self-inflicted. Things like evil kings and moral corruption are their main problem. And both nations abandon God.
And during all of this — the people of Israel and Judah assume that the lack of external conflict — the fact they’re not at war with other nations — is because God approves of the way they’re living. Now — remember — they’ve abandoned God — yet they think God approves of their behavior. That is — until the Assyrians show up.
The Assyrians come from the north — invade and conquer Israel — commit — what we’d call — genocide — displace many of the Israelites who are still alive — sending most of them to go live in foreign lands. The Israelites that were left behind eventually intermarry with the foreigners occupying their land. And these people become known as Samaritans — that’s what happened in the north.
In the south — in Judah — which is where Isaiah lived — things were a little better, but not much. And Isaiah spends a lot of time trying to get the people of Judah — and particularly the king of Judah — to see that material prosperity doesn’t mean that God’s happy with you or approves the way you’re living. You see, the way we tend to evaluate whether or not God’s pleased with us — health, wealth, comfort, prosperity — those things we tend to interpret as “God’s really pleased with me” are actually terrible indicators as to the spiritual health of a nation — or an individual.
So here’s what happens. King Uzziah makes some reforms in Judah. He starts making some positive changes, but he didn’t get rid of the places where the people would go and worship pagan gods. “Well what’s wrong with that,” you might ask. Well the Jews would go and worship some pagan god and then they’d head over to the Temple to worship Yahweh.
There was a choose your own religion thing going on. People were taking a little bit of this religion, mixing it up with a little bit of that religion, and — being good Jews — they’d throw in a little “following Yahweh” — and the whole time they thought the God who said, “Commandment number one: You shall have no other gods” was pleased with them.
So king Uzziah failed to lead his people in worshipping the only true God. And the consequence? God strikes him with leprosy. And God commissions Isaiah to go to these rebellious — abandoning God — people — Isaiah’s told to go to a people who are proud and who see material prosperity as a reason to assume that God’s on their side — he’s told to go to a people who’ve traded in the pure, unadulterated worship of God for pagan religions — and worse — decided to mix a little God in for good measure. To those people God says, “Isaiah go tell them, ‘Keep listening to My words through this prophet, but don’t understand. Keep seeing, but don’t perceive. Isaiah — through your ministry — their hearts will be made dull, their ears heavy, and their eyes blind.’ Why? ‘Because they’re not willing to worship only Me.’” God says, “you keep preaching — Isaiah — because judgment is coming on them — for they’ve abandoned Me.”
And Isaiah asks God how long will this wonderful opportunity last? And God says, “When Jerusalem is laid to waste and not one of these people remain in it.”
Well ain’t that encouraging? Not at all! It’s pretty dark, right? Pretty bleak. But even in this hopeless situation, Isaiah mentions the last thing you’d expect — hope. He promises again and again that a Savior will come. And our verses contain one of these promises.
Let’s begin in verse 1. “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 It shall come to pass (so this is a guarantee — it shall come to pass...) in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it...” (Isaiah 2:1-2 ESV)
So in the midst of darkness — in the midst of hopelessness — Isaiah prophesies that in a time to come — all nations will come to the mountain of the Lord. This is a vision of the last days.
Often — when we think about the last days — we think of something that’s going to happen in the future. Meaning “the last days” are still to come. Yet the Bible speaks of the last days as already having begun — in fact — they began when Jesus came to earth the first time.
So we’re living in the last days — the final phase of God’s redemptive plan of making all things new — of bringing hope and peace to his creation. And something that’s been part of the essence of God’s plan — from the beginning — is the salvation of people from every tribe, language, and nation on earth.
So think of what this vision means for us. Isaiah has a vision of nations streaming to God — and yet we tend to make the Christian faith — at least here in the US — all about me. Think of the kinds of phrases we use — like — “Jesus is my personal Savior.” That’s a common one — we’ve all probably used it at some point — I know I have. But have you ever paused to think about what we might be implying when we say this? There’s a way in which — and I don’t think this intentional — but unintentional consequences can be just as dangerous as things we intentionally do — but this phrase seems to suggest that Christianity is all about “me and Jesus” — two peas in a pod — where the Christian faith is solely an individual kind of faith.
Now there’s definitely a personal aspect to the Christian faith but have we unintentionally turned the Christian faith in general — and Christmas and the arrival of our Savior, in particular — have we unintentionally turned it all into a thing that’s all about me and Jesus?
Yet the gospel reveals a very different picture. Where God seeks to draw people from all nations to himself. And during Advent, we’re to be waiting — in hope — for the coming return of our Savior who is drawing all nations to himself.
Now maybe what I’ve just said — about God’s desire to draw people from all nations to himself — is a new way of viewing the Christian faith for you. First, know that there’s indeed a deeply personal aspect to our faith in Christ — don’t lose sight of that. But that’s not the end of the story. So allow God’s story to continue in your life where you see that Jesus is Lord of the whole universe and he seeks to save people from all nations. And this is why Jesus was born in a manger — to be — not just your Savior — but to be the Savior of the world.
So here’s a very practical way — this Christmas — to expand your view of the Christmas story. Every Christmas Eve — during all of our Christmas Eve services — we collect an offering. But here’s what may be news to you — we give the entire offering away. We don’t keep a dime of what you give on Christmas Eve — we don’t spend it on us — we give it all away. And we give a good portion of it to organizations who are working among the nations — among people who are in places where it’s hard to be a Christian.
Three organizations we’re partnering with — this Christmas Eve — are Mission Possible — an organization here in Findlay that does work in the Dominican Republic and Haiti — the Philemon Project — a Christian preschool in the Middle East who has a large number of students coming from non-Christian backgrounds — and we’re partnering with Resurrection Church of Beirut’s Refugee Relief program. Many Syrian and Iraqi refugees have crossed the Lebanese border and have made their way to Resurrection Church. Many of them have no source of income, no way to work, and no way to provide basic things — like food — for their families. And — through your generosity — we’ll be able to support these refugees through the ministry of RCB.
So an easy way to make this Christmas about — not only your personal Savior — but about the Savior of all nations — is to give to our Christmas Eve offering. So make plans now — start saving up some money — so you can give this Christmas Eve.
Now back to Isaiah’s vision. In his vision — we see a streaming of the nations to the mountain of the house of the Lord. And the author of the book of Hebrews helps us to understand this vision when he writes, “You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. 19 For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. 20 They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.” 22 No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect.” (Hebrews 12:18-23 NLT)
So the picture we should have in our minds — is of the Exodus story. God’s presence thundering on Mt. Sinai — the people were frightened. And the author of Hebrews tells us to take that picture and replace it with the city of the living God — the heavenly Jerusalem — on top of a mountain. And there are people of all nations and angels all singing together. Isaiah describes all of this as people flowing up the mountain — like a river flowing uphill — to God. But how will the nations stream to God?
We find our answer in verse 3. “and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob,” (Isaiah 2:3a ESV)
How do the nations — people who’ve yet to believe in God all around our world — how do they get invited to go up to the mountain of the Lord to worship him? We invite them. Those who are on their way up the mountain invite others to join them on the journey. This is why — if you’re new to Gateway — this is why you’ll notice you hear a lot about going around here. Going is one of our values as a church. We “go and make disciples of all nations,” as Jesus commanded. We invite them — by sharing with them the hope and peace and love and forgiveness that’s offered to them in Christ — we invite them to go on up to the mountain of the Lord with us.
And what we find — in the New Testament — is that the house of the God of Jacob — is no longer a house made of bricks and stone and mortar and wood — but it’s a house made up of men and women and children from all nations who believe in Jesus.
As Paul writes, “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22 NLT)
Or as Peter says, “You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. 5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple.” (1 Peter 2:4-5a NLT)
People from all nations being joined together as the house of the Lord. And this happens as God’s people say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord…” Are you doing this? Are you inviting others to come and join you in following Jesus? This isn’t optional — this is your calling if you’re a Christian. This is your calling here in Northwest Ohio — but it’s also a global calling that you’re to be part of — because God has a heart for people of all nations.
As one of the last verses in the Bible tells us, “The Spirit and the bride (the bride is the church of God — so God’s Spirit and us — the church...) say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.” (Revelation 22:17 NLT)
A way we partner with you — here at Gateway — a way we resource you so you can invite the nations to come and go with you up to the mountain of the Lord — is by providing opportunities for you to go on a short term missions trip with us. We have various trips planned in 2020 — and some have deadlines quickly approaching. And if you’ve never gone — even if you have but it’s been awhile — I want to encourage you to go. I know there are different seasons of life that make going on a missions trip more difficult than others — maybe you’ve got young children at home and now’s not the time for you — but for many of us now is the time. Does your heart long for people of all nations to believe in Jesus? It should. For this is the will of your Heavenly Father — and you are the means by which he calls people to himself.
But as we call people to join us on this journey of following Jesus — of going up to the mountain of the Lord — what are we calling them to, exactly? Let’s read the rest of verse 3. We call them to go up to the mountain of the Lord so...
“...that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem...O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Isaiah 2:3b, 5 ESV)
Come let us walk in the light of the Lord. Come let us walk in his paths. Come let him teach us his ways. In the gospel of Matthew, we read, “And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
What we’re calling people to — when we call them to go up to the mountain of the Lord with us — when we tell someone about Jesus and hope they’ll believe in him — what we’re calling them to is a life of obedience. We’re to teach them to observe — to obey — all the commands of God. In fact, part of our longing — as God’s people — is for God to teach us his ways — Isaiah says — so that we may walk in his paths. And we’re taught his ways — and are able to walk in his paths — because the light of the Lord has come.
Now the light of the Lord has two meanings. First, the light of the Lord refers to the Word of God — the Bible. We find this in places like Psalm 119, which states, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” And “The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.” (Psalm 119:105, 130 NLT)
So the Bible is God’s light to us — illuminating the path of obedience.
Additionally, Jesus is referred to as light. Matthew describes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in this way. ““In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.” 17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”” (Matthew 4:15-17 NLT)
John begins his gospel with these words. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:1-5 NLT)
And Jesus said this about himself, ““I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”” (John 8:12b NLT)
And — because of all this — Peter tells us that we’re to, “show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9b NLT)
And the one who “called us out of darkness and into his wonderful light” is described in verse 4.
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4 ESV)
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” And this picture — where weapons of war are transformed into tools of peace — where people and nations who were at war with one another — are now one in Spirit — are unified — are now living in peace and harmony with one another — this vision of the future is possible because the One — who is Light — Jesus — has come and his light has penetrated the darkness of our world. His light has come to illuminate our hearts and minds — and people who once hated one another now love one another.
And the reason for this is that our world was shaken on the day when a seemingly ordinary baby was born. In the Hebrews passage we looked at earlier — after talking about the mountain of the Lord and the heavenly Jerusalem with angels and God’s children all worshipping together — we read, “You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. 25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! 26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” 27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. 28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire.” (Hebrews 12:24-29 NLT)
At Christmas we celebrate the coming of our Savior and anticipate the return of the Light of the world. And when Jesus returns, he will bring his unshakeable Kingdom with him. The world we live in — is shaking. Violence, poverty, wars, broken marriages — devastation is all around us. But not in the Kingdom to come — it is unshakeable. For Jesus has come — and is coming again — and he will bring hope to all the nations of our world as his light shines brightly for all to see. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you that our Savior has come and is promised to come again. And when he returns, his light will shine brightly for all to see and he will bring with him an unshakeable Kingdom.
Father, for those whose world is shaking right now — maybe this is the first Christmas without their loved one, or all the holiday season brings to mind is dread because of a major surgery coming up in the new year, or their world is shaking because mom and dad are divorced now and trying to figure out the holidays is a burden they don’t want to carry — Father I pray that you would give them a glimpse of your unshakeable Kingdom — of your power — of your peace that can penetrate our unstable world.
Jesus, thank you for illuminating the darkness with your light. Illuminating the path to faith in you. And the path of following you in obedience. Help us to walk in your light and to allow your light to shine through us for the nations to see. We pray all of these things in your name. Amen.
May the light of Jesus Christ shine brightly in you life — giving you peace — and through you — bringing peace to all nations.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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