Lift Your Eyes and See Isaiah 60:1-10; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, in whom we see the light divine.

 Our message is: Lift Your Eyes and See, from Isaiah 60, especially verse 4: Lift up your eyes all around, and see…

There are things we might see in this corrupted world, that we’d rather not see… atrocities that we might see that are burned into our minds… 

… hurts and disappointments that we see, evils that we witness, heartaches we behold that we’d rather not.

But God gives us a vision glorious, to be imprinted on our minds, far more impacting than the vision of hate and destruction and death that the devil and the culture that’s hostile toward God would have us see.

The devil intends for evil to have such a negative and despairing impact on us, that we lose all hope, and forsake the ways and promises of God.     

But our God, all gracious and glorious, has a sight for our minds, and a promise for our hearts, far greater, more impacting, far more uplifting than any evil we might see in this fallen world.

Isaiah says, Arise, shine, for your light has come… the Messiah has arrived… and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you… Through His Son, God shines on His children.

 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples… the darkness of sin, evil and death, it’s all around us on this earth… but God’s glory shines more brightly in the hearts and minds of His chosen...

… but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you… His Holy Spirit in you in holy baptism, with holy love and faith in Christ… 

3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising… 

… Fulfilled already as magi traveled from the far away East, to behold the glory of God in an unlikely place and person… in a young child… in Him saving light and eternal life had come to dark and dying world.

John 1 says about the child the magi saw, 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind...

Because this Light from Heaven was for all, God brought wise men from far away to see His Son, the Savior born in the night, the light born in darkness, to bring the light of His salvation to the far away ends of the earth, to north and south, and east and west… God’s Son was born to shine love and salvation in every direction.

In response to the dilemma of the world that Isaiah sees, when he says, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness the people…John says, 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The magi followed the light of the star sent by God; it overcame the darkness, and led them to the Christ.

And we have seen his glory, John says, in Jesus, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… grace to experience and truth to know, that the world might believe, and not despair, but love and rejoice instead.

Isaiah says, 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip… adults and children from far away.

Indeed on the last day, everyone will gather before the seat of judgment, to be declared righteous by faith in Christ, or unworthy without Him. 

But the gathering Isaiah speaks of has already begun, as the Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel, and repenting and believing, we gather to serve and praise our Savior, and to love and help our neighbor.

In that gathering and serving in Christ, our hearts are lifted up by the Word which we hear and share, and the Sacraments we celebrate and receive.

 5 Then you shall see and be radiant… Isaiah says, your heart shall thrill and exult… more than just be happy about the love and salvation we share, be thrilled about it!

And then the prophecy fulfilled early in the life of the Messiah: 6 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 bring good news, the praises of the Lord…

People East and West and North and South, all praising the Son of God. What a sight that must be, for the angels who see and watch over God’s children…

… and even more, what a sight for our Lord, as He looks down on us from Heaven… people lifting hands and hearts, praising Him all around the globe… a glorious sight to the One who died and rose for us, and loves us, and rules for us. 

In our Epistle Paul calls this the fulfilling of a great mystery:  6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  

We look up to and praise Christ together, all who believe and see the light of Christ in every nation on earth… nations divided by politics, but people, the faithful, united by the Gospel of Christ, which overcomes all the darkness on earth.  

We sang, The People that in Darkness Sat, a Glorious Light Have Seen! 

What a sight the shepherds saw in the manger that night long ago in Bethlehem. 

They beheld a miracle. 

Though they might not have fully realized it at the time, they were looking at the divine incarnation, the miraculous birth of God’s own Son, to do for the world what only God could do, to save the world from everlasting destruction… and to bless people with everlasting gifts… only God can do that. 

What a sight the Magi saw, when they arrived in Bethlehem at last, such great glory in such a humble setting.

Believing they were seeing the Son of God, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, they gave Him rich and exotic gifts from far away… 

… frankincense… incense to worship Him with, for that baby was God indeed… 

… and myrrh to anoint Him with, foreshadowing and pointing to when Jesus would be anointed for His burial after He had died for the sins of the world... 

… and on third day rise to give us life, His body having seen no decay, as was 

prophesied in Psalm 16, For you will not… let your holy one see decay… the gift of myrrh foreshadowed that.

… and the magi gave the baby Messiah their gold, for a king to be crowned with, for He would ascend to the throne of Heaven, to rule the Church in Heaven by glory, and the Church on earth by grace… and to maintain the Universe by His power.

What a glorious vision it will be for us, to look up and see our King upon His throne… and to look up and about and see angels everywhere… 

… and see people of all nations, and races, and ethnic groups, united in every way, unified by the glory of God they see, and the love they share…

… and to hear the joy they shout and sing with… and behold the peace and harmony they all rest and abide in.

Let us live with this blessed and everlasting vision in our hearts and minds, as on earth, we walk by faith, live in hope, worship in joy, and as we serve God and our neighbor with love.

And the peace of God, which surpasses our understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, as we joyfully look up to and follow the glorious light of Christ, the blessed epiphany of our Lord. Amen.