Webster Groves Presbyterian Church

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWC2I7ok7gM

Dear Friends in Christ, Yesterday was Epiphany. Isaiah 60:1-6 offers sacred words on Epiphany: Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. 3Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 4Lift 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. 5Then 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. 6A 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. In these prophetic words, we hear the hopeful promise of God to gather together the divided. Notice the shining glorious light, referring to God, is found in verse one and is repeated again in verse three. Darkness connected to "earth" and "the peoples", is spoken of in verse two. In other words, the darkness of verse two is surrounded by the light in verses one and three. This suggests that the light and glory of God surrounds the darkness of earth and humanity. The promise of these prophetic words is that no matter how dark we humans make things for ourselves, we are surrounded by God's light and God's light will prevail! Yesterday in Washington, DC we saw just how dark we can make things for ourselves. This darkness comes as a result of division, the stoking of fear, silence in the face of falsehood, poverty, violence, and even death. It comes from failure to heed God's call to see and act with love and grace toward each other- all of whom are God's children. Yet, Isaiah reminds us we are not stuck in this darkness. "Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." The light of God is available to us on this first day after Epiphany. As dark as yesterday was, God's light shall yet prevail. It is natural and appropriate to be discouraged and angered by what we saw in our nation's capital yesterday. At the same time, this can be an Epiphany moment in our nation's history. This can be the wake-up call that living as a divided people is something that does not work. It is harmful, it is dark and we are tired of living this way. This can be the moment where we rediscover the importance of truth-telling and peacemaking for which Jesus Christ invites us to be beacons. This is a moment for each of us to proclaim through prayer, our words, our actions, the way of life Christ has called us to live. This is a moment to remember the "glory of the Lord has risen upon you". Yesterday was Epiphany. Today, let us arise! Peace be with you, - Pastor Ed

This message to one and all

A Minute for Mission from Van: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLlCNDyln9E&feature=youtu.be