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© The Exploratorium,
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"Shine, for Your Light Is Come"
Introduction Scripture,
Readings, Prayers, Discussion
Questions, Songs
From Moses’ burning bush to
the brightness that blinds Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road, scripture
is filled with images of light. While Isaiah 60 depicts the light of the
New Jerusalem in thrilling detail, it is Revelation 21 th at
makes the key point that Jesus, the Lamb, is the light of the City. Richard
Mouw shows just how important this is when he says, “The City envisioned
here is magnetic – more accurately, it is the light of the City
which is attracting all that is included in the procession into the City.
… And now, because of what John tells us about the source of the
City’s light, we can be even more specific: Jesus is the power that
attracts the procession into the City” (pg. 104). So, as we explore
the concept of light in the New Jerusalem, keep in mind the true author
and source of the light.
| Isaiah 60:1 – 5,19 – 20 |
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1"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD
rises upon you.
2 See, darkness
covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come
to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 "Lift
up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried
on the arm.
5 Then you
will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas
will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come. |
19 The sun will no more be your light
by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon
shine on you,
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun will never
set again,
and your moon will wane no more;
the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end. |
Sample Service
Responsive Scripture:
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Hymn: Arise, Shine, for Your Light Is Come
Psalm: Psalm 27 (possibly with The Lord is My Saving Light as refrain)
Scripture: 1 John 1:5-7
Prayer: Prayer from Book of Common Prayer listed below
Hymn: I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
Blessing: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine
upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and
give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
Additional Scripture
| Psalm 27 |
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1The LORD is my light and my salvation-
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life-
of whom shall I be afraid?
2When evil men advance against
me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3Though an army besiege
me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.
4One thing I ask of
the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.
5For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
6Then my head will be
exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with
shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.
7Hear my voice
when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me. |
8My heart says of you, "Seek his
face!"
Your face, LORD , I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.
10Though my father and mother forsake
me,
the LORD will receive me.
11Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12Do not turn me over to
the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.
13I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
14Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD. |
Psalm 36:9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness have
seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people,
he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Ephesians 5:8-14 8For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness
and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have
nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose
them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient
do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes
visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This
is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ
will shine on you."
Ps 82:5 "They know nothing, they understand
nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth
are shaken.
Isaiah 8:19-22 19When men tell you to
consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people
inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To
the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word,
they have no light of dawn. 21Distressed and hungry, they will
roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged
and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22Then
they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and
fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
John 1:1-5, 9 1In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He
was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were
made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In
him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light
shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 9The
true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory
and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his
powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down
at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16 14"You are the
light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on
its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In
the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your
good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
1 John 2:8-11 8Yet I am writing you
a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness
is passing and the true light is already shining. 9Anyone
who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is
nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his
brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not
know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
Psalm 72:5-7 5He will endure as long
as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations. 6He
will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.
7In his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound
till the moon is no more.
Genesis 1:1-5 1In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless
and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of
God was hovering over the waters. 3And God said, "Let
there be light," and there was light. 4God saw that the
light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God
called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."
And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day.
2 Corinthians 4:5-6, 5For we do not
preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants
for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who said, "Let light shine
out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 17Now the Lord
is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory,
are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which
comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
1 John 1:5-7 5This is the message we
have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is
no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him
yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
| Rev 21-22:6 |
|
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there
was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully
dressed for her husband.
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now
the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They
will be his people, and God himself will be
with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from
their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
for the old order of things has passed away."
5He who was seated on the throne said,
"I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write
this down, for these words
are trustworthy and true."
6He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give
to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7He
who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God
and he will be my son. 8But the cowardly, the unbelieving,
the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice
magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--
their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the
second death."
9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of
the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show
you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10And he carried
me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me
the Holy City, Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God.
11It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like
that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It
had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at
the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes
of Israel. 13There
were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south
and three on the west. 14The wall of the city had twelve
foundations, and on them were the
names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold
to measure the
city, its gates and its walls. 16The city was laid out
like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the
rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high
as it is long. |
17He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits
thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. 18The
wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.
19The foundations of the city walls were decorated with
every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the
second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20the
fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth
beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth,
and the twelfth amethyst. 21The twelve gates were twelve
pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the
city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
22I
did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are its temple. 23The city does not need the sun
or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and
the Lamb is its lamp. 24The nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25On
no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into
it. 27Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone
who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names
are written in the Lamb's book of life.
1Then the angel
showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing
from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle
of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the
tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every
month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and
of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
4They will see his face, and his name will be on their
foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not
need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God
will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6The
angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The
Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show
his servants the things that must soon take place." |
Readings
“He alludes to the dawn; for as the morning
star begins the day in one quarter only of heaven, and immediately the
sun enlightens the whole world, so the daybreak was first in Judea, from
which the light arose and was afterwards diffused throughout the whole
world; for there is no corner of the earth which the Lord has not enlightened
by this light.”
-from Commentary on the book of Isaiah by John Calvin, commenting
on Isaiah 60:3 (Vol. 4, p. 278)
It is not just that they are bathed in light but that they are irradiated,
inwardly charged with new, outshining life… The Lord will not only
bathe his people in his light but change them into his likeness.
-from The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary
by J. Alec Motyer ©1993. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press
(pg. 494-8).
Even before the advent of modern scientific studies the ancients understood
that light and health are intimately related. If that is true in the physical
world, how much more is it true in the spiritual realm? It is the Sun
of righteousness that we need.
-from The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66 by John N. Oswalt ©1998.
Used by permission of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co (pg. 558).
On Revelation 22:23:
John’s wording draws a small but significant distinction between
the light-giving roles of God the Father and of Christ the Son. The Father
is the ultimate source from which all truth flows (“the glory of
God has illumined it”), and the Son is the agent who reveals the
Father in his glory and truth (“its lamp is the Lamb.”) These
have been the perfectly complementary roles of Father and Son in revelation
throughout the cosmic conflict of redemptive history, and they will continue
to be so in eternity.
-from Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation by Dennis
E. Johnson ©2001 (p. 318).
You no more your suns descending,
Waning moons no more shall see;
But your griefs, for ever ending,
Find eternal noon in me;
God shall rise, and shining o’er you,
Change to day the gloom of night;
He, the Lord, shall be your glory,
God your everlasting light.
-from “Hymn 10” by William Cowper
I thought I saw the lighthouse raise
its special sunlight from the rock.
The mist obscured the interval.
Waves pounding, foaming, shock on shock.
How can I chart my journey home
unless past my anxiety
a light defines the path I take
and brings me safely through the sea?
-“Beacon” by Thomas John Carlisle. ©1987 Used by permission
of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
There are those times when
all the stars are torn from our skies,
and morning will not come.
We try to make our way
in unlit passages,
frightened, desperate, and despairing.
We cannot see,
for wherever we turn
the night continues,
And yet, it is
into this impenetrable night
that the Child is born.
Tearing through the seams of darkness,
the Morning Star appears
in our eyes and in our hearts.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen
a great Light.
- “Morning Star” from Searching for Shalom by Ann
Weems. © 1991 Ann Barr Weems.
Used by permission of Westminster John Knox Press.
Reformed Confessional Statements
The rule of Jesus Christ covers the whole world.
To follow this Lord is
to serve him everywhere,
without fitting in,
as light in the darkness,
as salt in a spoiling world.
-“Our World Belongs to God:
A Contemporary Testimony 45
We believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father….
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified….
-excerpts from the Nicene Creed, 325 C.E.
Prayers
O Light Invisible, we praise Thee!
Too bright for mortal vision.
O Greater Light, we praise Thee for the less;
The eastern light our spires touch at morning,
The light that slants upon our western doors at evening,
The twilight over stagnant pools at batflight,
Moon light and star light, owl and moth light,
Glow-worm glowlight on a grassblade.
O Light Invisible, we worship Thee!
We thank Thee for the lights that we have kindled,
The light of altar and of sanctuary;
Small lights of those who meditate at midnight
And light directed through the coloured panes of windows
And light reflected from the polished stone,
The gilded carven wood, the coloured fresco.
Our gaze is submarine, our eyes look upward
And see the light that fractures through unquiet water.
We see the light but see not whence it comes.
O Light invisible, we glorify Thee!
In our rhythm of earthly life we tire of light. We are glad when the
day ends,
when the play ends; and ecstasy is too much pain.
We are children quickly tired: children who are up in the night
and fall asleep as the rocket is fired; and the day is long for work or
play.
We tire of distraction or concentration, we sleep and are glad to sleep,
Controlled by the rhythm of blood and the day and the night and the seasons.
And we must extinguish the candle, put out the light and relight it;
Forever must quench, forever relight the flame.
Therefore we thank Thee for our little light,that is dappled with shadow.
We thank Thee who hast moved us to building, to finding,
to forming at the ends of our fingers and beams of our eyes.
And when we have built an alter to the Invisible Light, we may set thereon
the little lights for which our bodily vision is made.
And we thank Thee that darkness reminds us of light.
O Light Invisible, we give Thee thanks for Thy great glory!
-from “Choruses from ‘The Rock’” in COLLECTED
POEMS, 1909-1935 by T.S. Eliot. © 1936 by Harcourt Co Inc. Reproduced
with permission of Harcourt Co Inc in the format Copy via Copyright Clearance
Center.
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world:
Grant that thy people, illumined by thy Word and Sacraments, may shine
with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped,
and obeyed to the ends of the earth.
-Book of Common Prayer
O God, you gave us a garden of Eden
and we chose to wander in the deserts of our own making.
You gave us the Light of the world
and we chose to do our night-crawling.
Forgive us our squandering
our wandering
our lack of commitment
Forget not your covenant with us, O God, and
choose us still
to tell your Good News
to give all that we have
that all might be one in your Shalom.
In Jesus; name we pray. Amen.
- “Forgive Us” from Searching for Shalom by Ann Weems.
© 1991 Ann Barr Weems.
Used by permission of Westminster John Knox Press.
May almighty God, who caused light to shine out of darkness,
shine in our hearts, cleansing us from all our sins,
and restoring us to the light of the knowledge of God's glory,
in the face of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
- Pardon from The Book of Worship 1944 renewal © 1971 Abingdon
Press; Used by permission.
Discussion Questions
1. How do you react when you are surprised suddenly
by light coming out of darkness (imagine you’ve been watching a
movie in a completely dark room and someone turns on the lights)? In John
Eldredge’s words, “the people who walk in great darkness have
adjusted their eyes.” What implications does that have for Christians
interacting with people who are in darkness?
2. Who is the “you” in Isaiah 60:5? Who is being radiant and
from where is that radiance coming? What does radiance make you think
of? What does it mean in Hebrews 1:3 that the Son is “the radiance
of God’s glory”?
3. How was light viewed differently in the time of Isaiah, a time before
electricity, light bulbs, and huge metropolises that never sleep? What
implications does that have for these texts?
4. Why would Calvin administrators choose Psalm 36:9 to be the theme of
both the current College Chapel and the original Franklin Street Chapel?
(In other words, What does this verse have to do with our calling to be
a Reformed Christian liberal arts college?)
5. What experiences have you had at Calvin that helped you to see the
light of God? How could we, as a community, better share that light with
others?
6. What does Psalm 82:5 imply about the connection between knowing, understanding,
and walking in darkness? This verse is talking about leaders and kings
who do not acknowledge God. Why would their walking in darkness cause
the very foundations of the earth to be shaken?
7. Isaiah 8:19-22 talks about people who walk in darkness lashing out
at God. What are the similarities between walking in darkness and being
angry (think of the phrase “blinded with rage”)? How do we,
as Christians, reflect light to those who are bitter and perhaps so used
to darkness that light is painful?
8. Can there be light without darkness? How does that relate to Isaiah
9:2, 1 John 1:5, and Revelation 21:23-25?
9. What about light makes it attractive? Why are people (and bugs!) drawn
to it? Does this have similarities to the attractive qualities of Christ?
10. T.S. Eliot says that sometimes “we tire of light” because
the “ecstasy” of walking with God is “too much pain.”
Why is it sometimes more comfortable to be far away from God than close?
11. In John 8:12, Jesus promises that his followers “will never
walk in darkness.” What about times when we feel like we’re
surrounded by murkiness? What’s going on?
12. A discussion about living in the kingdom of light can lead to certain
temptations, specifically living in a “holy huddle” that focuses
on not being contaminated by the world. How do we address this temptation
and others?
13. What is the difference between being a shining light on a hill and
being in the spotlight?
14. How does this connect to what we learned in the first semester study
of 2 Corinthians and reflecting God’s glory?
Songs
Arise, Shine, for Your Light Is Come: PH 198
Come, Light, Light of God: Sing! 76
Halle, Halle, Halle: Sing! 44
I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light: Sing! 77
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise: PH 460
Let All Things Now Living: PH 453
Mourning Into Dancing
Saving Light
Shine, Jesus, Shine: Sing! 128
We Are Called |
