St Paul's United Church of Christ
50 North Main St.
PO Box 129
Manheim, PA 17545
717-665-2447
The Reverend William J. LaSalle, Pastor
email:stpaulsucc@dejazzd.com

Pastor's Message

January 2007

As we fumble our way out of bed in a winter morning that seems more like night, Isaiah’s words “Arise, shine for your light has come!” may sound ironic, even sardonic. Still, we know that the prophet’s words have no connection at all to the changing of the seasons. No, they come to us in the context of our Lord’s revelation as the beacon of salvation for the whole world. In response, the Epiphany season calls us, entices us, commands us to rise up, to leap out of those places where we live in spiritual darkness. God calls us to polish our glasses, clean our windows to be able to see with clarity this new thing that has happened. Arise! Shine! We are invited to greet and welcome the light – a luminescence that shines with such magnitude that it melts the icy coldness of our hearts. Epiphany is no wimpy one-candle-in- the-darkness deal, but rather a blast of brightness not seen before. Get up and see it! Bask in its brightness. Behold the light that shines upon us, scattering the darkness of our minds so that we may walk as children of light.

The light is Christ. Any spiritual light that we have is his, shining in and through us. Indeed, so great is the grace that shines upon us that it seems that our faces, like Moses’, should be glowing with reflected glory. At the very least, our way of living surely will catch the light of Christ’s love and shine it on those around us. Such is the extroverted, mission nature of this season.

Although the people are the church and thus will be the primary light-givers in this season, our center of worship too should glow with light. Don’t let Epiphany be wimpy. Let everything associated with our worship shine in celebration that the light of our lives is living among us. Polish the metal, light the candles, and let us shine full blast. Our church should be a beacon, a searchlight calling out to all who are in spiritual darkness.

Epiphany begins at Bethlehem, but it deserves to be more than a half-baked rerun of Christmas. The magi followed an unmistakably bright star previously unknown, a luminous sign from God to pay attention. During the season of Epiphany we also celebrate the baptism of Jesus, introducing the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

The brightness carries on through the season. At Cana, Jesus does the first of his signs. The rabbi Jesus proclaims the recovery of sight for the blind. Jesus is a light too seemingly intense for some in his hometown. He invites others into the circle of his light, inviting fisherman to pull in people. Christ is a light that shines where none has before, blessing the poor, the hungry, the sorrowful. Finally comes the dazzling light of the transfiguration.

This light is for all people: “a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel” in the words of Simeon. This light and fire of God shines like a therapeutic laser right into the places where it is most needed. This cleansing light sears away the scales on our eyes, cauterizes the seeping wounds of sin, and halts the gnawing darkness of anxiety. This is a healing light, a refining light, a burnishing light, and a purifying light. This light is like no other. This light has the power to save.

Pastor Cluley