Christ, The King, The Light of the World
Sermon by Fr Aidan Jerry Hix
Second Sunday of Epiphany, Year A
December 16, 2007
at Christ the King Anglican Mission in America Church
in San Jose, CA

Deacon Carol Anderson shared with me that she had received a few requests for a transcript of my sermon. I am honored to have been invited to celebrate and worship with Christ the King Church and humbled to be asked for a transcript. Here it is. But it is quite rough and unpolished. Parts of the written text were omitted during the delivery due to time or as I felt led by the Spirit; and some parts were the merest outline and were given extemporaneous. Please forgive its poor condition, any typos, or anything spoken amiss. I pray it will be a blessing for those who may read it.

Text: Is. 49.1-7

Collect: 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; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer- Almighty Father, as you have given us your word, so give us now your Spirit, that we may understand and live the things which we hear, we ask in Jesus name. Amen.

Its an honor to be invited- It is an honor to be invited to share the Word and Celebrate Holy Eucharist with Christ the King Church.....

INTRODUCTION

Sir Winston Churchill once said, "If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."

We have come to such a time as this in the life of the Church. Once upon a time, and only a few decades ago, the Anglican Catholic Church was a bastion of all the best qualities of the catholic faith. Her Liturgies outshone, "in their elegant but profound synthesis, more recent attempts to capture Christian truth and turn it into prayer. In particular, stride for stride they completely outdo the strange and stilted offerings we find in the liturgy of our great sister across the Tiber..."1 Her missionaries proclaimed the Gospel and established churches around the world. From the Halls of her seminaries the orthodox faith was taught and protected. Her message was renowned and stood as a witness to the nations. But now, she is a scandal and divided; and a house divided cannot stand.

But it is not just the Anglican Church which is wavering. The whole body of Christ, from churches in the east, to the churches of Rome, to the free associations of men who make up the many denominations sired by the reformation, seems to be a state of flux. There seems to be a shaking going on. In the words of St. Peter, 1 Peter 4.17-18: For the time has come for judgement to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?

We laid down our arms and went to sleep. Where once the church was the center of society and inspired and directed the culture, we now allow culture and secular humanist agendas to influence and dictate the mission of the church. We live in a time when the City of God, the church, is under assault by the new age spirit of the Anti-christ and many have fallen back into darkness and shadow.

From both inside and outside the church, we are assaulted by the press, philosophical relativism, and secular humanism. Many in the church have accepted its creed with twisted biblical interpretations and have pressed for the overthrow of the old moral order of traditional Christianity. Many have, for example, embraced the Abortion movement as a womans right to choose, as though it were a simple application the feminist struggle to raise the dignity of women in the workplace and so forth; not realizing, the Abortion Holocaust stems from twisted applications of Darwin’s philosophy of the Survival of the Fittest. Only the fittest, the elite of human society really matters; therefore all others, the masses of society were considered food wasters and weeds which needed to be eliminated. This is the very same philosophy which drove Adolf Hitler to exterminate the Jews, murdering countless thousands in gas chambers and furnaces, in order to help engineer a new evolution of the fittest.

Evil is not always blatantly dark but is a marring, twisting, distorting of beauty and truth. Corruptio optima pessima- "the corruption of the best is the worst, evil often springs from the best of things." Satan himself in known to appear as an angel of light. But though it may begin with a seeming innocense it ultimately leads to a self-devouring, a diminishing of our true integrity. It inevitably coerces and enslaves its victims; and often leads to despair.

The Anglican church, and other Christian groups, have been plundered in certain places, and are now divided into various camps and provinces, such as the various continuing and independent Anglican churches, Forward in Faith, even the Anglican Mission in America. I have spoken with a number of people from these different situations. There are some who remain in an apostate church, not knowing where else to turn, and fall into discouragement or bitterness. Some have broken away and been scattered among the various smaller jurisdictions and are isolated and alone; and so become discouraged and demoralized. They have grown weary with well doing and end up on the borders of despair.

:
Even as we face such a time as this, as Churchill once spoke of War,"when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves," let us turn to today’s lesson in Isaiah, when the Children of Israel faced the darkness of the wrath of God’s Judgement.

Israel had turned away from their Covenant with Yahewh to pluralism, and the pantheon of other gods and idolatry. The Old Testament even records times when Asherah poles, fertiltiy idols made in the image of genitalia, were brought into the Holy Place of God’s Temple. (I have even read of certain churches today who have brought in statues of the Goddess Diana and placed them on the Altar of the Lord). Israel had been warned by the prophets for a number of generations to repent and turn their hearts back to the Lord. But they did not listen. The Day of the Lord, did not come as Rapture, a rescue from death and oppression, not even for the faithful few, the remnant, but as a Day of wrath and Judgement. Finally, they were brought into captivity, exile, and bondage under Babylonian Rule.

Many fell into the darkness of despair. Friedrich Nietzsche once described the depsair which comes from the felt absence of God in these words,

"Whither is God" he cried. "I shall tell you. We have killed him--you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there any up or down left? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night and more night coming on all the while? Does not the night come on darker and darker. God is dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, the murderers of all murderers, comfort ourselves? What was holiest and most powerful of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives. ... Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must not we ourselves become gods simply to seem worthy of it?"

Psalms 137 records the despondency of Israel in exile. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof."

But in the midst of their darkness and despair, comes a Song, a prophecy, of the Servant of God who would redeem and restore Israel and make her a light to the nations. It is a picture of a warrior king, arrayed for battle with sword and arrows, who come and wage war on his enemies over whom he will claim the victory, and establish the expansive rule of his kingdom to the ends of the earth!

1Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 2And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; 3And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 4Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. 5And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. 6And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 7Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee."

It was a message of restoration and a proclamation that Israel would become a light to the nations of the world. A Song of deliverance and redemption heralded in a dark corner of the map, a place of exile and despair. "The first promise must have seemed impossible; the second presposterous."2 But it is a word which has come to pass and been fulfilled in Jesus Christ; and it is a word from which we may take comfort and encouragement in the midst of our own personal and corporate struggles.

I would like to share three aspects from this passage taken from the theme of todays collect:
1. Christ, the King, is the Light of the World
2. We, the church, are called to be His Light Bearers
3. So, that Christ may be known, worshipped, and obeyed.

OUTLINE
I. CHRIST IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD- Isaiah 49
A. His Address to the World- "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far"
He is the Holy One of Israel (v 7)

The Shema Prayer (Deut. 6.4):
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

New Testament Shema (1 Cor 8.6):
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
and Colossians 1. 12-20:

12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."

Servant Songs
* whereas the 1st song in Isaiah was a looking forward, this 2nd song (Is 49)-looking back on Christ’s ministry from its close
*the future, the eschaton, causes the past and present
*the future causes the past, as R. J. Rushdoony explains:
"The movement of time, according to the Bible, is from eternity,
since it is created by God and moves out of and in terms of His
eternal decree. . . . Because time is predestined, and because its
beginning and end are already established, time does not develop
in evolutionary fashion from past to present to future. Instead,
it unfolds from future to present to past.
A simple illustration might help us understand this. Let us
say someone finds you packing a sack lunch on a warm Saturday
morning, and asks the reason for it. You answer, "Because I’m
going to have a picnic at the park today." What has happened?
In a sense, the future– the planned picnic – has determined the
past. Because you wanted a picnic at the park, you then planned
a lunch. Logically, the picnic preceded, and caused, the making
of the lunch, even though it followed it chronologically. In the
same way, God desired to glorify Himself in Jesus Christ; therefore
He created Jesse and David, and all the other ancestors of
Christ’s human nature, in order to bring His Son into the world.
The Root of David’s very existence was the Son of David, Jesus
Christ. The "effect" determined the "cause"! The Lord Jesus Christ is thus presented in the most radical way possible as the Center of all history, the divine Root as well as the Branch, the Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega.
And it is as the conquering Lion and the determining Root that
He has prevailed so as to open the Book and its seven seals" in the Apocalypse."3
the overlapping of heaven and earth in Christ

B. His Call

C. His Qualifications

Mouth- a sharp sword- New Testament, Gospel, judgement
Holiness is a two-edged sword, coming out of his mouth, bringing both judgement and sanctification (Heb 4.12)

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
The Justice of God seen primarily in terms of Vindication- the wrath and judgement of God upon his enemies and those who disobey his rule.

Fealty with love; courage with honor, and betrayal with vengeance.

Arrows- convictions of his word in heart of sinners -Ps 45.5

Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. 4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. 5 Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
Hidden/Concealment (49.2)

2And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me
hidden weapons suddenly drawn for battle
hidden purpose until the fullness of time (Eph 1.5-10):

5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him."

D. His Mission
to be the servant called, Israel- or The New Adam,
he initiates a New Order, A New Creation, a New Humanity

20But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
to Glorify God
to bring back Jacob & gather Israel
to restore the survivors of Israel- Jewish Christians
to be a light to the nations- extending the kingdom

E. His Kingdom
the overlapping of heaven and earth in Christ
Restoration of Israel & the expansion of the kingdom to the ends of the earth

II. THE CHURCH IS THE LIGHT BEARERS (that we might be...)
Illuminated by theWord
& Sacrament
May shine with the Radiance of His Glory
the overlapping of heaven and earth, fully in Christ, manifest and expressed in and through his church
to live as points of intersection, points of overlap, between heaven and earth.
the element of miracle
Quote by Dr Moss in the "The Christian Faith":
"The Incarnation of the Son of God was a miracle – that is, it was not part of the regular course of nature. Its cause did not lie within the ordinary sequence of events. It was accompanied by events, such as His resurrection, which do not happen in the ordinary course of history....Therefore the Christian religion, the center of which is the Incarnate Son of God, contains the miraculous element. Christianity without miracle is not Christianity. No one who thinks that "miracles do not happen" can be a Christian."


III. THAT CHRIST MAY BE
Known
Worshipped
Obeyed

"Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee."

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we see from today’s lesson, in the life of ancient Israel as well as in our own time, that when the day seems darkest, when the world, even the Church, seems in great upheaval, and we war against the invading armies of evil and apostasy on one hand, and the gaping maw of discouragement and despair on the other, Christ, the hidden purpose of God, comes unbidden, with a word of hope.
Christ the King is the Light of the World; and in him a New Day has dawned; and under the light of the new sun, springs forth a new creation and a new humanity, called the Church. Therefore, we are called to live in such a way that in our celebration of Word and Sacrament we becomes participants and bearers of that light; and we are to carry forth the torch of the good news of Jesus Christ to every corner of the world where darkness lurks and dispel the night.

Even now, in the midst of the shaking of the church, there is a line being drawn, between those who would turn from this Gospel of Jesus Christ to immorality, compromise and apostasy and those who would uphold and proclaim the orthodox Christian Faith. We are, perhaps, on the threshold of a New Reformation. The old reformation was a movement of destroying the unity of the church and splintered into a plethora of denominations, heralding different opinions. This new reformation, if we may be bold enough to call it such now, is a pulling together of churches, provinces, bishops, clergy and laity, who hold to traditional and Biblical foundations, who will fight the good fight of fight, now matter the cost.

So, now, as I started this sermon with the words of Sir Winston Churchill, I will let his words close my sermon. I ask that you apply his words in a prophetic sense to the mission of the church. May it serve as a word of encouragement and a Call to Arms in service of his majesty, Christ, The King of Kings, The Light of the World.
"You ask, What is our policy? I will say; "It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy." You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.

We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fall, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth ( I will insert Church here) lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour!



ENDNOTES

1. N.T. Wright, York Minster, 20 May 2007
2.Andrew H. Bartelt, The Lectionary Commentary, p352.
3.David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance