January 4, 1998 - LESSONS: Isaiah 60:1-5; Ephesians 3:1-12, NRSV

SERMON TITLE: The Dawn of A New Day

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INTRODUCTION:

Chicken! Chicken! He's a chicken.

No one likes to be called a chicken.

We may become chickens by doing what it is that you have been accused of being afraid of.

Conforming to the ideas and the ideals of the individual or the group

Chicken is not a bad image.

Jesus used that image of himself.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37 NRSV)

Even the strongest may be a chicken.

Chickens act courageously

The simple fact is that chickens can be none other than what they are.

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A cattle rancher heard gun shots and knew that something was wrong.

He went to investigate and found a dead eagle.

It had been illegally shot by a party unknown.

It was nesting season.

He looked up the side of the cliff and saw a probable place where eagles would nest.

Climbing up he discovered several eggs unattended in the nest.

Carefully he put them under his shirt where his body heat would keep them warm and viable.

On reaching home, he put the eggs in the nest of a sitting hen.

Only one of the eggs hatched, but something strange and curious happened.

The eagle thought it was a chicken.

It lived like a chicken.

It acted like a chicken.

When threatened it went into the defensive mode of a chicken.

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The eagle was only a shadow of what it ought to be.

It was living in a shadowland.

There was the dawn of a new day.

Each day was like the one before.

There was no change in the eagle.

MAIN BODY:

We live in a land of shadows.

For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you, Isaiah 60:2.

Darkness is not the opposite of light.

Darkness is a reduction of light

Thick darkness is a greater loss of light.

This condition described by Isaiah is obviously attributed to the people of his day.

It is not also true of us

What do we really know about ourselves, the world in which we live and God.

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Is not the darkness the source of our questions?

How many times have I tried to help people by answering the same question over and over again.

It is not that we cannot know.

It is that we choose not to believe.

We do not have a sufficiently strong enough faith.

When we live in darkness the shadows become our reality.

We come to believe that this is the way life is.

We live as if there was nothing else.

Perhaps that is the reason why we struggle so to make our mark on life.

To get and achieve all that we can.

The contrast between darkness and light may be illustrated in so many ways.

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Philip once asked Jesus

"Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied," John 14:8

Who is God?

What is God like?

How does God act; what does God do?

Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? John 14:9

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? John 14:10

The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not,

then believe me because of the works themselves. John 14:11.

Jesus Christ is the "Light of the World." John 8:12

The light has shined in the darkness.

It is the dawning of a new day.

A day that is different than those which have come before.

Philip can experience a new dawn and a new day, but only if he is willing to accept what Jesus is offering.

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In John 15 Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,

"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat." Verse 2

Jesus answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? Verse 3

For God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.' Verse 4

But you say that whoever tells father or mother, 'Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,' then that person need not honor the father. Verse 5

So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. Verse 6

Tradition is good and has its place.

When tradition is more powerful than truth then it is darkness.

The light has shined in the darkness.

Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

Herod tried to turn the Wise men into chickens.

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Herod was the dominant rooster.

When you find the child, come and tell me where he is laying so I may come and worship him.

If they had done as he wanted they would have been under his control.

They would have been people of the shadows.

The wise men were fortunate.

They had angel visitants who brought them light.

They did not have to agonize over the situation in which they found themselves.

Jesus Christ has light to offer us.

The light has shined into the darkness.

Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

CONCLUSION:

The purpose of Christianity is to allow chickens to become eagles.

We have been hatched, it were, in a land of chickens, in a land of darkness.

Unlike the eagle who thought it was a chicken, we have a Savior who has the desire and the ability to demonstrate how chickens can be transformed into eagles.

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The purpose of the church is to help chickens become eagles.

What does it mean to be an eagle?

but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint, (Isaiah 40:31 NRSV).

To have renewed strength.

To realize our full potential.

To overcome fear, and greed, and insecurity, and doubt.

To live and not be weary

To live and not faint.

Those who wait upon the Lord.

Those who take the Lord for their guide

Those who take the Lord for their source of information.

Those who are willing to follow the Lord wherever he leads.

It is no wonder that Isaiah exclaims in 60:1: Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Verse 2.

Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice. Verse 5.

God makes available the opportunity for a new day.

A day like no other.

A day of transformation.

A day to become eagles.

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