Prayer of the Week
Epiphany 2

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your 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 Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever, Amen.

Fresh on the heals of Advent, Ephiphany reveals the nature, character and mission of Jesus. And as this prayer reminds us Jesus isn't just revealed to the world - He's the revealer. The star that led the shepherd-kings to Jesus is just the first glimmer of light of the new day and a new world. The Gospel of John gets right to it, In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5)

This is the good news. But it's also comes with a stark reminder that the light shines in the darkness, the darkness we all know so well. The first words we hear God saying in Genesis are "Let there be Light." Not long after that, Adam and Eve are retreating into the dark. And thus the story begins, God bringing light, God's image bearers retreating into the dark. And so by the time Jesus comes on the scene John makes this very clear: Jesus is the revealer, we are the concealers. Jesus brings light, we retreat to the dark.

But, alas, darkness does not overcome the light, the light shines in the dark and overcomes it. That's how you get people who so easily retreat to the dark shining with the radiance of Christ's glory. At creation God pushes the chaos and the darkness away with his light creating a new world. At Epiphany, God does the same thing. He pushes the darkness away with the light of His Son Jesus, creating a new world and a new people.

So when we pray that we may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, it's a prayer that acknowledges the reality of darkness. We acknowledge that we hide from God, we hide from ourselves, we hide from our physical realities, and we hide from one another. But we proclaim our hope that the light of Christ overcomes the darkness. No matter what that darkness is. And not only does it overcome the darkness, the light of Christ overcomes us and shines through us, radiating Christ's glory.