SERMON TITLE: Light and Hope
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 60:1-22 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 11-30-25
Sermon Discussion Guide
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This year — during the Advent season — we’re going to participate in a tradition that’s been part of the church for centuries. Some of us may be familiar with this practice but unsure of its meaning — while others may be experiencing it for the first time. So we want to take a moment to explain its significance so we don’t miss the heart of this tradition.
Each week of Advent, we focus on a different theme related to the birth of Christ, lighting a candle to symbolize that theme. Those themes are Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. On Christmas Eve — we light the final candle — the Christ Candle — joined by the congregation as we lift up our own candles at the end of the service. And the increasing light — week by week — represents the growing light of Jesus Christ shining into the world until the day of his return.
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
Today we begin our Christmas series. At each of our Gateway campuses — an Advent candle has been lit — we’ve heard a passage from the Christmas story and — as explained at the beginning of the worship services — this will be something that happens each week as we approach our Christmas Eve services.
And — in case you can’t tell — the theme that’s tying our Christmas series together is the theme of light. As old man Simeon declared…
Luke 2:30–32 NLT
30 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
The light — which reveals who God is to the nations of the world — is a person. And he’s the glory of God’s people because he is their salvation.
So with that as our introduction to this series — let’s turn to our passage for today. This may not be a passage that immediately comes to mind when you think of the Christmas story — but when we consider the theme of light — and the salvation that it represents to us in the Christmas story — I think we find a wonderful connection between this passage and the Christmas story.
We’ll be in the Old Testament prophet of Isaiah today. Specifically — chapter sixty — of the book of Isaiah. If you have your Bible — please turn with me there — to Isaiah chapter sixty. There we read…
Isaiah 60:1–22 ESV
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord. 7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify my beautiful house. 8 Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows? 9 For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful. 10 Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. 11 Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. 16 You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. 21 Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. 22 The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it.
What we’ve just read reveals to us a sobering truth: We live in a world clothed in darkness. And — yet — there’s hope. For the light of the Lord has pierced the darkness of our world.
This is what we’re going to look at together today. A world clothed in darkness and the light that’s broken through.
The prophet Isaiah describes our world of darkness in a few places. Beginning in verse two we read…
Isaiah 60:2 ESV
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;
Later — in verses ten and eleven — Isaiah describes the walls and gates of the city. Walls were a means to protect a city from enemy forces. Gates were shut at night to keep people out. Walls and gates were protection from threats — and threats are a way we recognize the darkness around us.
In verse fourteen — Isaiah mentions people who had caused affliction to God’s people — who despised them.
Then — in verse fifteen — he writes…
Isaiah 60:15 ESV
15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through…
Jerusalem — the city of God — is described as being forsaken and hated — the city’s been abandoned with no one passing through it.
And then — in verse eighteen — Isaiah mentions that violence, devastation, and destruction have been experienced by God’s people.
This is a description of a world clothed in darkness. Violence. Devastation. Destruction. Walls of protection needed to keep foreign enemies out. Gates kept shut for security purposes. Forsakenness. Hatred. Even economic despair as no one does business in the city any longer.
Can you imagine the hopelessness such a scenario would bring? I’m sure you can. For it’s the kind of world we live in today, isn’t it?
Though many may not acknowledge sin in their own life — very few are willing to ignore the results of sin in our world. Because — living in a world clothed by darkness — can’t be ignored. The results are too obvious. The results of living in a world clothed by darkness drives our politics today. It drives economics. It drives entertainment. It drives social media. It drives headlines. It drives our legal system. And so on.
Obviously — since there isn’t agreement on solutions to living in a world of darkness — whether politically, economically, and so on — we find ourselves fighting with each other — which also happened to God’s people in the Old Testament. Where — instead of hope, peace, joy, and love — we experience war, fighting, hatred, and despair. Because — unless we have light to see — we’re all bound to stumble around blind in the darkness of this world. And — in our blindness — we’re unable to see the beauty of our world because — without light — what’s beautiful goes unseen because it’s covered in darkness.
CS Lewis describes an example of this in the final book of his Narnia series — The Last Battle. In the final battle, there’s a stable with a door. And the door represents the entrance into eternity. For those who have faith in Aslan — the Christ-like lion figure — going through the stable door leads to eternity in the New Narnia — which represents the New Heaven and New Earth. But for any who do not have faith in Aslan — going through the stable door led to a place of darkness. Darkness even darker than the horrific battle they were just engaged in. Can you imagine a darkness that makes the horrors of war seem light in comparison?
Now — at this point — let me say that Lewis does something theologically questionable, but I still find it to be a helpful illustration. Hopefully, none of us are building our theology on fiction anyway, right?
But — at this point in the book — the kids — who are in the New Narnia — are surrounded by light — revealing to them beauty never imagined before. Yet — they notice — huddled in a circle — are some dwarfs. And this is what Lewis writes.
They (the dwarfs) had a very odd look. They weren’t strolling about or enjoying themselves (although the cords with which they had been tied seemed to have vanished) nor were they lying down and having a rest. They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another. They never looked round or took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them. Then the Dwarfs all cocked their heads as if they couldn’t see any one but were listening hard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening.
“Look out!” said one of them in a surly voice. “Mind where you’re going. Don’t walk into our faces!”
“All right!” said Eustace indignantly. “We’re not blind. We’ve got eyes in our heads.”
“They must be darn good ones if you can see in here,” said the same Dwarf whose name was Diggle.
“In where?” asked Edmund.
“Why you bone-head, in here of course,” said Diggle. “In this pitch-black, poky, smelly little hole of a stable.”
“Are you blind?” said Tirian.
“Ain’t we all blind in the dark!” said Diggle.
“But it isn’t dark, you poor stupid Dwarfs,” said Lucy. “Can’t you see? Look up! Look round! Can’t you see the sky and the trees and the flowers? Can’t you see me?”
“How in the name of all Humbug can I see what ain’t there? And how can I see you any more than you can see me in this pitch darkness?”
“But I can see you,” said Lucy. “I’ll prove I can see you. You’ve got a pipe in your mouth.”
“Anyone that knows the smell of [tobacco] could tell that,” said Diggle.
What is Lewis describing? No matter what the kids try to do — the dwarfs can’t see. They’re surrounded by darkness — they’re blind.
Then Aslan appears. And to prove to the kids how blind the dwarfs are — Aslan sets a feast before the dwarfs. Though they recognize it’s food — the dwarfs don’t have any idea that it’s a feast. They think they’re more or less eating slop kept in the stable for animals. To which Lewis writes…
But very soon every Dwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf had found something nicer than he had, and they started grabbing and snatching, and went on to quarrelling, till in a few minutes there was a fight and all the good food was smeared on their faces and clothes or trodden under foot. But when at last they sat down to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all said:
“Well, at any rate there’s no Humbug here. We haven’t let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”
The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs. Do you know the mantra of a world clothed in darkness? It’s summed up in “the Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.” A statement whose many variations are found in our world today: Look out for number one. Follow your heart. And put yourself first.
Yet all is not hopeless. For — as Isaiah describes for us — the light of the Lord has penetrated our world clothed in darkness. As he writes in verse two…
Isaiah 60:2–3 ESV
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
And about this Lord who is to come — Isaiah says…
Isaiah 60:12 ESV
12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
And even though…
Isaiah 60:15 ESV
15 you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age.
Leading to a great renewal in the land — where…
Isaiah 60:17 ESV
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness.
For the light of the Lord has come. A light so piercing and brilliant that…
Isaiah 60:19–20 ESV
19 The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.
What hope for the people of God! What hope for people of all nations who turn to the Lord who is the everlasting and eternal light.
Simeon was looking forward to the day when the light of the Lord would pierce the darkness of the world. He had been promised that he would live to see the Messiah — the Lord’s Christ — the Savior of the world — the Light of the Lord.
And remember his words. Here they are again.
Luke 2:30–32 NLT
30 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
In Jesus’ birth — the light of the Lord pierced the darkness of the world. Yet there was work to do first before Isaiah’s prophecy could be fulfilled. Work that Jesus would accomplish so that eyes could be open to see in the midst of the blinding darkness.
For the light of the Lord was born to die. And — through his death — darkness has been defeated. And though many still wander aimless in the darkness — blinded by their sin — mistaking a wonderful feast as slop prepared for animals — the news of Jesus — the gospel — the message of what he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection because of his great love for people — including you — gives sight to people today.
Leading more and more people to say — along with Simeon — and may this be true for many among us today — may you be able to say, “God, I have seen your salvation.” For this is who Jesus is — the Savior of the world. The light of the Lord who’s pierced the darkness of our world — including the darkness of your world.
Do you see him? Do you see his light shining all around you? Turn to him and receive his steadfast protection, and majestic joy, and the life of renewal and abundance, and everlasting hope that he gives to all who believe in him. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, you are the giver of every good gift — including the gift of sight. Open eyes to see the beauty of Jesus — the light of the Lord.
Holy Spirit, work in the hearts of those who hear my voice. They see the darkness of the world — give them eyes to see the light of Jesus Christ. His beauty. His radiance. His love. The hope that’s found in him.
And — Jesus — to you — the light of the Lord — the salvation of God’s people — the glory of God in flesh. Thank you for your love. Thank you for bringing peace. Thank you for giving us joy. And thank you for offering us hope. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.
In Christ — the light of the Lord has come — and has pierced the darkness of our world. May this give you hope — and may Jesus be your hope. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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