Although the service was cancelled due to snow, a written copy of Pastor's sermon is provided below. The sermon text is Matthew 4:12-25.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (2 John 3)

It’s hit me this week just how much we take electricity for granted. Very few people can still remember growing up without electricity. For the rest of us, it’s been a fact of life our whole lives. We plug in a cord and on comes our refrigerator or freezer, preserving our food. We rely on our air conditioners and furnaces to keep us comfortable year-round. And we expect that with a flip of a switch, our lights will turn on and off at will. 

But, as winter storm “Fern” takes aim at much of the country, our electricity doesn’t seem like quite as much of a sure thing. Somewhere in this massive storm, there will be devastating freezing rain, wreaking havoc on powerlines and trees. We hope and pray that it won’t materialize in our neck of the woods, but neither do we wish it on anyone else either!

Lord willing, our lights will stay on, and so will the heat and all the other modern devices that we’ve come to rely on each day. Some folks, though, will likely be plunged into the dark, and we certainly pray that their power outages would be short lived. 

We don’t always know what will happen when powerful storms come our way – whether of the winter or summer varieties – but we do know that from age to age and season to season, the Lord our God and His Word do not change. The Lord’s grace and truth remain constant even if so much around us may seem uncertain or threatening.

God’s Word for us on this third Sunday after Epiphany takes us into some of the first movements of Jesus’ public ministry. Matthew tells us that even the place that Jesus called “home” held prophetic significance. Jesus spent most of His life in the Galilean village of Nazareth, but around the time when He was baptized, He took up residence in the fishing town of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. Long before, in the time of Joshua, this land had been allotted to the Israelite tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Quoting Isaiah 9:1-2, Matthew writes, “And leaving Nazareth He went and lived in Capernaum by the Sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘The land of Zebulun and Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.’”

The ancient Galileans certainly dwelt in darkness compared to today’s standards. For them, electricity was far into the future. Their homes were small, dark spaces lit by oil lamps and cooking fires. Matthew, though, is especially referring to the spiritual darkness in which the people dwelt.

Expanding from the Galileans, though, "spiritual darkness" describes not just a particular population but the whole human condition. Spiritual darkness is what we’ve all inherited from Adam. Sinful human beings are like people groping around in the heart of a cave. Without someone coming to our rescue, we’d be stuck in that darkness and blindness.

But, say Isaiah and Matthew, “A light has dawned.” Moreover, we know that this isn’t just a light but the Light of the world (John 8:12). On the night of Jesus’ birth, the glory of the Lord shone on the fields near Bethlehem as if it were the middle of the day. The light of God dawned in the middle of both physical and spiritual darkness.

Proverbs 14:18 says, “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” This verse reminds me of the life and ministry of Jesus. His righteousness shone like no other. He shone on the poor in spirit, the blind and the lame, both those who were receptive to His light and those who were resistant. Jesus said, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19).

This proved to be the case even with the leaders of Jesus’ own people. They hated that He spoke the truth and shone a light on their hypocrisy and arrogance. He upended business as usual for men living in darkness. Finally, after years of opposition to Jesus, they got what they wanted.

Satan and the powers of evil must have thought that their dark dreams had come true! The Son of God had come to earth, broken the powers of darkness at every turn, and never once gave in to temptation. But then, somehow, betrayal and murder won the day. God came down to His creation, yet He ended up dying on a forsaken cross. 

On Good Friday, even the sun’s light failed. As Jesus hung dying at Calvary, it looked more like the middle of the night than a spring afternoon. Before long, it was finished. Jesus’ body was quickly buried and sealed in a dark tomb.

If Jesus’ story had ended there, in the darkness of His dying day, it wouldn’t be just this Sunday that we’d be staying home. If the sun had risen on the first day of the week and not illuminated an empty garden tomb and shone on the shoulders of a risen Savior, then there would be no Sunday services. There’d be no Christian church! Just as St. Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching in in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

God be praised, then, that Jesus’ story didn’t end on Good Friday. His light didn’t remain sealed in a borrowed tomb. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,” (1 Corinthians 15:20) Paul proclaims in the same passage in which He wrestled with what it would mean if there was no resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection of Jesus isn’t some minor detail in His story. It is the story! Because of Easter, we know that God’s light has dawned on us – and opened to us a bright, eternal future with Him!

Peter also proclaims the Good News of what God has done for us in Christ: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10) 

Paul tells us that God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10).

God came to our rescue when we were stuck in darkness and death! By Christ’s death for us, He abolished death, and by His resurrection, He “brought life and immortality to light”! God’s marvelous light dawned for us on Easter morning and then shone upon us as His Holy Spirit called us by the Gospel. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Christ Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He paid for all our sin through His suffering and death. Then, He walked out of His tomb, defeating sin and death and wining eternal victory for you and me! Likewise, the Holy Spirit has done what only God could do in our lives. He called us out of the darkness and into His marvelous light!

Now, because we’ve begun to live in the light of the Lord, and because we will walk in His light forevermore, we are called to live in light of Christ’s saving death and resurrection as we arise each day. God made us His own “royal priesthood” that we would proclaim the greatness of our God who has called us out of darkness and into His light and salvation.

Just as Jesus called Peter and Andrew to be His disciples in their generation, He has also called us to discipleship in our generation. Think about how St. Paul defines this discipleship in Ephesians 5:8–9: “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).”

You are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Living as Jesus’ disciples today is the same as it’s always been. We live in the light of Jesus. We proceed from the light of His empty tomb, and we walk toward His everlasting light in the city of God.

What we can’t do, though, is generate light within ourselves. The Source of our light can only be the Lord Jesus, just as He is the “Vine” and our life as His branches can only come by abiding in Him (John 15:5).

As you look outside this morning (and for several days to come), you’ll see a bright white landscape. The snow doesn’t create light, and yet it makes the whole landscape so much brighter. It reflects the light of the sun and moon and of our modern electrical lights. 

As Christ’s disciples, children of the light, we emit light only through our Light Source. Abide in Christ and then reflect His saving light. There is still much darkness and unbelief around us in this world. Your neighbor needs to see Christ’s light and hear His Word through you, so shine brightly with His love and with the Good News that the light of God has dawned!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)