An Epiphany Breakfast

When I arrived at the restaurant, my friend Ike was already there sipping some coffee. “I went ahead and ordered for you,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll like it. I got you their most popular breakfast.” I wasn’t late at all but after I drove into the parking lot and saw that the restaurant was nearly full with a big tour bus of senior citizens on their way to Branson, I was glad he ordered for both of us. Before I had a chance to get my coat off, the waitress had swooped in with a cup of steaming hot coffee and I was glad to see her. I was a little tired. I hadn’t slept well the night before, because I wasn’t sure what all was going to happen at this breakfast.

It was almost 11:00 the night before when Ike called and said, “I have to talk to you and it can’t wait. Can you meet me tomorrow morning?” He sounded excited but I couldn’t tell if what he was so anxious to talk about was going to be good or bad.
“Sure,” I said, kind of glad it was something that could wait until morning. “I can meet with you but it will have to be early.”

“No problem.”

“Can you meet me at the Bob Evans in Belton?”

“I’ll be there.”

I hoped that I’d be able to tell by his body language as soon as I saw him, whether the conversation was going to be all about good news or bad news, but I couldn’t. I took my coat off, we shook hands, and I sat down. The newspaper on the table looked as if it had been put there on purpose. Ike had been reading it.

“Erase the bad news from this thing and all you’d have left would be a few ads scattered on otherwise white paper. Murder . . . molestation . . . more loss of life in Iraq . . . civil war in East Timor.”

I was pretty sure he didn’t call late the night before and insist on meeting this morning to talk about the news, but I figured he’d bring up whatever it was that was so pressing whenever he needed to. I couldn’t help but be a little preoccupied as he spoke, wondering what he really wanted.

The hurried waitress came by to refill our coffee cups and apologized for the delay. It was certainly understandable that it might take a few minutes to get our food because the place was pretty full. We talked a few minutes about the drug problems, domestic violence, and the sad state of affairs with so many families. We speculated about when our troops might be able to come back home, and about those who had already returned.

The breakfast finally arrived, as I was beginning to wonder if Ike was ever going to get around to what seemed so important the night before. But I was also hungry, and ready to devote some attention to the full plate that had just been placed before me. “This looks good!” I said.

Ike then got a funny look on his face and said, “Do you know what it is?”
“Of course I do. It’s two farm-fresh eggs, golden home fries, Bob Evans bacon, and two fluffy, butter-coated biscuits.”

Then he said, “Do you know what it’s called?”

“Um, Breakfast?”

“No, this is not just breakfast,” he said. “What lies on the plate before you is the most popular breakfast on the menu. The name of this breakfast captures what I really wanted to talk to you about that couldn’t wait.” Then my friend Ike took out a book and said this: [Read text]. “Look at your plate. The name of Bob Evan’s most popular breakfast is called the Rise and Shine. That’s what I had to tell you that couldn’t wait. I had to tell you that it’s time to rise and shine!”

Isaiah 60 opens with the announcement of light breaking forth in darkness. It’s as if Isaiah says, “Take heart, you who are surrounded by doom and gloom. The glory of God is being revealed. In fact, His light isn’t just shining, it’s surrounding the darkness (see structure of the text, v. 1 light, v. 2 darkness, v. 3 light). That’s also how John’s Gospel describes Jesus. He is the Light of the World who came to dispel the darkness. It’s what we’ve just celebrated with Christmas. The true Light that brings light to every person has come. God has broken into the darkness, bringing His salvation to the broken and those in bondage. It’s time to rise and shine, for the Light of the World has come!

Isaiah’s message was that the light, this gift of God, had the power to transform Israel and draw other nations to Him at the same time. “While the social context differs dramatically, Ephesians 3:1-12 makes a similar point: part of the mystery of the Epiphany is the mysterious inclusion of Gentiles among God’s people. Submission to God’s gift of light carries with it the obligation to accept and proclaim the inclusion of all outsiders with this mystery.”1

Isaiah was saying God’s light came to the exiles not just so they could be brought back home. It was so the rest of the world could see the glory of God through what He had done for them, so they too could be drawn to the glory of God.

Israel is called to rise and shine. Those given the Light now become a source for others to see the Light. The glory of God has come to them. Exiles and nations bring wealth not to prosper Jerusalem, but to worship God. This is not a “God loves you and is going to make you rich” passage. It’s a word about the gifts people are going to be bringing to Jerusalem as acts of worship. “All from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord” (v. 6).

Whenever the nations bring such exotic gifts, they are in fact submitting themselves to God’s new future. That is what is happening with the bringing of “gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11). When God is thus worshiped, Israel prospers, Jerusalem glows, the nations come to their proper existence, all bask in the glow of God’s well-being. God’s presence creates newness for the entire world. In this poem, all - Jerusalem, the exiles, the nations - receive the gift of life.2

Isaiah said all of this in the middle of darkness. We cannot forget the darkness is real. It’s not something for Christians to ignore, sugar-coat, or water down. The reality of darkness is terrible and some of you know that very well. You don’t need me to tell you how real it is because you have experienced it. Some of you are experiencing it now, and if you’re not experiencing it, you know someone who is. That’s one of the things that makes the Light so incredible. The darkness of death, despair, depression, addiction, and bondage is no match for the glory of God’s marvelous light. In the middle of the darkness, says Isaiah, it’s time for the people of God to rise and shine because the glory of God has come. I believe it’s the same word God has for us today on this Epiphany Sunday. In the darkness of our day it is time for the Church to rise and shine. We have good news to proclaim. In Jesus Christ the glory of God has come. Like Israel, we are called to live in the glow of that glory in such a way that will cause others to be drawn to God.

It’s late at night and the phone rings. It’s our friend the prophet. He has called to say it’s urgent. It can’t wait. This morning we find ourselves seated at a Bob Evans breakfast table with Isaiah. Just when we wonder if he’s ever going to get around to telling us what’s so important, the waitress slides a full plate in front of us and our friend the prophet says, “Do you know what that is?” And we do know what it is. It’s a word that calls us to embrace the good news that the glory of the Lord has invaded and surrounded the darkness. It’s a word that reminds us the good news is even more full than the plate in front of us. God has come. And because He has come, it is time for us to rise and shine!

Benediction: Mattew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

1 Walter Brueggemann, Texts for Preaching, Year A (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993), 82.

2 Ibid., 82-83.