Light in the Darkness
Isa. 11:1-10; Rom. 15:4-13[1]
One of the challenges we face at this time of year is the fact that it
gets dark so early. It seems like it was
just the other day that we still had daylight after dinner, and now it gets
dark even before you sit down to eat! It
makes it hard to keep your spirits up when you’re used to a lot more sunshine.
There’s even an official diagnosis for it: it’s called Seasonal Affective
Disorder. For many people, the months of
December and January are excruciating literally because of the fact that so
much of our “day” at this time of year is spent in darkness. I think that many may suffer from a kind of
chronic form of this. We all have
personal disappointments, and even tragedies, that just take the wind out of
our sails and leave us feeling stuck in the mud. These experiences that most of us will endure
at some point in our life can rob us of the joy of living and leave us feeling
as if we’re constantly walking around in darkness.
The thing about darkness is that you really can’t see very well in
it. I would think many of us have had
the experience of being in the dark, alone, someplace that may have been
unfamiliar. When you’re in that
situation, it’s easy to imagine that there are dangers lurking in every nook
and cranny of the darkness. Not being
able to see clearly frightens us, and our fearful minds can imagine all kinds
of things. Fortunately, even if we find
ourselves in a place where the darkness seems oppressive, we have the hope that
the sun will come up soon, and it will be light again. I’d hate to live in one of those places where
it’s dark for weeks on end!
I think that’s one of the reasons light plays such an important role
for us at this time of year. We light up
the Christmas tree, and we light up our houses (some really light up their
houses!). The light is something that
gives us hope in the midst of a world that can feel very dark. The prophet Isaiah sought to give people that
kind of hope. He spoke of one who would
come to lighten their burdens, to right the wrongs, to restore all things to
way they were meant to be--a way that makes it possible for us all to live full
lives of joy and purpose.[2] And he said this coming one would not only be for
the Jewish people, but that all the nations would turn to him as well. I like the way the Contemporary English Version puts it: the
one who was coming would be the “signal for the people of all nations to come
together” (Isaiah 11:10, CEV).[3]
Now, this particular expression of the hope of one who would come to
set things right was spoken before the Jewish people’s lives reached their
darkest point in exile. Though there
were threats looming on the horizon, they were still relatively safe at home in
Zion. But all was not well. The prophets like Isaiah pointed their
fingers at the Jewish leaders for neglecting their duty when it came to
caring for the least and the last and the left out in society. That was their role--as priests and teachers
and even the King--to be shepherds who would lead the people in the ways of the
Lord and care for those who needed help the most.[4] But throughout their history, they gave up
that role in favor of simply looking out for themselves.[5] They relished their power and prestige, and
forgot about the widows and orphans and immigrants in their midst.
That’s why Isaiah spoke of the coming of one who would set things
right. Although the Jewish people had
not yet reached their deepest and darkest valley, there were many who were
already living in darkness (cf. Isa. 9:2) in a land that seemed to be doing
just fine. Isaiah spoke of the one who
would set things right to give hope to the widows and orphans and immigrants
who were already living their lives in the darkness of poverty and fear and
hopelessness. [6] And he offered it to them as a light that
would lessen the oppressive burden of the darkness they had to endure.
As we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s coming into this world of
darkness, I think it’s important for us to face how truly dark the world can
be. We cannot delude ourselves with the
propaganda that has covered over the hardships many have to bear. Make no mistake about it, we are walking in a
world that can be very dark at times. It can be dark for all of us, and it can
be especially dark for the least and the last and the left out in our
world. But the good news of Advent is
that Christ’s coming into the world brings a light that is powerful enough to
shine into every dark corner that can exist for anyone anywhere.
And so as we light up our trees and houses this year, let’s remember
the reason why we do it. We do it to
remind ourselves that we have a light that shines in the darkness, and the
darkness can never overcome it. We do it
to remind ourselves that there is no place so dark in this world that the light
of Christ cannot shine on it. And we do
it to remind ourselves that we are to bear that light to the ones who are
walking in their own darkness, to share with them the joy and peace of our hope.[7]
[1] ©
2013 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by
Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 12/8/2013 at First Presbyterian Church of Dickinson, TX.
[2]
Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, The Way of Jesus Christ, 121: “God’s justice and
righteousness brings shalom to both his people and land.” Cf. also James L. Mays, Psalms, 311, “Righteousness is
the rightness that makes for life and shalom;
justice is found in decisions and actions according to righteousness.” Cf. also Jürgen Moltmann, In the End--The Beginning: The Life of Hope,
62: “Because Israel’s experience of God is the experience of liberating,
saving and justice-creating righteousness, this righteousness also determines
Israel’s hope for the world: the promised Messiah ‘will judge the poor with
righteousness and decide with equity for the meek of the earth’ (Isa. 11:4).
[3]
This is essentially St. Paul’s point in the reading from Romans 15:4-13
(especially 15:8-12). Cf. N. T. Wright, “The
Letter to the Romans,” New Interpreters
Bible X:747: “It is not that God has done one thing for Jews, and another
thing for Gentiles; God has designed mercy for all (11:28-32).” Referring to God fulfilling his promises, he
adds, “The promises were both to
Israel and through Israel to the
world” (emphasis original). Regarding “the
idea of a risen Messiah ‘ruling the nations,’” he says this is “packed with
explosive political implications, especially in a letter to Rome whose own
emperor claimed to rule the nations.” He
further elaborates (p. 750), “a church that all too obviously embodies the
social, ethnic, cultural, and political divisions of its surrounding world is
no real challenge to the Caesars of this world.
It is only when representatives of many nations worship the world’s true
Lord in unity that Caesar might get the hint that there is after all ‘another
king’.” Cf. similarly Paul J.
Achtemeier, Romans, 225. He adds, “If in the present time that reality
still remains a hope, it is a hope grounded in the power of God himself.”
[4]
That this is to be the role of the King in Israelite society is made clear by
the Psalm lesson from Ps. 72, especially Ps. 72:4 “May he defend the cause of
the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.” Cf. J. Clinton McCann, Jr., “The Book of
Psalms,” New Interpreters Bible
IV:963: “Everything said about or wished for the king depends ultimately on God’s justice ... and God’s righteousness. Justice and righteousness are first and
foremost characteristic of God’s reign ....
In short, the role of the king is to enact God’s rule” (emphasis
original). Cf., similarly, Mays, Psalms, 236-38; H.-J. Kraus, Psalms 60-150, 78-80 (especially to the
point is the comment on p. 80: “It is the king’s duty to care for the poor”).
[5]
Cf. McCann, “The Book of Psalms,” NIB
IV:964: “Perhaps the most obvious observation to make about Psalm 72 is the
disparity between its portrayal of the king and the actual behavior of the
kings of Israel and Judah.” He adds (p.
965), “The same disparity is evident ... when we call the church ‘the body of
Christ’ and then observe the actual behavior of the church.” On the failure of justice in Judah, see also
Hans Wildberger, A Continental
Commentary: Isaiah 1-12, 475–476.
[6] Cf.
Gene M. Tucker, “The Book of Isaiah 1-39,” New
Interpreters Bible VI:141: “The ideal king exercises power to protect the
weak. The character and administration
of the king here are those that the people hoped for--but never fully
realized--as each new descendant of David took the throne in Jerusalem.” Cf. also Christopher Seitz, Isaiah
1-39, 105-107; cf. also J. Moltmann, The
Church in the Power of the Spirit, 77-79.
[7]
Cf. Gene Tucker, “The Book of Isaiah 1-39,” NIB
VI:142: he says that Isa. 11:1-10 is “not a call for action or even a criticism
of injustice. These lines simply present
unqualified good news. Whether in this
world and history or beyond, they cry joyfully that God wills--and will one day
bring about--justice and peace for the world and all its living creatures.” Cf. also R. David Kaylor, Jesus
the Prophet , 104: “Jesus addressed the poor, the hungry,
the discouraged, and the persecuted with the message that God is on their side,
supporting them in their struggle, and that God’s just will focuses on their
relief.”
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