Advent 4: Peace...Pastor Phil Strong
12-19-10
Text: Isaiah 58:1-10
“Light” is a common theme in the Advent stories…
The story includes a star shining in the night sky to guide the
Magi to the baby-King. As the shepherds are working the night-shift, the
light (glory of the Lord) is depicted as shining around them as the
angels announce the news of Jesus’ birth. Zechariah’s song (“The
Benedictus”) declares that “light
will shine on those living in darkness” (Luke 1:78-79).
The use of the symbolism of light is most effective as it is used
with the contrasting symbol of darkness.
Needless to say, our ancestors knew darkness in a way that we have not.
You can’t really appreciate the light until you have been in utter
darkness.
We speak of lighting in a “decorative” sense; in a way that “accents”
our surroundings. We have invented ways of artificially taming the
darkness; overcoming it at will. We have “flood” lights and “emergency
lighting”. But, the ancients understood darkness as cessation; as
interruption. The darkness made life difficult.
● We associate dark with limited vision (we can’t see what’s right in
front of us) and blindness. We get lost in the dark; darkness is often
linked with fear-- afraid of the dark because we’re not sure what’s
going on beyond our vision. Darkness is associated with lack of
knowledge (“kept in the dark”). In the dark, you learn to rely on other
senses… you “grope” (feel your way around).
● Just as light is associated with warmth, so darkness is associated
with being cold. When we think of winter, we think of extended periods
of darkness. Darkness “paralyzes” you. In the dark, your movements
become clumsy; more cautious and less sudden.
In the darkness, we are left with our imaginations. We see things that
aren’t really there and we don’t see things that are!
Darkness doesn’t really create a different reality, it simply
seems to hide all that’s real; it creates a false reality.
Metaphorically, night was associated with all that stands in the way of
hope.
When it’s dark, our time is filled with (2) primary activities (which
don’t seem very active):
“watching” and
“waiting”.
“…my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning”
(Psalm 130:5-6). In the dark, every flicker of light is a hopeful
indicator.
“Waiting for the dawn”
was a way to speak about our anticipation for the darkness to end. The
ancients spoke of “welcoming the dawn”; of greeting the light of morning
and the feeling of “newness”-- “new life” that it offered.
● Darkness is associated with grief and mourning:
“… weeping may last through the
night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
It is spoken of as an overwhelming sense of loneliness and
despair which is compounded by the feeling that it will never end; the
light will never come.
Sometimes the darkness is not just surrounding you, but seems to be
getting in you.
Darkness is not just an atmospheric state; it’s a soul-condition. If we
are exposed to too little light, our soul begins to feel the darkness.
● The NT concludes with light imagery; with a vision of God’s new world
coming down to earth (arriving) where there will be no more tears and
mourning; pain and death will be eradicated.
“There will be no more
night” (22:5). Darkness will be overwhelmed by the light of
God’s restorative presence (Revelation 21:23-25).
“The
people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in
the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2)
“Walking in darkness…” a fitting way to describe the present condition of our world. There seems little need to explain. Darkness is what our news is about. It’s what our prayers are about
● So, we celebrate the birth of Jesus during the month of December,
although no one is really certain as to the actual month and date. What
we do know is that it was associated with the time of the
“winter solstice”.
Historians tell us that
around 350 A.D., Pope Julius in Rome declared
December 25th the
date for remembrance.
● “Solstice” means,
‘standing-still-sun’.
Solstice is when, because of the earth’s tilt, we are farthest away from
the sun… farthest removed from the light.
Added to the symbolism of Jesus’ birth taking place in winter, is
the symbolism of it happening at “night”.
More than a historical date, it is important to understand it as a
metaphorical time, a symbolic time.
The symbolism is ideal:
in the midst of the deepest darkness, during the longest night of the
year, in the middle of the night, at the time when it appeared that we
were furthest from the light--- the light that gives light to “all men”
(the whole world) arrives.
Advent-people spend a great deal of time “waiting”… “hoping”. The mood
is one of expectation.
But, I get the sense that as I read the Advent texts, we are not
only waiting on God, but God seems to be doing a fair amount of waiting
on us: living with his own sense of expectation that we assume our role
as “light-bearers”.
Isaiah’s writings offer some context:
First, their light
had become darkness. They lost their distinctiveness through their
failure to set things right in their relationships. They failed to “act
justly”.
Justice is a relational term, not necessarily just a judicial
term. Justice is the practical distribution of love. It is spoken of,
foremost, as the provision for basic needs: not entitlement, but
ensuring opportunity. It’s giving people what’s “coming to them”… love.
Second, you sense the
discouragement over the disparity between the vision of a better world
being offered by the prophets and the reality in which they lived.
“You have said, it is futile to
serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements…”
(Malachi 3:4-5)
Third,
you find that their cynicism had resulted in lifeless-formalism… a
“going through the motions”;
a disconnect between their religious observances and the way that they
actually lived their lives. After all, a little fasting was a small
price to pay to enlist the sponsorship of God!
What do you do when the rescuer needs rescued? What do you do when those
called to be part of the healing process are, themselves, in need of
healing? What do you do when the bearers of light become dark?
The worst form of darkness: the darkness that persists in the
opportunity of light.
The message of Isaiah 58 is not for those “out there in the dark”. It’s
for the people of God who have lost their sense of identity and, in the
process, failed to fulfill their sense of mission.
● This, I would contend, is a central part of the Advent mood and
message. We need to hear this Advent text, not as condemnation, but as a
challenge to accept that…
…if this is who we are
(as God’s people),
… this is the way that we should live
(re-ordered lives as a response to grace),
… and this will be the result:
“your light will break forth,
your righteousness will go before you, your God will go with you,
endorsing your claims which are supported by transformed lives, your
light will rise in the darkness, your night will become like the
noonday” (Isaiah 58:8-10).
“The light has come!”, we celebrate.
The world once awaited the light to arrive… for God to come and address
the darkness. The world now waits for the people of God to “shine”… to
assume their roles as light-bearers and help to facilitate the healing
and wholeness that characterizes the mission of God.
Maybe the darkness that surrounds us could be dispelled as we live as
people of the light?!
This, God says, is our “shining moment"!