Unto Us, A Light has been born

from my message on the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1, 2013, from Isaiah 9:2-7

Darkness.  The season of Advent begins in darkness.  Maybe you know something about darkness.  In Hebrew thought darkness stood for chaos, ignorance, sin, suffering.  Is this where we get the term Black Friday?  I am just asking.

Maybe you know something about darkness that goes beyond shopping.  You may be here in worship today with the darkness of loneliness, or loss, you suffer from depression, or you are going through a divorce, or you have a terminal illness.

You may want to know the context of the scripture passage from the prophet Isaiah.  Darkness here meant the government. I am not making this up.  The king had been a great disappointment.  We know something about the government disappointing us.  Let's not beat up on those in government.  We have people, members of this congregation, who have served and continue to serve at the national, state, and local level.  God bless them for putting themselves on the line.  But we know about the darkness of disappointment in government.

You may remember from our Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, our story.  The people begged the prophet Samuel to give them a king.  He said, You don't know what you are asking.  You better think this through.  No, we want a king like other nations have, the people say.  If you get a king, yes, you can fight with more unity against your enemies, but you may turn your back on the LORD God.  You will be oppressed by your rulers.  You will be disappointed.  No, the people cry, give us  a king.

And down through Israel's history, they had some good kings and some bad ones.  At this point, some 700 years before the birth of Christ, the people were dwelling in darkness, in the failure of their king.  At this point, the prophet Isaiah says that "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined."  What was the source of hope, what was the new light?  It was the birth of a new ruler.

Remember this summer, what happened over in England?  Now, we are Americans.  We colonies broke away from England many years ago, but we still got all gaga over the birth of a baby.  Kate and Prince William had a baby this July.  We were wondering what gender the child would be.  We were betting on the name of the child.  Prince George came along.  The third in line to the throne.  We get so excited, so hopeful over the birth of any child, especially a royal child.

You can understand how the writers of the New Testament would pick up on this passage to connect it to the birth of Jesus, the one we call the Christ, our savior.  In the midst of darkness, a light has been born to us.

How can we keep from falling into darkness?  It is easy to blame the government, to blame others.  But each of us must own the light and darkness within ourselves.  How can we remove our blinders and look for the light of justice and righteousness?

I know what I am being called to do this Advent.  I will be looking for light in the midst of darkness.  I pick up my Austin American-Statesman this morning.  There it is on the front page, the annual Christmas appeal to help 12 families.  The article headline is "Light in midst of need."  Thank you God for showing up in the newspaper.  I go out walking early this morning, 5:30 a.m.  It's dark.  But overhead are tiny pinpricks of lights.  Stars, like the star of Bethlehem, leading the wise men to Jesus' birth.  Driving here, I got caught at a traffic light.  Rats, I couldn't sail on through.  Then I thought, the light can call me to prayer. Breathe, pray.  You may see the brake lights of 2 miles of cars backed up on Loop 360, and instead of getting frustrated, use it as a call to prayer.

When we see Christmas tree lights, or houses with their Christmas lights, or reading light, or warning lights, may we pause and pray, and see the light of Christ.

More than that, may we carry the light of Christ into the world.  Jesus said, I am the light of the world.  But Jesus also said, Y'all are the light of the world.  We bear the light of Christ.  If we don't carry it, who will?  We are to be on the side of justice and righteousness.  How will you live that out this Advent?  For whom will you advocate?  What holy work will you do?  How will you lift up the oppressed, those who live in darkness?  How will you make the world a little lighter?

If you do these things for these days of Advent, they may become part of who you are.  If you do something for 21 days in a row, it becomes imprinted upon your being.

You may be saying, it's too hard.  The darkness is too big.  Yet this is how God comes into the world, in Jesus, a tiny, vulnerable baby, to join us.  That's how we do this ministry, in small hopeful ways.I am challenging you to look for the light this Advent.  I am challenging you to carry the light to others.  We are encouraged by the opening words of John's Gospel which talks about Jesus this way, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."  May it be so for us this Advent.