Light in the Darkness

FOR US:

More than Just a Baby

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light ()

Don’t worry about kids being kids… that is their job

And Christmas is the most exciting time of the year

And most importantly in God’s holy church ‘all are welcome’

Beyond the all the preparations of gift buying and wrapping and house cleaning and decorating,

Beyond all the food shopping and cooking … or beyond all preparations for travel

The true message of Christmas is growing louder amidst the white noise of our busyness.

Isaiah says,

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” ()

While Isaiah is announcing good news, he’s also acknowledging the reality of the Darkness. 

Not physical darkness, something deeper, a spiritual, emotional, or mental Darkness that blinds us, a Darkness that’s seems impenetrable and never-ending, and one that isn’t imaginary or just in our heads. 

The worst thing about the Darkness is that Satan is the Evil One behind it and he has list of ways to keep you in the dark.

Christmas season can be darkened and dampened by the stress and sorrow over a sick and hurting loved one. 

It’s an unfortunate truth that cancer, dementia, and pain don’t take Christmas vacations.  And when those illnesses turn to death, the holidays become a dark time, at least partially, anyway.  It is

Divorce which casts a shadow on the lives of couples, children, and their extended families.  Stressed out parents bickering or yelling at their children bring  gloom to the joyous season.  Halls aren’t decked with boughs of holly when families are separated or when people are home only in their dreams.  And there’s not a lot of Fa la la’s when finances are tight and the bills aren’t paid.

Sorrow, grief, loneliness, anger, regret, they all extinguish the lights of the joyous season. 

So maybe you avoid anything to do with Christmas; songs, trees, lights or parties.  Or maybe instead of avoiding Christmas, you do everything Christmassy, all the while faking the smiles and the laughter.  

The Darkness can seem unrelenting and unending, but I assure you that it isn’t, because the Light has come.

At least that's what one might think until you read those two words from the Prophet Isaiah so many years ago – “for us” -

These are the opening words from the prophet Isaiah that we have had read tonight

They are words of hope for a people long ago

But for us –

tonight – they are the announcement – the declaration of the greatest significance that the world have ever seen

When Isaiah says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given”, he is saying that this Child is born and given to you!  The Child isn’t given in some general way, nor is the Child given for some and not for others.  But this Child, this Son of God, is yours!  You can look upon His face and know that it’s true; hope and help have come to you.

The Lord says to you, “I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”  The Darkness won’t stand before the Eternal Light of God.  Yes, there is darkness in your lives now, we can’t pretend it isn’t there, but God will lead you out of it.  He is the Mighty God who can and will deliver you.  He is the Everlasting Father who loves you an Everlasting Love, and you can trust Him to comfort you and dry your tears.  He is the Prince of Peace of whom the angels sang. “Peace on the earth, good will to men, From heaven’s all gracious King.”  This peace is between you and God so you can be sure that He is with you in the dark times.  You may not see Him, but He sees you.  Santa supposedly knows when you are sleeping and when you are awake, but he can’t do anything for you.  God though, He can and will.

You can be sure that He is with you and that He will scatter the darkness and break the gloom because Isaiah says, “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”  He’s so zealous that He does whatever’s necessary to bring you out of the darkness; to give you hope in your grief, addiction, despair, fear, and anxiety.  In we’re promised, “When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.”

In the darkness of ancient Israel, Isaiah, as a messenger of God, spoke of the coming of the Holy Child which brought Light and hope.  In the darkness of a midnight clear, the angels as messengers of God proclaimed the fulfillment of God’s promise of the Savior laying in a manger, no crib for a bed.  And in the darkness of Christmas 2016, I, as a messenger of God, tell you that beneath your heavy load, as you are bent low by care and guilt, as you toil along a dreary way with painful steps and slow, you can look up for the Light of the World has dawned on you.  That Light is Christ for you.  But don’t just take my word for it, take His, for it is the God’s truth.  You have lived in deep Darkness, but the Savior, Christ the Lord, has conquered it completely.  The Darkness must give way to the Light because the Holy Child is Light which has been given to you.

Now the peace which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen

“What has come into being in him… was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness (John1:3b-5a)

Isaiah prophesied about it… and John report it – Light in the darkness

It is nothing less than God coming to us - Emmanuel

John writes: "He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood… or of the will of the flesh… or of the will of man…, but of God" ()

Did you hear that? "To all who receive him, he gave power to become children of God."

In its simplest form it is:

Light in the darkness – in a land of deep darkness… Light…

For others it is the message of growth and birth

- You have multiplied the nation…

Others – it is JOY… increased joy –

like the joy found during the most plentiful time of the year – the joy of the harvest…

Others still – it is a message of RELEASE –

release from the burdens of life – the yoke associated with farming, the bar across one’s shoulders – or the rod of their oppressor – all these devices of control, oppression and burden are… broken…

And what is this all about… what is this light in darkness – this growth and birth – this joy – this release – this casting off – and this freedom

And so at the heart of all the hymns and carols, at the center of all the celebration and gifts, and behind all the lights and wreaths, stands this one promise

That because of Christ and his incarnation, God regards us forever as God's own beloved child.[1]

WE become children of God!!!!

We all are made one with God… as God is born as one of us

And so as we celebrate the birth of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, [the] Prince of Peace

An angel came to her and explained everything that was going to happen. Similarly, one visited Joseph in a dream with a comparable message. Mary knew the significance of what was happening. And I wonder, as I hear Luke’s story again, if in these moments they were finally sinking in.

If so, it makes sense that she was ushered into a stillness of contemplation and pondering as the promises of God resonated deeply within her heart. The greatness of her task was lying before her in the manger; the son of God and savior of the world, a vulnerable newborn who roots to nurse and probably doesn’t give many silent nights. What words could possibly be used to describe such juxtaposition?

It is not a naïve hope or wish, or some idea of utopia, but a sincere belief that the Savior has power over the world in a way that brings calm to the chaos. It proclaims reconciliation and a time when life comes back into balance yet again. Indeed it becomes a peace that passes all understanding, something that truly can only happen by the grace of God.

Of course, that might just be the point of it all. Because while he is front and center, this story is about more than just a baby.  It is about the Savior, the light of the world, the one in whom all of our hopes and fears reside; the one who comes to us, in the most unlikely of ways, to live among us. This is good news that extends far beyond carols and crèches. Isaiah’s message points us not only to Bethlehem, but to the even bigger picture of the fullness of God’s presence in the world. It reminds us that:

Christmas morning is not a period in the story of Christianity, but a semicolon[vi].

The birth announcement of our Lord is just a punctuation mark to the bigger story of God’s love for us. It gets our attention, peaks our interest, and reminds us of the longing of God’s people to experience God’s presence long ago is our longing, too. The hopes and expectations for God to act in the world in meaningful, revolutionary ways are our desires as well. In the midst of the darkness of this night, we yearn for light to shine. And so we eagerly anticipate the coming of a wonderful counselor, mighty god, everlasting father, and prince of peace. What better place to start than the story of Jesus in the manger. So long as we remember, this is about more than just a baby.  Joy to the World! The LORD is born. Amen.

Beth Laneel Tanner, “Exegetical Perspective: