As we make our journey over the next four weeks toward the stable in Bethlehem one symbol of our faith will be preeminent “that is the symbol of light. Tree lights, candle lights and in the heavens the radiant light of the star the wise men followed on that holy night.
It is perhaps a parable of our times that we are rarely without some form of light. We have Thomas Edison to thank for that I suppose. It is said that after thousands of experiments, when he finally achieved this monumental breakthrough that would affect all of human history, he heard the shrill voice of his wife call out, "Tom, for goodness sake, would you turn off the light and come to bed!"
Even on the darkest night in most communities in our land there is artificial light everywhere “streetlights, car lights, neon signs. We rarely experience the disarming quietude of total darkness. We have so much artificial light that we can hide from the darkness that otherwise envelops us.
A parable, perhaps, of the inner darkness, emptiness and meaninglessness of modern man.
The Biblical writers were more conscious perhaps than we of the significance of darkness and light. The shepherd on the hillside had no light except that of his fire. The traveler had better make his progress while the sun was still in the heavens for there were no lights for traveling. Besides, in the darkness of the night hid thieves. A lone pilgrim on foot was very vulnerable under such conditions.
Thus it was that the Biblical writers described the difference that the coming of Christ could make in a person's life. It was the difference between darkness and light. Darkness with all its confusion and dread; light with all its promise and warmth.
Thus Isaiah beckons us to walk in the light of the Lord, and Paul challenges us to cast off the works of darkness and death. In the eternal Word alone is light and life.
Indeed the first word that God spoke was, "Let there be light." I suspect that the scientists among us would have no difficulty with that. The creation of the universe is the triumph of light and life over darkness and chaos. "Let us then walk in the light as he is in the light," John summons us in his first Epistle.
That is the basic message of the entire Bible. God can light up an entire universe. He can set stars many times the size of our sun in galaxies of indescribable dimensions “billions and billions of miles apart. Yet with all His infinite power and might there is one little corner of creation that he cannot reach without our help. That is the darkness within the human heart.
We have to open the door for the light to shine in. We have to move out from the dark corners where we are hiding into his glorious light. That is Isaiah's Christmas message. God cannot take that step for us. We must take it ourselves.
Many of you who are parents can appreciate God's frustration. The greatest scientist alive on earth “with all the computers and research texts that modern knowledge and technology can provide at his fingertip “with an
I.Q. superior to Einstein “with a list of degrees long enough to fill a telephone directory “may not be able to communicate with his own teen-age son or daughter. He might be able to make a scientific breakthrough that will change the course of human life as we know it and yet sit helpless and watch a son or daughter destroy his or her life “powerless to make that vital breakthrough into the human soul or heart.
Imagine the agony of God as he surveys the darkness of life on our planet. Imagine his helpless despair as he watches bombs maim and destroy, as he hears the cries of starving children, as he beholds all the cruelty and decadence of which humanity is capable. Imagine his chagrin as he weighs my life and yours “we who are so fortunate “we who have so much potential, so many opportunities for making this a better world in his name. Yet we waste our lives in the frivolous pursuit of status, pleasure and material gain “ none of which are ultimately fulfilling or lasting.
Come, walk in the light. That is the summons for the day. But we hold back. It is not that we prefer the darkness, as John suggests. It is that we have deluded ourselves into thinking that we can walk in the shadows “ neither in the dark or in the light. We are neither hot or cold. We adopt halfhearted faith that neither challenges nor fulfills us. As someone has put it, many of us have just enough religion to make us miserable. We don't experience the joy of our salvation because we have never given ourselves completely to Christ. Deep in our hearts we even suspect that it is the rotten sinners of this world who have all the fun.
I will never forget the story of the famous bishop who spoke at a theological seminary. He repeated Jesus' story of the wise and foolish maidens. Then he looked those seminarians in the eyes and challenged them: "Young men, would you rather be in the light with the ten wise maidens or out in the dark with the ten foolish maidens?" I am not certain the bishop was able to finish his message.
For those who stand in the shadows there is a grudging obeisance to religion, but there is also that nagging suspicion that we would rather be out in the dark with the ten foolish maidens.
Is it possible in the few minutes we have this morning to draw such a sharp contrast between the world of darkness and the world of light that each of us will see the futility and even the undesirability of seeking to stay in the shadows?
IN BOTH THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW, THE COMING OF LIGHT INTO THE WORLD IS SEEN AS AN ACT OF JUDGEMENT. When we come into the light we are seen with all of our flaws, all of our misdeeds, all of our weaknesses.
In its recommendation about how to buy a new car, a consumer group urges us never to shop for a car at night or even on a heavily overcast day. Get the car out in the light of day, they suggest, if you want to find a possible flaw.
So it is when we check out a piece of cloth or pottery. It is hard to hide our misdeeds when brought out into the light of day.
Of course the irony is that we delude ourselves when we think that we can hide anything from God. You may be familiar with the story of the little girl who cut off a large portion of her hair. "But how did you know, Mommy?" she asked, "I hid the hair that I cut off very carefully in the wastebasket? How did you know?" We must look just as foolish as that little girl standing before God trying to hide our flaws, our weaknesses, our misdeeds from the One who knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows us and loves us and accepts us just as we are. That is the Gospel. But nothing is hidden from him.
You see, we misunderstand the function of God's judgment. His judgment comes not as retribution but as redemption. He wants to save us from ourselves. As a physician seeks to remove a deadly spot from our body, God wants to remove a dark and deadly spot from our soul, not for his sake, but for ours. God has already forgiven us for our sins. The cross of Calvary is sign and symbol of that. Still we carry within our breasts that destructive urge that can cause havoc in our lives as families, as communities, even as nations.
Isaiah writes: "He shall judge the nations, and shall decide for many peoples." What is the consequence of this judgment? " . . . They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
You see, the coming of light is not only the coming of judgment but IT IS ALSO THE COMING OF SALVATION. Wouldn't you like to live in a world where there was no more war, no more killing, no more hatred? Wouldn't you like to live in a city like that? Wouldn't you even love to live in a home where there was not anger, no words of spite; where people always loved and believed in and supported one another? Let's go one step farther. Wouldn't it be wonderful if within your own heart all fear and anger and hurt could be dispelled? "Come walk in the light," advises Isaiah.
You see, light is essential to growth and healing. Darkness stunts growth and can lead to death. The act of salvation is intended to increase our joy not diminish it. "I have come that they might have life," said Jesus, "and have it more abundantly."
Can't you see that the only obstacle to peace within our hearts and our homes and our world is that many of us are still clinging to darkness? If we could but let go and live gloriously, triumphantly, without apology or compromise in this light, can we not see what a difference it would make in our lives? We would be healthier, happier and a blessing to all.
A Quaker gentleman has written a very helpful book entitled, THE CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE. In it he speaks of the discipline of simplicity. The simple life is a life of honesty, dependability and devotion to those things that really matter. He begins his chapter like this:
"Simplicity is freedom. Duplicity is bondage. Simplicity brings joy and balance. Duplicity brings anxiety and fear. The preacher of Ecclesiastes observes that "God made man simple; man's complex problems are of his own devising." (Eccles. 7:39, Jerusalem Bible). Because many of us are experiencing the liberation God brings through simplicity, we are once again singing an old Shaker hymn:
It's a gift to be simple, It's a gift to be free,
It's a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we see ourselves in a way that's right,
We will live in a valley of love and delight. " (1)
The call to walk in the light is a call to be real “a call to accept ourselves as God accepts us. We don't have to hide in the shadows clinging to the last vestiges of darkness. We discover the joy of being loved, of being accepted, of accepting ourselves, of being delivered from the darkness within.
The coming of light is the coming of judgment and the coming of salvation. FOR THE CHRISTIAN, HOWEVER, THE COMING OF LIGHT IS THE COMING OF A PERSON. That is what this special season is all about. The light that shines in the darkness is Jesus. As the Old Testament drew to a close it was clear that something greater than a prophet was needed if the darkness of men's souls was to be alleviated. The Old Testament prophets were very vague in their description of the one who was to come, but they were in agreement that God would not forsake his people. Out of the house of David would come a Messiah-the chosen one of God.
In the New Testament the angel tells Mary that he shall be called Jesus “for he shall save his people from their sins. The coming of the light is the coming of Jesus Christ into our world. He is our light and our life. He is more wonderful than the prophets described him. He is our assurance, our hope, our joy.
A father and two children, a boy of eight and a girl of ten years, all good swimmers, entered the water of the Atlantic at a New Jersey seashore resort a few summers ago. When some distance from shore, they became separated and the father realized they were being carried out to sea by the tide. He called out to the girl: "Mary, I am going to shore for help. If you get tired, turn on your back. You can float all day on your back. I'll come back for you."
Before long, many searchers in boats were scurrying over the face of the Atlantic Ocean hunting for one small girl, while hundreds of people to whom the news had spread waited anxiously on shore. It was four hours before they found her, far from land. She was calmly swimming on her back and was not at all frightened. Cheers and tears of joy and relief greeted the rescuers with their precious burden as they came to land.
The child took it calmly. She said, "Daddy said he would come for me, and that I could float all day, so I swam and floated, because I knew he would come." (2)
The prophet knew he would come. The New Testament church knew he would come again. God will not forsake his own. The light is still breaking through the darkness. Come, walk in the light of the Lord.
Rejoice in his judgment. Let him make you real. Let him burn away every unworthy thought and deed from your soul.
Rejoice in your salvation. There is still more joy, more peace, more love available for you if you will but move more confidently and more completely into his light.
1. Richard J. Foster, THE CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE (New York: Harper & Row, 1978).
2. Quoted in John W. Lawrence, LIFE'S CHOICES (Portland, Ore: Multnomah Press, 1975).