Today
on this third Sunday of Advent, we await the coming of the light.
It
is a dark season. This coming Thursday we will see the darkest day of the year
– the day when the sun is farthest from this northern hemisphere, making our
day short and our night long. It is a dark season, yet we await the coming of
the light.
It
is a dark season for us in many ways. Day after day, more darkness is uncovered
as one more accusation is made about one more powerful man- accusations of
abuse, assault, degradation of their fellow human beings. Polarization and
mistrust grow stronger and we, as a nation, try to sort out what is important
to us, what is of value to us, what is true to us.
It
is a dark season around the world where wars continue to rage on, where
children still go hungry, where whole classes of people are still
systematically destroyed. In a world where powerful people misuse the power
that has been given to them. Where they might lift up the lowly and meek, they
would rather crush them simply because they can.
It
is a dark season in which we are, strangely, quietly, waiting for the light.
Advent
is a season of waiting. Yet as we read the news, look around us, and struggle
through our own personal darkness we might wonder if waiting is quite enough.
Waiting
for something, anything, means turning our attention toward it. It means
focusing, staying awake, staying alert. As we wait for the light our attention
must be heightened – heightened by hope.
“There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He
came as a witness to testify to the light.” He himself was not the light, but
he came to testify, to witness to the light that was to come. They came to John
asking who he was, demanding that he identify himself and all he would tell
them was that he was a witness, he was a voice, he was the forerunner of the
one who was to come, making a way in the wilderness of this land for the light
to blaze through.
And
this one, John told them, is among you but you do not know him. The light of
the world is in your midst, but you do not know him. I suspect this is as true
today as it was at that time long ago when the camel-hair-wearing,
locust-eating John said to the messengers of the Pharisees: Among you stands
one whom you do not know. The light of God is in our midst yet we fail to see.
This
is a dark season, and here we are, on this third Sunday of Advent, waiting for
the light.
Because
the darkness feels so oppressive. We find ourselves pulled down into it, buried
in it sometimes. We are dealing with “the devastations of many generations,” to
use Isaiah’s words. Perhaps it is because we have lived in this darkness for so
long – have our eyes become unable to see light?
We
await the coming of the light, the light that is with us even while we do not
know it.
I
have to believe that the people who ran out to the wilderness to see John were
starved for light. They were desperate to have some light in their lives and,
while they may not have fully understood John’s message, while they might have
thought that he was, himself, the light they were seeking, while they might not
even have known what they were doing, they helped to make a way for the light
to come. In responding to John’s message, they became instrumental in making a
way for the light to come.
With
their help, John stirred things up. He attracted a lot of attention, like a
neon sign on a deserted highway. He drew the people out to the river, then
literally drew them out of the river of their baptism; a sign of repentance and renewal – readiness
for new life. He drew the attention of the religious authorities, letting them
know that things were stirring, new light was coming. He made a way in the
wilderness.
They
were living in a dark season, not unlike ours, and very much in need of light.
The
problem sometimes for a people who have been living in darkness is in being
able to recognize the light. It is a problem sometimes for us. When people have
been seduced by commercial versions of light and love, they might not recognize
true light and love when they see it. When people have had their best instincts
beaten out of them by powerful forces that would prefer their own version of
truth, which might hold very little love, they might not recognize true light and
love when they see it.
These
are dark days – yet we have an advantage, my friends. We come to this place
every week to light the light. We come here each week to listen to the Word and
be filled with the Spirit of light and life and love. We come here every week
to be equipped to testify to the light.
“There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He
came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through
him.” John’s witness lit the way for others
to come, to carry the light, to carry the message of love and life. As
descendants of those witnesses, we too bear witness to the light that is to
come.
Let us not lose our ability to see the true light. Let us walk close
to this light so we will have the power to discern lies from truth, evil from
goodness. Let us carry the light of truth into the world, without fear, without
rancor. As we wait for the light in this season of darkness let us remember
that, of this light that is to come, we hold the embers in our hands.
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