Atom“Lighting the Darkness”
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” Isaiah 60:1-3
Memories of Christmas during my growing up years are memories of darkness. Go, figure. I grew up in Minnesota where Christmas comes during the shortest days of the year. I went to school in darkness and came home in darkness. Little wonder that our Christmas celebrations were in darkness: Advent gatherings in the evening; potluck suppers in the evening; Children’s Christmas program in the evening (late afternoon, but you know how it looks at 4:30 these days.) How well I remember the dim lighting in the sanctuary and we Sunday School children sitting on chairs near the brightly lit Christmas tree, waiting for our turn to say our “piece.” “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus…while Quirinius was governor of Syria.” (Isn’t it amazing how we all learned to pronounce Augustus and Quirinius from those children’s programs?)
It was even dark when we gathered to celebrate Christmas. Our Christmas celebrations were Christmas Eve: candlelight worship, again, in the dimness of the sanctuary. But the celebration of Christmas in darkness has also made memories of light piercing the darkness more vivid: of candlelight and brightly lit trees…of shining faces and joyous songs. And this is the message of Christmas after all, is it not? Into our darkness (and really more figurative than literal)…into our darkness…our darkness of sin, our darkness of separation from our Creator, our darkness of separation from each other, our darkness of loneliness, our darkness of hopelessness… Into our darkness, the light of the love of God shines brightly. Into our darkness the Light comes and we know that we are loved and that we are forgiven and that we are never ever alone again. Into our darkness, the light that is Jesus, God’s Son!
This is the light celebrated in the Bible reading from Isaiah above: “Your light has come!” What I noted in my own reading of this word from God in this season, however, was the encouragement that those who have received are to “shine” now! “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” The people of God now shine in the darkness, reflecting Christ’s light!
How do we shine? Well…here are a couple ways: the warm welcome to worship for those who come seeking in this dark season…the Advent mini-concerts with food for the spirit and the stomach…the packaging of life-sustaining food for Kids Against Hunger...the choral celebration of the Christmas in worship…the ringing of Salvation Army bells…the volunteering at the Food Pantry…the Church School children singing the story with joyful hearts…the giving of resources to the food pantry…the caroling at the nursing homes...the gifts given to the angels represented on the Angel tree… the invitation to the community to a Christmas meal at “Our House.”
And of course, the ways we live and move and work and play in the community God has placed us in and called us to. “Rise, shine, beloved of God, for your light has come”… and that light is in you!
Thankful for your partnership in lighting the darkness,
Pastor Wade
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