Light in Darkness
Isaiah
9:2b-7
Perhaps
our reading should have started a few verses earlier:
They
will look to the earth, but will see only distress and darkness, the
gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.
This
is is the experience of the people of whom Isaiah speaks at the
beginning of our reading:
The
people who walked in darkness. . .
Those
who lived in a land of deep darkness. . .
It
does seem entirely appropriate to read these words from Isaiah at
this time of year. It
makes sense to hear words about gloom and darkness on this night
which is one of the longest night of the year. Of
course what is for Isaiah a metaphor, for people who live at the
latitudes we do is an annual lived experience. Each
year we go through a living parable that invites us to reflect on
Isaiah’s words. The
days become shorter. Today,
here, there were just nine and a quarter hours between sunrise and
sunset, and many of the hours between are twilight. And
that was before the weather conspired to add to the gloom Even
at noon at this time of year the Sun is never high in the sky, so the
shadows which it casts are always deep and long. If
nothing else Isaiah’s words fit our outside experience at this time
of year. His
metaphor is our reality.
Isaiah
is actually addressing the people who live in Zebulun and Naphtali. That
is the part of the Promised Land which lies to the north-west of the
Sea of Galilee. These
were the people who had borne the brunt of the Assyrian invasion
which had swept down from the north and the east. Their
darkness was of a different order from ours. They
are the ones who have felt the weight of the Assyrian yoke across
their shoulders. They
are the ones who have received the sting of the oppressors rod on
their backs. Their
darkness was one of oppression, sorrow, pain and loss.
Though
perhaps this year Isaiah’s words are doubly appropriate. They
are apt for the time of year. But
they are also apt for the whole year which we have just lived through. And
maybe “gloomy” is a fitting adjective to describe what this year
has been like. It
hasn’t been quite the devastation of an invading army. But
the Corona Virus certainly has “invaded” our awareness and has
wreaked havoc with just about every aspect of our lives. For
some the devastation has been like that of war, most especially for
those who have lost loved ones. But
no aspect of our lives, has been untouched. Everything
has be disrupted, at the personal level, among our families and friends,
for our neighbours and community, for the nation and for the whole
world. We don’t seem to have emerged from gloom for so many months. As
this has been happening, once again racial and economic injustices
have been brought into focus. I
don’t think the virus and the social and political discontent and
disturbances we have been witness too this year are unconnected. The
virus is in some sense a natural occurrence, just one of those
misfortunes that happens to have happened. But
it has served to increase and to expose some of the injustice that
was already there. We
have been living this year in a land, in a world of deep darkness.
I
said, as began preaching from Isaiah at the end of November, that
were in need of an “Isaiah Advent.” Perhaps
above all we have needed to hear the hope expressed in the words we
have heard from Isaiah tonight. The
point of those metaphors of gloom and darkness, and especially
when they are related to the shortness of days in the middle of
winter, the point of those metaphors is that darkness turns to light. We
are already past the mid point of winter, even if winter’s coldest
days are yet to arrive. The
longest night is behind us. In
the last few weeks we may just have begun to sense that we might have
turned the corner with the virus. There
is a vaccine. Even
if there is still restrictions and possibly more to come And
as yet there is no end in sight to the suffering, loss and sorrow
associated with the virus. And
perhaps those voices raised against racial and economic injustice
have made themselves heard. Even
if there is as yet no conclusive will to resolve the issues that they
protest against. Even
in the darkness of winter there is reason to hope.
Isaiah
though promises something more dramatic. The
people he was speaking about at the beginning of the reading:
.
. . have seen a great light.
.
. . on them a light has shined.
It
is the habit of prophets to speak of the future as if it were already
present. Isaiah
is so confident that God will bring relief to his people he can speak
as if it has already happened. For
his friends in Zebulun and Naphtali he is able to promise that the
war which they have been living through is over. The
battlefields around them will be cleared of the debris of conflict.
For
all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in
blood shall be burned for fuel for the fire.
The
crisis which they have been living through will come to an end. And
when it is over they will be able to look back and see God’s hand
in their relief. So
too will the crises which we are experiencing pass, and with the eyes
of faith we too will see that it is God who has brought us through. The
source of Isaiah’s confidence and hope solidifies around a single
image: the birth of a child. The
arrival of children in the world is always reason for hope. But
Isaiah has a particular child in mind. Earlier,
when he was offering hope to people far to the south of Zebulun and
Naphtali, he spoke of a child. When
he was reassurance to King Ahaz in Jerusalem that this same crisis
would pass he had said:
The
young woman is with child and will bear a son, and shall name him
Immanuel.
Isaiah’s
hope has become more confident and more immediate, he now says:
For
a child has been born for us, a son given to us.
The
hope of God’s people crystallises around this child. This
is the Messiah. The
one in whom all of God’s promises are fulfilled. The
one who will establish God’s reign on earth for God’s people He
is a king in the line of David. He
is one whose rule will be focused justice and righteousness. He
is the one who will bring about everlasting peace for all people of
goodwill. No
wonder we want to hear these words now. In
the darkest days of the year we want to hear the brightest hope of
all. Of
course we read these words on this night of all nights, because
it is the conviction of Christians that these hopes find their
fulfilment in the child born in Bethlehem, Jesus. Jesus
whose own ministry and mission begin in that same land of Zebulun and
Naphtali, is the one who bears those exulted title and brings the
hope of God’s people to reality. Jesus
is:
Wonderful
Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Because
he is we too can speak of the future we hope for, a future without
pandemic, a future without the kinds of restrictions we have
experienced in these recent months. We
can speak of a future in which there will be both racial and economic
justice. There
will be liberty and equality for all We
can speak of this future as if it were already present, because God
has already acted. The
Kingdom of God is already here in Jesus Christ. These things will be so, because, as Isaiah puts it:
The
zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.
Perhaps
Christmas this year won’t be quite the celebration we have had in
the past, and would like to share now. Few
of us will be able to gather in Church, and even those of us he do
will not be able to do quite what we would most like to do. Still
we will not be able to hold our loved ones a close as we’d like and
share our our joy with them as much as we long to. Around
us still there is to much sorrow and loss, sickness and anxiety. And
still there are victims of economic and racial injustice. But
God promises that these thing will end. And
then there will be a great celebration. Like
children tearing off the wrapping paper on Christmas morning
as
joy at the harvest,
as
people exult when dividing plunder.
Because
this celebration is certain in the future, Our
hope is so real that we can speak of it as if it had already come
about, Even
in the face of what we have gone through and still must go through, We
can celebrate now! Happy
Christmas!
Amen.
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