Dec 6 - Deep Darkness

Deep Darkness

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

by Brian Groe

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 9:1-7

Key Verse: Isaiah 9:2-3

The people who walk in darkness

    will see a great light.

For those who live in a land of deep darkness,

    a light will shine.

You will enlarge the nation of Israel,

    and its people will rejoice.

They will rejoice before you

    as people rejoice at the harvest

    and like warriors dividing the plunder.

Have you ever experienced complete darkness?  Diana and I once toured a cave high up in the Wasatch Mountains.  At one point our guide turned off all the lights to let us know what total darkness was like.  Unfortunately right at the moment when the lights went out, a drop of condensation dropped from the ceiling, and hit the end of my nose!  Needless to say, I jumped (some might say that I screamed) causing several people around me to jump too!  We all laughed about it...once the lights were back on!

However I will never forget the feeling of that deep darkness.  I could feel the intensity of the darkness. It was palpable, I could feel the pressure on my chest.  It was hard to breathe and even the sounds around me were muted by the darkness.  I was surprised by the panic that I began to feel when the darkness was all around me.  

Isaiah 9 begins by saying "Nevertheless ..." so I obviously had to go back to Isaiah 8 to see what it was referring to.  The last verses say:

They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair.  Isaiah 8:21-22

That sounds familiar.  Everywhere we look today there is violence, rioting, shootings or war.  Even our political leaders deceive us, and are corrupt.  Wherever we look today there is trouble and anguish and dark despair.  We are today the people who walk in darkness.  We live in deep darkness, and we are waiting for God's light to shine in our world.  We are waiting for God to make everything right.  

Even the world around us is covered in darkness.  The sun sets early and comes up late.  The darkness of night is longer every day.  The world is waiting!  The  winter solstice gives the promise of spring, but the reality is not yet here.  

Light Shining on the Empty Tomb of Jesus - April, 2022

That is what Advent is all about.  Not just waiting for the coming of Christmas for that only gives the promise of the coming of the Light.  One day the Light of the World will come with a shout and the sound of the trumpet.

Until that time, we are God's light in the world.  Paul says in Ephesians:

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!  For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.  Ephesians 5:8-9

Once [we] were full of darkness just as the world around us is in deep darkness today.  Now [we] have light from the Lord.    Because of this light that we have from God, Paul begs us to live as people of light. Not in judgement of the world, but so that the world around us can look to us for light, hope and love.  The world is in darkness and despair, and we are the only light that it has.  The light that is within us produces only what is good and right and true.

We can also be light for each other.  John takes up the theme of light:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  1 John 1:7

When we walk in the light we have fellowship with one another.  The light of Jesus brings us together in true unity and love so that we can all be the family of God.  

Lord: Teach me to walk in Your light today.  Help me to live in the light of Your love, and show that light and love to all who see me today.  Help us all to live in unity, peace and love within Your church.   Amen