Joyous Light
Advent 3 – Narrative Lectionary 1
December 14, 2014
Grace, Mankato, MN
Isaiah 42.1-9
One smart aleck, commenting on our penchant for grouping people, says there are two kinds of people in the world, those who divide the world into two groups and those who don’t. At the risk of being a smart aleck, I find myself mentally thinking of two kinds of people who may be listening today: those whose lives are going along pretty well and those whose lives aren’t. I think that there are a number of us who are generally doing okay, first-world problems aside like a not so good meal at a restaurant or your TV show being interrupted by a news conference. There are others who are barely hanging on, for who Christmas isn’t joyous and who are struggling to make it day to day. Though I have my suspicions, I don’t assume to know which is which.
Yet, both of you are here today, presumably to hear some kind of good word to sustain you. The prophet Isaiah brings just such a good word to the Israelites, most of whom fall in the latter group, whose lives aren’t going well. The temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed, they have been forcibly removed from their homes, they have been resettled in a foreign country and they can’t understand how God let this happen to them. In fact, most of them wondered if God has abandoned them or worse, if their God even exists. Isaiah says to them that all evidence to the contrary, God is very much involved in their lives, a word that all of us need to hear, regardless of what group we find ourselves in.
In fact, not only God tells them that he will not blow out whatever little flame they might have, but remarkably, the lights they have will burn brightly enough to bring light to other people. No matter how hopeless and joyless they might feel, God is nowhere near done with them yet. Isaiah presents this incredible vision of a people who, in the midst of brokenness and in spite of their brokenness (or even more remarkably, because of their brokenness), will be a light to others. Through them the blind will see and those in prison will be loosed into the light of day.
I can only imagine how this good would have been received by the Jews in their captivity. I dare say it was a word of great joy, even in the midst of some horrific circumstances. I think about the joy we get buying tickets for Florida in the midst of blowing snow and cold. Or I think about the joy children feel when, even though the days get shorter their eyes light up at the sight of a decorated tree or a package beneath it. I think about those who weep at the casket of a loved one yet receive joy over shared memories as they are surrounded by friends and family. I think of people who are going through cancer or other diseases who joyously receive love and grace as they are cared for by a community of faith.
Five hundred years after Isaiah proclaimed his message, the Israelites were in another period of darkness, this time through the occupation by the Roman army. In the midst of this darkness, those who followed Jesus experienced just this kind of joy at his coming. And as they looked back through scripture, the recognized that he fit Isaiah’s description of God’s chosen servant. We who follow 2,000 years later, whether our lives are going pretty well or not, seek to become more like the servant Jesus, to be joyous lights to our world just like St. Lucia was in her day and time. If you are in a period of darkness, know that God is nursing your light. And if your life is going pretty well, God seeks for you to share that light with others who can’t quite see the way forward. Either way, let your light shine, for God is with you bringing good news to all the earth. Amen.
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