Jesu Juva
“The Blessing of Being Enlightened”
Text: Genesis 18:16-33; Luke 1:57-79
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
A big part of Christmas are the lights. The lights everywhere. On houses, on trees, colored lights, white lights, in our houses, as candles on our tables. At this time of year it is the house that is NOT lit up that is the exception. It is part of what makes this time of year special and brings joy to many people, especially as next week comes the day with the shortest amount of daylight in the year.
This is a theme that fits well with not just the world’s view of Christmas, but also with the Scriptures. We heard from Zechariah’s Benedictus tonight of light, that because of the tender mercy of our God . . . the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. But it’s more than that. We hear every Christmas Eve that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone (Isaiah 9:2). Jesus calls Himself the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5). And that at the consummation of the ages, there will be no more darkness, for the glory of the Lord will be our light (Revelation 21:23, 25; 22:5).
And that’s all good. For the darkness is the time of sin and evil. Darkness is the time of drunkenness and debauchery. Darkness is the time of fear and when imaginations run wild. You cannot see what is hiding in the dark. Jesus dies in the dark when the sun stops shining (Matthew 27:45), or as the early fathers of the church would put it, when the sun was ashamed to gaze upon its creator, though evil men were not. So to have light in the darkness is a good thing for us.
But that’s not the darkness that Zechariah was talking about here. He had in mind a much worse darkness than all of that. Not a darkness outside of us, but a darkness inside of us. When, as we say, someone is kept in the dark. They are left unknowing. They are left in ignorance. They do not have knowledge. They are on the outside looking in.
That is the darkness Adam and Eve found themselves in after they sinned. The sun was still shining, but they were in the dark about how God now looked at them, regarded them, what was going to happen to them, and what God was going to do. And so they were filled with fear. But God did not leave them there. He enlightened them with His Word and told them not just what would be the consequences of their sin, but also what He was going to do about it: send a Saviour. And there was light in the darkness. Hope.
We heard tonight of how God enlightened Abraham, that He was not willing to keep Abraham in the dark about what He was going to do Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin, because He chose Abraham to become a great and mighty nation. So the Lord enlightened Abraham. But . . . not all the way? For while Abraham knew the Lord was just and right and light, it seems he did not know quite how much. Abraham starts at fifty and goes down to ten righteous people to save those cities, but stops there.
But the truth that Zechariah confesses is that God spares not just a city or two, but the world, ALL people, of the destruction we deserve because of our sin, because of just ONE righteous person. The son promised to Adam and Eve. The son promised to Abraham. The Son of God who would come in human flesh to not only enlighten the darkness of this world and the darkness that lives in us, but to banish it entirely, once and for all. The sun shall visit us, he says. The sun shall rise on us in the darkness, and give us light. The light of the forgiveness of our sins, that we know we are not condemned, but absolved. The light of life, that we know death is not the end for us, and we need not fear the grave, for we shall rise with Jesus to a new and eternal life. The light of victory over all the forces of evil and the evil one, whose lies and deceit are exposed by the Word of God, that we know the truth that sets us free.
That is the light that shines from the manger, revealed to us at Christmas. It is the light that shines from the cross, scattering the darkness of Good Friday. It is the light that shines from the empty tomb, showing us that the bonds of the grave have been broken. It is the light that shines here from the Word and Sacraments, as our Lord enlightens us, makes us His children, and keeps us in His grace and care. That we not be in the dark. That we know. That we know beyond a shadow of a doubt of His love and all that He has done for us, and all that He has promised to continue to do for us. It is why the ancients called baptism illumination. Enlightening.
And so on the night when He was betrayed, Jesus told His disciples: No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15). The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3). Here, Jesus, in a sense, baptizes His disciples with His Word of illumination. And on Pentecost, they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. But for you and me, we get all these together - water, Word, and Spirit, forgiveness, illumination, and Spirit, all at once at the font. And we who were in the dark are no longer. We who were once enemies of God are His children and friends. We who were dead in our trespasses and sins and raised to new life. For as we’ve been singing this season, Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome. Let Your light scatter the darkness and illumine Your Church (Liturgy of Evening Prayer, Opening Versicles).
So the lights we see everywhere this season, that scatter the darkness of our communities and homes, while they give us joy and delight, are confessing to us an even greater joy that is ours, and that will not be taken down and boxed up on a cold January day - the joy of no created light, but of the uncreated light, the Son who has come to us and risen upon us.
And our prayer this season is that His light shine on - and in - each and every person, that all know the Son and live in Him, and join us in that day that will have no end.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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