Jesu Juva
“The Night Will Soon Be Ending: The Light that Has No End”
Text: Isaiah 42:5-9, 16; Revelation 21:9b-11, 22-27; John 8:12; 12:31-36, 44-46
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
The night will soon be ending, the dawn cannot be far (LSB #337 v.1).
But it’s always darkest before the dawn, as the saying goes.
Which is what Scripture tells us, too. That this world is not progressing toward utopia. This world is not getting better. If we think it is, it’s because we don’t know good anymore. We have gotten to the point that Isaiah once prophesied, of those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter (Isaiah 5:20)!
Sin, rather, continues its inexorable work of darkness, decay, destruction, and death. Devouring whatever it sinks its teeth into.
But as we have been thinking about this Advent season, into this darkness God has shined His light. The light of His love. The light of His promise to give life to a dying creation. And this light, though it be but a small flicker of light, scatters the darkness and brings hope. And it is good that it is but a flicker and not the full, bright light. For when you are in the darkness and a bright light is turned on, it is blinding, it hurts, it drives you away. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden when God came to them after they sinned and plunged this world and themselves into the darkness of sin and death. They hid from the light. But a small light bring relief and draws us to it.
A small light is enough. Though we might wonder what a small flicker of light can do against such pervasive and deepening darkness, it is enough. For even a small light scatters the darkness. And though, at times, it seemed like this light almost went out, it never did. When the faith was down to eight - to just Noah and his family. When Elijah thought he was the only one left. When Jesus bowed His head and died on the cross. Those were dark days. And what of our day and age? When the truth is under siege, when truth for many no longer matters, when life continues to be devalued and belittled, and death is held up as the answer to your problems, whether it be abortion, assisted suicide, or depopulation.
But still the light shines. Because the light of the world is still here. And He isn’t going anywhere. He cannot be extinguished. He cannot be driven out. His light is shining one word, one deed, one person at a time. Driving out the darkness with the forgiveness of sin and the gift of new life. And then that light of new life shines, too. A miracle? Yes, no less. The miracle of faith. The work of God in His world, in His people. For our God is the light that has no beginning, and the light that has no end.
Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome (Liturgy of Evening Prayer).
And the light that will, one day, overcome the darkness, once and for all. When the old creation is replaced by the new creation. When all things are made new again. When darkness is cast out because what caused it is cast out - when sin and death are themselves cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). So all there is is light. The light of the Lamb. The light of His love. The light of His goodness. No sun or moon anymore. Just His light. And that is enough. The light that has no end.
That day is the day, as we heard, of the great wedding feast, when Bride and Bridegroom, Christ and His Church, are united forever. All will be fulfilled. The glory of the Bride will be seen, the glory that here was hidden. For the Church now is despised and scorned, mocked and thought irrelevant, out of touch, behind the times. But only to those in the darkness. Only to those who do not see with the eyes of faith. For with the eyes of faith, the Church is perfect, holy, cleansed, radiant. So on the Last Day, when the Church, the Bride, is seen in the light of the Lamb, what will be seen is not new - just what had been hidden, but now revealed. A Church glorious and radiant, shining with the brilliance of the light that has no end.
But that day is not yet. It is coming. Hopefully soon! But not yet. So until that day, Jesus said: The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. And how true that is! Those outside the Church, outside of Christ, do not know where they are going, otherwise they would not want to go there and continue what they’re doing! Those outside of Christ do not know what the future holds - and not just the fear of a nuclear holocaust or a climate apocalypse - but what comes after that. If anything!
But to walk in the light of Christ is to know the future that awaits us. To know that the darkness cannot win. And so to walk even now in the light - small and flickering though it may be. To live as sons of light, seeing with the eyes of faith, seeing what the world cannot see. But shining that light in word and deed, that others, too, would not see and believe, but believe and see. And seeing, rejoice. And rejoicing, live in peace and hope. The peace of the forgiveness of sin, and the hope of the light - and life - that has no end.
So as we enter these last few days of the Advent season, how appropriate that tomorrow is the one day in the year when there is the least amount of daylight and the darkness is the longest. And maybe you’ve had more than your fair share of darkness in your life. Maybe your whole life seems like the darkest day of the year. Sadness, trials, troubles, separation, doubt, fear, and more. If so, how good to know that
The Night Will Soon Be Ending,
The dawn cannot be far.
[So] Let songs of praise ascending
Now greet the Morning Star!
All you whom darkness frightens
With guilt of grief or pain,
God’s radiant Star now brightens
And bids you sing again.
Yet nights will bring their sadness
And rob our hearts of peace,
And sin in all its madness
Around us [will] increase.
But now one Star is beaming
Whose rays have pierced the night:
God comes for our redeeming
From sin’s oppressive night.
[For] God dwells with us in darkness
And makes the night as day;
Yet we resist the brightness
And turn from God away.
But grace does not forsake us,
However far we run.
God claims us as His children
Through Mary’s infant Son (LSB #337 vs. 1, 4-5).
Through the Light of the Creator, shining forth from the manger; the light that has no end. The light that draws us to Himself, that takes away our fear. The light that opens the eyes of the blind with the gift of faith. The light of life. The light that brings order into our disordered lives and world, and gives us hope. That even in the darkest days, we never be without hope. For yes, the night will soon be ending!
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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