Advent 2 - Leave the Light On

December 6 – Advent 2 – Leave the Light On

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. You don’t build a city on a hill, then try to hide it, do you? You don’t light a lamp, and then put it under a bushel basket, do you? No, you set it on a stand where it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, your light must shine before others so that they may see your good acts and give praise to your Abba God in heaven.

Isaiah 60:1-7

“Arise; shine, for your light has come! The Glory of Yhwh is rising upon you! Though darkness still covers the earth and dense clouds enshroud the peoples, upon you Yhwh now dawns, and God’s Glory will be seen among you! The nations will come to your light and the leaders to your bright dawn! Lift up your eyes, and look around: they’re all gathering and coming to you—your daughters and your sons journey from afar, escorted in safety; you’ll see them and beam with joy, your heart will swell with pride. The riches of the sea will flow to you, and the wealth of the nations will come to you— camel caravans will cover your roads, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; everyone in Sheba will come bringing gold and incense and singing the praise of Yhwh. All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you: they will be acceptable offerings on my altar to glorify the splendor of my Temple.”

            Leaving the light on is a sign of welcome and hospitality. The passage from Matthew captures some of that sensibility, even though too many Christians have taken that image and cranked on the 100,000 watt halogen bulb trying to outshine all other lights around. But the image is simply that of an oil lamp used to light a house. It would probably have been an olive oil burning clay lamp. Not a great source of illumination but in a time that had few artificial lights it was enough to push back the dark for the tasks at hand. And I think that may be what Jesus had in mind when this metaphor was first used. Jesus’ teachings were enough to illumine the household. We become those simple lamps though our acts of compassion that helps keep the darkness of despair at bay.

            The section passage if from Isaiah and announces the restoration of Israel following the years of exile in Babylon. In this section, God is the light that guides the people home. It is also the passage that makes reference to the nations coming to God bringing gifts of gold and frankincense which Matthew references in his telling of the nativity story. Also in that passage, one of the meanings of “glory” is light (as in “the glory of God shone around them” about the angels in Luke’s telling of Jesus’ birth).  So this is an image of sunrise, the night is over and day is coming when one can travel safely travel home.

            We were all quite moved by the story (which Dan attached to the outline materials) about the gay son who came out to his parents and said if they could accept this that they should leave a light on in the front window. Instead, they lit every conceivable light in the house. Gay, straight, transgendered or questioning, that is how God responds to us: extravagant welcome for each and every one of us, all the lights on to give us the unmistakable message.

And the particular Advent message here is that Christ is the light which God has sent into the world to signal our welcome home, just as we are. In Genesis, God set the rainbow in the sky as a sign of the peace treaty the Divine had established with all life on earth, but the coming of Christ is much more than a cessation of violence. The coming of Christ is God sending the light of welcome, healing, and shalom into our very existence. In Exodus, Moses’ face would shine after his face to face contact with God. Instead of living on top of Mount Sinai or contained within the Holy of Holies, the fullness of God comes in a human life: the life of Jesus. And, for me, the good news of the Incarnation is posited securely in the knowledge that Jesus was human, not some kind of mortal/divine hybrid. We are created to allow our divine natures to shine forth. Jesus’ uniqueness was in his ability to be transparent to the Divine Light, an ability we all inherently have but often cannot or choose not to hone. So Jesus’ likeness of God and his difference from us is one of degree and not substance. We are all created to shine the light of love into this world. Advent is a season of learning to leave our particular lights on.

One thought about this Sunday is that we have a shelf full of candles in the storage closet. After telling the story about turning all the lights on, or at a point when we affirm (in one way or another) that God is sending the Christ-light to welcome us entirely we could process all those lit candles into our darkened worship space until we are surround but their light. As I think about this, we could put a couple of peole out in the gathering place to light the candles as the service is under way. Maybe we could invite Jeffery Dirrim and his people from Footsteps to be a part of the procession.

Anchor: A Light in the Dark

Frame: Leaving the Light On

Thread: More Light.