Advent 3 - A Light on the Path

Advent 3: A Light on the Path

Exodus 13:14, 20-22

So God led them through the desert toward the Sea of Reeds … After they left Succoth, they traveled to Etham, at the edge of the wilderness, where they camped. Yhwh guided them with a pillar of cloud in the day, and with a pillar of fire to give them light after dark. They were able to travel by day and by night, and neither the pillar of cloud nor the pillar of fire failed to lead the people.

Psalm 119.105

Your word is a lamp to my feet

   and a light to my path.

Matthew 1:18-23

This is how the birth of Jesus came about.  When Jesus’ mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, an upright person unwilling to disgrace her, decided to divorce her quietly. This was Joseph’s intention when suddenly the angel of God appeared in a dream and said, “Joseph, heir to the House of David, don’t be afraid to wed Mary; it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child.  She is to have a son, and you are to name him Jesus—‘Salvation’—because he will save the people from their sins.” All this happened to fulfill what God has said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and give birth,  and the child will be named Immanuel”   —a name that means “God is with us.”

                When we are lost on the path of life, how does God bring light to guide us?

 The Hebrews were literally headed into unknown territory. None of them had traveled before. None of them had been free before. None of them had any idea what it meant to be God’s people, and not Pharaoh’s property. This was not entirely a journey of joy and giddiness. Many longed for the harsh but predictable life of slavery. Not a few didn’t have faith in Moses as their leader. Most of them didn’t have a clue who God was or what God would expect of them.

                Verse 13:22 tells us that “neither the pillar of cloud nor the pillar of fire failed to lead the people.” Biblically, fire smoke, and clouds are symbols of God’s presence. The pillar of fire and cloud tells us that it is God in person leading the people. It is God who never failed to lead the people. It was God who set them free when they were lost in slavery. It was god led them in the confusion of the trasition into free people. It was god who brought them into the Promised Land.

                The people were able to travel by both day and night. The pillar of fire and cloud lit the way.

                I threw in Psalm 119 simply because it is the obvious verse for our theme.

                When Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ birth from Joseph’s point of view. I often think that Joseph was the kind of person who liked the predictability of life: you work hard, take on your father’s trade, marry a good woman, have kids and that’s what life is all about. But in the midst of his journey toward predictability, Mary gets pregnant. He is lost in the unpredictability of life. He is feeling his way inch by inch in the dark. The light on his path comes in a dream. The angel (a being of light?) tells him to trust the twists and turns, that is the kind of path God leads us on.

                The other thing about a light on the path is that it does not illumine the whole route. Author Anne Lamott has this insight: “E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.”  That’s all we need is light for the next few steps.

                In this Advent season, we are calling Christ the light that shines on the darkness of our paths. We may long for the bright of noon-day to illumine the whole route of our lives but all we really need is the next few steps. The Quakers describe a process of discernment in which they seek a sense of a “way opening.” I think that is what the light on the path does for us. Christ is a light that shows us a way opening out of the gloom of our lostness.

                The movie “Black Snake Moan” focuses on two people seriously lost. One is Samuel L. Jackson’s character who is lost in his anger and despair about the death of his marriage. the other is a young woman lost in life, suffering from the after-effects of an abusive father and an ongoing sex addiction. In this clip from the movie, they are both lost on a dark stormy night, lost in their own darkness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btWODqt8kEw&feature=related 

This is not evident in the scene, but the light that comes to them comes when they begin to share the path (not romantically, but in deep friendship). This is a gritty film, and it offers no easy answers, but this scene really crystalizes being lost in the dark.

                Our lanterns make a natural connection. Pubs in ancient Ireland were required by law to keep a lantern lit by the door throughout the night just in case someone was lost. Christ is the light that shines to guide us out of our lostness. Whether it is a glimpse of light out of the corner of the eye, way opening from a trapped place, the pillar of fire int eh trackless wilderness, or the supporting hand of someone just as lost as me who is willing to step forward together, the light on the path helps us move out of the dark. How does the light of God come to us in the midst of our lostness?

Anchor: A Light in the Dark

Frame: A Light on the Path

Thread: More Light, more truth is breaking from your word.