Light in the Dark

Advent is a time of great anticipation. It invites us to see the world through God’s eyes.

The waiting and watching is a meditative practice. It allows us to transcend our perception of reality and to visualize “God with us” evidenced in the joy of children, the hope of longer days, the peace of stillness, and the love in acts of goodwill. By looking through the prism of advent we can see the goodness in the world as well as the world that it is becoming.

During advent, we remember and relive in our hearts the birth of Jesus who Christians understand to be the savior or messiah. The word Christ derives from the Greek word, Christos, which means chosen, anointed, and liberator. As God’s son and true reflection of God, Jesus’ flips the paradigm from “power as oppression” to “power as love”. This advent Bethany Church and A WORK IN PROGRESS Faith Community are considering what it means to flip the switch by lighting up the dark and revealing a world full of hope, peace, joy, and love.

The origins of one of the most important seasons in the Christian Calendar is a mystery. It is thought to originate in the 6th century but was not officially recognized by the church until the 13th Century. Without advent it would be difficult to understand the true meaning of Christmas. The prayer and ponderings of advent provide meaning and context for Christmas.

For Christians, the time of advent hearkens back to the time of the Israel’s prophets who spoke about a benevolent and ethical king that would lead them out of exile and restore their freedom. Christians find solace in the words of prophets like Isaiah who gave voice to the longing and despair of an oppressed people. Christians believe that the words of the prophets “speak truth to power” today. Christians find the prophets stories to be liberating because they know how they end—the prayers of people who had been exiled and enslaved were answered.

“A light in the dark” is a central theme of Isaiah. Isaiah 9: 2-3 tells us that “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness, the light has shined.” Scholar and theologian, Walter Brueggemann referred to seeing beyond the “veil of darkness” as prophetic imagination. For him, prophetic imagination is a sacred practice that empowers us “to see what is and move toward what could be”.

Embodying Bruegemann’s “prophetic imagination”, the prophet Isaiah perceived the world differently giving hope to our longing for “peace and justice”. The prophet writes in 11:-4a, “He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth.” Isaiah is talking about the “eyes of faith” which allow us to see and project the “Light of Love” making it possible to see God’s kin-dom on Earth. Prophetic imagination enables us to respond with an emphatic “yes” to a “merry and bright” future even when the latest “breaking news” suggests otherwise.

In advent we are reminded of the “great news” the angel spoke to the shepherds in Chapter 2 of the Gospel of Luke: “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a savior”. In response, the shepherds emphatically responded “yes” and followed the light where it rested on the child whom the angels had spoken. In addition to the good news of a savior, what is also important is that the “good news” was and is “for all” without exception. It is also important to note that the good news mean as found in Mary's response to the same angel, the “good news”means “scattering the proud, bringing down the powerful, lifting up the lowly; filling the hungry with good things, and sending the rich away empty. He has come to the aid of his people” (Luke 1:52-53). Freedom and peace is how the people at the first Christmas understood the fulfillment of God’s promise, not comfort and security for the powerful and the privileged.

Please join us on Sundays this month for a shared meal, holy conversation, and project. Click on Vespers at the top to see more information about the series as well as the scheduled.

During our time together, we will ground ourselves in the promises of prophets, unwed mothers, and angels so that we may reflect back the Light and Love of Christ during a time that is dark in so much that it is uncertain and bleak for many people.