The ancient image of a people walking in great darkness upon whom God will shine a bright light, and through them to all the nations, resonates deeply with us. Many of us feel as though we are living in a time of darkness politically, socially and ethically as wars rage, communities are divided and our beloved planet struggles under the weight of greed and human need that drives us to the brink of what God’s world can cope with. We long for a light that will rise upon us and lead us forward into enlightened justice and mercy, abundance and generosity, closer to God’s will on earth. Yet the story from Matthew’s gospel reminds us that the coming of the light is not recognised or welcomed by all, indeed it seems to stir up the very darkness it has come to overcome! (Epiphany. Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; and Matthew 2:1-12.)
You may like to read what I wrote a few years ago.
Let us begin by exploring our Scriptures set for this occasion. Firstly, our texts point out that darkness and light are metaphors about social justice and how well, or not, the whole community is living and being treated, and how we are treating one another. The words of Isaiah were spoken to a people in exile, and the story of Herod’s reaction to the news of a new king comes at a time of oppression. The longed-for Messiah brought rejoicing among the powerless but great fear and resistance among those who had much to lose. And the psalm makes it clear that the light that is longed for is that of justice and mercy, liberation and peace, and prosperity with righteousness. So even if our personal situation is good at this time we can see that the community as a whole has a dark aspect hanging over it and that where ever there is violence and injustice we as people of faith need to align ourselves with those who long for the light as watchmen do the morning.
One of the ways in which I can bear the darkness of our time is the suggestion that the darkness is not so much getting worse but is being uncovered and revealed. Seeing naked violence and greed is maybe a precursor to the coming of the light. Let us take courage and hope so, hope that if we unblinkingly look at what is dark in our world that we are working towards the coming of the time when light shall shine on all the people. This of course requires not simply a sprinkle of kindness but the tearing down of how things currently are and a great building/rebuilding of God’s dream for us.
Secondly the gospel of Matthew leads us to understand that the coming of Jesus as the Christ stirred up the darkness in a particular way. Yes there was almost certainly a political and power play aspect to the disturbance as there has been at many points in human history. But traditionally we understand Jesus to have come to bear our sins. While we who label ourselves more progressive do not usually feel comfortable with this language Richard Rohr puts it well when he says that Jesus “became all that we are afraid of and what we all deny: nakedness, exposure, vulnerability and failure. He became “sin” to free us from sin, the cosmic Scapegoat who reveals our worst and best souls to those who will gaze long enough. He became the pleading image of what humans do to humans – so that we could see it in stark outline, with the curtain of denial withdrawn. He became the crucified so we would stop crucifying. He became the crucified who refused to crucify back, and thus stopped the inevitable pattern of death.”
Or in other words Jesus took darkness into himself that we might be free to experience the light. Darkness revealed and taken into the Christ can be redeemed, refined, made new. Darkness is not merely conquered but made holy and whole. And so for us who follow his way we can do the deep work of exposing our individual and collective darkness and smallness, our fear and failures, our uncertainty and too mean theologies to his light and finding ourselves somehow forged anew and our dross burned clean.
Thirdly the letter to the Ephesians reminds us that the light of the gospel is mysterious and full of boundless riches, it is all gift and it is so that we can all, including whoever we regard as Gentile, approach the light in confidence and in freedom.
We cannot explain away the mysterious nature of grace nor boast because of the riches we now have for it is all gift. And we who have received the gift of light are to be beacons of hope to those who still live in darkness. It is not about my salvation or yours but ours and we work it out best in company. While we must each walk our own journey we are all called to be people of the way. So as we begin a new year in a not very new world let us draw comfort and challenge from the reminder that Christ came as a light in a dark world then and now. And even if the light available to us is only enough to illumine the next step and then the next it will be enough.
Even so, come Lord Jesus the Christ, come fuel our desire for light and guide each faltering step.
This is my work informed by all I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others. This week I am especially grateful for:
Richard Rohr with John Feister: “Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an Age of Anxiety”, St Anthony Messenger Press, Cincinnati, 2001 (page 37)
