Be Our Light in the Darkness
Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27: 1, 5-13
Matthew 4:12-23
Light coming into darkness is a
prominent theme in today’s readings.
People who have been in deep darkness are promised and given light. We heard it in the Old Testament
reading from Isaiah, in the psalm and in Matthew’s Gospel. Light shining in the darkness. It’s a common theme throughout
Scripture: God bringing light into
the darkness.
From Isaiah: (If you know Handel’s Messiah,
these are familiar words. In your
mind you will hear them being sung by the bass.)
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;those who lived in a land of deep darkness-- (those who dwell in the shadow of death… in the old translations)
on them light has shined.
There are different kinds of darkness, of course. The darkness that Isaiah is talking
about is geographic or political. Zebulun
and Naphtali were two of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel. The lands of Zebulun and Naphtali lay
in the northern part of Israel, between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean. The northern tribes were particularly
susceptible to invasion.
The source of the deep darkness at this time was likely the
mighty Assyrian Empire, known for their great cruelty to those whom they
conquered, including the northern tribes of Israel.
The light is God’s promise of deliverance, of liberation,
from occupation and oppression.
When Matthew quotes this passage from Isaiah, he is
intentionally resonating with that God’s earlier promise. Matthew is saying: Jesus is continuing to fulfill and further
God’s work of deliverance and liberation.
Jesus is doing what God has always done… bring light and freedom to God’s people.
As I’ve been thinking about these Scripture passages this
week, at the same time I’ve been working on today’s adult education class on
using the prayer book at home. And
I’ve been reminded of a prayer I memorized as a teenager as part of my
relatively regular evening prayers.
In the old prayer book it read:
Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord, and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night.
That language is still in the current prayer book in the
Rite 1 Evening Prayer service, but there is also a version in more contemporary
language.
Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
I like the new translation. There is a slight difference in meaning, I think. The darkness doesn’t go away, but God
brings light into it. We pray for
God to be our light in the darkness,
to bring light to us.
There are different kinds of darkness. Some can be lightened by flipping an
electrical light switch. For many
kinds of darkness, only God can help.
What darkness do you face in your life? The darkness may be small or large,
constant or just every now and then.
A child’s apprehension at night.
Be our light in the darkness.
An adult’s loneliness throughout the long hours of the night. Be our light in the darkness. The darkness of oppression and
prejudice. Be our light in the
darkness, O Lord. Illness. Fear. A faith crisis. (It is sad for me when peoples’ faith wavers
and they abandon prayer or church.
That is the time to pray all the harder. Be my light in the darkness.)
As Christians today, we pray. And we trust.
Pray for God to be light, to bring light to the darkness we face. And trust that it is God’s desire and
action to do that.
Today’s psalm is an encouragement to trust. It begins:
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear?
the Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?
Those are rhetorical questions! The Lord is my
light and my salvation. Whom then
shall I fear? No one! If the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom then shall I be
afraid? No one and no thing! Trust in the Lord to be the light and
strength of your life.
Pray and trust that God will be our light in the
darkness. That God will bring direction,
light, vision, hope into all kinds of darkness.
Pray and trust.
Be our light in the darkness, O Lord.
