Offered in Praise on Sunday, December 27, 2020
Mel Prestamo, Elder, PCUSA
Read: Isaiah 9, John 1, and Matthew 25
So, I have a question for you. In Isaiah 9 the writer tells us that the people walked in Darkness. Think about what darkness might mean. What image does walking in darkness conger up in your mind?
In the Bible, Darkness refers to both Ignorance and Evil. What might ignorance and evil look like to us?
- In darkness there is Violence. There is war, people dying while their homes are bombed out. There is terrorism, people being massacred while celebrating at festivals. There are mass shootings, people looking to hurt, maim, or murder out of their grief and anger. or even gun boat diplomacy.
- In darkness there is Injustice. There is insensitivity to the needs of others. There is hunger. There is homelessness. There is wealth and there is poverty.
- In darkness there is the Abuse of Power. There are the powerful taking advantage of the weak. There are nations oppressing nations. There are Refugees fleeing oppression. There are Families ripped apart.
- In darkness there is spousal abuse and abuse, child abuse and abuse of the elderly. There is bullying.
- In a word in the darkness of the human condition, there is pain.
For the Israelites in the time of Isaiah, there was misery; there was lamenting; there was pain and suffering.
How do these things, these woes and these calamities compare to our own times?
- We have Violence in the streets, in malls, in schools, in classrooms.
- We have Injustice in how we accumulate wealth. Some live lavishly. They have more than they could ever store up and others depend upon what falls from the tables of the wealthy for their subsistence.
- We have Homelessness – people living in tents, in boxes, in doorways.
- We have hunger – people who line up at food pantries for the food they themselves cannot afford.
- We have Refugees and Families being separated and pulled apart by oppressive policies.
- We might say that we have all experienced the grief and pain of the darkness or that we are least witnesses of it whether we respond to it or not.
What I am suggesting is that our times today are not all that different from the time in the world preceding Jesus’ coming. Now, I don’t mean to be a downer delivering a gloomy Christmas message. But what I mean to suggest is that Christmas still has a meaning for us to discover; and perhaps we have some more work to do to discover it.
Christmas must be more for us today than just simply the reading of ancient texts and the remembrance of a child’s birth; it must be more for us today than simply the singing of carols; the lighting of candles, celebrations with families or even these quite Worship services on a Sunday morning.
John told us, “The one who is the true light – that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” [John 1:9] John was talking about Jesus. We know that. Jesus is the Light. But more than the Light, Jesus was and is the Word. “In the beginning”, John tells us, “the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
What is John trying to tell us?
It is one thing to be an inspiration to people, as Jesus certainly is, and move them as Jesus can move people. Great orators have done that. John Kennedy’s “Ask not…” Martin Luther King’s, “I have a Dream.” Then there is the example of Mother Teresa’s selfless missionary work in India. But it is quite another to be God doing it. Jesus is the Word of God that spoke creation. Jesus is the Word of God that brought Light out of the darkness. That light, that Word came into the world. It is what we call the Incarnation. It is God stepping into humanity. It is not only that God became human; but that God stopped creation, stopped the universe, and stopped time and stepped in to it – to become part of it. The Incarnation is the moment that changed everything.
If you believe that God stepped into our world. How does that change things for us? What is it that the Light does for us?
- Jesus, the Light can inspire us. The Light can burn away the cobwebs that paralyze us and stir us to action.
- Jesus, the Light fills us with Hope. The hope that the Word of God brings gives meaning to the entire arc of human history. It provides us with the end goal to which we can aspire. Without that Hope, the whole of human existence is meaningless.
- Jesus, the Light helps us to Love. The light dispels darkness from our hearts, allowing them to be opened to those around us that need our kindness.
- Jesus, the Light leads us. It provides guidance. It shines upon the path that God desires for us.
- Jesus, the Light can heal us. The light is the soothing balm that binds up our brokenness.
- Jesus, the Light fills us with courage. The light obliterates the darkness that causes fear, helping us to see clearly the work that needs to be done.
- Jesus, the Light is transforming – it takes us from being onlookers to being actors.
With this Light that is given to us; with this Light that is born to us to lead us out of the darkness, what are we to do with it?
Jesus tells what we are not to do with it. We are not to cover it with a basket, hiding it out of sight. Jesus tells us not to be onlookers or passersby. The Samaritan got down into the muck of life and got involved in helping and healing.
We are to reflect it, to shine it out. How do we do that?
If you have been listening, Jesus has told us.
If we look at Matthew 25: 31-46, we will hear how it is that Jesus wants us to act.
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
Then the righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or, thirsty and give you something to drink? Or, a stranger and show you hospitality? Or, naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it for me!’
Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison and you didn’t visit me.’
Then they will reply, ‘Lord when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and not help you?’
And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
As we come to the end of what has been a very difficult year, it is easy to fall into the trap that as we close this old year, we convince ourselves that somehow it is over; that we have reached an end, and we can sit back and relax. That, it is finished. The sparkling lights, white snow and the good cheer of merry gentleman will somehow make all things better.
But the story of Christmas is not an ending. It is the beginning. It is incomplete if it ends with the story of the Babe’s birth. It is incomplete if the Light that came into the world is hidden under a basket and not brought out to shine. It is incomplete if the challenge of Matthew 25 goes unheeded. The Babe’s birth, the Incarnation, the Light that came into this world and challenge of Matthew 25 are all interconnected. They are a beginning. How we respond to those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, to strangers and those forgotten in prisons is what completes the story of Christmas.
The Light that has come into the world will shine to show us the way. It can never be extinguished. The darkness cannot overcome it. So, be joyful this Christmas Season and praise the God that has done, is doing and will continue to do great things through us. The least of the Lord’s brothers and sisters are in need of our compassion, of our kindness, and the justice that is required to heal this broken world.
May it be so.
