“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”
-Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

Little Light In Their World

At the time Isaiah spoke these words, the nation of Israel had been split into two kingdoms: Judah in the south and Israel in the north. Judah is being threatened by Aram & Israel because Israel and Aram are being threatened by big and powerful Assyria. Aram & Israel and calling Judah to make an alliance with them so they can protect themselves from Assyria’s attack. It’s a bit like schoolyard bullying. There is the big bully who is going to beat a couple of kids up, but those kids are bigger than the smallest kid. So they go the small kid and say, “We are going to beat you up unless you join us and help us beat the big bully.” Sounds fun for the little guy, right.

Here’s the problem. An alliance in this world was more than just joining forces for a fight. An alliance would mean giving up their political independence and mostly likely freedom of religious expression. An alliance wasn’t just a military alliance, it was a joining of lives. Israel had lost it’s way and was no longer worshipping God, and if Judah mixes their lives together, it would likely mean compromising their own ability to worship the one true God.
Judah, then, is caught in the crosshairs of a political power struggle. You can imagine their plight as they risk attack or loss of corporate identity. It was dark days where little light could be found.

Little Light In Our World

The circumstances may be different, but these are dark days in our world as well. Whether you experience that darkness in a more general sense (like by watching the news), or a very personal sense, the reality remains the same. There is little light to be found in our world as well.

Here’s the thing: Stuff looks scary in the dark and it’s easy for fear to overcome you.
Imagine Judah being faced with going to war with Israel and Aram or joining forces with them and then going to war with Assyria. That’s scary.

While I’ve never had war brought to my front door, I have been scared. I grew up in a house that was built in the early 1900’s. It had radiator heat that made popping noises as the water moved through and stairs that would creak as the house shifted and moved. You can imagine, then, as kid how scary this could be. I remember looking at the edge of my room and there is the radiator that, in the dark, looked like a crazy monster. But this wasn’t just a passive monster in the dark. It was trying to intimidate me with it’s popping sounds! Add that to the stairs that creaked when no one was on them and you have freaked out every five year old there is.

When you are in darkness, you lose perspective of how things really are. When we are afraid the world gets smaller because fear tries to take away our options. There is a spiral effect: darkness leads to fear, fear makes me believe I don’t have any options other than fear, and fear often leads to a loss of hope. When you see it in that light, you realize it’s a big deal to walk in darkness.

You know what happened? I grew up in that old house and got used to how things were. I got used to the popping sounds of the radiator and the creaking sounds of the stairs. Even though I wasn’t scared anymore, it didn’t make sleepovers at my house pretty fun. My friends were convinced the place was haunted.

The sad truth is, you can get used to the dark. Whether you go from light to dark or wander into the dark, once you are there it’s easy to get used to the dark and forget the light has faded. Sometimes I wonder if we’ve become used to the dark. When you get used to the dark, you either fall into complacency (you don’t care that it’s dark), or you respond to the dark with more darkness. (Like I said, fear and darkness start to take away our options.)

The people walking in darkness….those living in the land of deep darkness. That was certainly Judah and it is certainly us!

The Light in Their World

As Judah faced the inevitability of war, Isaiah the prophet spoke these beautiful words:

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned.
For unto us a child is born…

This was the traditional announcement of a child, by the way, except it was normally singular, “To you a child is born.” This time, though, the announcement is plural, “To us a child is born.” The implication is that all people will benefit from the birth of this child!

The prophet continues, “…to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.”

The government will be on his shoulders. Imagine how encouraging those words would be if you were caught in the crosshairs of political power mongering. But wait. The government on one man’s shoulders? That doesn’t sound like very good checks and balances. How do you know you can trust him?

Perhaps that’s why Isaiah follows with different names of God: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace & Everlasting Father. You can trust him. With war and violence on every side the prophet speaks of a Light who will come and bring peace!

The Light in Our World

The good news of Christmas is that the Light has come!

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'”
-John 8:12 (NIV)

Jesus, the light the world, has come! But what does it mean to declare the Light has come? What difference does it make?

Where darkness causes us to lose perspective, Light gives new perspective. Light sheds the truth on lies we have believed. In the dark, you can believe a lie (the radiator is a monster), but in the light the truth is revealed (it’s the very thing keeping me warm).
Where darkness and fear takes away our options, light opens up new possibility. Light gives us perspective, truth, and possibility. When we can see and know the truth we can dare to hope.

Hope seems foolish in our world because the substance of our hope is often getting ahead of everyone else, destroying anything (and anyone) that threatens us, and making sure we can take care of ourselves. Hope like that hangs on a thread.

Advent invites us to place our hope in something (Someone) different. It invites us to place our hope in the Mighty God who is a child born in a manger; the Everlasting Father who becomes an infant whose days are numbered; and the Prince of Peace who is a Son given to us. Advent declares that for the people of God, our hope does not lie in candidates or policy. Our hope does not lie in economics or popularity. Our hope is found in the One who, in the beginning, said “Let there be light.” who has become the Light of the world.

Thus, hope gives us a God-inspired “nevertheless” in the midst of darkness.
Things are tough, darkness is all around, things seem to have gone completely amuck…
Nevertheless, God is still good.
God is still working.
God is still in control.
This trial will not steal my joy.
This trial will not take my hope.
The “nevertheless” gives us comfort.
The “nevertheless” chases away our fear.
The “nevertheless” grounds us in hope.

The apostle Paul said it this way in 2 Cor. 4:1-9, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

May we not get used to the dark, but say to the dark, “A Light has dawned”

Called to Be Light

If we dare to hope in an age of darkness, we will shine.
Listen to Isaiah 60:1–3 (NIV), “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

The prophet speaks of the people being light.

Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 5:14–16 (NIV), “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Jesus comes to be light and to give light so that we might also be light in a dark world. As far as I’m concerned, the best way to be light in the world is to point people to the Light of the World. Ask yourself a simple question, “Does what I’m doing or saying look like Jesus?” In the darkness all around me, do I blend in or shine?

To learn more about these important words from Isaiah regarding the Light of the world, click on these resources from Emmaus Road Church, a church in Fort Collins.

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