The Incarnation and Light!
This advent we are examining The Incarnation not as something that happened over 2000 years ago or as a doctrine of the Church. We are looking at The Incarnation as something that has an impact on our daily lives today.
The first week of advent we looked at The Incarnation in terms of hope. Too often when people use the word hope they're really expressing far more doubt than hope. The hope The Incarnation brings is not a wish in the face of the circumstances or situations of life, but rather a trusting in the certain power of God’s grace. As Paul reminds us in the powerful 8th chapter of Romans, “nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
The second Sunday we looked at the gift of salvation – not as something we cause to happen - but as God’s gift to us. Our role is humble acceptance of the gift. In the Cross of Christ, God acted to save us. So being saved is not something we cause to happen. It is the ongoing process of surrendering ourselves to God and committing over and over again to be faithfully, albeit imperfectly, obedient to God’s will for our lives. This keeps our hearts open to the transforming power of grace.
Last week we looked at the incredible promise of God to be with us. No matter how isolated or alone we might feel, the powerful reality is, we never are. God is with us. The fact that we may or may not recognize this reality does not make it any less true. God’s promise to be with us is as secure as the everlasting faithfulness of God. Not only is God always with us, but God is also redeeming every moment and every situation. The last word is always one of triumphant joy!
This week we look at The Incarnation as a source and experience of Light. Light and darkness are both powerful realities in this gift of life. The bible begins with the story of God overcoming the darkness in the act of creation and ends with the final and eternal triumph of light over darkness in the closing chapter of Revelation. Between these two “bookends” of the Bible we read about the conflict between light and darkness in the stories of the Old and New Testaments.
Darkness has two basic modes – moral darkness: pandemics, wars, economic distress, division, hatred, cruelty, inflicted suffering, violence, and more; and existential or personal darkness: grief, despair, sadness, hopelessness, depression, dread, fear, anxiety, worry, and more.
Darkness can be very powerful, but it is NOT all powerful. A single candlelight can pierce the darkness! And as that light is shared, darkness gives way to light as it must, for light is always stronger than darkness. The problem is we tend to forget this. Jesus Christ came into the world to remind us again and again of what we too easily forget – light and love reign eternal and darkness is only temporary. Notice all we associate with light when we remember its power: love, joy, peace, gratitude, hope, kindness, and all the other experiences and emotions that are associated with living abundantly and triumphantly. We are both called to live in this light and to share it with others, by the witness of our lives.
I am looking forward to our virtual service tomorrow and I hope you are as well.
Grace and Peace, John