I’m
\ngoing to enter into the Bible’s metaphors today about darkness and
\nlight, but before I can do so, I need to differentiate Biblical times
\nfrom current times. \u00a0In particular, today metaphors of light and
\ndarkness reinforce racial stereotypes with claims that light skin
\ntones are related to lightness which are related to goodness while
\ndark skin tones are related to darkness which are related to badness.
\n These correlations are false and harmful, yet they are significant
\nin our society and have to be named.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nBible, however, isn’t racist. \u00a0There are a whole lot of problems with
\nthe Bible and I’d be happy to list them with you in a personal
\nconversation, but racism actually isn’t one of them, because racism
\nwas created well AFTER the Bible was completed. \u00a0Any claims of the
\nBible supporting racism are, inherently, false. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When
\nthe Bible is talking about light and darkness I think it is fair to
\nassume it is talking about light like sunlight and darkness like
\ncloud covered nights. \u00a0It is probably worth remembering that electric
\nlights are also a feature of modernity that the Bible lacked, and so
\nlight and dark were more constant and impermeable features of life
\nduring Biblical times.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So,
\nwe’re going to talk about light and darkness, and I’m going to follow
\nthe Bible’s lead in acknowledging that humans yearn for light. \u00a0But I
\nwant to be very clear that we are talking about lumens and not skin
\ntone. \u00a0After all, none of the people in the Bible were white.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Of
\ncourse, there are many positive traits of darkness. \u00a0Since reading
\nabout the \u201cDark Night of the Soul,\u201d I’ve been entirely convinced
\nthat darkness is a gift to us. \u00a0A \u201cDark Night of the Soul\u201d is a
\ntime of discombobulation, and\/or confusion, and\/or grief \u2013 when the
\nfaith a person has doesn’t work anymore and the faith a person will
\nhave isn’t there yet. \u00a0It has been described as womb-like, when the
\nframework of understanding the world, and God, and even one’s self
\ncollapses and then in silence and darkness takes on a new form. \u00a0The
\nnew form doesn’t come into the light until it is ready. \u00a0Many
\nChristians have been through Dark Nights of the Soul, some have been
\nthrough multiple. \u00a0It is a normal and important part of faith, even
\nif it is profoundly uncomfortable and can be scary. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So
\nit isn’t that darkness is bad, darkness is an important part of the
\njourney. \u00a0However, after a time of darkness, light is a precious
\ngift.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Isaiah
\nis talking about an experience of light after a prolonged darkness.
\nHe is talking about dawn breaking after a particularly long night.
\nIsaiah is talking about a dark night of the soul for the whole
\ncommunity, the whole nation of Ancient Israel, when everything they
\nhad known and depended on was overturned… and then what would
\nhappened afterwards.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After
\nthe gloom, after journeying in the darkness, after living without
\nlight or hope, the light dawns. \u00a0The sense of isolation from God and
\neach other lifts. \u00a0The fear and hopelessness that have permeated life
\ndissipate. \u00a0The heaviness of grief grows lighter. \u00a0Things start to
\nmake a little bit of sense again, in a new way.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In
\nplace of that heaviness, there is JOY. \u00a0The things that were dragging
\nthe people down are broken, and they are able to stand tall and move
\nfreely. \u00a0Hope and light abound.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nnarrative of Isaiah, and indeed of the entirety of the Hebrew Bible
\nis that bad things may come \u2013 and do \u2013 but they’re never the
\nfinal word. \u00a0The people are enslaved in Egypt, but God sets them
\nfree. \u00a0The people are lost, wandering in the desert, but God shows
\nthem the way home. \u00a0The people are oppressed under their own kings,
\nbut God sends prophets to restore justice. \u00a0The people are taken back
\ninto captivity in the exile, but God sets them free again. \u00a0The
\npeople are oppressed by large empires, but God works towards freedom
\ntime and time again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yes,
\nthe darkness, comes, says the Bible. \u00a0But the light comes too. \u00a0The
\ndarkness is never the final word.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Matthew
\ndecided to use this passage from Isaiah to explain Jesus. \u00a0 In fact,
\nhe uses it to INTRODUCE the theme of Jesus’ ministry, which was his
\nteaching of \u201cRepent and believe, for the kin(g)dom of heaven has
\ncome near.\u201d \u00a0That is, Jesus was part of God’s work of the light
\ndawning yet again. \u00a0Furthermore, the light and the kin(g)dom are
\nrelated. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
We \n<\/p>\n \nI wonder \n<\/p>\n And \n \n<\/p>\n \nThis \n<\/p>\n \nPerhaps one \n<\/p>\n \nWe don’t \n<\/p>\n \nThere is 1<\/a>\u00a0 Apple <\/p>\n \nRev. Sara E. Baron<\/p>\n \u00a0First United Methodist Church of Schenectady <\/p>\n 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305 <\/p>\n Pronouns: she\/her\/hers <\/p>\n http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a> <\/p>\n
\nsometimes shy away from the word \u201crepent\u201d because of the ways it
\nhas been misused around us, but the word itself is just fine. \u00a0It can
\nbe understood as \u201cexpressing regret or remorse about one’s
\nwrongdoing\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>
\nor more traditionally to Christianity, as \u201capologizing AND changing
\ncouse so the harmful action isn’t repeated.\u201d \u00a0My friend the Rev.
\nDr. Barbara Throrington Green says that to repent is to realize that
\nyou are headed in the wrong direction, to look around to figure out
\nwhere God is looking, and then to reorient yourself to look in the
\nsame direction God is looking. \u00a0That’s my favorite definition.<\/p>\n
\nsometimes if I really understand Jesus’ message yet. \u00a0It always feels
\nlike a work in progress. \u00a0\u201cRepent and believe, for the kin(g)dom of
\nheaven has come near.\u201d \u00a0I think this is an invitation to leave
\nfear, hopelessness, and isolation behind and to join with Jesus in
\nthe work of the kin(g)dom \u2013 which is work done in community, for
\nthe well-being of all, in faith that with God’s help the kin(g)dom
\nwill come. \u00a0But I also think it is about letting go of the things \u201cof
\nthe world\u201d that do harm in order to make space for the things \u201cof
\nthe kin(g)dom\u201d and that is much harder to sort out. \u00a0There is a
\nbig, long-standing question in Christianity about what our
\nrelationship is to be with \u201cthe world.\u201d Do we stand against it?
\nDo we ignore it? \u00a0Do we recognize it’s gifts? \u00a0Do we think of it as
\nsacred? \u00a0Do we call it into more wholeness? \u00a0Do we accept it as it
\nis?<\/p>\n
\nthat ends up really mattering. \u00a0How much do we reject? \u00a0How much do
\nwe celebrate? \u00a0Why? \u00a0How do we even figure out what things are of the
\nworld and what things are of the kin(g)dom when we ourselves are in
\nboth and most people we know are too? \u00a0Purism doesn’t happen much in
\nreal life. \u00a0I think some of the things \u201cof the world\u201d are
\ncompetition, tribalism, greed, pulling ourselves up by pushing others
\ndown, and violence. \u00a0Yet, I’ve definitely seen those things in the
\nchurch too! \u00a0I want to think of the things of the kin(g)dom as being
\nabout the common good, shared resources, the full humanity of all
\npeople, spirituality, holistic well-being, peace, hope, and joy.
\nYet, in reality there aren’t clear lines between the two, or at least
\nnot as clear as I’d like most of the time.<\/p>\n
Which
\nworries me, because if I’m supposed to \u201crepent and believe\u201d and
\nI’m still not entirely clear on what I’m repenting of or believing
\nin, maybe I’m not helping much in the building of the kin(g)dom, even
\nthough I really, really want to. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nMatthew passage is power packed. \u00a0It claims and then reframes
\nIsaiah’s dawning light, it offers Jesus’ ministry and its key ideas,
\nit includes the calling of the disciples, and then it describes the
\nwork of Jesus during his ministry, \u201cJesus went throughout Galilee,
\nteaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the
\nkingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the
\npeople.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ndoesn’t have to have a particularly good sense of where to draw the
\nline or how to understand the kindom. \u00a0Perhaps in the thin light of a
\nnew dawn , one is only able to see a little bit, and yet that little
\nbit of light is enough to guide you safely one step at a time. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nreally have to have it all figured out \u2013 no one does, and no one
\never has. \u00a0But there is a need to trust God, and trust ourselves, and
\ntrust each other, so that we can take a little bit of light and let
\nit lead us.<\/p>\n
\ndeep goodness in the darkness, and I hope we’ve savored its lessons.
\nMay we prepare ourselves for light dawning, and to take tentative
\nsteps in the early morning light, moving as well as we can toward the
\nkin(g)dom. \u00a0Amen<\/p>\n
\n\tdictionary<\/p>\n