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VOW
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Isaiah 9.2-7
Rev. Malcolm M. King III
When I was a little boy I lived on a big, wide boulevard lined with huge trees. Huge hedges surrounded every house on our street and the empty lots were all overgrown with blackberry bushes and Brazilian pepper plants growing out of control. During the day this veritable wilderness on the edge of civilization provided a great place for little boys like me to play … But at night, it was a different story. At night my neighborhood provided a hiding place for all my fears… especially on the nights that I would have to walk back home from the horror movies in the park. Every tree and every shadow became a hiding place for all my darkest imaginations. Every step became a battle much more real than the "war games" I played on these same streets during the daylight hours. It was a frightening place to be at night… but in the deep darkness of those nights was born my ability to understand the prophet Isaiah. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light," announced the prophet. These are people who can barely breathe… who can hardly find the strength to take another step. People who feel paralyzed in place… people who just know that something big and evil is going to jump out and attack them from the inky darkness that is closing in ever so tightly. They have seen the light… a great light. But a light that is off in the distance. These are people who know about darkness and are familiar with the emotions that give darkness a foothold in our souls… insecurity…These people have seen a light… a great light. And they are walking toward that light… some with great difficulty. But they are walking. They have a goal. They have a glimmer of hope. They no longer feel totally lost. "Those who dwell in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined," continued Isaiah. Even those who cannot walk… even those who have become so involved with their fears that they can no longer walk to the light… even for these people there is hope. The light doesn't stay off in the distance… it comes to them… it shines on them. It lights up the world around them. It gives definition to the shadows and darkness… it shows us that the things we fear are less frightening than we imagine. This light shines down and reveals more than we expect. Not only does it illuminate the fears without… but also the fears within. Not only does the light shine on the things we fear around us… but also the things we fear within us. Not only does the light uncover the evil which waits for us in the dark… it uncovers the evil that is in us. The light has shined on those dwelling in the land of deep darkness… literally- in the land of the shadow of death… and the light has overcome. This… ultimately… is the promise of the prophets of old. The darkness cannot hold back the light. Not only does it shine off in the distance as a beacon to those walking in the dark… but it comes to even those who cannot move… and it shines upon them… and it frees them for life. This is the promise of Christmas. This is the real message behind all the tinsel and the toys. This is the real meaning the baby in Bethlehem's manger that some would have us banish from the center of our lives… and from the town square. Mary understood. Not the Mary who felt the baby growing miraculously inside her.
The Mary who didn't… who couldn't understand it all.
This is the Mary who recognizes, however incompletely, that God's presence in her life will bring a reversal of fortunes to the world. Takers will become givers…God has acted in love. God has become Emmanuel for the world. God has chosen to battle the darkness with us… to be our light… our strength… and our power. And God has given us the opportunity to stand at His side and enjoy the benefits of His creation. The table is a reminder of the prophet's promise and of Mary's song. The bread and the cup are God's offering to us… His people. They are God's invitation to take part in the shining of the light in the darkness. They are God's invitation to join with Him in His salvation work in the world. When we come to the table… we accept God's invitation. We come like the prophet Isaiah who proclaims God's word knowing that he will never see it come to pass. We come like Mary, the manger child's mother, who is still full of questions and doubts and fears but willing to be bathed in the light of God's love. We come… to join with angel choirs, bands of shepherds, and Wise Men from afar… to give ourselves to the infant child… the holy child… who is our Lord and the light of the world. Come and accept the invitation of our God. Come out of the darkness
and into the light. Come and eat at his banquet table… in the name
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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