So, here we are, just past the middle of January. The excitement and joy of Christmas well and truly behind us, and the weather has been mostly grey and dreary. Without the snow to reflect the minimal light, it seems to me to feel extra dreary so far this year! We finally got some sunshine last weekend, and what a difference it made to my spirits. Last Monday was ‘Blue Monday’, supposedly the most depressing day of the year. Are you feeling a bit low? Do you suffer from “SAD”? Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing, for some it’s completely debilitating, a descent into despair and depression! Thanks be to God that I don’t have SAD, but I find I have lower energy and mood this time of year. I don’t think I could live in the far north, where there’s really limited winter sunlight. I know I have mornings where I’d just as soon stay under the covers as get out of bed, its dark when I get up, and gets dark again as I’m preparing supper. And in the evenings, all I want to do is eat and sit by the wood stove covered up with a cozy blanket—it’s like I’m in hibernation mode this time of year. Thank you for getting up in the dark to be here today! It’s really no wonder so many people go south in the winter.
So when I read Isaiah this week: “And the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light and for those who sat in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined.” (Is 9: 2) I thought how much we need the light, how much I missed the light! Now, admittedly, while the dark of the Canadian winter is by no means the shadow of death for most of us, who better than Canadians to understand the importance of light in the darkness, especially as we read this in January! Clearly this passage was not talking about the craving for light that we northern peoples feel at this time of year, but I do think making this analogy can help us to understand –maybe a little tiny bit anyway, the joy that Isaiah’s message must have brought to the people of his time—people desperate for a spark of light in the severe darkness of their lives. Today’s OT scripture is from the time of early to mid eighth century BC and the writing of First Isaiah. This is the beginnings of the years of the instability and war that the divided nations of Israel & Judah were facing, leading to their eventual destruction and occupation by various warring factions. It is a time of tremendous fear; Assyrian invaders have attacked and taken over the northern kingdom of Israel, taking their lands to create Assyrian provinces. And then Assyria itself is being challenged by even more powerful nations. War and occupation damages and destroys everything: businesses disintegrate, trade is threatened, there is financial and political insecurity and food scarcities, loss of homes and farmland and to add to those traumas, it was also a time when outbreaks of plagues killed those who survived the wars. And in the midst of this despair and darkness, where the shadow of death was a reality, the prophet’s words come to the people of God: you who are living in this land of deep darkness, on you light has shined. (vs 2-3) I do hope someone is reading this scripture to the people of Ukraine! The prophet is telling them God has not forgotten them, God has seen them in their misery, knows what’s going on, God is with them in the wretchedness that has become their lives, and God’s light is piercing the darkness, God’s light will prevail.
The time of joy will come, the burden will be lifted; a message for the people of Isaiah’s time that still speaks to us in our time. God sees our pain, understands our burdens and is with us in our darkness, our despair. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is God, the light that is always there with us, but in our darkness we don’t always see it. So now, we fast forward six and half centuries or so, to the time of Jesus –another time of oppression for God’s people, under the Romans this time. John the Baptizer has done his job, so to speak, he has announced to the people the arrival of the Messiah, and during Jesus’ baptism God affirmed that Jesus is the son of God in their midst. As part of the political and social darkness of this time, we find out that God’s prophet John the Baptist is jailed. Jesus hears of his incarceration, and it’s like his cue, his time has come, his ministry is to begin. Matthew hearkens his readers back to the dismal times of Isaiah’s prophecies, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, when “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.” (Matt 4.16) Zebulun and Naphtali were the very first tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel deported by the Assyrians 700 years before Matthew wrote. It has been an extremely long time since that region was called the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. ... His point then? That Jesus — the son of David — is beginning his restoration of the Davidic kingdom (and his transformation of it into the kingdom of heaven) at ground zero where God’s covenant judgment had fallen seven centuries before.[1]
Who is this ‘Great Light’ for Matthew? Jesus is the great light, God come to earth to illuminate, to show them the way to God’s kingdom. Now, the plan is not for Jesus to be a one man band, apparently. He calls others to join him—in time, 12 altogether, symbolically representing one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. And what is Jesus calling these followers to? To join him in his ministry. He called them to leave their businesses, their families, to leave their comfort zones to a life of unknowns, a life following a travelling rabbi into, well, unknown and unfamiliar ways, as they begin to fish for people, instead of fish! And what do Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John do? They don’t say, well, I don’t think I can leave the family business, or I don’t have the time, or I’ve done enough for the synagogue already -- it’s someone else’s turn or I don’t think I can do that, I’m not the right person, I don’t have the skills necessary. No, they go “immediately” Matthew says, no hesitation, they recognize the call of the Lord and go. Jesus called them follow his lead, to learn from him, to bring people to know God’s light, God’s love.
This is a call to evangelism, bringing people to come to know the light, the love of God into the darkness of their lives. It is what all Christians are called to do, what Jesus did, what he taught his disciples to do. “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.” (Matt 4. 23) Jesus is the light, leading all who hear and abide by his call. These ancient messages, one from 650 years before Jesus birth the other from 2,000 or so years ago, are messages that still speak to us in our time. The light of God brings light to the deepest darkness. Truly there are times in our lives when we wonder if the light’s really there in the greyness of our lives, but as Christians we hold onto the reality that the Light of Christ can never be extinguished. That is the message of Christ’s resurrection! We know that Jesus sees our pain, understands our burdens and is with us in our darkness, our despair. Our darkness can overwhelm us and block out the light, so much so that we can miss the light. But the Light of Christ is always there, calling us to come to him, calling us to share that light, proclaim the good news. The light of Christ is always shining in the deepest of darknesses --just because we may not be able to see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. It is but obscured like the sun behind the heavy grey storm clouds of winter. Amen
[1] http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2014/01/land-of-zebulun-land-of-naphtali-galilee-of-the-gentiles.html accessed January 18.17