Sermon from Sunday, December 17, 2023 + Pr. Michelle Sevig + Sixth Sunday of Advent
Early in the morning, before the sun dawns, I love sitting in the darkness of our living room during these Advent days. There’s a warm cozy feel as I rest in the darkness of morning with only the dim candlelight breaking through. These quiet, dark, early moments of the day are a precious gift.
Though I’ll be honest, I don’t always consider the darkness in winter as a gift. Dusk arrives at 4:30 in the afternoon and it seems I’m ready for bed by 6:30 in the evening. We are experiencing some pretty short days as we edge closer to the Winter Solstice just a few days from now. There will be 14-plus hours of darkness on Thursday night.
During the season of Advent, as we draw near to the Winter Solstice–the longest night, we are invited to sit in the darkness, savor the darkness, learn from the darkness. And yet, during this season we are also drawn to the light of Christ which illuminates our world.
The first chapter of John’s gospel contains beautiful and beloved imagery about the “true light” which enlightens everyone. John’s gospel describes Jesus as the light of the world, the one who was with God from the very beginning, the one who is life and light for all people. It’s from the gospel of John, that we get the beloved versicle used at Christmastime, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overtake it.” Immediately following this verse (5) we read of a man, named John (who would later be referred to as John the Baptist) who testifies and bears witness to Jesus, who is the one promised one.
Light and darkness are beloved images in the scriptures and ones that we turn to especially during Advent as we draw closer to Christmas Day and Epiphany. In the 4th century, Western Christians standardized the commemoration of Jesus’ birth around the cultural celebrations of the winter solstice with its focus on the sun, and light beginning to break into the darkest days of winter. Scripture passages that speak about Christ as the light of the world became connected with the Christmas celebration.
While we embrace the hopefulness of the light, the proximity to the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere also invites us to embrace the imagery of God’s presence in darkness. For too often we have pitted the two against each other, ascribing the qualities of “good” vs. “bad” to light and darkness.
A new children’s book, God’s Holy Darkness, created by three Lutheran women, invites us to see the darkness as good, life-giving, and renewing. It’s a beautiful book with fantastic artistry and attention to the ways God is active and present in the darkess too.
On page one, “Darkness and blackness and night are too often compared to lightness and whiteness and day and found deficient, but let us name the goodness, beauty, and holiness of darkness and blackness and night. God uses darkness and blackness and night to show love for the world.
Creation began in the dark. In the beginning, darkness covered the face of the deep and God poured out love and brought all things into being.
Abraham doubted God’s promises, but the Lord pointed to the sky and told him to count the stars which were as numerous as his descendants would be.
Angels appeared to shepherds in the dark and told them of a baby in a manger.
The disciples gathered in the nighttime to share in the first Holy Supper.
The book goes on to say, “From the beginning of creation to the stars of the night sky, we are shown God’s love. In houses of worship with dark spaces of wonder, we are held in God’s love. In the dark soil and the deep sea, we are reminded of God’s love. From the promise of peace made to the shepherds of night to the promise of Jesus made on the cross these are the works of God’s Holy Darkness.”
In a note from the authors it says, “In our world and in our lives, Blackness should be celebrated. Darkness should foster wonder and awe. And we should find comfort and rest in the night. Instead, we usher in light/dark binaries. In the gospel of John, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it.” This passage speaks of literal light and darkness, but we have ascribed qualities of good vs. bad with light and darkness. We are called, and always have been called, to disrupt this binary thinking and, ultimately dismantle the the systems that value lightness over darkness, whiteness over blackness.”
So in this season of Advent when there is so much focus on the light of Christ and the love of God breaking into our darkened world, I wonder how we can honor both, light and dark, as gifts of the Holy One. Light and dark are both good, valuable, and holy even though we often speak of light, Christ’s light, banishing our darkness.
This idea of holding two seemingly opposite things in tension, where both are valuable and good, was highlighted in a recent meeting with Holy Trinity’s strategic planner. She introduced us to the concept of interdependent pairs and had us name things that seemed opposite, and or where one might seem more important than the other, but were actually both valuable. For instance, traditional and innovative worship, in-person and online programs, HTLoop and HTLakeview, change and stability, thinking and action. Notice I didn’t use the word “or.” Traditionally Lutherans are much more comfortable with both/and statements anyhow.
Interdependent pairs are competing goods, but often we need both, usually at different times and in different ways. “It's good,” she said, “to identify the competing good things that hold tension and to understand where we should show up on that continuum based on what is fit for the purpose at hand.” The concept works not only for congregational strategic planning but in our personal, spiritual lives as well. Consider other interdependent pairs like busyness and stillness, loud and quiet, personal time and together time, talking and listening; all of them are good and necessary, but what’s needed in any given situation will lean differently depending on the circumstances.
On this night, I invite you to hold in tension the interdependent pair of light and darkness. John points to the light of Christ dwelling among us, who does not banish the darkness (for the darkness is holy too) but illuminates it. In the shadows created by both light and dark, we will experience the inbreaking of God’s presence in the manger, in bread and wine, in the body of Christ who gathers together here. Let us rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances, as the apostle Paul says in his letter, for God is already here, among us now.