Turn on the Light! A Lectionary Reflection
Turn
on the Light!
In most of our churches
we’ve been lighting candles as signs that the light of God is beginning to
shine in the darkness that is present in our world. In doing this we confess that there is
darkness present in the world. Even if
we’re not adherents of the doctrine of “total depravity” -- however that
doctrine is defined -- we recognize that all is not well in the world. There is injustice and there is war, there is
hatred and racism, there is inequality and inequity. Yes, evil is present in our midst. This is true even here in the United States,
the country in which I dwell and have my citizenship, the land that I love. Indeed, there are signs present all around us
that darkness has invaded our lands.
Although we might wish to sweep this under the rug or hide it in a dark
corner, when the Spirit shines the light of God into our midst we see things we’d
rather not see and hear calls to change this reality.
While we would rather
not know that injustice and corruption and inequality are present in the land,
wishing to believe the myth that every man, woman, and child, if they choose to
work hard, can succeed in life, the light in the darkness reveals otherwise. We may want to believe in the perfectibility
of humanity and wish to trust corporations to police themselves when it comes
to environmental concerns or employment practices, but reality suggests that
they are as corruptible as are we. The prophets of old and of today will not let
us ignore these realities, for they are determined to shine the light into the
darkness revealing to us the realities of our day.
As we attend to this
word about light and darkness, we must be aware that there is an inherent
danger to our conversation. We may
succumb to a dualism that defines the world too starkly in terms of good/evil
and light/darkness. The problem stems
from assuming that what I believe or what I do is right and if what you believe
or do is different then it’s bad or evil, and thus perhaps you are evil. We find this all to present in our politics
and our religious discourse. And often the
question then is – what should we do with such darkness in our midst? How might we eliminate it? And when we get to this question, some may
suggest coercion and violence as a proper response, even defending such a
response on scriptural grounds.
If we can steer clear
of dualism and the assumption that we are fully righteous and untainted by
darkness, and if we believe that God is at work in the world seeking to
reconcile the world to God’s self, and that we have been entrusted with the
ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18), then what would this calling require
of us? With these questions in mind we turn to our
texts. In Isaiah we hear familiar words,
words that Jesus himself embraced as his mantle – to proclaim justice in the
land. From Paul we hear a call to hold
fast to that which is good and to rejoice in God’s work and presence, while
avoiding all evil. And finally in the
Gospel of John, we hear again the story of Johns’ calling to bear witness to
the light, which is Christ. He makes clear
that he is not the light, but “merely” the witness, and as he does this, he
invites us to join him in bearing witness to the light.
In Isaiah 61 we have a
word offered to a people who have returned home from exile. They are in the midst of rebuilding their
lives and their nation. The question
then is – what will this nation look like?
What will its guiding principles be?
Will justice and mercy be its defining principles? As I read this text, which Jesus claimed as
his own mantle and call to ministry (Luke 4:14-20), I’m drawn to these
words: “They will rebuild ancient cities,
restore deserted places, renew ruined cities, places deserted in ages past”
(Is. 61:4 CEB). Living as I do in a
metropolitan area, in which the urban core (Detroit) has suffered from decades
of neglect and decline, I hear a word of hope and justice in this text. For our urban areas, which have suffered
greatly as those who could moved out to the suburbs, leaving behind ruins, do
we hear the prophet speaking? Do we hear
a word that God is at work, seeking to lead those who will hear and respond to
act with justice, while ending robbery,
dishonesty, paying just and faithful wages, even as God makes with them an
enduring covenant? The prophet rejoices
because God has clothed him in victory and the robe of righteousness.
The prophet speaks of
the good news that is to be proclaimed to the poor, the brokenhearted, the
captives, and the prisoners – that they will experience the year of Jubilee,
the year of the Lord’s favor, when God will be vindicated and those who mourn
will receive a crown rather than ashes.
The word here is one of hope and joy, but this hope and joy is tempered
by the Advent message, which reminds us that we are in a season of preparation
and expectation. Such work of
restoration will not come overnight. And
as I was reminded in my reading of Joerg Rieger’s book Traveling
[Fortress, 2011], those of us who hear the call to the
city, including those who choose to enter the city on mission trips, need to
understand that we do not go there to “bring back God to the city,” for God has
not left or abandoned the city. We go to
observe where God is already at work.
[Fortress, 2011], those of us who hear the call to the
city, including those who choose to enter the city on mission trips, need to
understand that we do not go there to “bring back God to the city,” for God has
not left or abandoned the city. We go to
observe where God is already at work.
Isaiah lays before us a
mantle, a calling, and Paul picks this up in his first Thessalonian letter,
calling on his readers to hold fast to what is good and avoid every form of
evil. In this brief text Paul speaks to
the inner life of the person of God who has heard the call to be present with
God in the world. There is here a
reminder that as we engage in this work of justice, we must rely on the Spirit
of God. Thus, the word here is to
“rejoice always. Pray continually. Give
thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus In
context” (1 Thess. 5:16-18 CEB). He goes
on to encourage them to listen carefully to Spirit-inspired messages. Rather than try to suppress them, they should
listen with discernment, weighing carefully what they hear, and then embrace
that which is good. So, with this
calling to undergird the work of justice by devoting ourselves to the inner
spiritual resources of prayer and thanksgiving – and may I suggest that since
the Greek word for giving thanks is eucharisto,
that we include in this spiritual preparation the spiritual resources of the
Lord’s Table? The table fellowship of
Jesus surely has implications for our work of justice, and Paul speaks clearly
about the implications of the Table for our spiritual lives and the work of
ministry. In 1 Corinthians 10 we are
reminded that the Table is a place of unity, where the one cup and one loaf
symbolize the one body of Christ for us.
In John 1 we again here
a word about John’s calling to bear witness to Jesus. Here the word is that John has been sent into
the world to bear witness to the “Light” so that all might believe in the
“Light.” When asked, John says
pointedly – I’m not the Light. I’m not the
Christ. I’m not the prophet. I’m the witness to the Light. I’m the voice crying in the wilderness,
calling for the pathways of the Lord to be made straight. He baptizes those who come to him because
this is the manner in which he prepares the people to hear and receive and to
recognize the one who is coming – indeed, the one who is already standing in
their midst, but they can’t recognize him.
In clarifying his role,
John offers us an example for our own ministries, especially as it comes to
speaking prophetically to the situations of our day. If we believe that our words and our
ministries are inspired by God then we need to discern as to where our own egos
and self-interests are present. Monica
Coleman writes of this:
This passage reminds them that they are not the point in and of themselves; their work, like that of John is to point to the work of God. This passage is also instructive for the church as we contemplate contemporary prophets. It is easy for the church to focus on charismatic leaders who are able to rally the masses, navigate the politics, alter structures toward equity, and secure measures of justice for the underclass, rather than to focus on the message and mission of the prophet. This passage guards against idolatrous focus on the prophet. Our work for justice is a testimony of God’s goad for justice. [In Preaching God's Transforming Justice, Year B, (WJK, 2011), p. 25].
John understands his role. He understands that he’s not worthy to tie
the straps of the sandals of the one coming into the world.
As we hear our call to
embrace God’s work of justice and mercy in the world by shining on the world
the light that is God, we’re reminded that this is the work of God and that we
are invited to participate, but it is not primarily our work. It is not a call to impose our agendas
through coercion. It is not a call to
place ourselves above the rest of the world in self-righteousness, but
following the example of John, we take up the mantle that Jesus shares with us,
a mantle described by Isaiah, with humility, and undergirded by spiritual
practices that keep us grounded in union with God.
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