Last Sunday we started a new
Advent teaching series called Hope in the Darkness. Hope is one of those things that people are either really interested in or not at all. The
problem with hope is that until you need it, you don't need it, but when you
need it, you really need it. Is that clear?
Probably not.
The reason we chose Hope in the Darkness is people most need hope in dark times. Have you ever heard someone say, he's in a dark place? This isn't a comment on cave diving. It means that life is closing in and they can't see the way out. It is dark because the path forward has been lost.
Hope is light that shows the way when nothing else does. Hope is the thing you hold onto when there is nothing else to grasp. Hope is often represented by light because in darkness light shows the way and provides warmth in the cold.
The four Sundays before Christmas or what we call Advent, is a joyous time for most, but not all. For some it is dark time. All around us are folks for whom this time of year is oppressive. As others rejoice they retreat. Suicides and psycho-emotional crises go up. The walls are closing in and life is dark. It is to these people that Jesus offers a light in the darkness called Hope.
Jesus came as a baby in a manger
not because it makes a cute bedtime story for small children.
He came because the world had, by our sin, plunged itself into dark,
dank, oppressive, cold blackness. We were without hope, lost
with no way forward. Into the darkness came a light, just a speck really,
one baby to one peasant couple, a tiny, fragile fire giving off light
and warmth. Must say, if you don't know the end of the story, He
sure doesn't look like the hope of the world. But then that is the nature of
hope. Hope isn't a big blazing fire that turns night into day and drives you back by its heat. Hope is small; you’ll miss it if you're not careful. It doesn't give off nearly as much light or warmth as you want.
Christmas Eve we will gather to celebrate the coming of the light in baby Jesus. We will laugh and greet one another, introduce family and friends. We will sing Christmas Carols and hear the Christmas story. Just before we leave we will gather in family units and form a circle around the Worship Center. We will blow out the four candles of Advent and light the singular white Christ Candle. Then we will do something seriously crazy.
With hundreds of people present
we will kill all the lights leaving that one tiny flame. It will be
completely inadequate. It doesn't put off enough light or warmth to help
the person standing next to it. The people in the back of the Worship
Center won't be able to see anything at all...except the flame. The whole
thing is ridiculous. But in that moment of crazy darkness something Holy
will happen.
The
leader will take a candle, press it to the Christ candle and there will be two
flames. Then he will turn and press his lit candle against his neighbor's
unlit candle and utter the most important truth the world has
ever know... the ultimate words of hope. Jesus is the light of the world!
As powerful as that moment is, it is not enough. Even with three lights
the place is utterly dark. Then it starts. The person
who received the light passes it to the next person saying Jesus is the light of the world and then the next person, Jesus is
the light of the world and then the next, Jesus is the light of the world and the next and the next and the next. Jesus
is the light of the world. If you listen you will hear deep male voices utter this great truth, Jesus is the light of the world. Then you will hear the soft high voice of a child who has just received the flame from their father say to their mother.. Jesus is the light of the world. From parent to child, to grandparent to friend to stranger the light is passed. Faces start to brighten up, the occasional drop of hot wax hits a finger and we are reminded, sometimes humorously, that our flames are creating heat. Then comes the ancient miracle.
The flame began with one candle and has been traveling around the circle will meet the flame from
the other direction and the circle will be complete. The Worship Center will
be light again. I almost always wipe away tears during this time.
We have hope! Jesus is the light of the World! Jesus is the
light of the World! Jesus is the Light of the World!
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To hear the sermons on Hope in the Darkness or catch up on past teaching go to our web page - It usually takes a couple days to get them up.
Video -
Audio/Podcast - http://www.marysvillenaz.org/index.php/resources/sermons
Beautiful I can't wait
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