Walking in the Light

When I was younger, my bedroom door was right in front of the hallway light. And because of where my bed was in my room, the hall light shone right in my face. At that point I was too scared to try to sleep with my door closed. That was too much darkness. But there was enough light, from enough other rooms in the house that turning off the hall light would allow me to sleep, while still having a comfortable amount of light dancing around. So I got up, and turned off the hall light.

Well this lasted all of half a second and then my sister began to scream, and one of my parents yelled up, “Turn that light back on.” My plot had been foiled. So I decided to go in and reason with my little sister. You would have thought that I would learned by then that reasoning with her was impossible, but I decided to give it a try anyway.

So I walked into her room and said, “Melissa, why do you have to have the hall light on?” She said, “Because I’m scared of the monsters.” I said, “But Melissa, look at your room. You have toys everywhere. It is like a minefield in here. If you turn the light off, the monsters won’t be able to see where they are going, and they will most likely fall and break their neck. However, if you leave the light on, it will be much easier for them to see where they are going and they will have a safer trip getting to you.” That was the first night that I slept with my door closed.

There is something about the dark. It is not always a pleasant experience to have. It is one thing to have dark when we are trying to sleep or watching a movie. But what about doing other things? Have you ever tried to read or work with too little light? Have you ever tried to walk in the dark, I mean in the pitch-black-can’t-really-see dark? It is difficult. When it comes to walking, it is much easier to walk in the light. Dark times call for walking in the light.

Our lesson for today is from the second chapter of Isaiah. It wasn’t all that long ago that we were reading from Isaiah as part of our Bible in 90 Days challenge. You know that the people of his day were walking in some dark times. They Assyrians had captured and destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. Now they were knocking on the doors of the Kingdom of Judah. David and Solomon’s Kingdom, which one shined so brightly that people from all over the world would come to see it, is now little more than a smoldering wick trembling under the threat of a terrible empire.

Things inside the country were not much better either. On the surface things looked OK. The temple was there. Sacrifices were being made, but the hearts of the people were not in it. They would go through the motions, but it seemed little more than that. They did not trust God. He was not their source of peace and security. They were looking to other countries to save and protect them. Their money and possessions were more important than the poor and needy. Their courts were a joke. The people of the kingdom of Judah were living in some dark times. Dark times call walking in the light.

In some respects, it doesn’t seem as if a whole lot has changed for our world today. If someone were to ask if we are walking in dark times too; the answer would have to be yes. There is the economy. But you don’t need me to tell you about that. The greed and corruption that brought all this about is enough to make you want to scream and pull your hair out.

Our faith is not immune for trouble either. Christians around the world, in places like India and countries run by hard-line Islamic governments are being attacked and killed. Their homes are destroyed, all because they love and believe in Jesus. Nonbelievers, atheists, and agnostics in America and Europe are organizing and advertising. Perhaps you have seen this on the news. They want a world without religion. Now granted, whenever the church strays from the gospel, it is not pretty. Then you could almost understand that viewpoint. But the reality of the world that we live in is that the times are dark.

You don’t need me to tell you this. So what do we do? What do we do when we find ourselves surrounded by such a great darkness? What do we do when the going is so tough? It can be really, really hard. So what do we do? When the going gets tough, when the going gets dark, the tough don’t give up, they go for a walk. They walk in the light of the Lord.

Isaiah’s word to the people of Judah was to look ahead. Look to those latter days. The days are coming when people from all over the world will come to worship God. That tiny hill where the temple stood in Jerusalem would be the greatest mountain in the world. People would not only hear God’s word, but they would live their lives in accordance with it.

And there will be peace. No need to worry about swords, because they will be turned into plows that will provide food to eat. What an amazing image. The weapons of war that bring about death and destruction will be transformed into tools to feed the hungry. Isaiah’s message is a simple one of hope. Don’t get caught up in the darkness. Don’t let it overwhelm you. Instead, walk in the promise of the Light of the Lord. Walk in this light, even if the darkness is great. God is faithful. He keeps his promises. Those days will come.

They did. Those latter day promises came true. The day of light had dawned a little over seven hundred years after Isaiah wrote these words. Because Jesus, the light of the world, came down from heaven above. And do you remember what the angels sang at his birth? “Peace on earth.” People streamed to hear Jesus’ sermons, especially when he gave the sermon on the mount.

When they went to arrest Jesus in the garden, and Peter pulled out his sword; Jesus told him to put it away. When he was on the cross, darkness covered the earth for three hours.

But it was there on that cross that Jesus took all the darkness of the sin of the world upon himself. He took all our greed and selfishness, injustices, pride, hatred, fighting, he took it all, everything that makes the darkness great and he died. They place him into a dark tomb, and rolled a stone in front of it. Jesus, the light of the world, was surrounded by our darkness.

And yet, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. That tomb is now empty. The darkness was broken on Easter morning. When the women went to the tomb early that morning, they found that it was empty and the stone was rolled away. Isaiah’s promise was kept. So that walking in the Lord, now is walking with Jesus.

Do you see how Jesus is the kept promise of Isaiah? Isaiah said that people would stream from all over the world to worship God, listen to his Word and to seek to live their lives according to it. On Sunday mornings, all over the world there are people worshipping Jesus. They are gathered together to hear God’s Word and receive the gifts that he so graciously gives to us in the sacraments. When believers all over the world come to this table, they are fed and nourished with Jesus’ very body and blood.

Of course, it goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway, that we are still waiting to see Isaiah’s promise being kept in all of it fullness and glory. We wait for that day when our brothers and sisters in the faith wait can worship without persecution. We are waiting for all swords everywhere to be turned into plows. We are waiting for this promise to be completely fulfilled.

And it will be. What we see in Jesus is a taste, a sample of what is to come. What we see is proof that the rest of it is just around the corner. We don’t know exactly when it will arrive. But it is coming. It is on its way. We have already gotten the e-mail notification that our shipment has shipped and left the warehouse. We are simply waiting for it to arrive.

So while we are waiting, we walk in the light. While we are waiting, we walk with Jesus. So we worship. We receive the gifts he gives us in communion. We read his Word. We gather and find that peace which surpasses all human understanding. We find joy and hope as we hear and are reminded of Jesus’ resurrection. We love, serve and care for one another and our neighbors. We refuse to allow the darkness to overcome us. We refuse to allow it to convince us that the darkness is all there is, even though the arguments can seem quite compelling. Because we know that our God is faithful. He keeps his promises. He is with us. And we walk with him. After all, dark times call for a walk in the light of the Lord. Amen.