The Light Shines
Sermon by the Rev. Andrew Walter
Isaiah 9:1-4
There will be no gloom for those who were in anguish…The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined. (Isaiah 9:1-2)
It was the summer of 2003 and for our family, life was good. The boys were healthy and happy. They had lots of friends and were doing well in school. Susan loved her engineering work and had a successful career in the city. As for me, after a very long and arduous discernment process, the Bishop of New York had finally granted me Postulancy paving the way for me to attend seminary and one day, God-willing, be ordained to the priesthood. Life was good. But to make things even better, to top it all off, on a particular evening in late July, Susan and I drove out to Giants Stadium to attend a Bruce Springsteen concert.
We had a great time, but there is one moment from the concert that really stands out. It came about two-thirds of the way through the show. The guitarist started strumming a catchy tune which I recognized immediately as Susan’s favorite song so I looked over at her; she had this big smile on her face. Everyone around us started singing, and we joined in, throwing our arms up in the air, shuffling our feet back and forth, doing our best dance moves which we think are pretty good, but always seem to make our boys cry out, “Mom, Dad, you are SO embarrassing.” I remember the music died down. The band was encouraging the crowd to sing even louder, and the people responded. Fifty-five thousand voices filled the night sky over New Jersey. “I’m waitin’, waitin’ on a sunny day,” we all sang.
I can still hear the voices now. That moment is still with me. Not just because we had such a great time that night, but because the words to that song would soon have a special meaning for us. Soon, we would be waitin’ on a sunny day. The week after that concert, Susan was diagnosed with colon cancer. Within a month she would undergo surgery after which we faced nine months of chemotherapy, radiation, and then more chemotherapy. Even after all that, the doctor told us, the recurrence rate was still 50%, one out of two. Life was good, and then life wasn’t good.
Life is like that though. It ebbs and flows. It has its ups and downs. Just when you have things figured out, just when things seem to be going your way, the rug gets pulled out from under you. Someone you care about gets sick or maybe even dies; someone in the family loses their job because the tech bubble bursts or the sub-prime market tanks. It would be helpful if we had some warning that these things were going to happen. It would give us the chance to prepare ourselves and take the necessary precautions. But that’s not the way life works. If there are warning signs we don’t see them or we don’t want to see them. These things hit us out of the blue when we don’t expect them. We’re not ready. We’re not prepared. And it’s hard.
The prophet Isaiah lived at just such a time in Israelite history. Seven hundred and fifty years before the birth of Jesus, the kingdom of Israel experienced unprecedented peace and prosperity. The neighboring empires of Egypt and Babylonia, who for centuries had continuously conquered and dominated the region, had withdrawn, both forced by domestic crises to pull back home. Unencumbered by outside interference, the kingdom of Israel flourished. There was political and social stability. The valuable trade routes along the Mediterranean spurred an economic boom. If there had been a stock market, it would have set new high after new high. It was a golden age for the kingdom Israel. But then the king died. His son and then grandson followed him to the throne, but neither one was as strong a leader. At the same time, the Assyrians in the east were growing in power. Soon they would be looking for more territory and riches and their eyes would turn toward Israel. The kingdom was never the same. The city of Samaria and with it the Northern part of the kingdom was captured and destroyed. The South survived for several more decades, but it too was ultimately conquered. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. The leading citizens of the kingdom were forced out of the Promised Land into exile. This was the darkness about which Isaiah spoke.
The people of Israel are not alone. We all experience that darkness at some point. For them it was exile, for us it might illness or loss. Whatever the circumstances, when we suddenly find ourselves in the darkness it’s an emotional shock which can shake us to the core of our being. Even the most ardent of believers will begin to question their faith when the rug is pulled out from under them. Dismay and anger, loneliness and confusion all flow together in a confluence that makes it difficult to believe. We stumble around in the dark searching for God, but we can’t find him and we don’t see any signs of his presence.
Yet, Isaiah tells us emphatically and unequivocally that God is present. The darkness is real. Isaiah doesn’t deny that. Terrible things happen. Tragedy and sorrow are real, but in the midst of all that, God’s light still shines. We may not be able to see it or feel it, but it’s there. And that means God is there, creating a new world out of dark chaos, bringing new life out of the dark tomb, taking each and everyone one of us and making something that reflects his glory - because that is the nature God.
For Christmas, I received Tom Brokaw’s new book Boom! which examines the decade of the 1960’s. The book was published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of 1968, and as I read it, I was once again reminded of all the tragedies which occurred that year, one seeming to come right after another: protests ending in violence, the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. It was a year of nightmares, one of the darkest times in our history. But on Christmas Eve of 1968, Apollo 8 orbited the moon, and the 3 astronauts onboard became the first humans to view the Earth as a whole. With the light from the sun illuminating the planet in all its splendor, the astronauts – William Anders, Jim Lovell and Frank Borman - made this broadcast:
We are now approaching the lunar sunrise and, for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness
was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, and saw that it was good.
Their message of hope was the same message Isaiah proclaimed thousands of years earlier. Even in the most difficult times of our lives, when we question the very existence of God, when we feel lost and alone, when it seems as the darkness around us is so deep that we can’t perceive the faintest light whatsoever, Isaiah says no! God is not dead. All is not lost. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it - because that is the nature of God.
Many of you may be wondering how Susan is doing these days. I can happily tell you that she is doing really well. The cancer has not recurred, and according to the doctor, her prognosis is excellent. On top of that, the boys continue to grow and thrive. They love their new schools. As for me, I did go to seminary, and after I graduated I landed a job at the best parish in the Episcopal Church. So once again, life is good.
And while that may be true for many of you as well, somewhere out there, one or more of you are probably experiencing the darkness. If you are, know that you are not alone. Know that we are here for you, but more importantly, know that God is here for you. Know that God’s light shines, and that one day you will again feel its warmth. Hear the words of Isaiah because they are spoken for you, and for him, and for her, and for me, and for all of God’s children in all times and in all places who are in any way suffering or troubled:
There will be no gloom for those who were in anguish…The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.
Amen.
Note: In their Christmas Eve message of 1968, the three astronauts aboard Apollo 8 read Genesis 1:1-10. For this sermon, I only quoted verses 1-4.
