The language of scripture is stunning.
In this incredible mixture of story and history,
of poetry and piety,
of metaphor and mystery and miracle,
God’s story and our story unfold.

It is to this story  ~  God’s and ours  ~  that we turn
during these Advent days, these days before Christmas,
these days of waiting for and celebrating the coming of Jesus.

“In the beginning,” are the first words of scripture we read.
“In the beginning … God.”   And in the beginning, God spoke,
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

And it was into this God-light that creation was born …
it was into this life-light that we were born.

But we know the story. 
And we know how it unfolds. 
Darkness came.
Not a darkness created by God
but another kind of darkness:
the darkness of sin and want and sorrow …
the darkness of fear and doubt and ignorance.
the darkness of man’s inhumanity to man …
the darkness of suffering and injustice.

And the people of those ancient times were not unlike us.

In their places of darkness, those black as midnight places,
in those dark streets where they lived,
they longed for light to disperse the darkness …
they longed for freedom to break down the walls …
they longed for a place to start again.

The people of those ancient times were not unlike us.

Their times of darkness, those black as midnight times,
        in those dark streets where they lived,
were times when they wished the pain would go away …
times when they struggled to make things right
while everything around them was going wrong …
times when they longed for things to be different …
times when there would be more love than hate,
more acceptance than rejection,
more joy and less sadness …
times when there was such a heaviness of heart
they could hardly breathe.

The people of those ancient times were not unlike us.

They experienced the places and times and streets  ~
where they struggled with such darkness  ~
and they longed for a hand to take hold of
to lift them out of the darkness.
And so do we.

To have that kind of longing is to have the hope that someday
somehow
from somewhere
someone would come  ~
someone who would bring an end to the black as midnight darkness.

“If such a thing as grace exists, grace was made for lives like this.”

In the stunning language of scripture this hope, wrapped in grace, is spoken of:
not as something to be longed for but as something that has come …
not as something afar off but as something that is near.

The Light that would chase away
the black as midnight darkness that everyone knows
   was going to shine  ~
           not as a blazing ball in the sky
                   but in the blazing life of a man.

Listen to these stunning words from Isaiah:
“The people walking in darkness
       have seen a great light;
       on those living in the land of (the shadow of death) darkness
       a light has dawned.
“For to us a child is born,
       to us a son is given,
       and the government will be on his shoulders.
       And he will be called
       Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

“Of the increase of his government and peace
       there will be no end.
       He will reign on David's throne
       and over his kingdom,
       establishing and upholding it
       with justice and righteousness
       from that time on and forever.
       The zeal of the LORD Almighty
       will accomplish this.”

The blazing God-light would shine in a Child born to us.
       
John speaks of this hope fulfilled at the beginning of his gospel.
“In him,” … in the Child that was born to us …
“In him was life, and that life was the light of everyone.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

The coming of this Child is the coming of
“the true light that gives light to everyone.”

Into the darkness that we all know, dark places and dark times and dark streets,
“the light of the world” was about to shine.
The Child would be the life-light.

It is stunning language.
It speaks of the unparalleled fulfillment of a promise wrapped in grace.

And this promised Child,
this light of the world Child,
this Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace Child,
this Child who will uphold his kingdom with justice and righteousness,
this light shining in the darkness Child,
would be called “Emmanuel,” which means God with us.

In this Child, God would be with us.
The Apostle Paul, in equally stunning language, says,
“For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’
who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The God who created light in the beginning has become light in the face of Jesus.

This is the One who has come to our dark world …
the One who has come for lives such as ours.

And what kind of light does he bring?
With God, there are no strangers.
With God, there are no outcasts.
With God, there are no orphans.

What kind of light does he bring?
Come, he says, you who are unwanted and find affection.
Come all of you who are weary and lay down your heads.
Come all of you who feel unworthy,
for you are my brothers, you are my sisters.

In the darkness of our darkest places and darkest times,
in the dark streets where we live, grace is found in him.
And in that grace there is hope.

This is the One who has come to our dark world.
This is the One who gives light to everyone.

In the beautiful carol “O Little Town Of Bethlehem,”
        in language that is as stunning as the language of scripture,
                Phillips Brooks reminds us of the darkness, and the light …
                        reminds us of the fears, and the hopes …
                                “In thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;
                               the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
                                                It is Jesus who shines in our black as midnight places,
                                                        in our black as midnight times,
                                                                in our dark streets.
                                                                        Our fears meet the hope that is found in him,
                                                                                and hope wins.

Advent is our time to remember that Jesus was born.
But it is so much more than that.

It is also our time to remember that this One still comes.
“Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.”
The One whom we worship waits to be again, anew, in us.
“O holy child of Bethlehem,” the carol prayerfully says,
“be born in us today.”

On this day, in this moment, again, or maybe truly for the first time,
open your heart to him …
give your life to him
and live your life for him …
yield your will to him …
follow him in such a way
that the black as midnight places and times in the streets where you live
will be filled with the light that shines in him.

This is the one we remember today.
In sacred song and sacred story we remember him.
                In prayer and praise we remember him.
                        In the lighting of a candle of hope we remember him.
In bread and wine we remember him  ~
                                        believing,
knowing,
with thankful hearts,
that he remembers us.

So come. 
Let us open our hearts
to this holy child of Bethlehem
that he might be born in us today.

SOLI  DEO  GLORIA