Darkness and Light

Isaiah 9:2-7 King James Version (KJV)

"(2)The people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of
the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (3) Thou hast multiplied
the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the
joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. (4) For thou
hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of
his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. (5) For every battle of the warrior is
with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with
burning and fuel of fire. (6) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be
no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The
zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

Isaiah conveys a word He has received for the people around
him who are crushed, broken, despairing of life, depressed, rejected, and
oppressed and out of ideas for how to fix things. In a leadership vacuum, they
have no voice to call them or unify them. They have known success and seen
success depart,. They have had victories without deep satisfaction. They have
experienced defeat and they have known slavery. Like many today, the people
walked in darkness. Like many today, there is a crying need for light. We hang
lights on our trees, but we are called to carry the light on our persons.

Light has come to the world in the person of Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus the
Christ. He has saved us and filled us with His own Spirit so that we might
carry His light in the world where there is a deep and absent void.

I. The ABSENT VOID –
There is darkness and it cannot be disputed or denied. Nor need we attack it at
its roots because its roots are in the absence of light. It is the absence into
which light pierces the walls of the void and the result is rejoicing.

What is life like in the Absent Void? The passage tells us
it is a dark walk, a death walk, and it is a deafening walk of war.

A. It is a dark walk by definition. It is dark to the mystery to dark to
morality. When we are in darkness we are blinded to reality. In fact, just a
few minutes ago, in my house, I ran into a wall I did not see and bumped my
head. I do not make the best decisions in the dark.

B. It is a death walk. In the shadows of death there is little hope. People
walking in darkness experience a despair that is deathly and death is the
common denominator of humanity. If there is no intervention of life, death is
our permanent outcome and we experience some of it  in the shadows here and now.

C. It is a deafening walk. The KJV translation of v. 5 refers to confused
noise in battle. There is so much noise that the ears are deafened to any clear
direction. Have you not been deafened by the cacophonies of dissonant battle
cries around you so that nothing makes sense at all?

Another way of looking at the void is to create an acronym
of it.

It is a V- Vicious darkness.
It is an O- Oppressive darkness. It
is an I – Insidious darkness. It is
a D – Deep darkness, but it can be
overcome.

To follow Jesus truly, we must be willing to be present in the absence.

In the Absent Void of
darkness comes the ACTIVE VOICE of
light.

II. The ACTIVE VOICE
– Light simply and powerfully penetrates darkness and that is that! He comes as
a child. He comes to be seen. He comes to break the yoke of oppression. He
comes to rule with justice and truth. He speaks through light and that light,
according to John 1, is the Light of men. Let's look and word, voice.

A. First, it is V – VICARIOUS by nature. The word is from Latin, vicārius and it
means "substituting." The government, which is a heavy weight, lands
on His shoulders. He takes on our pain, suffering, and bonds to break them. He
enters in to our life with us. Are we willing, as His representatives, to enter
into the dark places and bear the suffering of the world to speak and to be?

B. Second, it is O – It is OBVIOUS – it is no secret
coming when He enters a space. There is an obvious contrast between light and
darkness and people notice. If we are the light of the world in Him, how
obvious is our presence?  Do we bring
light to darkness just by being their? Does the voice of our lives speak as He
did?

I – Third, it is I -It in INVASIVE. Light invades the
darkness and He speaks to powers and systems, dismantles the weapon of
destruction, liberates the captives, and sets up His rule, not as a mighty
warrior, though He is capable, but as a child. Are we willing to be the
childlike representatives of His Kingdom to light and speak with a gentle, yet
powerful voice the confusion of the battles in our midst?

C – Fourth, it is C – a COMFORTING voice. He is the
counselor, comforter, one who walks beside us as Prince of Peace. People do not
necessarily understand this peace because it comes as incarnation. The message
of the gospel is that those who are redeemed have this Comforter to come and
live inside us, transforming the darkness of our interior lives into
habitations of peace, joy, light, love, and the Christ Himself who can live in
us, with us, and through us. What sort of comforting presence brings peace to
the turmoil around us, through us as Jesus lives out His life and speaks His
voice through us?

D – Fifth, it is an E – ETERNAL voice. There is no end to
His Kingdom. The kingdom of darkness will cease, but the Kingdom of God is
forever, embodied in a Child – a child in a manger in Bethlehem. His first
whimper was a welcome sound for in His humanity, we discover divinity. He is
our connection to eternity. Everything about this baby's life is God speaking
to us, calling us, inviting us, living among us, tasting death for us, rising
to raise us, and living forever within us. To come to Him like the shepherd and
wise men, to welcome Him like Mary and Joseph, to worship Him, and to receive
Him and follow Him is life itself and life eternal. It is also the beginning of
our mission in the world to carry His presence into the darkness.

Shall we?