“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 9:2) The land of deep darkness in Isaiah’s prophecy seems all too much like the place we ourselves are living at present. We are bombarded in the media with bad news about the state of our planet– melting glaciers, species threatened with extinction, disappearing farmland and endangered cities. And the state of humanity seems even darker and more hopeless, with civil wars and terrorist atrocities abroad and endemic racial division, violence, and injustice in our nation and our own community.
In the midst of all this darkness, what are we to do? The paradoxical good news is that recognizing our own inability to solve the problems of the world is a step in the right direction, since it makes us likelier to recognize and welcome the light and hope that God sends to us. As Isaiah promised, God’s light pierces through the darkness to shine on those who walk there. As John’s Gospel proclaims, this light– unlike our limited human capacities– will not fail: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” And this light, embodied in Christ, has become the true source of wisdom and hope for all people: “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” In other words, the kind of wisdom that really matters is as likely to be found among those who are poor and powerless and ill-educated by human standards as it is among the upper classes and the educated elite. God has freed us all to teach and learn from each other by bestowing this light equally on everyone. For those of us who long to see the healing of the divisions and inequalities in our society, this may be the best Christmas gift of all.
Reflections on the Gospels from a Justice Perspective written for St. Andrew's Episcopal Church by members of the congregation
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