Today is the first Sunday in Advent:
Light of the World, you stepped down into darkness,
opened my eyes, let me see beauty that made this heart adore You,
hope of a life spent with You. So here I am to worship,
here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You're my God,
and You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me.
(Tim Hughes © 2000 Kingsway's Thank You Music)
Long, long ago (around 700bc) – in lands far, far away the people of Greece were worshipping their gods by energetically competing in athletic games at a place called Olympia and then over to the east of the Mediterranean, the Assyrians were expanding their empire and in the little kingdom of Israel the people were feeling very threatened by them. They had seen the majority of their population captured and relocated to other parts of the Assyrian Empire – there were just 2 tribes left in Israel – who were now known as the kingdom of Judah. Their capital city – Jerusalem, became their fortress - their safe place against the prowling enemy. Their king wrote Psalm 130, as the people started to wonder if God had forgotten them. God had not forgotten them and he speaks to them through a man called Isaiah.
Isaiah tells the people that God understands how they are feeling – He knows they are surrounded by enemies and that they feel as though they are in a very dark place. The Good News which Isaiah brings to the people is that God would always be there for them even in the darkest of days and that God had plans to remove the gloom of their situation by sending his light – a Child – a Saviour - a Redeemer – a servant-King!
Read Isaiah 9: 1-7
So, as you open your advent calendar windows on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd you will find 2 phrases from this morning’s bible reading which tell us the wonderful Good News about the difference Jesus wants to makes in everyone’s life.
Galilee (the land of Zebulun & Naphtali) was considered by the rest of Israel as a very dark province - a backwater where only the poor and uneducated lived. It wasn’t seen as an enlightened or significant area of Israel. But Isaiah said that the people’s gloom and distress would be lifted though someone coming from this region and shining God’s presence into their lives. This was confusing because Isaiah’s contemporary Micah (5:2) said that the Saviour would be born in Bethlehem. We are familiar with the events which mean that both statements are true.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but grew up and started to preach in Galilee, causing God’s light to shine into people’s lives from out of the region of Zebulun & Naphtali. Some of you may already have put up extra lights in your home, use them as a reminder that Jesus comes to bring God’s light into the world.
Isaiah doesn’t talk about God’s light being like a candle shining in night, neither is he talking about a light at the end of a tunnel. Isaiah talks about God’s light being a great light which removes all darkness – just as a sunrise dispels the darkness of night. Isaiah also says that this light will be like a conquering hero – overcoming any and every dark obstacle, and this Saviour will be even more powerful than Israel’s greatest King – David. This Saviour will bring a freedom which is greater than the greatest victory in Israel’s history, Gideon miraculously defeating the Midianite army. Isaiah continues to emphasise how great this victory is over the darkness of life by saying that the only use for battle boots and garments will be to use them as fuel for the fire.
In among these descriptions of the great victory God’s light has in overcoming darkness and setting people free, Isaiah says that this Saviour will also increase the joy of the people (v.3) and so our bible reading gives us two words which might appear on Christmas cards you receive - ‘Peace and Joy’
Isaiah goes on to describe in more detail how the Saviour will accomplish this by using four phrases (v.6). These phrases have become really well-known, but the trouble with well-known phrases is that they often lose their impact – so let me use four different words which hopefully helps us to see the impact that God’s Saviour wants to make in our lives: wisdom, power, care & wholeness.
If we let God’s Saviour, Jesus rule in our lives and we allow him to govern our lives - then our lives will be transformed as completely as going from dark to light. Use the words of this familiar hymn to lead you into prayer:
Lord the light of your love is shining in the midst of the darkness, shining:
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us;
set us free by the truth You now bring us - shine on me, shine on me.
(Graham Kendrick © 1987 Thank You Music)
On 1st & 2nd December as you open the windows on your Advent Calendar pause and think about what the phrases reveal to you about God’s love and care. On Wednesday I will give us some thoughts about the phrases which will be revealed on 3rd, 4th & 5th - Stephen