Ian Williams - "The Light and Darkness Following Christmas" (December 29, 1996)
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Transcript
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- | Thank you, Dr. Tucker for your welcome this morning. | 0:16 |
I am delighted to share in this service | 0:20 | |
with you on this Sunday after Christmas. | 0:23 | |
It's been an interesting experience, | 0:27 | |
to spend the Advent and Christmas season | 0:29 | |
here in the United States. | 0:32 | |
It's so cold and dark | 0:35 | |
certainly the climate here provides | 0:38 | |
a most appropriate backdrop for the Christmas light | 0:40 | |
and helps illuminate the truth of the message of this season | 0:44 | |
that the light shines in the darkness. | 0:48 | |
However, during this Sunday in Australia, | 0:52 | |
as on Christmas Day, many who participated | 0:55 | |
in morning worship would have spent the rest of the day | 0:59 | |
and perhaps much of the evening, at the beach | 1:04 | |
or in some other summer activity. | 1:07 | |
Yes? | 1:10 | |
Christmas for us, comes in the time of light, in mid-summer. | 1:11 | |
As your dean commented in his sermon | 1:18 | |
that last Christmas Eve, we in Australia, | 1:22 | |
have an upside down Christmas. | 1:24 | |
This presents some logistical problems, | 1:29 | |
such as having to wait until 9:30 or 10 o'clock | 1:31 | |
in the evening before we can have | 1:35 | |
our carols by candlelight service, | 1:37 | |
and having to exercise our imagination to gain meaning | 1:41 | |
from many of those carols, with their references | 1:45 | |
to in the bleak mid-winter, snow on snow. | 1:49 | |
But perhaps most of all is the theological | 1:55 | |
or faith challenge. | 1:58 | |
How are we to celebrate the coming of the light | 2:00 | |
when it is light already? | 2:06 | |
A not dissimilar issue faces us, at Easter time, | 2:10 | |
which comes of course in our autumn, or fall. | 2:14 | |
And therefore, all the metaphors of new life | 2:18 | |
and nature, which is, which have been utilized | 2:23 | |
by traditional theology, proclaiming the new life | 2:25 | |
of Christ's resurrection, are contrary to what we experience | 2:30 | |
in our climate. | 2:34 | |
Thus, I live in a country, where the climate | 2:36 | |
is at odds with theology. | 2:41 | |
Or remembering, that within | 2:45 | |
a very few years, there are likely to be more Christians | 2:46 | |
living south of the Equator, than north of it. | 2:50 | |
Perhaps, traditional theology is at odds with the climate. | 2:54 | |
These comments may help you understand why the themes | 2:59 | |
of light and darkness, were prominent in my mind, | 3:03 | |
as I reflected upon our gospel reading from Luke, | 3:07 | |
for this Sunday after Christmas. | 3:11 | |
For example, was it cold and dark or warm and sunny | 3:14 | |
outside when Mary and Joseph and the child Jesus | 3:19 | |
went to the temple that day as Luke describes. | 3:24 | |
We have always tended to assume that it was cold and dark, | 3:29 | |
befitting a Palestine winter. | 3:33 | |
But of course, the decision | 3:37 | |
to celebrate the birth of Jesus on the 25th of December, | 3:38 | |
was made by the church in the Northern Hemisphere, | 3:43 | |
many years after the event, to replace | 3:46 | |
an existing mid-winter festival. | 3:49 | |
There is no mention in Luke, that it was winter, | 3:53 | |
at the time of the birth of Jesus. | 3:57 | |
And to hear this story as I have for 50 years, | 4:00 | |
indeed just over 50 years, | 4:04 | |
with the sun shining brightly outside, | 4:06 | |
and the prospect of an afternoon at the beach ahead of me, | 4:08 | |
makes a big difference to how one understands | 4:12 | |
and receives Luke's story. | 4:15 | |
Is this time following Christmas, | 4:19 | |
one of light or of darkness? | 4:21 | |
There is the shade, if not the darkness | 4:27 | |
of the letdown we invariably experience following | 4:30 | |
the brightness of our Christmas celebrations. | 4:34 | |
As your dean has commented, this Sunday signals | 4:37 | |
the ordinary resumption of life after the grand | 4:42 | |
intrusion of the joy of the Christmas message. | 4:46 | |
There are also other ways in which we can understand | 4:50 | |
the twin themes of light and darkness | 4:54 | |
to be present in our lives today | 4:58 | |
and also in our gospel story. | 5:01 | |
Much of the light comes from the understated | 5:06 | |
beauty of this story from Luke. | 5:10 | |
Here, with Mary and Joseph following the traditions | 5:14 | |
of the Jewish law, in bringing their first born | 5:18 | |
to be presented at the temple, | 5:21 | |
we catch one of the few glimpses in the New Testament | 5:24 | |
given us of how the ordinary people of that time | 5:28 | |
lived out their religious commitment. | 5:32 | |
I always remember the comment made to me | 5:36 | |
by my Australian friend and colleague, Robert Banks, | 5:38 | |
now teaching at Fuller Seminary. Robert remarked saying | 5:42 | |
he wondered quite often how the ordinary folk, | 5:47 | |
the Bible-believing, or scripture and law-believing | 5:53 | |
Jewish folk at the time of of of Jesus, lived out | 5:57 | |
their religious commitment. | 6:01 | |
Today we catch a glimpse of this. | 6:04 | |
For Mary and Joseph, who were simple folk, only able | 6:07 | |
to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtle doves, | 6:11 | |
or two young pigeons, as they could not afford a lamb, | 6:15 | |
and their faithful obedience to the law | 6:20 | |
was an expression of their joy and praise | 6:24 | |
of God, and not an unremitting demand placed upon them. | 6:26 | |
And we meet two other people of faith, | 6:32 | |
Simeon and Anna, who each in their own way | 6:35 | |
provide testimony to the enduring power | 6:40 | |
of faithfulness and the faithful power of endurance. | 6:43 | |
Their lives and witness radiate a light, | 6:49 | |
not a blinding light, but one of graceful radiance. | 6:52 | |
With Simeon's poignant words continuing to enter our lives | 6:57 | |
through the words of the liturgy, | 7:03 | |
"Lord, now let us thou thy servant, | 7:05 | |
"depart in peace, according to thy word. | 7:08 | |
"For mine eyes had seen thy salvation." | 7:12 | |
Then there was Anna, a very old widow, | 7:18 | |
who also belonged to the simple folk of faith | 7:21 | |
of the time. | 7:25 | |
Indeed, such was the strength, | 7:26 | |
and constancy of her piety, today we would say spirituality, | 7:29 | |
that we are told that she never left the temple | 7:35 | |
but worshiped there with fasting and prayer, night and day. | 7:38 | |
We are reminded of the Annas in our lives. | 7:44 | |
Of the people of faith, indeed many of them being | 7:50 | |
older women, whose prayers for us continue | 7:53 | |
to support and sustain us, even without our knowledge. | 7:58 | |
Yes, the light of their faithfulness often illuminates | 8:04 | |
the darkness we experience. | 8:09 | |
And our gospel story today ends in the brightness | 8:14 | |
of the knowledge that after Mary and Joseph | 8:17 | |
finished all that was required by the law of the Lord, | 8:21 | |
they returned home to Nazareth, and the child | 8:24 | |
grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. | 8:27 | |
And the favor of God was upon him. | 8:31 | |
All the things that we would wish for our children, | 8:35 | |
were given to the young lad, Jesus. | 8:40 | |
Physical strength, wisdom of heart and mind, | 8:43 | |
and being the recipient of God's gracious favor. | 8:48 | |
Yes, the ordinary resumption of life was filled | 8:53 | |
with the promise given by the Grand Intrusion. | 8:57 | |
The light shines in the darkness. | 9:01 | |
But as we have all heard, within the brightness | 9:07 | |
of this poignant story, are the shades of darkness. | 9:11 | |
For we note that following Simeon's moving words, | 9:18 | |
that we now know as the Nunc dimittis, | 9:21 | |
come his words to Mary the mother, | 9:25 | |
"This child is destined for the falling and rising | 9:28 | |
"of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will | 9:32 | |
"be opposed so that the inner thoughts | 9:35 | |
"of many will be revealed and a sword will pierce | 9:39 | |
"your own soul too." | 9:44 | |
Hearing these words, a dark cloud shades the brightness | 9:50 | |
of the blessing, at that moment there in the temple | 9:54 | |
for the parents, especially Mary the mother, | 9:59 | |
for the child, knowing that he will be opposed | 10:03 | |
by many and have the sharpness of the sword | 10:06 | |
pierce his soul too, | 10:10 | |
and for us too, as we remember the dark clouds | 10:13 | |
amidst the light of the Christmas blessings, | 10:20 | |
of the vacant seat around our Christmas meal tables | 10:25 | |
because of the death of a parent or grandparent, | 10:29 | |
or because of separation from children or their spouses, | 10:33 | |
of the words spoken in haste | 10:38 | |
and anger as old family resentments resurfaced, | 10:41 | |
of the dark thoughts and feelings | 10:47 | |
we harbored amidst the Christmas lights. | 10:49 | |
And also, there is that sense that we may | 10:55 | |
be experiencing today, of the mundaneness of our life ahead, | 10:57 | |
now that the brightness and joy of the grand intrusion | 11:03 | |
of Christmas is finished. | 11:06 | |
Whilst this may not be a black cloud, and more like | 11:09 | |
a feeling of flatness, nevertheless, it brings its own sense | 11:13 | |
of a darker shade into our life. | 11:18 | |
Now, I realize that many preachers throughout the world | 11:23 | |
will be emphasizing this point today: | 11:27 | |
That already within the brightness of the message | 11:30 | |
of Christmas, are contained glimpses of the darkness | 11:33 | |
of the suffering and death which the Christ child | 11:38 | |
is to experience. | 11:41 | |
It's only right and proper | 11:44 | |
that this emphasis be made. | 11:46 | |
It's not simply a form of psychological reality testing, | 11:48 | |
okay, you've had your time of celebration, | 11:52 | |
now back to the real world. | 11:55 | |
No, more profoundly, it directs us | 11:58 | |
to the heart of the truth and promise | 12:02 | |
of the Christmas message. | 12:05 | |
For I believe, that the Christian message | 12:08 | |
affirmed in our gospel reading today | 12:12 | |
is that darkness is always present | 12:16 | |
in our lives on Earth. | 12:19 | |
It is real, sometimes the result of our own perversity, | 12:21 | |
sometimes the result of the incomprehensible forces | 12:27 | |
of evil and suffering, always a dark mystery. | 12:30 | |
Indeed I wish to suggest that darkness | 12:37 | |
is a constituent part or a constant companion | 12:41 | |
of our trust of God in Christ. | 12:44 | |
Remember to the one who can rightly be called | 12:49 | |
the true model of faith, to Mary, these words were given, | 12:51 | |
"And a sword will pierce your own soul too." | 12:57 | |
What was true for Mary is also true for us. | 13:02 | |
Light and shade are part and parcel of our life here | 13:07 | |
as Christians on Earth. | 13:13 | |
My father was an art teacher. | 13:19 | |
He used to emphasize | 13:23 | |
in his classes at our high school, the importance | 13:24 | |
of light and shade in our endeavors of painting. | 13:27 | |
Indeed he referred to it so often | 13:31 | |
that it became his nickname. | 13:33 | |
Thus for most of my time at high school, | 13:36 | |
the only time I heard my father referred to by my fellow | 13:38 | |
students was as Light and Shade Williams. | 13:42 | |
Come to think of it, I also heard them refer to him | 13:46 | |
in a couple of other ways, which is not perhaps | 13:48 | |
appropriate to mention here. | 13:51 | |
Dad had a great love of the classical European tradition | 13:55 | |
of painting, especially that of Rembrandt. | 14:01 | |
And I can still remember him showing me | 14:04 | |
one of Rembrandt's paintings, | 14:07 | |
yes, it was of the presentation in the temple. | 14:09 | |
And saying to me, "Son, look at the way | 14:12 | |
"in which Rembrandt has made use of darkness | 14:16 | |
"in this painting." | 14:20 | |
And in preparation for today, I looked it up again | 14:22 | |
and those familiar with it, will know that it shows | 14:26 | |
Mary and Joseph and the child Jesus, with Simeon and Anna | 14:29 | |
and a few others, in the temple that day. | 14:35 | |
And against a very dark background, a brilliant live | 14:40 | |
shaft of light, illuminates the group. | 14:45 | |
Especially Simeon, as he tenderly holds the child | 14:48 | |
in his arms. | 14:52 | |
And Simeon's face is radiant, with the joy and mystery | 14:54 | |
of the moment. | 14:59 | |
Most commentators emphasize the extraordinary | 15:01 | |
way in which Rembrandt used light to portray | 15:05 | |
the meaning of the event. | 15:09 | |
However, for my father, it was the darkness | 15:11 | |
that was indispensable to the portrayal | 15:15 | |
of the message and to the genius | 15:18 | |
of Rembrandt's expression of it. | 15:20 | |
And I believe that my father's insight into the genius | 15:23 | |
of Rembrandt, helps illuminate the power | 15:27 | |
of our gospel reading this morning. | 15:30 | |
The brightness of the Christmas message, and the light | 15:34 | |
it shines into our lives, is surrounded by the various | 15:37 | |
shades of darkness that we experience. | 15:41 | |
It is not only that the light | 15:45 | |
makes us aware of the darkness, | 15:47 | |
but as my father remarked, the darkness allows us | 15:49 | |
to see the promise and reality of the light. | 15:53 | |
Yes, our life beyond Christmas Day and beyond our baptism, | 15:58 | |
is one where we experience the reality and suffering | 16:03 | |
of darkness, but because the darkness | 16:07 | |
despite its terrible power, | 16:11 | |
did not overcome the light of the incarnation, | 16:13 | |
darkness need not overcome us too. | 16:17 | |
Even as today, we may be experiencing the flatness | 16:21 | |
and darker shade of life. | 16:26 | |
In conclusion, let me reaffirm two major promises | 16:31 | |
I believe are given in our gospel story this morning. | 16:36 | |
One is to affirm that our discipleship here on Earth | 16:41 | |
in this experience of our discipleship, we never | 16:48 | |
experience the light of the gospel without | 16:52 | |
some darkness impinging upon its brightness in our lives. | 16:57 | |
This I believe is both reassuring and demanding. | 17:02 | |
Reassuring, in that we certainly can be recipients | 17:06 | |
of the light and truth of God's presence through the spirit, | 17:11 | |
while experiencing the shadows of darkness and suffering. | 17:15 | |
Even though we may only be able | 17:20 | |
to see through a glass darkly, as Paul put it, | 17:23 | |
we can still receive the light of God's truth and love. | 17:30 | |
It is demanding in that at those times when all seems dark, | 17:35 | |
we are not exempt from the demands of faith. | 17:41 | |
For our crucified and risen Lord, calls us to faithfulness | 17:46 | |
precisely within the dark storms of life | 17:50 | |
we may be experiencing. | 17:54 | |
But the final word and the sure promise given this day, | 17:56 | |
as we move from Christmas to the New Year, | 18:01 | |
even and especially as for most of you, unlike me, | 18:04 | |
will be having to endure the coldness and the darkness | 18:08 | |
of the winter ahead, I return to Australia | 18:11 | |
and its summer in a week's time. | 18:15 | |
We come to the last part of John's testimony, | 18:18 | |
to the incarnation. | 18:21 | |
For after his first promise | 18:23 | |
that the light shines in the darkness, | 18:25 | |
he then affirms, "And the darkness has not overcome it." | 18:29 | |
So often, the positive is best expressed | 18:35 | |
as the double negative. | 18:38 | |
The darkness has not overcome the light. | 18:40 | |
Darkness is not the final reality or the ultimate power. | 18:44 | |
In that truth, and hope, we move into our future | 18:50 | |
with its light and darkness, knowing that it is indeed | 18:54 | |
God's future, established for us | 18:59 | |
in the birth, life, death and resurrection | 19:01 | |
of our Lord Jesus Christ. | 19:05 | |
And in that promise, we return to the ordinary | 19:07 | |
routines of our lives. | 19:11 | |
To our hometowns, as Mary and Joseph did that day. | 19:13 | |
And as we do, may I wish you a blessed and faithful | 19:18 | |
New Year in darkness and in light. | 19:22 | |
May the Lord be with you. | 19:28 | |
Amen. | 19:30 |