Advent Light

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Scripture: Isaiah 60:1-3 (NRSV)

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

2     For darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,

and his glory will appear over you.

3     Nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Devotion:

            We begin a new week of devotions looking at the theme of the coming of Jesus as Light. Here in Isaiah, we the prophet telling the people that even though they live in darkness they need not fear because God will send His light to them. So, even we in the 21st century, who dwell in another time of darkness need not fear because the child whose coming we celebrate in this season will bring light to us.

            Jesus the child we celebrate helps us to see in this time of darkness because his words bring comfort and hope to us. Jesus said of himself in John 9:5, “I am the light of the world.” Light is frequently used in the gospels as a way of describing what Jesus’ coming brought to the world. We like the Jewish people of Jesus day wonder how we can escape the darkness that we feel rising all around us. It seems that the power of darkness has extinguished all possibility of light ever shining again.

            We can take hope though. Jesus came as a child in a manger long ago. He came to shine the light of God in this world as John says in his gospel in verse 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” No matter what happens in this world. No matter how dark it seems to be growing we can look to Jesus and see the light of God shining in this world. We can place our trust in Jesus that he will always make a way for us no matter how dark and evil the world becomes; His light will triumph over it.

            Because Jesus is our light, we should bring light into the places we inhabit. Whether at school, work, or leisure we should reflect the light we see in Jesus. The church on earth is the visible representation of Jesus to the world. We are not independent of Jesus, but we are dependent on Him. We will reflect the light we receive from Jesus to the world that the world may know that Jesus was and is God incarnate. During this time of waiting for the Christ child we can use this opportunity to reflect Jesus more clearly to our watching world.

Prayer:

            Lord God Almighty, help us to become like Jesus in that we bring your light into a dark and dangerous world. Let us use this advent season to shine forth the light of Jesus to the world. We desire to lift the darkness we see all around us. We cannot do it apart from Jesus. Send us your Holy Spirit, O Lord. May we full of the Spirit be a witness to our dark and dying world. Amen.

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