Light in the darkness
from Helen
A couple of years ago Ian and I ended up going to see a stand up comedian. Now, to be honest we are not really into stand up comedians but some friends of ours decided that we would enjoy going and had bought us tickets to go with them in case. Well we thought that we should go. To be honest it was a brilliant evening with lots and lots of laughter. One of the jokes was based around the idea of the little things that really annoy us. You know the types of things like corned beef tins and how dangerous they can be to open, sliced bread that is sliced either too thick or too thin, the internet being too slow when we want to go online or worse of the lot men who insist on leaving the toilet seat up - my husband doesn't do this, clearly he knows better but you get the picture all the little things that actually aren't that important but they cause us to get a little bit frustrated.
They are the little things that don't really matter as much as the problems going on around us.
This week I heard someone talking about what a bad year this year has been in terms of the uncertainty of political leadership, people's reactions to Brexit, concerns about America, children dying in places like Aleppo, bombs in Cairo ... the list could go on. The person then spoke about the hope we had in Jesus.
As I was thinking about our readings today the thought that kept coming back to me was Immanuel - God is with us. In our reading from Isaiah (7:10-16) we heard of Immanuel a special child coming amongst us.
In the gospel reading (Matthew 1:18-25) we heard of Joseph having a dream in which he was told to take Mary as his wife. In this dream he was also told that the child to be born would be Immanuel as prophesied by Isaiah.
Emmanuel means God is with us. When Isaiah prophesied about Jesus coming he was speaking to a group of people who were undergoing fear of being taken over and losing Jerusalem. Then in Matthew of course the people were living under Roman occupation.
People were scared, they lived in a time of uncertainty. To me, this is a big deal. In this situation the people were promised that something better was coming. Not only was there a special child coming but He was God with us, God amongst us. This is incredible. Into uncertainty and fear God was promising to be with people in a way that they didn't expect or know how to understand.
I want to fast forward to today. In our lives we know that God is amongst us, we know that we are called to be more like Him. Into situations of fear and uncertainty we know that God has come. We know that God has come amongst us and as we look at the situations in the world around us of fear and uncertainty we can pray that God will come amongst them.
In St.Marys there is a book for prayer requests by an icon. We pray the prayers people have left as we meet for morning prayer. This week I read one which asked for Jesus to come again because we really need Him.
We all really need Jesus, and our world really needs Jesus. We need to be praying for more of Him.
Advent is a time when we remember that Jesus has come amongst us and when we pray that He will come again. Advent is a time to pray for the light of Christ.
Can you imagine what it would be like if Jesus came again, what a difference it would make to the world. If the light of Christ shone into our world through us and through our lives ? The world desperately needs more of Jesus, we need the light that only He can bring.
I remember a Eucharist that used to be held for young people in the Diocese of Llandaff. It was a really great monthly service that moved around the Diocese. In the service a projector screen was used amongst disco lights and bubbles. During the intercession time everything quietened down and a picture always came on that was particularly moving. This picture was of a pile of rubble, where there had clearly been a significant disaster and right in the middle there was a candle and this image has stayed with me. The image of light in the middle of all the darkness and decay.
When we look at the world around us, when we see despair around us, despair that may be in the lives of people we know we can pray - Come Lord Jesus and let your light shine in the darkness. A little candle can light up so much and Jesus can do this even more.
A few years ago we were at an informal service when all the lights were switched off. A little girl who was three said very loudly, 'Oh dear, I should have brought my torch - that would lighten things up!
God has come amongst us and He continues to be with us in every situation and where there is darkness, where there is fear, where there is uncertainty we can only pray that His light and presence will be known.
There is a modern hymn which describes this so well that I would like to read to you....
Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.
Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has pow'r to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed.
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.
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