Enjoy one of the many great sermons by Sarah Hollar...
January 11, 2008
Five days ago on Tuesday evening, this congregation celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany. We did so in grand fashion. Our youngest members took on the role of sheep. The heavenly host was well represented by our angel choir. Three kings from the East intoned their lines with precision while looking resplendent in gold, red and green lame. No plastic Betsy-wetsy for us. This year, a live baby Jesus cooed and climbed about the manger. T he pageant was a success, but the high spirits didn’t end there. Processing from the church, we gathered around two small metal fire pits in the courtyard and there, more or less ceremoniously, we laid fir branches from our wreaths and Christmas trees onto the dancing flames. One branch, two branches, 25 branches, half a wreath, a whole wreath, bag one, bag seven, the greens burned, the crowd stood transfixed. The sky was dark, the air was damp, children edged closer and closer. Cheeks got warm and red. Warnings were ignored. Everyone watched and watched and watched a bunch of burning branches. That’s all that was going on. That was the full extent of the action around the fire pits. Flames, light, sparks and no one walked away. Good food, dry surroundings, cold beverages waited in the Parish Hall. No one moved to fix a plate until the last green turned crisp and the flame went out.
What was the appeal? What captured our attention so completely? Perhaps the answer is found in our first reading this morning. From the very first words of our Holy Scripture, from the very first description of our God, we learn, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and a darkness covered the face of the deep emptiness. Then God said, ‘Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.’” Before there was the beginning, there was God. Before there was time or air or thought or concept or nothingness, there was God. And when God began the beginning, when God began the creation process, the first thing he called into existence was light. “Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.” The originating creative impulse was good and perfect and it was the light. From the light all life followed. The light was the necessary first step. Heat and energy and chemical reaction came out of the light. Cell division, photosynthesis, more and more complex systems developed from the light. Finally the most complicated organism of all came into being. And humankind depended on the light and appreciated the light and like the Creator, understood that the light was good.
Perhaps we stood transfixed around the burning branches in the cool night outside the church doors because the moving flames struck a primeval chord deep within our souls. Perhaps we recognized God’s first gift of light as a singular life giving, life sustaining necessity. The light called into being the first day of creation keeps us safe from the frights of the night. That first light illuminates our way in this world. It shines through the deep forest and into the dark corners. The first light keeps us warm and provides us fire to cook our food to keep us strong. The first light gave us fire that calls us together on a cool evening to feel connected to one another and to tell and remember the stories of our creation and the epic of God’s love for us.
God’s first light brought us life and the potential for an idealistic existence. But as strong and as enduring as that originating light was, it was no match for the misguided focus of our free will. The light continued to sustain life, but we turned our backs on paradise and the world grew dimmer. So, God called forth a second light. To overcome the darkness of our disobedience, God sent, “the light of the world.” Into the midst of human history, God set down a light for all future generations. In the form of a human male, God gave us the emanating light of his Son. In so small and fragile a vessel came a blinding brightness, a dazzling display of complete goodness. In a brief lifespan, God’s second light created an earth-changing chain reaction. Jesus Christ brought ideas and illumination new to the world. He changed the course of human history forever. Think of the dark ignorance he dispelled. Consider just three of his teachings. Before his baptism in the Jordan River, the event that initiated his public ministry, the people of the world believed that illness and infirmity was punishment from God for misdeeds. The world dismissed and distained sick people as sinners and gave them no comfort or solace. Their pain was a sign of God’s judgment. The weak in body wondered what they had done to deserve God’s obvious displeasure. Along with illness and affliction, the sick had to endure guilt and social isolation. But, the “light of the world,” the light of enlightenment told the disciples and word spread that the man born blind had not sinned nor was he carrying the judgment of a vengeful God for the sins of his parents. And the dimness lifted.
Before the teachings of Jesus, the world saw sin as a once for all time condition. One misstep consigned one to the outer limits. One fall put one outside the community. Repugnance was valued over compassion. But the light said there is possibility and goodness in second chances. Return, reunion, recommitment can be celebrated. Bad choices and failings do not have to be the final answer. He said to her accusers, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” To the woman caught in adultery, he said, go on your way, return to your life, do not let your past define you. Go and sin no more. Jesus taught the world the power of forgiveness and the potential in new beginnings. And the dimness lifted.
Before the Sermon on the Mount, before the parables of the rich young man and the foolish bridesmaids, the world thought that success and wealth were the signs of God’s favor. People believed good fortune was proof of righteous living. They believed when God rewarded folk with abundance, they were above reproach. Blessings were their due and they could remain aloof and apart from the less fortunate. They could ignore the poor. But then God’s great light said, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” And a new paradigm was born. Fortune and success comes with communal responsibility. God blesses and bestows. But when God gives abundance it comes with the expectation that the bounty will be shared. The downtrodden, the backward, those with less will not be forgotten by God. Jesus taught, God looks after them by sending you! And the world had an epiphany and the dimness lifted.
For eons and eons, the sun of God burned bright. For three short years, the Son of God brought the world new light, new understanding, new hope and new possibilities. In the end, the world took his life, but it could not extinguish his light. His influence and illumination grew and burned brighter and brighter throughout the earth.
The wattage of the Son’s message increased because at his return to the Father, God sent the third and final light into the world. The Epiphany, the Light of the world was replaced by the flames of Pentecost. As Christ leaves this world, the Holy Spirit descends and touches all believers. Fire is lit within us. Fire and light, flame and passion are ignited. Purpose that can sear and transform emanates from our very souls. We are God’s lighted legacy. We are the glow and glimmer that can turn this broken world back to its original course. We can right its orbit and return to paradise.
There are over 6 billion potential lights on this planet. That’s a lot of candle power. That’s a lot of energy. Good minds, good hearts, good imaginations, good values, abiding love of God all harnessed together, my, my, my, what the world could be.
God gave us the 1st light in creation.
God gave us the 2nd light in Christ Jesus.
God gave us the 3rd light in the Holy Spirit.
Surely that’s enough brightness for us to see the way home. Surely that’s enough illumination for us to help others get there, too.
“Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.”
God made you a light. Let God see that your light is good. Go shine in the dark corners of this world. Go, use the mighty spark of Holy Spirit energy burning in you to lift the dimness of this earth. Go, burn bright and steady. The world must have light and we are God’s new source. May we be a beacon every day of our lives.
Amen.
