The Whole World Is Waiting

John 1:6-8, 19-28,

Advent 3, December 14, 2014

The incandescent bulb

was invented in the 1800’s

and the first commercial one was made in about 1880

Since that time, most of people can just walk a few feet

over to a wall and flip a switch and their will be light.

And when you go to some places at night now,

like Las Vegas, you wouldn't even know that it was dark out.

So until about a hundred years ago,

before the electric light was invented,

In other words, for most of the history of humanity

People had to burn oil or wax for light.

The fire was unreliable and dangerous

Darkness had much more control over people’s lives.

For most people, things stopped about every 12 hours,

sleepy or not, you couldn't do much work or go out.

Only the unsavory people would come out at night.

Darkness could be dangerous.

And especially in the middle of winter,

when the days were the shortest

The darkness was an oppressive presence in people’s lives.

Of course there was that literal hope for the warmer months

for more sunshine, and for the longer days to come,

But the hope for the light to overcome the darkness

is also a metaphor.

Darkness can mean many things:

sadness, injustice, disaster, illness, oppression,

The feeling that the bad is winning out

death, mourning, regret,

living in fear and dread, with a lack of hope.

All of those things can be darkness.

Our gospel today starts by saying:

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 

⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light,

The true light, which enlightens everyone,

was coming into the world.”

The light is a metaphor too.

In Advent, we are waiting together for that light to come.

We light a candle each week to remember that promise.

- We wait remembering the past, that time that Jesus

came to the world as an infant, and then again as an adult

to start his ministry as John the Baptist was preparing people for.

-We wait looking in the present, as we see slivers of Christ’s light

coming into our darkness today.

- And we wait together in future hope that Jesus will come again

and bring that light to our present day issues.

That day when the metaphorical darkness will be no more.

Waiting for the light is an important Christian theme.

But it’s not just a Christian/Christmas/Advent thing.

The world is waiting for the light too.

And I don’t just mean Christians in different countries.

And I don’t just mean that everyone is really

just waiting for Jesus but doesn't know it.

The desire for the light to come is not just for Christians.

Most religions have their own festivals of light

Advent is one of the many light waiting festivals.

But it’s not just a religious theme either.

People who will never walk into a place of worship.

People who have left the church and won’t come back.

People who don’t believe in any higher power at all and never will.

People for whom God has no relevance in their life.

Waitng for the Light
Ron Freese

They too are waiting for the light to come. 

People all around the world 

are waiting for change,

for things to be better than it is.

For people to not be in fear, or despair.

For oppression and violence to

be overcome by understanding and love.

We may not agree on what the cause of the darkness is,

or what kind of light we’re waiting for.

But the world is waiting for the light to come.

It’s what brings people together into the streets.

Like those people who gathered yesterday

and in the past few weeks in New York and Los Angeles

in Washington DC to protest the killings of

Michael Brown and Eric Garner and others

by police officers.

Or the people who came out into the streets

during the civil rights movement,

or to protest the Vietnam war, or in Eastern Europe in the 80’s

or in Greece, or in Egypt, or Tienanmen Square,

or Hong Kong, or India, or South Africa.

Whether you agree with any of these protests or not,

People come together because they

feel the darkness is too overwhelming to deal with alone

and they are waiting together for the light to come.

  

People leave their homes,

they travel hundreds of miles and

stand outside in the cold with crowds of strangers for hours.

Some would argue that it’s not always the most effective

way to get change in the world, but I think gatherings

like that are more than just a political strategy.

People come together like this to share in their desperation

over the darkness with one another

and to voice their longing for something better.

They come together to feel each others yearning for the light.

The same way that we find ourselves together

in church every week.

A little less intense, a little more sustainable over the long-term.

We too share our desperation about the darkness

and hope together for the light.

John made clear, he was not the light.

And that is what our job as the church of Christ can be.

We can testify to the light - we have the hope, the promise,

the confidence, the faith - that the light will come.

Even when it doesn't look like the darkness will relent.

Even if those people gathering are pushed aside

and forgotten, even if they never get what they want

or if they get what they want and it’s still not the answer.

We can tell all of them: Christians, lapsed Christians,

Jews, Hindus, skeptics, atheists alike:

Do not loose hope.

We know the end of the story.

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, is coming into the world.”

We can be absolutely certain of it.

The darkness will not win.

Until that time comes,

we wait together with the world

for the light to come.