1st Sunday of Advent (A)
November 27, 2022
Fr. John C. Garrett
As the days get darker and darker, and the nights longer and longer, we more and more recognize our great need for light. Light is life. We need light for every aspect of our being. We need light for our physical and emotional health. We also know we need light for our minds.
We need the light of God’s truth in our mind and God’s peace in our hearts. Without them we really don’t know have to live. That’s why, Scripture begins with light; “God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light. And God saw the light was good” (Genesis 1:3). It is the starting point of all of creation and all of creation depends upon it and follows from it. Life needs light. Without light there is not life.
Scripture teaches that God is both the author of light and he is our light. Jesus calls himself, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).
This weekend we are beginning a new message series, “Let There Be Light.” At each of the Sundays during Advent, our first reading will be from the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is known by many Scripture scholars as “the prince of prophets,” because both the breath and depth of his prophecy. He is also the prophet that most explicitly points to the coming of the Messiah.
Isaiah lived about 650 years before Christ. He lived at a very dark time in the history of Israel. The nation was divided, under attack from hostile neighbors, and economically crippled. Leadership was corrupt and self-serving, the culture amoral and increasingly godless.
All of this was especially tragic since God had specifically established Israel to be a light to the nations, in whose light they could come to know the truth. Far from showing others the way, they had lost their own way.
In the first chapter of the Book of Isaiah, the prophet lays out the dire condition of the nation, and names their many faults and failures. But then he points to a brighter future.
“In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the highest mountain and raised above the hills” (Isaiah 2:1-2a).
Isaiah spent time with God in prayer, so God allowed him to seen something that others could not see. He describes to Isaiah a brighter and better future that he wants to shape, and Isaiah shares this vision with the Israelites.
“All the nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say: ‘Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.’ For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2b-3).
Isaiah sees that one-day from Israel would come a great leader and king who will be a light for the nations because he brings the light of God’s truth: “He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (Isaiah 2:5).
Sounds good, but what does it mean and how do we do it? It means many things but I think there are two things that we can take away as we launch this season of Advent.
First of all, it means listening to the Lord, like Isaiah did and letting the light of his word, the light of his truth enlighten daily life.
So, for this Advent I want to encourage you to spend a little more time in prayer and in Scripture. If you usually do nothing, set aside 5 minutes a day. If you’re doing 5 minutes 10. Just between now and Christmas add 5 minutes of prayer or Scripture reading to your day.
The key to consistently making prayer happen is to pick a time and a place where you can read the daily reading take a moment to reflect on it, and make application for your day and whatever is going on in your day then end in prayer in which you simply talk to God. Reading God’s word helps us to understand our purpose and what this world is all about.
The second way to walk in the light of the Lord is by pursuing peace this Christmas, and maybe that means setting aside your swords this season.
God’s vision for the world is all about people coming together to learn from him while supporting and encouraging one another in that endeavor. But we can’t be encouraging others when we are fighting with them. Is there someone in your life that you are fighting with right now?
Maybe you’re both are at fault. You both have your swords drawn and so the question is
who will put down their sword first? It is usually the more mature person, the healthier person who makes the first move. Why not be that person this Christmas?
This world can often seem dark. The darkness can fill our minds and our hearts. But God’s invitation for us this holiday is to come out of the dark, and walk in his light. He invites us to walk in his ways his peace and truth.
There is no life without light but there is no light without God.