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You never know just what is going to drive home the point of a scripture lesson; this week it was skunks.

A Well-Lighted Path - Isaiah 2: 1-5; Matthew 24: 36-44 - November 28, 2010 - Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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You never know just what is going to drive home the point of a scripture lesson; this

week it was skunks. Let me explain. Most every night I am here at the church until after dark. Then I walk across the parking lot, open the fence door, and walk across my back lawn. It is usually pitch black, until I get close to the sensor light, which comes on when I am just about at the door. This walk in the dark is no problem, since there is never anything to trip over or worry about. Or so we thought.

One night last week, Sharon made that walk, and came in the house wide-eyed and upset. It seemed that there in the dark she saw what appeared to be a white paper in the yard, and she went to pick it up. She discovered that it was not a paper at all- but was, instead, a skunk - just a few feet away from her, and just as startled as she was. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess that when Sharon shared that with me, the first response from the sinful part of my nature was, 'I wish I had been there to see that.' But immediately the righteous part of my nature kicked in to say that was wrong. In the next couple days we found that there were two skunks digging around in our yard. Alas, one of them was not fast enough crossing Route 11; Sharon assures
me she had nothing to do with that. And we haven't seen the other one since either.

But that walk in the dark has become a little more meaningful now, in a somewhat
scary way. You look around more. And the sudden bathing in light has become somewhat more appreciated. And I've found that that experience of walking through the darkness, waiting for the light, is not a bad image to carry into the Advent season.

In fact, the Advent/Christmas readings are rich with imagery about light and darkness. Here's one of my favorites, from Isaiah 9: 'The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in the land of deep darkness - on them light has shined.' It is a wonderful image for faith, because we are all so familiar with the difference between darkness and light. For a child trying to go to sleep at night, a dark room can be filled with frightening creatures and Bogeymen. A night light puts those creatures to rest. Darkness around a campsite can fill the surroundings with amplified sounds and uncertainty. The light of a good flashlight can tame the forest.

Great biblical writers like Isaiah want us to understand that that is the difference faith
makes. Faith is the light that tames the darkness, and dispels uncertainty and fear. And the Advent season - the four weeks before Christmas, is when we read together some of the great texts about holding on to faith. Our Old Testament lesson for this morning is one of them.

Isaiah 2: 1-5 is God's response to a devastating time of darkness. The nature of this
dark time is described throughout this part of the book of Isaiah, but one of the most pointed descriptions is in Isaiah 1: 21-23:. 'How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged within her - but now murderers! Your silver has become dross, your wine is mixed with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe, and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan, and the widow's cause does not come before them.'  Violence. Injustice. Selfishness. Economic failure. Governmental corruption. Neglect of the poor. These are the skunks in the darkness in Isaiah's day. We know, painfully, that he could have been talking about today. He could have been talking about any day - the way human beings choose to live; the things we do to each other. The Bible calls it sin, and it seems to be written into the story of every age of history - every human
venture. Darkness seems to rule the human life - we are always walking in the dark.

Yet the prophet believes in light. He writes about a place of righteousness; about a time of justice; about a king of wisdom and fairness; and about a day when weapons of war will be turned into instruments of nurture and peace. He boldly claims that human initiative cannot bring salvation. But there is something at work in the world that is much deeper than human initiative - it is the divine purpose of God. It is a beautiful vision that offers hope and salvation. It's as if Isaiah is saying, 'Don't base your life only on what you can see - all the disappointment and fear in the world. Base your life on what God is saying in your heart - that this is not the last of it. This is not the way it must be. This is not where the power is. There is another way to live - another vision of what can be. And in the middle of that darkness, Isaiah had the courage to call his people to another way: 'O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.'

In the same way, the writer of the Gospel of Matthew wrote to people whose faith was greatly tested, and reminded them of Jesus' words of a coming day. Now there is distress and pain; that is what you can see and know of life. But 'be ready,' said Jesus. 'For the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.' There is much darkness in the world; but the people of God are people of hope. And there is a well-lighted path that we can walk - a path of faith that dares to proclaim that God's promises are still faithful - God will bring peace and salvation into this torn-up world.

We are invited, all the time, to put our faith into other things - into government. Or
into the economic system, or the justice system, or the military system, or the educational system, the religious system - the list of systems could probably go on. And all of them accomplish some good things. But all of them fall far short of solving the deep, deep problems of human life. I am always amazed any time some philosopher or scientist or other writer comes out with a book that makes the claim that we don't need God. Human beings, just left on their own, will muster the intellect and the kindness and the morality to solve all the world's problems. What universe do those writers live in? I believe there is a lot of goodness in people, and maybe some progress in the course of human history. But I don't have many delusions that somehow, short of an act of God, wars will cease on this earth; or prejudice will disappear; or the rich will
finally share what they have greedily accumulated. Human sinfulness is too deeply entrenched to be overcome by mere good intentions, short of an act of God.

But that's just it; God has acted. Prophets like Isaiah foresaw a day when the nations would say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ... that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.' Our ways, our paths aren't working so well. But the Lord 'shall judge between nations and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.' And maybe even their drone bombers into tractors, and their nuclear warheads into children's toys. And our faith teaches us that the great visions of those Old Testament prophets came into fruition in another amazing act of God - the coming of Jesus into the world; and the day of salvation. We believe that Jesus was the Son of God, and set into action a relentless power of love in this world - the love he showed most profoundly on the cross. And
even though the evidence of it is hard to pick out sometimes - maybe even most times - somehow love will light our path, and the day of the Lord will come in glory.

And we decide, each one of us, whether we will be children of light or children of darkness. Make no mistake about it, the path of darkness can seem like the easier path. Why not play the game, and be part of the not-quite-honest business deal, or the not-too-friendly traffic, or the not-quite kosher jokes, or the not-too-careful consumerism? Why be concerned about the planet, or the person on the street, or the youth in the city, or the refugee somewhere thousands of miles away?

The Advent season holds up an answer to those questions. We care because this world can be different. We care because God hears the cries in the darkness, and promises that a new day can come. We care because a child was born, and a Savior arrived to live out the power of love. In short, we care because God cares.

In the next four weeks, we will light Advent candles that represent, among other things, four great ideas - joy, hope, peace, and love. Perhaps that can be more than just a pretty act. Perhaps, with the help of God, every person here can find a way to embody those great values. Be the person who brings joy to somebody; be the person who plants a hopeful seed; be the person who does a peaceful act, or a loving deed that brings just a little light in the darkness.

Small things, perhaps. But God uses every small offering, I'm convinced, to transform the world. Our church represents that - where we pledge together our gifts, our presence, our prayers, our service, our witness - because God uses us all together to do amazing things. And I believe that by the power of Jesus and his love, personified in millions of small acts of grace - a new day will come. Beautiful light will fall on the path. God's peace will reign. I believe it begins again right now. In you. In me. Come....let us walk in the light of the Lord.