Let there be light (April 2, 2010 - 7:00 p.m.)
By Rev. Steve Bagnall

“In the beginning . . . God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.” God’s first creative word was, “Let there be light.” The created light was a physical manifestation of God’s glory and goodness. The light guided and informed the body as God’s goodness informed the soul of the perfect Adam and Eve.

In the dark, the eye can be fooled; shadows seem real while real things blend into the darkness, lurking, awaiting the opportunity to stub a toe or bump a head. The darkness hides the truth and evildoers hide their crimes in darkness, so that no one may see.

But when light shines in the darkness, the darkness is dispelled and the truth is revealed. The shadowy monster in the corner is revealed to be a jacket on a chair, and the doorstop that threatened to cause such pain is now easily avoided.

The same things can be said of spiritual light. When Adam and Eve sinned the world was plunged into a deep spiritual dark; the sin they committed, the sin we inherit, was like an eclipsing moon, blotting out the life-giving and enlightening sun of God’s righteousness. Even the best of people was a sinner; even the best of days included someone’s death.

Darkness descended completely. God’s prophet, Isaiah describes our darkness:
Justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
. . .
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And as for our iniquities, we know them.

The darkness threatens to swallow us up. Wherever we turn, there’s suffering, the child of divorce, the widow, the soldier overseas at Easter and his family left home alone and worried. Cancer and heart disease and depression and pain, unemployment and loneliness, sorrow and fear, crime, anger, hatred, punishment, death – darkness surrounds us.

And worst of all, our own sin. To the world we can keep up the good face, hiding our dark underbelly, but we cannot fool ourselves. “Our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them.” We hide our dark sins from the world, our anger and greed. The pastor doesn’t hear me curse, but I do. My neighbors don’t know how shamefully I treat my children, but I know. My parents don’t know about my drinking at parties and messing around with my girlfriend, but I know it, and I know it’s wrong. Not even my spouse knows my darkest ideas, my most twisted thoughts. Sometimes I can hide my sin from myself, for a while, convincing myself that what I’m doing is not so wrong, but then along comes God’s Word, condemning my wrongdoing, calling it the dark and despicable thing it is – damnable sin.

The darkness has swallowed us up, or maybe we‘ve willingly swallowed the darkness. Either way we’re drowning in it. And we’re sinking into death, sinking to hell, sinking into utter, hopeless sin and spiritual blackness.

We found hope at Christmas. We recalled the words of light from God’s prophet: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2) Jesus is that light, the light of God’s only-begotten Son. God says of Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” God Himself has come among us to dispel the darkness of sin and death. His glory shone in miracles and the deaf could hear, the blind could see, the demon-possessed were freed and even the dead were restored. Light dawned and began to shine brighter and brighter. We expected the glorious light to spread until every benighted soul would receive it and be enlightened. The light shone bright and powerful as Jesus Christ rode His donkey into the holy city. “Let the kingdom of light begin,” we thought.

But now. Now is the night of darkness. Under cover of darkness the enemies came and bound the Prince of Light. In darkness they tried Him and with lies and threats they condemned Him. All creation has to acknowledge the tragedy. The sun is blotted out as the agents of spiritual darkness crowd in upon the Light of the world. The flame grows weaker and weaker still. It flickers. The Light of life wavers, and as the extinguished candles of our chancel symbolize, darkness returns. Death and darkness have delivered their final blow, and Jesus gave up His spirit.

Darkness reigns once again.

Or so it seems. But listen to the Word of God, the unbreakable, the solid and unshakeable word of the Holy One, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” The darkness cannot overcome it. Jesus has willingly entered the darkness because that’s where you and I and all His creation have chosen to dwell. We had sunk so deep within the hellish night that Jesus had to enter fully into it in order to pull us out into His light. He had to suffer and to die; He had to in order to rescue us.

When you see Jesus breathe His last don’t believe even for one second that this is His failure; that God’s Light has lost. This is His moment of truth. He is immersing Himself in your sin and mine, in the suffering caused and endured by every generation. He is becoming sin for us so that His bright and gleaming and immortal life can destroy it all.
Jesus suffers for your sin so that His glory can be yours. Tonight we watch our Savior enter the darkness of the grave. Yet we wait, remembering His promise, “On the third day I will rise again.” In Faith and hope we watch the stone rolled in place, and we wait patiently for the promise to be fulfilled, for the stone to roll away.

Brothers and sisters, even on this night of darkness, the light has not been overcome. Even on this night of darkness, all your sins are gone and forgiven, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen