Luke 2:1-20
Dec 25, 09
Patrick Preheim
Joyful is the Dark
Shepherds were out
keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to
them. I wonder, would the shepherds in Bethlehem have seen the angel of the Lord
had there been pervasive light pollution from Jerusalem as is currently the
case? Would magi from the east—Bangkok, Beijing, or Calcutta—even have spotted a
new star with the eternal sunshine of these urban centers? Darkness and night
play a significant role in our Christmas stories. In general, I think the dark
and night have gotten bad reviews through the centuries. Too much of our
religious imagery equate night and darkness with fear, sin, or worse yet evil.
We need darkness. We need the night. God has ordained night time for our rest.
God uses darkness to hide innocents who flee oppression. God has used the
contrast of light and dark to guide people. My Christmas morning sermon this
year is a reclaiming of the dark. And the most appropriate ambiance for these
reflections is undoubtedly a darkened sanctuary, so I ask one of the ushers to
put down the house lights. Thank you. Now if you find yourself becoming sleepy
and drifting off I will not be upset. It probably means you need the sleep worse
than you need to listen to me.
Biologically, we need the dark to sleep well and the truth is we don’t have as
much dark as we once did. An intriguing article on darkness and light appeared
in the November, 2008 edition of National Geographic. Verlyn Klinkenborg noted
that nocturnal hunters such as fruit bats, opossums, and badgers forage more
cautiously in night skies bathed with city lights. He mentioned that nesting sea
turtles, which prefer dark beaches, are finding fewer and fewer shores on which
to lay their eggs. He wrote about the ways in which artificial lighting has
indirectly killed millions of migrating birds. Some birds time their departure
by the length of day, which in habitat awash in artificial light, has brought
them to their feeding grounds too early. In other cases the migrating birds lose
sight of the stars that act as their navigational compass. Klinkenborg then
turned his reflections to the human species.
like most other creatures we do need darkness. Darkness is as essential to our
biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself. The regular
oscillation of waking and sleep in our lives—one of our circadian rhythms—is
nothing less than a biological expression of the regular oscillation of light on
Earth. So fundamental are these rhythms to our being that altering them is like
altering gravity...for humans, too, light pollution may take a biological toll.
At least one new study has suggested a direct correlation between higher rates
of breast cancer in women and the night-time brightness of their neighbourhoods.
In the end, humans are no less trapped by light pollution than the frogs in a
pond near a brightly lit highway. Living in a glare of our own making, we have
cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural patrimony—the light of the
stars and the rhythms of day and night. In a very real sense, light pollution
causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale
of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with
the Milky Way...arching overhead. (Verlyn Klinkenborg, “Light Pollution” in
National Geographic, Nov 08)
Interestingly, Klinkenborg concludes his more environmental essay on a
philosophical note. There is light out there which helps us remember who we are,
reminds us where to go, suggests how far to go. We just see it less well amidst
the light pollution. The guidance of the heavenly host is so much easier to see
in the dark. Take, for example, the lighted star. With the sanctuary lights on
it is my guess that very few of us even realized that the star half way up the
wall on stage right was emitting light. And the beauty of the Christmas tree is
certainly magnified in the dark. Throughout the biblical testimony God uses the
contrast of light and dark to guide and reassure people. Little signs would
simply be missed if it were not for the night and for darkness.
1. In fact, the biblical story begins in darkness with the spirit of God moving
over the face of the deep. Out of the dark and deep God brings light, but God
does not abolish the dark. Eternal dark is not good, but the divine response is
not eternal light. It is a separation of night and day. The day is for on-going
creation and for Sabbath; the night is for rest. It is true that the Revelation
of John foresees a time when there will be no night (Rev22:5), but until we find
ourselves in the New Jerusalem we live with the blessings of the night and the
day.
2. Night is time when God frequently reassures his people. In Gen 15.5 God takes
Abraham outside and reassures him that his descendants will be as numerous as
the stars. Presumably this happened at night. God reaffirms this promise in
22:17 and then to Isaac in 26:4. The linking of the stars with the divine
promise meant that every night Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca would be
reminded of God’s promise to their family. Not a bad mnemonic device. In
addition to the use of stars as a sign to reassure, God often comes to people in
dreams. We can not assume that all the divinely inspired drams happened at
night, but it would be safe to say that typically dreams do come in the night.
The rhythms of night and the dreams we have provide God another way to direct
and comfort people.
3. In addition to rest and divine communication, the night also plays a role in
pointing to the grandeur of God. In the Psalms (8 & 19 for example) the stars
and moon testify to a creator God who is much bigger than us. As Klinkenborg
noted, when beholding the night time sky we become more humble. John Navone has
written about this. Quoting him:
Darkness provides us with a therapeutic limit-experience, illuminating the
meagreness of human resources for experiencing, understanding and communicating
the divine. It reminds us that God alone has an adequate idea of who God is and
that even our most successful efforts at understanding God are inadequate. When
darkness induces modesty, humility, faith and trust, it leads to a communion
with God as God really is; it frees us from the self-deception of worshiping
gods of our own making. (in Advent: An Advent Sourcebook, edited by Thomas J.
O’Gorman, p.11)
4. A fourth way in which the dark contributes to the biblical narrative is
through the protection it allows God’s people. The night is used as cover for
fleeing refugees Listen to this list of God’s people who escape on account of
the dark: The Hebrews fled Egypt in the dark (Ex 14:19-20); two Hebrew spies
find refuge at Rahab the Harlot’s house in Jericho and escape town at night
(Josh 2:2); The Holy Family flees Bethlehem at night (Mt 2:14); the new convert
Paul escapes Damascus at night as other Christians lower him down the city wall
in a basket (Acts 9:25). The blessings of the dark allows God’s people refuge in
difficult times.
5. And finally we have the mystery of the sealed tomb in which Jesus lay. We are
not sure what happens in the dark of the tomb, but the result is resurrection.
Church leaders through the centuries have built upon the mystery of the tomb in
suggesting that we too are called into the darkness of our tombs so that we
might experience this kind of resurrection. We are called to die to our sense of
entitlement, feelings of revenge, the responsibility we place on ourselves and
embrace the cool darkness of the tomb. In the darkness God resurrects us.
Powerful imagery, isn’t it?
This point takes me a concluding reflection on recognizing the darkness, the
shadow that all of us carry. Franciscan spiritualist Robert Rohr has done a lot
with this topic in relation to the Enneagram. Rohr maintains that our virtues
and vices have a similar root. The same energy that enables some to read and
retain great amounts of information is also the same energy that keeps a person
locked in an ivory tower because they feel they do not yet know enough to speak
on an issues. The same energy that gives “Reformers” strong moral and ethical
capacity is also the energy that leads to a judgementalism which insists there
is only one right way to do things. Rohr would suggest that it is “the refusal
to encounter our sin in a constructive and redemptive way that results in
alienation from self, other, and God” (Frank J. Stalfa, Jr, “The Pastoral Care
of Sin: The Enneagram in Pastoral Care and Counseling” in (The Jouranal of
Pastoral Care, Spring 1994, Vol. 48, No 1). In those spiritual dimensions we
call dark—our sin, our vices, our shadow—there is something potentially holy. In
our darkness the spirit of God moves over the face of the deep. In our darkness
we are apt to see the signs, dreams, and other promises which God provides. In
the night time of our souls we look up to the Milky Way and recognize the
universe does not hinge on us. The dark moments which descend upon us, and are a
part of us, can be just the circumstances required to lead us from bondage into
freedom and from danger into safety. And it is in our darkness that God comes to
us offering resurrection. For this to happen, however, we must embrace the dark.
This Christmas day remember the dark, and celebrate it. The shepherds better see
the angelic host on account of the dark. The magi are able to follow the star of
Bethlehem on account of the dark. The Holy Family escapes to Egypt under cover
of the night. In this season let us approach the darkness of social injustices,
individual failings, and personal tragedy fully aware that God provides many
blessings in the night. Amen.
Patrick Preheim, co-pastor Nutana Park Mennonite Church
Benediction
O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true
Light: Grant that we, who have known darkness and light, be guided to new life
in your Christ. May we, in turn, aide others on their journey to the wonders of
Bethlehem, the safety of Egypt, and the resurrection of the tomb. Through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and
forever. Amen.