I recently listened to a fun podcast called Judge John Hodgman where the actor (the Microsoft guy in the Apple commercials) settles disputes between real people in a comedic way. In this particular case, a man and wife were in disagreement about Christmas decorations. The wife wanted to decorate at the beginning of Advent, while the husband wanted to wait until Christmas Eve. The husband, a Catholic by conversion, wanted to follow the liturgical practice of keeping Advent a dark and penitential time. Judge John Hodgman was ignorant to this practice, as are most people. However, for the bulk of Christian history Advent has been a time to reflect more on the darkness in the world and our need for a Savior. If you look at most of the lectionary texts for Advent then you will find that the New Testament texts are about the end of the world and/or the second coming of Christ. Traditionally, people did not put up lights or decorations until the end of Advent. in the same way that we don't say hallelujah during Lent until Easter morning, Christians would not celebrate the light of Christmas until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Christmas decorations would then stay up through the Christmas season and often through Epiphany.
This got me thinking about whether we reflect enough about the darkness in the world. We live in an electric world filled with streetlights, light pollution, and even the glow of our cell phone chargers in our bedrooms at night. We do not know true darkness. With the advances of human ingenuity, industry, and technology there seems to be no problem that we believe is unsolvable. No darkness that cannot be lit by our own efforts.
The darkness we refer to during Advent is one that cannot be overcome by our efforts. That darkness is what we may hide from the public eye. It is the depression, the loneliness, the fears, the hatreds, the emptiness, the insecurity, the grief, the pain, the traumas, and all those things we have yet faced. This is the place that overwhelms us, chases us, torments us, drives us, controls us, and threatens us. It is the place that many deny and most hide. It's what we'd rather point out in someone else than face in ourselves. Left to ourselves we are all lost in darkness.
The world is covered in darkness. Our efforts will not change that. Even our efforts in the name of our gods do not change that, and sometimes they even bring more darkness. Advent is a time to to be honest about how lost we really are and our deep need for light beyond ourselves.
The light of Christmas is much more powerful when we've come face to face with this darkness. The light of Christ is one that comes to us, not through efforts, but as a gift. It has not removed darkness from the world, or even completely from our hearts, but it shows us that darkness has no power over light. We are given the light we need to live in the midst of the darkness, to challenge it, to face it and name it. The light is not ours and cannot be manipulated. Nothing can or will be hidden from it. The good news is that the light is infused with Grace. We are not judged for the absent of light in our hearts but are rather redeemed and the light sets to work overcoming and transforming those places of darkness into light.
This is why my favorite part of any Christmas Eve service is when we turn all the lights off and then slowly, by the spreading of the light from the Christ candle, lighten up the sanctuary one candle at a time until every members face is lit up. The light shines in the darkness but the dark does not overcome it.
