darkness

Jesus, Enter this Dark World again

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Massacre of the Innocents, ​Giotto, via Wikimedia Commons
 
Dear Jesus,

It’s a good thing you were born at night. 
This world sure seems dark. 
I have a good eye for silver linings. 
But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord. 
These children, Lord. 
Innocence violated. 
Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. 
Trigger-happy. Ticked off. 
We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. 
Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. 
But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. 
The shepherds were nightshift workers. 
The Wise Men followed a star. 
Your first cries were heard in the shadows. 
To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. 
It was dark. 
    Dark with Herod’s jealousy. 
    Dark with Roman oppression. 
    Dark with poverty. 
    Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. 
Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. 
You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. 
Won’t you enter ours? 
We are weary of bloodshed. 
We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. 
We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children

Max Lucado, 1955-, Texas pastor and author, written after the Sandy Hook shootings, 2012
source: Christian Post
 
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Matthew 2:16-18

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious,
    and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
    who were two years old and under, 
    in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
 
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
  “A voice is heard in Ramah,
      weeping and great mourning,
  Rachel weeping for her children
      and refusing to be comforted,
      because they are no more.”
 
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Where is a dark place in your world where Jesus needs to enter anew?

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Shine your Light through us

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Stained Glass Window via flickr CC BY 2.0​
 
O God, this Advent season is a time
   when your light radiates through the world.
Inasmuch as we can,
   let us be bright for you.

Shine your light through us
   as though we were pieces of stained-glass window.
Flow through us into others
   as the warm glow of colors seeps into a church.

Fill us with your light
   as though we were lighthouses on the shore.
Use us to guide others
   and to keep them from danger.

Set us aflame with your light
   as though we were candles, even candles in a storm.
Enable us to burn steadily with your fiery spirit
   and to push aside all forms of darkness.

Turn us on with your light
   as though we were Christmas bulbs
   all connected to one another.
Help us as a community of faith to celebrate
   the sparkling good news of your Son’s coming birth.

Be present with us, God, throughout the Advent season
   as we live and worship in our wait
for the One who is the world’s light.
   Amen

Glen Raisley
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Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
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How can you join with others in shining the Light of Jesus? 

help us walk with Joseph

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
The Dream of Saint Joseph, Champaigne, c.1642, The National Gallery UK
 
Help us to walk with Joseph
   into the darkness,
   the not knowing.
Having to marry the mystery
   before everything else.
Surrendering all claim
   to outcomes or knowledge of them,
committing to the love at hand,
   and it was enough.
The very undoing that confounded him
   was the love that found him.
The answer he sought was no answer,
   but only presence,
this woman who also could not be afraid,
this child who could not be revealed
   until after he said yes,
this God, who was not at the end of the journey
   but his companion on the journey
   and the dark road itself, Emmanuel.

We have to say yes
   before anything, don’t we?
Joseph, walk with me.

Steve Garnaas-Holmes, American Methodist pastor
unfoldinglight.net
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Matthew 1:20

But after he had considered this,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,
    because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”
 
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When has God brought you to a place that was unknown to you?  
Looking back, how did God shape you on the journey?

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bring Life and Peace to us

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
O King of the nations,
You are the headstone of the glorious hall of creation.
You are the firm mortar which holds the building together.
Throughout the earth people marvel at your works.
But now the building is being reduced to a ruin by greed and fear:
 
Reveal yourself to mankind, 
    show yourself as the ruler of the world,
    demonstrate the power of your love.
 
O just and faithful King,
    you can unlock the prison-house of sin,
    and let us out into the glorious freedom of love.
Now we sit in darkness,
    grieving over the wrongs we have committed.
We long for the sun,
    we yearn for the warmth and brightness of your truth.
Open the gate of this prison, and lead us to your kingdom,
    which is our true home.
 
Come now, high king of heaven.  
Come to us in flesh and bone.  
Bring life to us who are weary with misery.  
Bring peace to us who are overcome with weeping,
    whose cheeks are covered with bitter salt tears.  
Seek us out, who are lost in the darkness of depression.  
Do not forget us, but show mercy to us.  
Impart to us your everlasting joy,
    so that we, who are fashioned by your hands,
    may praise your glory.
 
Exeter Book, c.960,  codex of Old English poetry
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Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
 
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Where is God’s life and peace most needed in your community?
Pray that the power of Christ’s love would be revealed in this situation.

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Send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Savault Chapel, France, Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
 
Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness,
    send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do
    seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things
    look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways
    long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy
    seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people,
    walking in darkness,
    yet seeking the light.
To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”

Henri Nouwen 1932 – 1996 Dutch Catholic priest and author
source
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Isaiah 42:6, 16

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
    along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
    and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
    I will not forsake them.
 
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What is one way that you can prepare your heart this Advent season? 

Be with us in our darkness

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Journey of the Three Magi to Bethlehem, Leonaert Bramer, via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
We wait in the darkness,
expectantly, longingly, anxiously, thoughtfully.
 
The darkness is our friend.
 
In the darkness of the womb,
we have all been nurtured and protected.
 
In the darkness of the womb
the Christ-child was made ready for the journey into light.
 
It is only in the darkness
that we can see the splendour of the universe –
blankets of stars, the solitary glowings of the planets.
 
It was the darkness that allowed the Magi to find the star
that guided them to where the Christ-child lay.
 
In the darkness of the night,
desert people find relief from the cruel relentless heat of the sun.
 
In the blessed desert darkness
Mary and Joseph were able to flee with the infant Jesus
to safety in Egypt.
 
In the darkness of sleep,
we are soothed and restored, healed and renewed.
 
In the darkness of sleep, dreams rise up.
God spoke to Joseph and the wise men through dreams.
God is speaking still.
 
Sometimes in the solitude of the darkness
our fears and concerns, our hopes and visions
rise to the surface.
We come face to face with ourselves
and with the road that lies ahead of us.
And in that same darkness
we find companionship for the journey.
 
In that same darkness
we sometimes allow ourselves to wonder and worry
whether the human race is going to survive.
 
And then, in the darkness
we know that you are with us, O God,
yet still we await your coming.
 
In the darkness that contains both our hopelessness and our hope,
we watch for a sign of God’s hope.
 
For you are with us, O God,
in darkness and in light.
 
James Hawes, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand 
_____________________
 
 
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.
 
_____________________
 
Where is the darkest place that you have seen God move?
What did God do?

Waiting in the Wilderness

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
​Wilderness is the place of Moses,

    a place of no longer captive and not yet free,
    of letting go and learning new living.
Wilderness is the place of Elijah,
    a place of silence and loneliness,
    of awaiting the voice of God and finding clarity.
 Wilderness is the place of John,
    a place of repenting,
    of taking first steps on the path of peace.
Wilderness is the place of Jesus,
    a place of preparation,
    of getting ready for the reckless life of faith.

We thank you, God, for the wilderness.
Wilderness is our place.
As we wait for the land of promise,
    teach us the ways of new living,
    lead us to where we hear your word most clearly,
    renew us and clear out the wastelands of our lives,
    prepare us for life in the awareness of Christ’s coming
        when the desert will sing
        and the wilderness will blossom as the rose.

Francis Brienen, United Reformed Church, UK
The Complete Book of Christian Prayers

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Isaiah 40:3-5

A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

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Come Lord Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Lindisfarne Island, Chris Combe from York, UK, CC BY 2.0  Wikimedia Commons 
 
Come, Lord Jesus,
Come as King.
Rule in our hearts,
Come as love.
Rule in our minds,
Come as peace.
Rule in our actions,
Come as power.
Rule in our days,
Come as joy.
Rule in our darkness,
Come as light.
Rule in our bodies,
Come as health.
Rule in our labors,
Come as hope.
Thy Kingdom come
Among us.

David Adam 1936-2020 British Anglican priest, served at Lindisfarne
 
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The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.

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for those suffering the anguish of inner darkness

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

photo via pixabay CC0

 
Lord Jesus, 
as you bowed your head and died,
a great darkness covered the land.
 
We lay before you
the despair of all
who find life
without meaning or purpose,
who suffer the anguish
of inner darkness
that can only lead them 
to self-destruction and death.
 
Lord,
in your passion, you too
felt abandoned, isolated, derelict.
 
You are one
with all who suffer
pain and torment
of body and mind.
 
Be to them the light
that has never been mastered.
Pierce the darkness
which surrounds and engulfs them,
so that they may know
within themselves
acceptance, forgiveness, and peace.
 
We pray for those who,
through the suicide
of one close to them,
suffer the emptiness of loss
and the burden of untold guilt.
May they know
your gift of acceptance,
so that they may be freed
from self-reproach
and mutual recrimination,
and find in the pattern
of your dying and rising,
new understanding, and purpose
for their lives.
 
Neville Smith, retired Anglican priest and hospital chaplain
 
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The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all

seeing Easter through fresh eyes

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
The Women at the Sepulchre, Benjamin West, Brooklyn Museum
 
Lord,
as if the shock of Good Friday wasn’t enough for your closest followers…

We feel for those faithful women who went to visit you
just after sunrise on that Sunday morning,
and fled, trembling and bewildered and afraid.

You were not there.

Forgive us when we sanitise your death.
And forgive us, too, if we belittle your resurrection!

Please help us to see this most incredible of moments,
this greatest twist of any plot,
through fresh eyes,
on this bewildering, yet most joyful of mornings.

Help us to see it through the tear-filled eyes of those women.

Help us to see it through the disbelieving eyes of the men,
some of whom came running.

And help us to glimpse it through your own eyes,
which must have blinked into the early morning sunlight
of that first Easter Day,
from out of complete, and utter, darkness,
and refocused,
and creased, with a smile.

You are risen indeed.
 
 
Brian Draper, Christian writer in the UK 
 
_________________________________
 
 
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, 
    the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 
    but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 
While they were wondering about this, 
    suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 
In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, 
    but the men said to them, 
        “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 
          He is not here; he has risen! 
          Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 
           ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, 
             be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 
Then they remembered his words.
 

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