In-Breaking Light

In Romans 13:11-12, we read: Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light…

This passage from Romans is one that is often read in churches across the world this time of year. It is a common lectionary passage for Advent.

I love this imagery… the night is far gone, the day is near. There are echoes of Easter morning… It’s almost daybreak… You can just about sense the new life bursting through the cold winter crust of the old world. There is an anticipation of the coming of Christ.

It’s also interesting that this passage is always paired with a reading from the prophet Isaiah – who gives us a vision of God’s kingdom coming in its fullest sense. Here we get this glimpse of God healing, restoring, and renewing all of creation. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid… the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord…They will not hurt or destroy on my holy mountain. (Isa 11:1-10)

When the first Christians read back over this passages in Isaiah, it dawned on them: this is the kingdom of which Jesus spoke. This is the Kingdom Jesus said is coming…

For Paul, and for these first Christians, there was the belief, and the hope, that Christ would return, and that when that happened, the kingdom of God would then come in its fullest sense. They believed that what God began in Christ began on that first Christmas morning, God would one day bring to completion. And while this kingdom is not here in its fullest yet, it is in-breaking. There are glimpses – even now.

At times it almost seems as though we humans are hardwired to notice the bad. Our brains latch on to potential dangers. Fear and anxiety are prevalent. The news media doesn’t help. They know what sells. But truly we don’t have to look far to see the people and places where God’s Spirit is alive and at work.

As we move through this Holy Season, I invite you to tune your eyes, and look around you to notice this in-breaking kingdom. Allow the beauty and good of the world to sink deep into your own soul. And give praise.

Let us pray: Gracious God, we thank you for the promise of Christmas: that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it. Give us eyes to see, and hearts to respond; through Jesus our Savior. Amen.