Looking At The Darkness

A Reflection on the Psalm for December 15th, 2019:
​Third Sunday of Advent

Psalm 146

R. Lord, come and save us.

Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. R.

The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. R.

The LORD watches over the sojourners, he upholds the widow and the fatherless; but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. R.

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I like Christmas as much as the next person. There is a lot to like about it: time with family and friends, good food, time off, and all kinds of celebration. And, of course, there is much to celebrate – the Light of the World came into the world to light up the darkness and the world was never the same. When I was young my grandmother always included a birthday cake for Jesus as a part of her Christmas dinner — a fun way to remember the reason for all of our celebrations. At the same time, Christmas can be a really difficult time. It can come with a lot of unmet expectations, disappointment, and emotional baggage. In the frantic, frazzled, over-scheduled reality that we often find ourselves in, Christmas can seem like more of an obligation and a distraction than a celebration. And so, sure, I like Christmas. But I love Advent. 

In the weeks leading up to Christmas the church tells us to wait. It’s not Christmas yet. There are no twinkling lights, no jolly hymns, and not a tree in sight. Come December 25 we will celebrate, but first we will spend a good long time looking at the darkness – with bare altars, mournful hymns, and empty mangers. We remember the state of the world before Jesus, the Light of the World, entered the darkness. And it is an acknowledgement that things are still not right, that we still desperately need a savior. This psalm says “Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God.” And it’s true. But I think the message of Christmas is only really hopeful if the truth of the sadness is acknowledged. I think that’s why Christmas without Advent falls flat for me. 

"We remember the state of the world before Jesus, the Light of the World, entered the darkness. And it is an acknowledgement that things are still not right, that we still desperately need a savior."

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Advent invites us to look directly into the darkness; to see the pain in our hearts, in our lives, and in our world for what it is, and to remember that our story doesn’t end in pain. God sees our difficulties and knows our pain. He loved us so much He chose to enter into our mess as Jesus, “Emmanuel”, which literally means “God with us”. As one of my favourite writers, Kate Bowler, writes, “Advent is preparation for the great inversion: God coming to Earth in the form of a human baby; the ruler of the cosmos trapped in a squalling package of helpless flesh.” What a plot twist for the long-awaited mighty saviour! Yes, life can be unspeakably terrible and incredibly hard. That is true. And yet, as Christians we believe that little baby turned the world upside down in the most surprising way. We believe that in the end the Light will triumph over the darkness. We believe that God has been making, is making, and will continue to make all things new.  ​


​Morgan MacKenzie

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