Thought for Today
Genesis 1:2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Psalm 18:28 It is you who light my lamp; the LORD, my God, lights up my darkness.
John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Our grandson sent me a text last night asking some very cogent questions about Ash Wednesday, the practice of putting ash on one’s forehead and fasting during Lent. He is away at college; at a university whose most famous alumnus is currently the Pope. Having my grandson use me as a resource truly does make all those hours spent in seminary studies seem well worth the effort.
Today is the first day of Lent. This morning, about 5:00am, our electric power suddenly stopped working. It was a surprise, because there are minimal winds, no storm, and the temperatures have been gradually warming and thawing much of the snow and ice. So far, we have heard no explanation for the outage.
Thankfully, the outage occurred at a most opportune time for us. The coffee had just finished perking; Greta had finished her shower; and, I had not yet started mine. We do have a standby generator and it is running. But, for the few (?) seconds it took for the generator to come online and power everything up, the darkness was fearsome.
Lent originated as a time to prepare candidates for baptism. Today, for most Christians, Lent is a period of penitence, contrition and of reflection. Lent and Lenten practices help us more fully understand Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and the glory of the Empty Tomb.
I don’t normally think much about power outages as being a Lenten practice. Most of us think about the ashes, about fasting or about foregoing some favorite food or practice as Lenten observances. But our current situation has focused my attention on this first day of Lent on all our modern conveniences and how dependent we have become on them. Right now, all of the light images in scripture have taken on even more significance in my mind.
Few of us modern, big-city folks have ever experienced true, complete darkness. I have been caught once in an elevator during a power outage. Not too long after we got our generator, I was in the shower when the power went out. Both times, for a few seconds, I experienced total, complete darkness. It was scary and disorienting.
Even if you have never experienced complete absence of light, you may sometimes feel like we live in a moral darkness. Some days, our world does seem darker than others. I’m sure that was the case when the author of the Gospel of John was setting down that first chapter.
This Lent, maybe a rereading of the first chapter of John is in order. I have always loved, “1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Lent is a wonderful period in which to think upon the “light of all people.” When the darkness of our times seems overwhelming, when we feel lost in that darkness, the shining light of Jesus, the salvific action of Jesus on the Cross and the glorious, bright, shining light of the Empty Tomb can illuminate even the darkest hours.
Paul was correct , especially in that second letter to the church in Corinth. “For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
The light shone out of darkness; the light continues to shine out of darkness; the darkness has not and will not overcome the light.
Stay safe, let the light shine in your life, trust God,
Pastor Ray