“The Light of Righteousness and Justice”
Isaiah 9:2-7
Allen Huff
Jonesborough Presbyterian Church
Christmas Eve - 2023
2The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied exultation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Great will be his authority,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore. (NRSV)
Tibetan Buddhists like to say that a Dalai Lama is not chosen. He’s discovered. The elders watch, engage, and teach many boys. And when that one, extraordinary youngster begins to shine, begins to demonstrate the raw traits of a spiritual leader, he begins the long process of training and preparation.
For Tibetans, this child has been born for them. He’s been given to them. And while he is not yet spiritually mature, not yet a fulfillment, he has begun the work of adopting and being adopted by his new name, Dalai Lama, which means “Ocean of Compassion,” or “Ocean of Wisdom.”1
The ancient Hebrews, fumbling through the darkness of defeat and exile, are being told that a new light is shining on them. A child has been born for them, a son given to them. He will redeem and renew them. He will live into and will be known by new names: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
It seems that the great spiritual traditions of the world often have more in common than they do in the way of differences. And one of those commonalities has to do with the metaphor of childhood as a time of immediate, yet not-quite-fulfilled presence. Even the most gifted children, require attention, love, and patience. And we are called to steward these new lights, who represent God’s promise—not because God is dependent on us for whatever success may look like, but because in ways that are as mystical and mysterious as glorias from the heavens, and earthy as childbirth in a stable, we share in God’s ongoing work in and for the Creation.
Another common metaphor is light. And you and I, we’re kind of like candles. We don’t create fire or light, and we don’t last forever, but for a time, we do burn. We shine with a light that is given to us. That light is itself The Gift, the gift of God’s Shalom, which is God’s Peace, Wholeness, and Holiness. God’s great light in the world is the brightness of all our individual wicks burning, side-by-side with the virtues of justice and righteousness—that is of compassion and joy.
When burning with justice and righteousness, we work for peace and understanding between peoples, nations, and religions.
When burning with justice and righteousness, we advocate for fellow human beings who are suffering; and we leave to God all judgments regarding a given person’s worthiness.
When burning with justice and righteousness, we care for the earth, which is not a resource to be exploited, but a magnificent, personal re-presentation of the Creator, something given to us to steward gratefully in the present moment and with vision for the future. Indeed, in ancient Celtic Christianity, the Creation is considered the First Incarnation of God.
When burning with justice and righteousness, we become midwives in the Creation’s groaning and labor pains as it moves toward adoption and redemption.
No matter whom we follow, everything we do, every decision we make declares whom we love and whom we trust. When burning with the selfishness of the world’s Herods and Caesars, we’re not candles but the blazing funeral pyre of humankind’s brokenness. Being fed by Isaiah’s tramping boots and blood-soaked garments, that fire will, one day, burn out. For good.
When burning with “the zeal of the Lord of hosts,” however, our little flickers declare that we belong to God. So, our celebration of Christmas includes the re-discovery of our own selves as expressions of the incarnate Christ, whose coming we celebrate.
And this Jesus, the Christ, born of Mary, frees us from serving the Herods and Caesars of the world. He frees us from the absolutes that they seek to impose through invoking fear and igniting violence.
In Christ, we live over against the Herods and Caesars. So, while their power can burn with terrifying heat and fury, and while, at times, those things may even consume some part of us, Christ’s gracious authority burns and grows continually with the compassion, the wisdom, and the grace we call love. And Love heals. Love renews. Or, as Rob Bell says, “Love Wins.”
In his song “Go Light Your World,” Chris Rice sings:
There is a candle in every soul
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold.
There is a Spirit who brings a fire,
Ignites a candle and makes his home.
So carry your candle; run to the darkness.
Seek out the helpless, confused and torn.
Hold out your candle for all to see it;
Take your candle, and go light your world.
May your Christmas be more than merry. May it be transforming—for yourself and for others.
May your life be a constant discovery of the living Christ within you and within those around you.
And may you light the world with his justice, righteousness, compassion, and joy
1http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/04/how-the-dalai-lama-is-chosen/
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