Lord of Life Lutheran Church (Today’s sermon was delivered by guest pastor Tom Smith — this is a summary)
Some of God’s best work is done in darkness. This Advent Sunday is a Sunday of Hope (we light the first advent candle). But before we see the light of the first candle, things are pretty dark. There’s a lot of darkness in this world: the economy, the political state of things with peoples’ attitudes toward one another, and on and on. But in the midst of our darkness, God brings light and does some of his best work.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, there was darkness, but God’s Spirit moved over the waters in creation. The promise made to Abraham about his descendants was made at night (in darkness) when God asked him to count the stars. And when the shepherds were given the news of Jesus’s birth, it was at night. The tomb of Jesus was indeed dark … but light bursts forth on Easter morning.
In the midst of darkness, there are many things we can do to lighten our spirits: take a vacation, have a party, renovate the house. But those things are often ephemeral and temporary, we are left again feeling empty. God brings to us true light and hope, which comes in the midst of darkness. Fear not friends; for if you find yourself in darkness, know that God does his best work there. We will pray for you and pray that the light of Jesus will touch your life. Amen