Isaiah 2:1-5              1st Sunday in Advent, December 1, 2019               "Dark Times” 

Dark times call for a walk in the light. 

Imagine walking down a long hallway in an old building by yourself with the lights turned off. Even if you had walked that passageway in the day hundreds of times before, something about doing it in the dark would make the walk spooky. Corners look dangerous, as if some threat could be lurking out of sight. It’s creepy walking alone, in the dark, down a deserted hallway.  

Of course, the obvious solution is to turn on the lights. Walking down that hallway in the light would make all the difference. You could see that nothing was waiting to jump out and get you. Your heart would beat at a peaceful pace rather than speeding up with anxiety. 

Dark times call for a walk in the light. 

Ancient Judah, when Isaiah was doing his prophetic work, was walking in dark times. The once great nation of Israel, a powerful country under King David, had split in two – Israel to the north, Judah to the south. Israel – the northern kingdom – had fallen to foreign powers; the other half, Judah, was facing enemy forces that threatened to destroy them. 

Inside the country, things had grown dark. Sure, the priests and people were doing the sacrifices and religious work, but most of the people were far from God in their hearts. They did not trust the Lord, but were looking elsewhere for peace and security. They were selfish and greedy – money and possessions were far more important than looking out for the poor and needy as God had commanded. The courts could be bought, and it was easy to see most people preferred injustice when it benefited them. 

It’s no wonder then that Isaiah spoke harsh words to Judah. The country would soon fall under a foreign power and be ransacked because of their lack of trust in God, their disobedience to his Commandments, and their injustice to those who could not fend for themselves. 

Judah was going through dark times, and dark times call for walking in light. 

Are we walking in dark times? Sure. Not only are the days continuing to get shorter with less and less daylight but the times we’re in are dark. As a country, we are divided. We’re divided over politics. Every year around Thanksgiving there are articles shared on how to argue with your family about politics or various social issues. Instead of taking the time to be with family and being thankful, we’re encouraged to fight. And as soon as we’re done being thankful we trample over one another to get the best deals. We used to have to wait until Friday to do that. Now we do it on Thanksgiving – a time set apart to be thankful. 

Not many days go by when there isn’t another mass shooting, another stabbing in the streets. 
 
Dark times. 

Our faith, too, is attacked more and more each day. 1 in 9 Christians worldwide experience high levels of persecution. A study has said that the persecution of Christians is worse today than at any other time in history. A total of 50 countries are named among the worst places for persecution – North Korea and Afghanistan being the top two. Dark times. 

Yes, we live in dark times, and dark times call for walking in the light of the Lord. 

Isaiah called for the people of Judah to do that by looking ahead, looking to the latter days. Days will come, he says, when people will stream from all nations to worship the true God. The little hill where the temple stood in Jerusalem will become the greatest mountain of all. People will listen to the teachings of the Lord and do them. And there will be peace. Swords will become plows to provide food to eat. Weapons of war will become tools to feed the hungry. Isaiah’s message is simple: walk in the promise of this light of the Lord during those dark times. The latter days will come. 

And they did. The promise of latter days came true; days of light arrived a little over seven hundred years after Isaiah wrote these words. Those latter days began when Jesus, the light of the world, came down from heaven above. 

“Peace on earth,” the angels sang when Jesus was born. And then shepherds and wise men came to worship the newborn king. 

People streamed to listen to Jesus when he gave the Sermon on the Mount. 

He told Peter to put away the sword when the mob came to arrest him. 

And then there was time he entered the darkness for us. He went to the cross, and the world was plunged into darkness for hours. On that cross, Jesus took the greed and selfishness, the disobedience and injustice, the hatred and fighting, the jealousies and power plays. He took whatever causes the dark times in our lives, and he died for them. He was placed into that dark tomb with a stone rolled in front of it. Jesus, the light of the world, was surrounded by our darkness. 

But that tomb is now empty. The darkness was shattered on Easter morning. Jesus came walking out, and the promise of Isaiah was kept. The call to walk in the light of the Lord is simply the call to walk with Jesus. 

Can you see how Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promises about the latter days? Isaiah said people would stream from all nations to worship the true God, to listen to his Word, and to seek to do what he commands. Today people around the world worship Jesus. Pick a continent, and people attend Sunday services to listen to God’s Word. Bible studies are carried out in hundreds of different languages, and people want to follow the Lord’s commandments. 

Consider what a typical Sunday morning worship service is like. Africans, Asians, European, and hundreds of other ethnicities come to worship. There are married couples and singles, young children and retired folk, those who are well off and those who are struggling with a job. He sees longtime believers and people who have just been brought into the Church. Isaiah said all sorts of people would stream to the holy mountain to worship the Lord, and that is what happens throughout the world every Sunday in worship. 

But, of course, we are still waiting for Isaiah’s prophecy to come true in all its fullness. We are waiting for all nations to worship Jesus without persecution. We are waiting for swords to become plows. When will Isaiah’s prophecy be completely fulfilled? 

On the Last Day. On the day Jesus returns in all glory and power. On the day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord. A sound of a trumpet reminds me that we are still waiting and what we are waiting for. 

On the last Monday in May we mark Memorial Day. We remember those who gave their lives for our country. We remember those who took up the sword of war to protect us so we can eat the food on our tables in peace and safety. On the evening news, the ceremonies are covered and the sound that typically ends the story is that of a trumpet playing taps. Slowly, with respect and honor, the trumpet sounds, and we remember. 

One day another trumpet will sound. The end of the latter days we live in (Is 2:2) will be the Last Day, the final day of all history. On that day the trumpet will sound and death will be undone. Not taps, but reveille. Bodies will wake up from the grave. The final victory will be ours. All our enemies will be gone, and all nations will stream to God’s holy mountain in peace to worship him forever. 

But in the meantime, the dark times in which we live call for a walk in the light. So come and worship. Come and read his Word. Come and find peace for the depths of your soul when you hear of Jesus’ glorious resurrection. Yes, come to the light of Jesus Christ, because dark times call for a walk in the light of the Lord. Amen.