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I speak to you in the name of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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I'm sure most, if not all of you, are familiar with the song, this little light of mine.

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History is mostly unclear on the precise origin of the song, but what we do know is that it

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most likely began as an African American spiritual in the 1920s and rose to distinct prominence

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during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s.

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Now by no means is this particular song a revered advent anthem, or even one we think

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of around Advent or Christmastime.

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But reflecting on the Gospel passage appointed for today, I couldn't help but think back

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to my favorite verse of this classic, the one in which we exclaim, hide it under a

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bushel, no, I'm going to let it shine.

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Out of the gate in today's Gospel lesson, we learned that a man named John had been

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sent by God to testify to the light.

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The light in question here is easily applied to be Christ, yet to be born into the world.

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And if you read just one verse further in John, past the verse as appointed for today,

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we see in verse nine that the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into

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the world.

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This distinction becomes important when we read on to the latter portion of today's Gospel

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electionary, when John, questioned by priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem, very plainly

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states that he is not the Messiah.

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Instead, John would go on to become the very first disciple to identify Jesus as the Son

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of God.

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Much like the aforementioned spiritual, no one has come to a complete consensus on who

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the exact author of the Gospel of John is.

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It has, however, always been recognized as the latest of the four Gospels, written sometime

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between 90 and 110 AD.

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John's Gospel has also long been acknowledged as presenting a much more hostile picture of

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relations between Jesus and the Jews, or more specifically, the religious authority of the

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day.

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It is also now widely accepted that this state of affairs represents the circumstances of

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the Christian Church some years after his death and not of Jesus himself.

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Where a fickle bunch we humans are and the schisms that run us asunder aren't a modern

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novelty, I'm afraid.

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Looking past the historical aspect of John, however, when you really get into the theological

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weeds of this particular Gospel, you find that John, more than the others, paints a particular

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emphasis on the divinity of Christ.

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Scholars today even assert that since the second century, John has been collectively

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thought of as the spiritual Gospel.

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It seems fitting, then, that this Gospel that focuses so heavily on the divinity of Jesus

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would be one that prepares our hearts for the coming of Christ in just over a week's

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time.

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Advent, at its core, is an inherently penitential season on the Church calendar.

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Now, it's certainly not as stark as what we observed during the season of Lent, but

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this is a season of watching and waiting, apart from other festive and ordinary seasons.

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This can be a contentious topic among some in the Church, but it's not a big secret

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that the season asks us to prepare our hearts for the arrival of the Messiah.

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Even our colic for this Sunday entreats the Lord to come among us, and because we are

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sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver

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us.

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It can be hard for us to reconcile this contrast between acknowledging our sinfulness and waiting

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for our Savior in the midst of a consumer culture that markets all things feel good

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and festive.

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But that's what makes this message from John today all the more important.

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The light of the world is coming, and we only have a little bit longer to wait in order

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to receive it.

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One of my favorite aspects of the season of Advent is the comparison we sometimes draw

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between the first and second comings of Jesus.

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We cover this a fair amount more on the first Sunday of Advent, but it's still a theme that

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resonates so much with me as we make this journey together.

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Christ has already come to redeem the world, yes, but there is still no promise that the

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journey will be an easy or painless one.

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On the contrary, grief and pain can even seem more acute this time of year for some of us.

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Whether we find ourselves estranged from family or loved ones, or mourning the loss of someone

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we held so dearly, and spending the holiday apart from, these feelings of loss and sorrow

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don't always get easier with time.

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One thing that brings me hope among all the sorrow of this world is the promise that Jesus

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will return again to bring us that fundamental light once and for all, and establish a kingdom

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where there will be no more crying or pain.

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We read in John's Gospel today that John was the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness,

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make straight the way of the Lord.

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The promised babe, the Messiah, is not yet here, but he is coming.

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It's one reason why I love the tradition among some to withhold placing the baby Jesus from

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household nativity scenes until Christmas Eve, that symbolic gesture of waiting and

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preparing until Jesus descends from heaven to come among us and live and die as one of

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us.

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This promise upon his arrival wasn't one that offered us instantaneous lifetime of pleasure

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and happiness.

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No, on the contrary, it opens us up to the possibility of a lifetime of woe.

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We all find ourselves in the wilderness at times, as well, that voice crying out for salvation.

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I'm sure for civil rights marchers in the 50s and 60s who made this little light of

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minor rallying cry that the struggle probably felt hopeless.

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A wilderness they wondered if they would ever be delivered from.

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But the promise lies in the ultimate truth that this is not the end.

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I saw a quote this week on Instagram from Christian author Meredith Ann Miller describing

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the overall consumer's Christmas season we find ourselves in.

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The descriptions of Christmas can easily be substituted for advent in our own context.

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In it she says, Christmas is not here to offer a four week escape from the pain of the world

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with a paper thin layer of twinkle lights.

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It is not here to anesthesize us with bows and eggnog lattes.

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Christmas is not offering us the chance to escape the ache of life through piles of presents.

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Christmas is God saying, yes, this pain is too much.

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Yes, it's too sad.

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Yes, the ache is too great.

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Hang on, I'll come carry it with you.

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I think this perfectly encapsulates the promise God makes to us with the birth of Jesus.

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It makes John's call to make straight the way of the Lord all that more important.

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Jesus is on his way, friends, and from then on we will fret no more.

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We need now only to make room in our hearts for him.

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This wilderness we find ourselves in today might just last a lifetime, but it doesn't

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end there, and by the grace of God we certainly don't have to make that journey of all.

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One theme that stands out to me above all in Advent, over all the waiting and watching

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and preparing, is that light which Christ brings once he enters the world.

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Much like the well known saying that all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the

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light of a single candle, the light that Jesus brings us from his birth is one that will

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never go out.

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Once he came to live and walk among us, he delivered a promise that not even the darkness

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of death can overcome the light he brings, and this is the good news.

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Jesus hasn't come just to bring light to the world, but also to bring light to each and

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every one of us individually.

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All we have to do is be a willing vessel to carry that light everywhere we go.

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The author, Elar Nost, was quoted as saying, don't be dismayed by the brokenness of the

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world.

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All things break and all things can be mended, not with time as they say, but with intention.

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So go, love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.

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The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.

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We each have the capacity to carry this light within us, just as Jesus promises to carry

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the weight of our burdens alongside us.

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We don't have to do any of this alone.

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Beloved Jesus is coming soon, so make straight the way of the Lord in your own lives, for

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yourselves and all those you may encounter outside these four walls.

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This wilderness we find ourselves in today seems increasingly dark by the day.

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I don't have to stand here and tell you to turn on a television or scroll a social media

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type on for that reality to set in.

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It's apparent enough to us as it is.

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But the best medicine to combat the darkness of the world is the light that John first

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testified to all those years ago.

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It's a light that can be so radiant that all those encounter it will want to know the source

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of it.

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Jesus is, after all, the light of the world.

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All we have to do is say yes to it.

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Will you hide it under a bushel?

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No.

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I hope and pray you will let it shine.

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Amen.