The Dawn’s Early Light
Isaiah 9: 1-7
December 24, 2024 Christmas Eve
Isaiah says in chapter 9, verse 2: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the dark a light has dawned.”
Join me in repeating that verse – phrase by phrase.
The people walking in darkness
Have seen a great light.
On those living in the land of the dark
A light has dawned.
We walk in the dark. Or in more current imagery, we can say that we drive in the dark.
I remember twenty years ago when that literally happened to me. I was traveling to the home of my best friend, Allan Byrne.
My trip starts by taking the ferry that evening across Lake Michigan. I arrive in Manitowac, Wisconsin around ten o’clock p.m. I start from there to drive to Allan’s house in southern Wisconsin. I’m driving my 93 Chevy Cavalier station wagon with about 250,000 miles on the odometer.
I get through Milwaukee at about midnight. Soon I’m off the expressway and on the country roads. About fifteen miles from Allan’s house, I flip on my bright lights to see the road better. But instead of bright lights, I get no lights!
I flip the ‘brights’ off, but now there are no headlights. I slow down and start praying.
Soon, I turn off the county road to a side road. There are no more lights around. It’s just fields and forest. It is dark. It’s very dark. I can hardly see the road. I’m driving in the dark.
The people of Judah back in Isaiah’s day walk in darkness. They walk in darkness because of the rise of the nearby nation of Assyria. The people of Judah watch nation after nation being crushed under the Assyrian’s military might. Eventually the country of Israel, Judah’s Jewish twin to the north, falls to Assyria. It would be like Canada being conquered by the Russians. People in Judah become terrified. The dominoes of Assyrian conquest are being knocked down. They are next. Despair and darkness fall across the nation.
In addition, the people of Judah walk in darkness because they stepped away from the light of God. They stopped worshipping and following God. In fact, their King, King Ahaz, sacrifices one of his own sons on an altar, a practice Ahaz picked up from the pagan culture around him.
The king and the people of Judah walk in darkness.
We walk in the dark today as well.
We walk in the dark as we walk away from the light of God’s way. We choose fear instead of trust. We choose judging rather than loving. We choose worry instead of faith.
We experience darkness because we walk away from the light of God’s presence and God’s way.
In addition, we experience darkness in circumstances that are forced upon us. Judah was forced to deal with the Assyrian military menace. We’re forced to deal with the darkness of declining health for ourselves and our loved ones; the darkness of tense family relationships; the darkness of depression; darkness of grieving family members who have passed away; and the darkness of family members not able to come home for Christmas.
Repeat after me that scripture:
“The people walking in darkness/
have seen a great light;/
on those living in the land of the dark/
a light has dawned.”
The Scripture reminds of my early morning habit. Many mornings I start by walking across the street to my neighbor’s beach. My kayak lies there on the sand. I get in my kayak and paddle out into the lake. There I watch the sky lighten in the east. Finally, I gaze at the bright sun shining over the tops of the trees. I turn my kayak around and paddle back home while observing the sun brighten the cottages and trees along the western shore.
The sun is soon to shine in Judah. King Ahaz fathers a son, Hezekiah. This son is a divine light for the people of Judah. When he becomes King, Hezekiah worships and follows the way of God. He brings religious reform and justice for the poor. Hezekiah stands up to the power of Assyria in the strength of the Lord.
Isaiah says: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the dark a light has dawned… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Six hundred years later the Jewish people were again walking in darkness. They had drifted away from the light of God’s presence and God’s way. They also experienced the darkness of the Roman rule.
Into their darkness, came a light.
The gospel writer John begins his story of Jesus by talking about this light.
“God sent a man named John, who came to tell about the light and to lead all people to have faith. John wasn’t that light. He came only to tell about the light. The true light that shines on everyone was coming into the world.”
Later in his book, John quotes Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world! Follow me and you won’t be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.”
A member of the Pentwater church where I once served shared with me a story of what it was like to be in the Old Country, in the Netherlands, back in 1944.
“It was the bleakest Christmas of all times, but it was also the Christmas I vividly remember most.
It had been almost five years since the German soldiers had fought their way across our country. They not only occupied the land, but plundered and destroyed everything. Cows, sheep and pigs were taken to Germany. Soon shipments of potatoes, vegetables and fruit followed. Then our fertile lands were inundated with salt water.
In 1944 when Christmas came around; trains, streetcars and buses had stopped running. Stores were closed because of lack of merchandise. We no longer had much to eat. Electricity, gas or coal to heat our homes was no longer available. Children had not attended school since September.
A local Protestant church organized a Christmas service for children only on the afternoon of December 24th. Hundreds of neighborhood children were invited. It was a cold and snowy day. We all had to walk some distance to get to the church.
Upon arrival I was immediately recruited to help seat the little children. I was already 14 and one of the older students. We seated the little ones in the front rows. We decided to have an older child sitting among them to guide them during the service.
We were all cold and shivering and huddled together to try to receive some warmth from the children next to us. The temperature inside the church was almost as cold as that on the outside.
Most of the children had a wool cap on their head or a scarf wrapped around them. Many no longer had any coats. Only a few children wore mittens. No one had any boots leaving our feet exposed to the wet snow.
We started by singing some Christmas carols. The music director told us to stand up and sing as loud as we could. We sang enthusiastically with the help of the music director who swung his arms wildly up and down.
After singing, the minister in his tattered black robe climbed the steps of the pulpit. He opened up his Bible. He said a short prayer and began to read the Christmas story.
It got darker and darker in the church as more and more snow began to cover up the windows. The minister could no longer see the writings in the Bible, but fortunately he knew the story by heart.
Then the minister pulled something out of his pocket. He said, “This is something special. I’ve saved this for many years. I wanted to use it for a special occasion.”
It was one small, single candle.
He said, “The church used to have boxes of candles, but this one is the only one left.”
The minister lit the candle. A cry of awe went up. Just this one, small candle lit up the faces of all the little children in the front rows. It even threw light to the farthest corners of the church.
The music director announced we would sing one more carol. This time we had to use our quietest voices. The carol was ‘Silent Night’. At this point the minister lost his composure. Tears were streaming down his face.”
This person I was listening to in Pentwater concluded her story by saying to me:
“This is one moment I’ll always remember: Seeing hundreds of cold, hungry children, their faces lit up by the light of one candle. All of us celebrating together the birth of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World.”
Repeat with me one more time:
“The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the dark
a light has dawned.”
