Let Us Walk in the Light of the Lord

"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord." (Isaiah 2:2-5)

This is why I love the Bible so much. It speaks to me personally, and at the same time it can speak to us corporately - whether that be as a local church, as a specific culture or nation, or even as all the peoples of the earth.

On a day when I woke up being conflicted within myself about some things at St. Ambrose (like, for example, how can we be so generous in some ways and so ungenerous in other ways?), on a day when there is still so much war and distrust and prejudice in the world... (Do you see the two levels? Conflict within me, war and torture in the world) ... on a day when both things are going on, I open up the lessons for the day and read, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord... that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths... He shall judge between nations... and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord."

One of the many themes of Advent is light. Light breaking through the darkness, a growing light (visualize the Advent wreath), the coming Light who will lead us into love... the Light "which enlightens everyone" (see John 1:9), the Light who came to earth and said two interesting things. 1) "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) And, 2) "You are the light of the world... let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14, 16)

We, the followers of the Light of the world, are to be, just like Him, the light of the world. And we, who follow the Prince of Peace, are called to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) We can't be light-bearers or peacemakers unless we stay connected to the Light, unless we risk following the Prince of Peace - wherever He might want to take us.

I think it's a lot easier to follow the voices of this world. The voices that are pro-war and pro-fighting... the voices that say, "Show them who is boss! Throw your weight around, teach them a thing or two!"... these are loud and even popular voices. On the other hand, the voice of God is often not a loud voice at all. I'd say it's often even a behind-the-scenes voice, a voice that whispers in your ear, "Take time to speak to that person, even though he or she is hard to listen to." It's the voice that says, "Hold on, Pete. You may have some reason to be angry, but watch how your anger comes out. Think about how you want to say this. Really think and pray about the words, but also how you will say the words."

The voice that is God's voice says to me and to you the very words of Isaiah 2:5, "Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!" In other words, God says to us, especially when we are so sure of what needs to be done, "Come hang out with me for a while. Re-read some of my words in the Holy Scripture. Take some time to be quiet and pray. Go for a walk in the moonlight and think about things for a while. Slow down, and I - the quiet, gentle voice - I will be heard. I will be your Light, the Light you need to guide you. Or go, seek out a wise person, someone you know who is regularly connecting with Me, and I will speak to you through him or her."

This is the voice of God to us. It is not a loud voice. It can be loud at times, but in general, compared with the voices of the culture, it is a much quieter voice. It is a voice we need to intentionally seek out, and when we do, we will not be disappointed, for this voice is the true Light of the world. "All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:3-5)

That is one of the messages for us to remember and ponder this Advent. No matter how dark it gets - no matter how dark my behavior might be at times, no matter how dark the forces of this world might seem, the Light continues to shine in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. (Cf., the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus!) We need to keep coming into the Light that is Christ. He keeps inviting us to come, if we pay attention and listen: "Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord."