I don’t know if I was born a contrarian, or if I was nurtured into one. Like in most of these situations the real answer is probably a little of both. I don’t remember a time where my natural inclination wasn’t to go in the opposite direction of the hoard. At the same time I don’t exactly remember a time that my mother didn’t go her own way. Maybe my favorite story of that involves a water park. We had been begging all summer to go. This is extreme Northern Illinois, so June and July are the warm months. Early August would be fine, but you get a touch of fall in late August. Mom’s response in June and July and even early August was “the hottest time is the end of August.” Daughter of Southern Illinois that she was. Now I don’t exactly know what was on her mind, whether it was the last week of summer vacation, an empty park, or if Mom truly believed that August 29th in Northern Illinois would be the best weather for a water park. But that is when we went. And when we set out the temperature read 59 F. I think it maxxed out about 73 F. And by shortly after noon, three bluish boys were asking, “Can we go home?” To which mom said “It’s perfect, enjoy the day.” We left shivering about 3:30 PM.
Our lectionary texts this week all hinge on light and darkness, on blindness and sight. And of the many biblical metaphors for justification, these are the one that I am least comfortable with. I also think they tend to be the ones that a lot of preachers instinctively reach for. And I don’t know if this is an example of my contrarian streak, or something more meaningful. But let’s walk through some of my hesitance with these metaphors.
First, light and darkness are absolutely good metaphors for what God has done in Christ. “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the World (Ephesians 5:8).” I think my contrarian take is rooted in the next verse. “Walk as children of the light…and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord (Ephesians 5:9).” I just have little confidence in our ability to discern light and darkness. There are lots of things that get sold as light, that turn out to be deep darkness. Our world is awash in them. It certainly doesn’t help that Satan can “disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthian 11:14).” Discernment is something that takes a sanctified lifetime to build. And when and if you develop it, you probably find yourself surrounded by blind people who won’t listen.
That leads to my second misgiving. Isaiah 42 from which our Old Testament lesson comes from starts out with one of the servant songs. It is a song about the justice and rightness of what the servant of the Lord will accomplish and one of praise – “Sing to the LORD a new song (Isaiah 42:10)” – for the zeal with which he will accomplish everything. And the pinnacle of this is “I will turn the darkness before them into light (Isaiah 42:16).” But what does Israel do when this servant is sent? They remain deaf and blind. “Because he is righteous, the LORD has exalted his glorious law. (Isaiah. 42:21 NLT).” But, “who among you gave ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come? (Isaiah 42:23).” And the answer is not many.
If I’m preaching in the metaphor of light and darkness, it is only on the most sure things. The starkest law where discernment is not exactly needed. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11).” The unfruitful works of darkness like murder, adultery, theft, false witness, envy. You can find other lists like the one in Ephesians 5:3-7, interestingly cut off by our lectionary reading. Or preaching the opposite, the clearest light as from the resurrection tomb.
And it is that resurrection light that anchors this metaphor. “Awake O Sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you (Ephesians 5:14).” The light is not our work. We are more like the moon in that we only reflect the light of the Son. It is God’s work to enlighten, the Spirit’s specifically. God has raised his Son that we might see him clearly. We might not see everything clearly, but we can see the Son.