Advent – Into the Light

“I don’t know what to do!” cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath…I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.”

After Scrooge awakes from his night with the ghosts, he is overjoyed to be alive and greets the day with laughter and merry-making. He steps out of the dark and into the light. During Advent, we rehearse the hope of stepping out of the dark and into the light. We are reminded, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

As I reflect on those words, I cannot but help think of Scrooge: “laughing and crying in the same breath…I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.” After a lifetime in the dark of grief and greed, he enters the light of day; he enters as a child.

The dark sin of the dying world sucks the hope of childhood out of us. As we age, we face disappointment, suffering, loss, and grief. We grow weary in well-doing. The fruit of living is often bitter to the taste, and so many people become living, walking expression of that bitterness and disappointment. The aroma of death encompasses them.

The seductive slope toward death is all around us. The glare of ambition, lust, anger and all manner of selfishness distracts us from the call of love. In His grace, the Lord has rescued us from that slavery bound up in the unfruitful works of darkness. During Advent, we hear our Lord’s call afresh,

“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.” (Ephesians 5:14)

No matter how old we are, He calls us children, children of light. He is leading us into the freedom of being His children. As Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:19). The wonder and love and innocence of childhood can only be restored in Christ. He can lead us into the fullness of childlike trust and hope. In Advent, we look with expectancy toward the coming of the Lord. He alone can renew our strength. Isaiah tells us,

But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Think about those words, “renew their strength,” “run and not be weary.” This sounds a bit like Scrooge “laughing and crying in the same breath, as light as a feather, as happy as an angel, as merry as a school-boy.” As we wait and watch and walk toward the kingdom of God, we are learning to release those actions and attitudes that weary us, slow us, distract us from His call.

So even now, we look with hope toward the coming of the Lord. He can and will restore us into the joy and giddiness of His children. And we shall forever take delight in discovering the wonders of His love.