The time before Jesus is described by Isaiah as a time when the people sat in a great darkness. He was not talking about literal darkness -- i.e., the absence of sunlight and moonlight. Rather, he was talking of the political and spiritual darkness in which the people dwelt. Only a few people were privileged and wealthy and could have a comfortable life. Most were living in a hand to mouth economy and were used by the leaders as slaves, or unpaid workers or simply ignored by those in control. No one knew the truth of God because the priests did not know themselves and if they did not know, then they could not share it with others. Anything the priests did know was to be kept hidden from the general public.

And so, there was darkness... They did not know God, and God is pure light. Everything here in our earthly life is so dense, so heavy... So thick... The emotion of fear and distrust runs so thick sometimes that you could cut it with a knife. This is the true pollution here on the earth. The smog of hatred, distrust, and fear is so thick that it has surrounded us with a darkness... A great darkness. If we were to turn off all the lights (do it) we would not be able to see as clearly as we used to see. Yes, we have some light... From the candles. But what if we close our eyes? Go ahead, close your eyes. Now the darkness is complete. Yes, the candles are still here, but we refuse to see them. Now open them again... Now you can see the candles, but if you took a hymnal and opened it up, could you see well enough to read it? No, you are still in the dark.

Isaiah knew that God’s light is always there... But we have traveled so far away from it that we do not have enough of its light to see. We see a light, but it far away, and we feel so lost, so lonely, so ...deserted. And when we close our awareness of that light, we plunge ourselves into total darkness, even though the light is still there. We surround ourselves with darkness, and refuse to see the light.

But Jesus came into the darkness and did not diminish that light. He remembered God. He remembered who he was. He shone his light strong and bright. He said of himself, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness!” =Those were his words as recorded in John 8:12. But Jesus is also recorded as having said to the masses of people during the sermon on the mount “YOU are the light of the world... Let your light shine before others.”

People were unaware that they were light. Everyone is looking so hard for the light which comes from outside of ourselves... From someone else, that we have forgotten or were unaware that the light can be found within each of us. Even when we close our eyes, we believed that light had to come from outside of ourselves. But Jesus tells us that we are like him. We are light also. We can shine forth the presence of God. No longer do we have to dwell in darkness, waiting for someone to come and save us from the darkness... We are the saviours We are the light that shines in the darkness. We are the light of the world. And when all of allow God’s light and his love and his compassion to shine though us, then the darkness, which we though was all around us, disappears. The light comes from our hearts, from the heart of God.