Scripture: Isaiah 58:6-8
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Thought for the Day: The great civil rights leader, author and theologian, Howard Thurman, wrote a poem entitled I Will Light Candles This Christmas. I used the poem for my prayer gatherings on Wednesday this week, inviting the participants to use it for reflection. The opening lines are:
I will light candles this Christmas,
Candles of joy despite all the sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,
The simple act of lighting a candle is defiant and faithfully seditious. It is a provocative act in the face of every form of darkness. Thurman’s line that speaks about lighting the candle of hope while despair keeps watch is so insightful. We’d like to suggest that light casts out all darkness, but so often it only holds it at bay. According to Isaiah, there are very specific things by which we help bring a little light into the world, and none of them have anything to do with religious words or rituals. They are the defiant and faithfully seditious acts by which light breaks forth – when we act justly toward the marginalized, share food with the hungry, provide housing for the homeless, and clothe the vulnerable. According to Isaiah and other prophets, both individuals and nations will be judged on these simple things. Will you light a candle this Christmas? Will you act in such a way that your light will help to hold despair, hopelessness and injustice at bay for another human being?
Prayer: Let us never forget, O Compassionate God, how you call upon your followers to act with the same radical defiance seen in Emmanuel, a child born among the poorest of the poor. Light came into the world – light for a homeless couple and some dismissed herdsman. May we, by your grace, light a seditious candle this Christmas Season. May the light be seen in how we treat the most vulnerable around us. Amen.
SUNDAY MORNING
