Sermon for the third Sunday in Lent
From the beginning
there have always been
darkness and light.
Of course,
darkness is the absence of light
and so it really isn't a thing.
We only notice a hole
because there's something missing.
We only notice the dark
because the light is missing.
But nonetheless
darkness and light
have been part of man's existence
from his very beginning.
Even being born
we emerge from darkness into light.
The baby’s little eyes
are dazzled by a new sensation
which it has only been
very dimly aware of
for the past nine months.
Suddenly that little baby
gets a flood
of dazzling, bewildering
and conflicting information.
No wonder she cries!
So begins her life.
Every day follows every night,
and every night follows every day.
Darkness and light
around us at all times.
So why is there darkness?
[PAUSE]
We see things
because there is a variation
in light, colour and shade.
We understand
the world around us
by the light that gets reflected
from objects into our eyes.
The light that gets reflected
has a lot of different
colours and hues.
So perhaps
there doesn't have
to be darkness at all.
Why is there darkness?
As you can imagine
it all goes back to the Fall.
We ate the fruit
of the knowledge
of good and evil.
We opened our eyes to darkness,
and so what we see
in the world around us
is a reminder that there we are fallen.
The night is lovely,
but only because
there are the stars shining
and the moon shining
and the little lights
of the houses on
the opposite side of the valley
shining in the night.
If it were true darkness
there would be nothing to see.
It is the light that
we are drawn to
not darkness
in which we hide
our fallenness
and brokenness
and our failure
to resist temptation.
[PAUSE]
We see both Saint Paul
and Our Lord urging us
into the light.
Our Lord does battle with darkness.
First He does battle
with the more obvious
forces of darkness.
In casting out a demon,
He shows that He has
complete mastery
over the strong powers
of the Devil.
He casts out Beelzebub
by pure beams of His light.
But there are other agents of darkness
that are more difficult to get rid of.
This is the darkness
in the hearts of men.
This is the darkness
that tries to be light
by claiming that
what we see as light
is true darkness.
They say that
Our Lord is in darkness
through their own light.
But that is a big problem
with their thinking.
[PAUSE]
How do we get rid of darkness?
We don't chase the darkness
out of the room
before we turn the light on.
That doesn't make any sense.
In the same way,
we cannot get rid of evil
by chasing it out of a human being
and then putting the good in.
You can only get rid of darkness with light.
You can only get rid of evil with good.
So if Beelzebub is evil
he can only be removed
by what is good.
So to say that Jesus’ power
comes from Beelzebub
doesn't make sense.
How can Beelzebub cast out by Beelzebub?
How can you chase
the dark out of the room
without turning the light on?
How can you chase
the dark out of the room
by making it darker?
Of course,
it could be a trick!
Beelzebub could pretend
to cast out Beelzebub couldn't he?
But why?
To deceive more people?
To deceive people
by restoring their sight ,
giving them hope,
even sacrificing his life
in the cruellest,
most painful death on the cross?
It's a funny sort of devil
that wreaks havoc
by forgiving sins,
healing the sick
and offering us salvation.
No!
This is no trick.
Jesus is the purest light from heaven;
He is the True Light;
He is the Light of the World
and by Him
we see the truth
that we do not have
to live in the darkness
of our fallen nature.
Saint Paul recognises this.
This is why he urges us
to be children of light
and to walk in that light.
He reminds us that
we must not have fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness
but rather reprove them.
He says that it should be
shameful for us even to think
about the works of darkness
because we are children of light.
In the light all
our shameful deeds
will be revealed.
It is those things that we do
that we want to remain hidden
that form our works of darkness.
St Paul lists some of these:
fornication,
uncleanness,
covetousness,
filthiness,
foolish-talking,
coarse laughter.
These old things which,
if people knew
we were committing them,
we would blush
and be ashamed.
But the Lord sees them
because He is the light
and it is revealed to Him:
the Dirty joke,
the snide comment,
the thoughts of anger and malice
which darken our minds.
Anything that we want to hide
will be found out by God.
Adam tries to hide his nakedness
and God sees.
[PAUSE]
This sounds very unsettling.
Every day
we do something
that we are ashamed of
and would wish to hide
in the darkness in our souls.
Even in Lent,
when we try to be better people,
those darknesses are still there.
We can expose them in Confession
and be assured of God’s forgiveness.
That is a fine way
to get rid of those sins
that lie in the secrets of our hearts.
How to stop doing them?
That is another question.
[PAUSE]
We need not fear.
Saint Paul may urge us
to run for salvation.
However,
he wants us to walk in the light.
This is a marathon not a sprint.
It will take time for us
to throw out the darkness
by letting the light into our souls.
It is hard work
but in a funny way
Shame itself
is on our side here.
It is shame
that helps us see
the darkness that
we are doing
and it is shame
that brings our secret sins to light.
Shame arises not from the evil
but from the good.
The image of God in us
may be distorted
but it has not been rubbed out.
It is the light of God in us
that makes our darkness known
through shame.
So when we feel ashamed,
or we feel that we will
not do something
for risk of being ashamed,
then that is the moment
to look at our intentions
and to bring them into
the light of Christ ourselves willingly
so that we may be forgiven
and put right.
[PAUSE]
It is not the light that causes shame.
Our misdeeds cause shame.
We should not allow ourselves
to become confused into
trying to cast out
darkness with darkness.
Nor should we try
and shrug it off by saying,
"Everybody does it,
there's nothing to be ashamed of "
That is the Devil’s ploy.
Even if we are ashamed,
let us throw open
the windows of our soul
and let the sunlight of Christ shine in
and make us children of His light.
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