Sermon / ADVICE FROM THE CLERGY : ‘Moral Meaning of the Universe’

In the first chapter of John’s account of the Gospel, we find in Chapter 1, Verse 9, the message: “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”

This message is at one with that of the ancient prophet, Isaiah, who saw the coming light as the hope of the redemption of Israel. He said, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has the light shined.”

In each case, the light is spoken of as the hope of the people of Israel, and indeed of all peoples, in the midst of their deep darkness.

We have here the notion of the perennial struggle between light and darkness. Many have summarized all of life in terms of a perpetual battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light. Now the darkness is with us in many forms:

-- The tragic circumstances of our ordinary days, the suffering, the tragedies, the afflictions that lay waste the human spirit;

-- The hopelessness and despair that mark so much of our living; and the resultant loneliness, the brokenness and the bitterness of difficult days;

-- The moral blindness that grips the human spirit, and the tendency toward evil and sin;

-- The necessity of having to face and deal with a series of naked irrationalities that are a part of the business of living.

We are still reeling in the aftermath of last spring’s “rebellion,” manifesting itself in terms of civil disturbance, burnings, lootings, killing and widespread destruction. We know what the darkness is like.

The message of the Evangelist in the Fourth Gospel is that into all our darkness, there came, and there comes today the true light that enlightens every person, and that the light brings hope and redemption.

The Evangelist asserts that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not been able to overcome the light.” Here is testimony to the faith that God is going to win. Therefore, even though humankind always crucifies its saviors: Jesus on his cross; Peter to the gallows; Paul to Nero’s chopping block; Joan of Arc, burned at the stakes; Gandhi to the assassin’s bullet; the brothers Kennedy; Martin Luther King; and Malcolm X, the light still shines!

Love and righteousness are the laws governing life, and nothing can ultimately triumph over them. Life triumphs over death; truth over falsehood and good over evil. There is moral meaning at the very heart and center of the universe.

This is our good news of hope.