Jesaja 9, 1-6

Dear congregation,

Christmas carols play a big role in our community and our faith. I felt this clearly when I was asked to send me songs. Then stories are told: “You know, Kornelia, when I sing this song, then it’s Christmas for me. It reminds me of my mother. Or it reminds me of a special time…”

There are old and new songs. There is no end to writing Christmas carols.

Our sermon text today has the character of a Christmas carol, although it was probably written 730 years before the birth of Christ. 

Christmas songs always talk about the situation in which they were written: Paul Gerhard wrote poetry during the war. Detlev Jöcker in peaceful times for children.

The song in Isaiah 9.1-6, which I am about to read, was written at a time when the people of Israel were living in fear. The neighboring state was seen as a threat. The Assyrian king was known as a war hero.

Then Israel longed for a savior. “If only someone could save us!” It should be a savior from the house of David. It was hoped that he would be endowed with special gifts from birth.

When Jesus was born, people remembered this old song and hoped that their wish had come true. 

That's why on Christmas Eve we're not only dealing with the Christmas story according to Luke, but also with the ancient prophecy.

I read Isaiah 9, 1-6

1 But there shall be no gloom to her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time has he made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light: those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them has the light shined. 

3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased their joy: they joy before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 

4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian. 

5 For all the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall be for burning, for fuel of fire. 

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

The words work. Every single word is carefully chosen. I will only be able to address a few, because you also have other plans for this evening.

The first picture: A people who walk in darkness - see a light. Time and again, certain phases in historiography are described as “dark times”. Quite often it is the “Dark Ages”.

It was actually much darker because there was no electric lighting yet. But it was also dark because people lived in so much fear. And powerful people took advantage of the ignorance of their fellow human beings. 

Then times of war, oppression and unjust rule are also experienced as “dark times, dark machinations”. What concerns me when I look at times like this is how disorientated people can become, that they can no longer judge well: what is right and what is wrong. What is good and what is evil. What promotes and creates peace and what ultimately creates further devastation.

The Israelites were so disoriented in captivity where the song of Isaiah belongs. They asked themselves: What did we do wrong? How did we end up here? Only in retrospect did they understand what they had contributed to it and how disoriented they had become. The commandments hardly counted anymore. God played an increasingly smaller role.

I encounter this disorientation today in an indescribable way. What are we guided by? What is our guiding star? What are our key questions? What do we focus on?

It had been like this for a long time in Israel: The commandments of God: These are the instructions for life. Following them, orienting yourself towards them, promises liberation. Liberation from disorientation.

When I look at the bookshelves and see how many guides there are on all of life's questions, I attribute this to a fundamental lack of orientation. The consequences are exhaustion and excessive demands. Life becomes one long race for happiness that I can't find because I might be looking in all the wrong places.

The simple and yet so liberating and happy truth that Isaiah proclaims: he remembers God as the origin and light of the world. God is still there! God is present in the world. He shines as light. It is still possible to orient yourself to God. 

God as a reference point. God as you, so that I know who I am and how to find my way.

This shines through in Isaiah. God in the world. In all progress, all technical development, all hopeful projects in education and business, something else shines: the relief that we humans are not left alone in this world, but that God lives in it. 

God does not somehow live in the world where he cannot be found, but is there everywhere: the whole world is full of his glory. The light shines everywhere in the darkness. God himself is in the world and has us in view. God looks at people who fall in the darkness.

The light is not a bright, frightening light. It's not a spotlight to be placed against the wall. It is not an ugly neon light that turns night into day and requires people to work day and night.

The light Isaiah speaks of is different: warm and clear. Friendly. Calming. It is the light that plays such a big role in Christmas. It is the light that comes after a long night's vigil. Morning finally dawns. It is a morning light. A light of hope. That's why this light - the son who has been given to us - also gets such wonderful names: he is called Wonderful, Advice, Strength, Hero, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

A new hope has been born - in the middle of a threatened world. In a world where Emperor Augustus rules - or similarly cruel rulers with more modern names. The world will not automatically get better when people see light again, but the disorientation is over. The feet will be set again on the path of peace, which cannot be achieved with weapons.

God becomes a savior by rescuing us from hopelessness, from crushing fear, from crushing sadness. God saves by giving guidance. Love continues.

A colleague put it this way: Christmas is the day of the birth of the First Son of God, who came to take us, the other sons and daughters of God, by the hand and accompany us on our journey with the Father through this world.

The path we take is a path accompanied by light. It is a path where we experience the security and peace of darkness and night, but not the fear of straying from the path. In God's light we find orientation for our own lives, for the restless heart that finds peace and for our task, calling in the world: fearlessly carrying the light to those who are caught in darkness. In this way joy will grow and spread through the people with whom God is well pleased. People who can distinguish good from evil. People who recognize themselves through encounters with their fellow human beings. People who remain free and give hope. 

We express this hope in our songs. With the angels and shepherds, with Mary and Joseph, with the animals in the stable, with the people of this world, we do not sing marching songs, but joyful songs: Christ the Savior is here. Therefore rejoice, rejoice, O Christianity.

Skenk ons a helder sommerkersfees – grant us bright Christmas days. amen