I can’t exactly tell you why, but I have always had a fascination with flashlights. Perhaps it was due to the incredible variety and selection. You could find lights powered by many different batteries, with various types of bulbs, with or without the option to focus the beam. They could be heavy or lightweight, rechargeable or disposable, halogen or LED, massive or compact. Growing up, I would constantly ask for one for birthdays and Christmas, and always for lots of extra batteries. One of my all-time favorites was the venerable Maglite. Made of aircraft-quality aluminum that was both rugged and resistant to the elements and the abuse of daily use, the maglite was the constant object of my obsession. You could find them ranging in size from the handy mini-mag which used two AA batteries to the Maglite white star, which used 6 D batteries and stretched nearly two feet long. Let’s just all be honest, a good flashlight is handy...and cool, and really comforting to have around just in case the power goes out or you have to look around in the dark.
But while my enthusiasm for flashlights has not lessened, my affection has shifted. My new favorite flashlight is the Surefire E2D defender. Measuring just under 6 inches long and weighing a mere 3.5 ounces, this little baby is ten times brighter than your standard 2D Maglite. In fact, it is so bright, that if you shine it in your eyes in the dark, you will be blinded and disoriented for a few moments. Trust me, I have tried it on a number of unsuspecting friends. This little gem will light up a room and illuminate a path several hundred feet long. It is truly remarkable!
Perhaps you don’t share my passion for flashlights; that is regrettable but forgivable! However, all of us are drawn to light. We need it for so many aspects of daily life and we appreciate the safety and security that it brings. Light is a good thing! I have yet to see advertising for a flashlight that says “our product produces the least amount of light and lasts the shortest amount of time.” No, we all want to have light that is both bright and long-lasting.
The surefire flashlight is a modern marvel which showcases our advancement in understanding and producing light. Despite its man-made luminescence it pales in comparison to the brightness of the sun. The flashlight, which is blinding in the darkness is virtually undetectable when the sun is out.
Now I mention all of this about flashlights because this same theme of light can be found everywhere in the Advent season. Isaiah tells us that the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Today, in the gospel, the theme of light comes to the forefront as we hear that “a man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
As crazy as this sounds, there is a connection here between the flashlights and witness of John the Baptist. You see, John was the greatest prophet that ever lived. He was the brightest light that would point to the messiah. He was the crown of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New. He inspired and captivated huge crowds and some of them even wondered if he might be the messiah or Elijah back from the dead. But John’s brilliance, as good as he was, was dazzling mostly because he came at a time of great darkness. His light, preparing the way of the Lord, was only bright in the absence of the One who was light from light, true God from true God. Compared to Christ, John paled, much like my flashlight, which is so bright in the darkness but no match for the sunlight.
The beautiful thing is that John knew this and embraced it. When asked by the crowds who he was, he made it clear that he was not the Christ, nor Elijah but simply “the voice of one crying out in the desert, 'make straight the way of the Lord.'" As a sign of his great humility, John said: “there is one coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie." John’s role as a prophet was simply to be a light leading others to Christ; his purpose was not to try and outshine Christ or to confuse people on where the true light can be found. How easy it could have been for him to take credit for what he was saying and doing, to promote himself and try to take the glory.
This lesson of humility is really important for us as modern day people. It is far too easy in the world we live to get caught up in being number one and competing with our rivals in business, school, social circles, and even church. So much energy can be spent on trying to outshine others that we forget that there is only one true light that gives meaning to our lives and peace to our souls.
As followers of Christ, you and I are called to be lights in the midst of darkness. Like John the baptist, the Lord wants us to live lives of joy and courage, witnessing to him and preparing his way as he enters our world.
On this third Sunday of Advent, the Church tells us to rejoice because the saving light of Christ’s birth is drawing near. If we have the attitude of John, it will be easy to rejoice because we know that the victory has already been won, that sin and death have no more power over us, and that all the good we do is not because of us but through Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a great freedom in living, loving, and thinking this way. It is no longer up to us to make everything work; the glory and the worry are God’s. So let us quietly and humbly prepare the way of the Lord, pointing others to that one true light, Jesus Christ. And may we use well the remainder of our advent season so that in two weeks, we might echo the joy of our psalm in saying, “My Soul rejoices in my God.”
