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I can’t exactly tell you why, but I have always had a fascination with flashlights. Probably because every one in our house never worked! I also loved the variety. You can find lights powered by different batteries and 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 or Christmas, and always for extra batteries because I knew at least one sibling would try to steal my light and hid in a dark room flashing it on and off like a weirdo. One of my all-time favorites was the venerable Maglite which used to be a status symbol in the flashlight community. Made of aircraft-quality aluminum that was rugged and durable, 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. I never did get that mega-maglite but it wasn’t for a lack of trying!
These days my enthusiasm for flashlights and other task lighting has not diminished, my affection is just more mature. I realize there is no single flashlight or work-light that can do everything so I must have all of them! I even brought a few of my go-to’s so you can see that I am serious. Headlamp (handsfree, attic, hiking), Solar lantern (recharged by the sun and ready for an emergency), two m18 work lights (one has a hook and an adjustable head while the other is magnetic and sticks to a vehicle or metal that you are welding!). The last and most used is a streamlight Strion which is small but mighty, rechargeable and 3 different brightness settings. I have one in the house and one in the truck and use it all the time!) It is so bright, that if you shine it in someone’s eyes in the dark, they will be blinded and disoriented for a few moments. Ask me how I know!
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 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 probably won’t have any power when you need it.” We all want light that is both bright and long-lasting. But no matter what man-made light we swear by, no matter how big the bulb or brightness rating, all of them pale in comparison to the sun. All of them are limited in the light they can provide.
The 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.
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 in contrast to the 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, like any 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 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 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 Jesus. There is a great freedom in living, loving, and thinking this way. It is no longer up to us to make everything work or chase away every darkness; the glory and the worry are God’s. So let us quietly and humbly prepare the way of the Lord, pointing others to the one true light, Jesus Christ.
