A Chapel Homily: From Darkness to Light

We have daily chapel at our school. Currently, we make use of the readings from the Treasury of Daily Prayer. Over the years this practice has proven to be a great blessing for not only our children, teachers, and few congregation members who attend but also for me as a pastor. Some might sulk at the thought of having to write multiple sermons each week and lament that “there’s not enough time.” In reality, though, it’s what pastors have been called to do, and we need to be doing it faithfully.

For these brief homilies or catechetical instruction, I normally do not have an entire manuscript written out. I jot down a few notes on a card and carry it with me. It is important to remember that while we are instilling great biblical truth and proclaiming the salvation that is ours through Jesus, we are also teaching children. Below is my homily to our preschool and elementary school students from this past Wednesday.

You’ve all been in the dark before. It’s not a lot of fun, especially when you’re young. Honestly, though, no matter how old you get, the dark isn’t a place we like to be. It’s not so much about fear as it is an uneasiness about what’s around. What might be in the way of my next step?

When I was younger, my family went on vacation. We had a day where we went to a park with go-karts, putt-putt, and all sorts of other activities. There was also a house to walk through. We didn’t know what it was, but in typical sibling competition, we played the “I’m not scared to go in. You’re the one who’s scared!” game until we all went in. We were the only ones around. There was no one else in line to go in. That should have been our first clue to stay away. Little did we know the inside of the house was completely dark. You had to feel your way through. Along the way, the walls might feel like a bear, and then all of a sudden things that felt like bats or bugs would go across your face. This was no place for little children! But there we were in complete darkness and got to a point where we couldn’t feel our way forward. We were lost.

This is where we can imagine God’s people find themselves in our Psalm for today. They were not in the darkness of a house but in the darkness of their own sin. Pick your account from your religion classes for the Psalm’s relevance. It could be Israel in the wilderness grumbling and complaining that God’s providence wasn’t enough. It may be Israel’s darkness of their sin of the failed conquest and in the time of the Judges living by “doing what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6). There are plenty of examples where Israel turns away from God and toward sin.

But now, in the words of the Psalm, they cry out to God in repentance:

“Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again,  that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land” (Psalm 85:4-9).

God’s people desired to hear His Word. They knew that His Word alone was the way to salvation.

While my sisters and I stood lost and alone in the darkness of that house, we finally did all we knew to do. We cried out for help. Now you would think that the easiest thing to do after being heard would be for someone to turn on the lights so that we could see where we were going, but that’s not what happened. Instead, we heard a voice. “Come this way! Follow my voice!” That man’s word gave us direction to the way out.

We are at a time in the Church year where things are about to move very quickly. We have talked about Jesus’ birth and His entrance into the temple where Simeon sang his song. We have heard about the Magi bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Now, all of a sudden, Jesus is grown. We will soon hear of His Transfiguration and see Him walk the road of His passion.

His road is a road we must walk as well. But that’s just it. The way of Jesus was prepared by John the Baptizer as we heard in Advent. Jesus walked that path in faithfulness and into the complete darkness of Good Friday, and along the way, His cross dug out the path for you. That might sound scary or cause some uneasiness, but by His resurrection, His light now shines on the path and by His Word, He calls you forward through fear and uneasiness—even though death—to salvation and new life in Him. You are not in darkness, for “Righteousness will go before [you]  and make [your] footsteps a way” (Psalm 85:13). In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.