Darkness: The Ungodliness of Men

(Matthew 4:12-17)(January 25, 2004)

Usually, when I’m lighting the lamps in the church, I say a prayer, along these lines: “O Lord God, Lover of mankind, as these lamps bring light unto the darkness, fill us with the light of Thy grace and truth, Thy mercy and love, so that we, too, may be lamps, and bring light to those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death, that they may find Thee and know Thee, and so find salvation for their souls.”

As we have considered before, it is no secret that the darkness in our culture seems to be growing stronger. The fathers tell us that the darkness is not that which we see in the material world around us, the absence of light. The darkness is rather the ungodliness of men. The fathers also tell us that the “shadow of death” is sin. The source of sin is our fear of death. Because we know of the reality of death, that our earthly existence will come to an end, our bodies are overwhelmed, and our resolve to restrain our appetites and control our passions is weakened; and so we sin. And, of course, as St. Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death.” We are caught, it seems, in an unbreakable cycle of sin and death; and if it is not reversed, this awareness brings us even deeper into the darkness of despair.

At the end of the troparion for the Theophany, we sing: “O Christ God, Who hast appeared, and hast enlightened the world, glory be to Thee.” With the coming of Christ, light has sprung up: the great light of the Gospel of our salvation; the good news that death has been destroyed by death, and Christ has brought eternal life. When we at last embrace this truth, it begins to weaken the fear of death; and suddenly we find ourselves empowered by the grace of God to begin to struggle against our sins. In the Great Doxology, which we sing towards the end of the Matins service, we hear, “For in Thee is the fountain of life, and in Thy light do we see light.” Christ is the Light; and as we are transformed more and more into His likeness, as we devote ourselves to living the life of Christ into which we have been baptized, in the power of the Holy Spirit, which we received when we were chrismated, we drive away the darkness, and are filled with His light.

In order to enter into His life, we had to repent of our sins; and we were washed clean in the waters of baptism. Now, when we sin, that light of His life, still within us, is dimmed. The light is not extinguished; but, as mud thrown on the outside of a lantern keeps its light from shining forth to light the way, so do our sins keep the light of the love of God, and His grace and truth, from shining forth from us. And so we must again heed the call to repent: to “change our minds”; for this is what it means to repent. We must choose to turn away from our sins, and choose instead the way of what is pleasing to God, and saving to souls. We must change our minds about what is good, and come to hate, despise, abhor the sins which we have learned to love. When we repent, and confess, God has mercy on us, and cleanses us of all unrighteousness; and so the light can shine forth from us once more.

Brothers and sisters: We are called to be witnesses to Christ, and to make Him present in the world around us. We are called to be bearers of the light of Christ, and to bring that light to those who dwell in darkness, and in the shadow of death. Let us repent of our sins, and embrace the Orthodox life, the life governed by the Gospel, the good news of God’s forgiving and enduring and merciful love. Let us repent of our sins, for the love of God, that we may bring to those in darkness His light and love; for the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.