In some ways, today is the darkest day of the church year. It's the first Sunday in Advent, which is a physically dark time of the year in the Northern hemisphere. And we are here with just one candle lighting the way - one lonely candle to signify that something more is coming.
Of course, we know that next week another candle will be lit, and the week after another until the coming of Christ.
Today we don't see that. Today we only see one candle bravely flickering all by itself: a lone witness to the light amidst a sea of shadows.
This week has been a week of deep shadows in our country, as we lived not only the sharp sting of tragedy but the gut-wrenching nausea of injustice.
The death of this one teenager has captured the world’s attention as a sign broader community divisions and racial injustice rampant in American society.
It is not easy to stand as one lonely candle, when it appears that the shadows are about to snuff it out. That is what we do today, all of us who cry for justice and peace. We stand and shine brightly even if we're the only ones.
We shine brightly with our minds, seeking to be informed and share that information with others.
We shine brightly with our ears to listen to other media than we usually turn to.
We shine brightly with our hearts to reach out to our neighbors, to our fellow worshipers in this very congregation.
We shine brightly with our mouths to have holy, prayerful and perhaps uncomfortable conversations in which we are challenged and respond in humility.
We shine brightly with our fingers to sign petitions.
We shine brightly with our feet to join in a march
We shine brightly with our prayers for God’s face to shine on us, on all of us, so that we might be saved!