Sermon Tone Analysis

*Lost In The Dark*

What does darkness look like?

Have you ever asked yourself that question?

When I was a young man I went with some friends up to the Laurel Mountains in Pennsylvania.

Our destination was Laurel Caverns.

There are two parts of the cave.

The upper part called the Catacombs is a maze of beautiful caverns where you are given guided tours.

The lower section is a place where you can explore the remaining caves essentially on your own.

In total they are three miles long.

We went down through the Catacombs and at the back and bottom of the cavern there was a turnstile.

Once through that there was a thick steel cable attached to the rock that descended into a crack on the floor of the cavern.

The cable was there to help you find your way down into the lower cave.

The passage opened into an cavernous room where we gathered.

The guide had us turn off our lights and there was darkness.

It was a darkness like I had never experienced before.

There was the complete absence of light.

I held my hand in front of my eyes and it was impossible to see it.

The darkness seemed to be a part of me.

It seeped into every pore.

It was inescapable.

And there was no way of know which way to turn or who was where.

There was a point at which I could not overcome my fear of being trapped in the dark and I turned back to the surface to wait for my friends.

They continued and at one point found themselves going through a tunnel about fifty or sixty yards long that was no wider than shoulder width and was the same height.

I knew that I had made the right decision.

I’m not terribly claustrophobic, but even now the thought of that brings a shudder to my mind.

That is darkness.

I’m told that if a person were to be left alone in that darkness for a month or two he or she would begin to hallucinate and eventually lose their mind.

That’s darkness.

But what does it look like?

It looks like nothing.

It is total blindness.

A place of deep shadow.

So, imagine no light in a place like that, the tunnels extending off in many directions, and the guide is blind.

That’s what darkness looks like.

But darkness looks like something else too.

It looks like the oppression of powerful and brutal men.

Which of course has happened many times over the course of human history.

Recently there has been Hitler in Germany, Stalin in Russia, Pol Pot in Cambodia.

But there are others.

Darkness looks like lust, greed, brutality, indifference.

It looks like shunning, cheating, lying, murder.

The list is endless.

Look around.

You will see a darkness on the land.

But also, look inside.

Look in your heart.

Do you find it there?

Imagine the darkness that must be in the heart of the oppressor to do the things he does to people.

Think of the torturer, the drug dealer, the rapist, the greedy CEO, the hit-man.

It just goes on and on.

And it has for a long time.

Imagine being in that cave with no light, completely unable to see.

And someone on the surface realizes that you are late returning.

They gather the guides who know the cave well and come in to find you.

At first it seems to be another illusion, but there appears to be a dim glow in the distant tunnel.

Eventually it grow brighter and you realize that once again you have a sense of direction.

Once more you feel not alone.

You have the relief of knowing that not only did someone care enough to come, but they came in time.

You’re found.

The rescuers have arrived.

There are hugs all around.

They bind up the wounds you have from stumbling in the dark.

And they give you a light to hold – with some extra bulbs and batteries.

Then with map in hand and rescuers all around you follow them to the world of light on the surface.

The glorious sun is shining and you all rejoice in each other’s company with a dinner at a nice restaurant.

The perfect end to a very trying day.

We are going to visit several passages in God’s word today starting with Isaiah 9:2-7.

*/Isaiah 9:2-7 (ESV) \\ /*/The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.

You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.//

/

/For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

// //For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.//

/

/For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.//

/

/Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

/

/The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this./

The great prophet Isaiah’s ministry ranged from 740 to 680 B.C.

During his ministry the power of Assyria grew to be dominant in the region and acquired through force of arms many of the smaller nations in that area of the Mediterranean – including the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 through 721.

He  prophesied during the last years of the Northern Kingdom but ministered to the Southern kingdom which was following the path of the North.

After the fall of the North he warned the Southern kingdom of judgment not from Assyria who was the immediate threat but of Babylon.

Isaiah is speaking to people who are suffering the brutality of the oppressor.

For them it is indeed a dark time.

Their hearts heavy.

Homes and families lost.

Taken into captivity.

Sold as slaves.

*It’s All In A Name*

But Isaiah has a message of hope.

Into that darkness he casts the vision of a rescuer seated once again on David’s throne.

Force of arms is abandoned.

Justice reigns.

There is finally ... Peace.

To the suffering people he is called

/Wonderful Counselor/,

/Mighty God/,

/Everlasting Father/,

/Prince of Peace/.

Absence of strife.

/The zeal of the Lord/.

Fulfillment as the result of God’s presence and His passion for His people.

It must have felt like cold water in a hot and dusty desert.

It must have looked like a light deep within the earth where no light shines.