14 December 2011 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: Matt 13:44-52
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
Last night, our Lutheran
brothers and sisters – along with many other Christians around the world –
called to mind the saint and martyr known as St. Lucy or St. Lucia as she is
known in her native Italian.
In Scandinavia, this is a
very dark time of year. In some parts of
these Lutheran countries, the light of the sun doesn’t shine at all during this
time of year. And in the middle of the December
darkness, young Lutheran girls put on white gowns symbolizing the innocence and
purity of virginity, and adorn their heads with crowns bearing flickering candles
in honor of St. Lucia – who died as a martyr of the Christian faith in the year
304 AD.
St. Lucy was known for her
generosity as a Christian, even giving away her dowry to the poor – not only
giving away her great wealth out of love, she was to give up her very life as a
testimony of the love of God. Her name
means “light” – and in spite of her captors cruelty (tradition teaches us that
she was blinded before she was killed), neither Satan nor the grave could
extinguish her inner light – for “Jesus Christ is the light of the world. The light no darkness can overcome.”
For as the Light of the world
has taught us:
“The kingdom of heaven is
like a treasure hidden in a field.”
Lucia’s lifeless murdered body was placed in a grave, hidden in a field
as it were, hardly the stuff of treasure in the eyes of the world – just one more
dead girl, one more executed Christian, one more candle snuffed out, one more
person who would not obey the state, one more speed bump in a cruel Caesar’s
quest for being like God.
And yet it is St. Lucy who
now “in glory shines” while “we feebly struggle” and while the unbelieving
Caesars of every time and place wail and gnash their teeth in the
darkness. Evil may have claimed Lucy’s
eyes, Satan may have spilled her lifeblood, but she sees God face to face, she
who was sanctified by the very blood of Christ!
And what’s more, the light of Christ shone in her good works and good
confession, reflecting this holy light upon those of us who “dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death.”
A single lamp shining
defiantly chases away the darkness. For
darkness cannot even abide one flickering candle even as a mighty Caesar cannot
abide a young girl who confesses a king greater than he whom the King of the
universe created and allowed to reign for a time by His eternal will. St. Lucy’s eternal testimony, like that of
the many martyrs of her age, proclaimed to the world that we Christians have
overcome death – by the death of Christ – and that through Christ, in Christ,
by Christ, and yes even with Christ – we have eternal life. We share in His light. We stand defiant
against the darkness of the grave.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the
light of the world, the light of life, the uncreated light who created light by
means of His uncreated Word – shines among us, through us, and in us, dear
friends. Even when – and especially when
– all we see around us with our failing eyes is the darkness of our sins, the
inevitability of death, and the cruelty of this world’s Satanic tyranny – His
Word remains a “lamp to our feet and a light to our path.”
Like St. Lucia, we know not
only the source of all light, we share in that Light – the light that conquers
the darkness, the light that brings hope to a dark world:
The light of Christ: the
light no darkness can overcome!
Dear friends, we may not have
a St. Lucy’s Day pageant in which young girls process in white robes and wear
fiery crowns, but we all wear the white robes of holy baptism, all of us bear
the crown of the Lord’s martyrdom for us, a martyrdom reflected by the light of
St. Lucia’s countenance and the steadfast love of her life of service and
sacrifice. And we all bear – with St.
Lucy and all the saints – the light that breaks the darkness and destroys sin
and death in their very tracks at the speed of light.
“Jesus Christ is the light of
the world. The light no darkness can
overcome!”
Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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