Hold The Light

For the first quarter of 2008, I've been preaching a series on Prayer, using the book of Psalms as our guide.  We've looked at Psalm 1, 139, 51, 27 and this week we're looking at Psalm 88.  This is probably one of the most depressing passages in all of Scripture, surpassed only by the first 2 1/2 chapter of Lamentations.  Passages like these, the brutal, raw honesty of faith being tested and challenged, of questioning where God is in the midst of the absurd messiness of life, is one of the reasons why I am convinced the Bible is true.

The sermon, in a nutshell, is an exploration of how are we to pray when there is no hope, when the lights have gone out, when we don't even know if there is a god to listen to our pleas.  As the Psalmist laments, "the darkness is my only friend."  The truth is that, at some point in the life of the believer, there will come "the dark night of the soul," that point when superficial platitudes and platonic words of encouragement are revealed to be as shallow as a wading pool.  Ultimately, all we can do is hold the light.  The Psalmist does this in the opening line of the Psalm: "O Lord, the God who saves me..."

We'll follow the sermon with communion - a physical act of holding the light.  Of saying, together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what, I will trust that the promises of God are true and that I am not alone.  The act of communion will be a way to enable us to enter into the Word of God in a very real, tangible manner.   To help people connect with this, the praise band is going to sing Caedmon Call's "Hold the Light" during communion.  Why this song?

Because it speaks directly to this time of struggle and questioning, of wrestling with God and wondering where He is in all of this.  It is the story of two friends who have been sharing their lives and walking with each other for two years, a time during which one of them faced an incredible time of wrestling, doubting, being angry and bitter toward God.  The friend offered no judgement, doing the only thing he could do: hold the light for his friend.  This is fairly obvious through most of the lyrics.  But there comes a problem.

See, the bridge is kind of confusing.  It goes like this: "standing around a willow weeping/we were praying in the backyard/in the chill of the night/the friendship light reminded me who we are."

What does that have to do with the rest?  I think it's something like this:  In the midst of this struggle, we sometimes get to a point of not being able to hold the light on our own.  When our brothers and sisters stand with us in the struggle, their faithful presence - to us and to God - reminds us who we are.  Who are we?  

We are the redeemed, the chosen, the beloved, the never-abandoned children of God.  Even when we see no hope and can't hold the light ourselves, God has not abandoned us.  The community of faith, standing with us in the midst of the cold, dark struggle (and that's the key), is the presence of God that holds the light we are to use to find our way through the darkness.  We aren't meant to get there on our own.

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. - Joshua 1:5