Luke 2:4-16 NLT
[4] And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. [5] He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. [6] And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. [7] She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. [8] That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. [9] Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, [10] but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. [11] The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord-has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! [12] And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." [13] Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others-the armies of heaven-praising God and saying, [14] "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased." [15] When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." [16] They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.

I am a morning person. My alarm is set for 6am, but most mornings I wake up before that. This is because I'm eager to start the day or because there's a 5-year-old standing next to our bed talking to my wife.

One of my favorite things to do is to get out of bed, get a cup of coffee, and sit at my desk before the sun comes up. I have a window in my office that faces northeast. While I don't have a direct view of the sunrise I can watch the sun lighting up the sky from my chair. I love how the sun wakes up the birds and causes them to sing and chirp. I like how the sun illuminates the tops of the trees and slowly fills my office. When I get to my office at church I sit in another chair that faces directly east with my eyes closed as the sun warms my face and makes the inside of my eyelids red and orange.

The birds chirping, the smell of coffee, the light and warmth of the sun all signal the beginning of a new day and I appreciate it. In English, we even use the phrase “the dawn of a new day” to associate daylight with a new beginning.

But this is not necessarily how God designed the rhythm and the flow of the universe. It seems to me that from God's perspective, each new day begins in darkness.

The Bible begins in darkness. Genesis 1:2 describes the earth as a "formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." Of course, God eventually speaks light into existence, but it was in the darkness that the Spirit was first hovering over the waters.

This pattern is further established in the life of the nation of Israel, whose sabbath day began not at sunrise, but at sundown. They didn't conclude the sabbath with restful sleep, they began in darkness, quietness, and rest.

I think we inherently recognize that each new day begins in darkness. Our clocks and calendars change at 12:01am. We celebrate New Year's Day in the middle of the night. Not only do new days begin in darkness, but so do new years, new decades, and new millennia.

Perhaps this is why Jesus was born in the darkness of the middle of the night. Each new day begins in darkness and no event marked a new day in history more than the birth of Jesus.

Luke's gospel says that Jesus was born at night. Not only was He born at night, He was born on the road. Finally, he was born in a manger or a stable. When you're stuck in a transitional place it's called a “liminal space”. Waiting rooms, hallways, and doorways are liminal spaces. They aren't meant to be occupied for long. They help you transition from one place to another place.

In between days, in between places, in a manger that wasn't quite indoors, but wasn't totally outdoors, Jesus was born in a liminal space. At this transitional time and place a new day was beginning. The Old Covenant was ending and the New Covenant was beginning. God was speaking again after being relatively silent for 400 years. The Law was being made obsolete and grace was entering the world. The Adam that we read about in the book of Genesis was becoming "The Old Adam" as a "New Adam" was born. The prophecies of the future were now fulfilled in the present and would quickly become evidence from the past. Everyone's reference point was changing and it was happening in the middle of the night in total darkness.

This was not the last time that Jesus would do something new in the darkness. The same Jesus that was born in a manger in the middle of the night would overcome death in a cave in the early hours of the morning, before the sun had even risen. By the time that the women had arrived at the tomb to prepare Jesus' body for burial, He had already risen with a new body. Death was defeated, our salvation was obtained and Jesus was vindicated all in the darkness of the middle of the night.

There is a theme in the Bible that darkness comes before light. Death comes before resurrection. Humility comes before glory. This theme is in the Bible because this theme is in God. This is how God likes things to be and we should expect that He will also be pleased to operate in the same manner in our own lives.

One Christian author alludes to this idea as the "Cloud of Unknowing," referring to the fact that we simply won't always see or understand what God is doing at all times. Another author refers to the "Dark Night of the Soul," which is a period of doubt or wrestling that many Christians experience just before realizing a significant breakthrough in their lives. Frankly, many Christians never experience these moments of breakthrough because they do everything in their power to avoid the mysterious cloud, the dark night, and the death of self.

Darkness and light.
Death and Resurrection.
A Cloud of Unknowing.
The Dark Night of the Soul.
God is in all of these things.

One way for you to know that God is bringing about a change in your life is that things seem to be getting darker. Perhaps you can’t see how things will work out. We often look for daylight and clarity to signal change, but this is not necessarily the way that God operates. Eventually, there will be daylight and clarity and breakthrough, but they will be preceded by darkness, quietness and disorientation. On God's clock, the darkness signals the beginning of a new day.

Over the past month, we've been anticipating Advent by lighting these candles each Sunday. This evening we culminated that process by lighting the Christ candle. Four weeks ago we started by lighting the Hope candle, which was followed a week later by the Faith Candle, then the Joy candle, the Love candle, and finally the Christ candle.

This sequence is poetic and illustrates expectation and anticipation from the human perspective. But what might the sequence look like from God's perspective?

We know that Christ is God and has always existed. Nothing preceded Christ. We also know that things like hope, faith, joy, and love are derived from Jesus. This evening I would like to illustrate the birth of Jesus from God's perspective, not our human perspective.

[To watch the Advent lighting from God’s perspective, start this video at 9:00.]