Let Us Sow Light and Joy
Becoming Instruments of God’s Peace
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
-The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The next two lines of the Peace Prayer are: “Where there is darkness, [let us sow] light; where there is sadness, joy.”
The quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. is a powerful reminder that God’s call to us to be instruments of peace extends to confronting injustice in our society, wherever and whenever it occurs. Darkness and hate are always at the core of racism, discrimination, and marginalization, in whatever ugly form it takes.
Jesus is our model for confronting systemic injustice. He regularly confronted and unmasked the political and religious authorities of his day by lifting up and empowering the oppressed, the poor, the sick, and the powerless. He worked to shine the light of Truth into the darkness of despair. As Jesus’ followers, we are called to do the same.
On Christmas Day, many churches will read from the first chapter of the Gospel of John: “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:3-5). Whenever we encounter darkness in our world, the light we are called to shine is not our own; it is the Light of Christ that we are to shine into the darkness of injustice.
Making it Personal: What is your response to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”? Where might God be calling you to stretch yourself and become an instrument of peace and light in the face of some expression of injustice and darkness in your family, community, or the world?