A little boy once asked his mom:
“Why do we have nighttime?
Why can’t it just be day all the time?”
His mom smiled and said:
“If it were always day, we’d never see the bright moon and the stars.”
That is true of life, as well.
Without darkness, we would never notice the light.
In just a few weeks, when we set our clocks back to Standard Time, we will notice how quickly darkness falls. And we will also notice how much brighter the stars seem against the night sky. That brings us right to today’s readings.
The prophet Habakkuk could have written his words today. The prophet sounds like he just watched David Muir’s ABC News!
He cries out:
“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you do not listen?
I see violence, ruin, misery, destruction, strife, and discord.”
Sound familiar?
Just turn on the evening news.
We see armed guards outside malls, schools, synagogues, and churches.
We hear about terrorism and assassinations. People are shooting into places meant to be safe.
We watch tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes destroy lives and homes.
We see sickness, pain, suffering, and death all around us.
Habakkuk’s Old Testament words could be our own.
But here is the good news:
God answered Habakkuk —
and God answers us.
He tells the prophet:
“Write down the vision.”
God tells Habakkuk,
“The just one, because of his faith, shall live.”
In other words: Hold on. Do not give up.
Faith is what carries us through our dark days.
Saint Paul tells Timothy:
“Stir into flame the gift of God.”
Do not let your faith sit there like an old souvenir on a shelf. Faith is meant to be alive. It is meant to grow.
And Jesus adds something surprising:
We do not need a mountain of faith.
Even faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains…
Or uproot mulberry trees…
or help us forgive again.
So, when the world feels dark, remember that little boy’s question.
Nighttime exists so we can see the stars. Faith is the light that shines in that darkness. We may not control the night. But we can choose trust, to hope, to have faith. Faith is the greatest power in the world. That is what Jesus meant when he said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed” – this is a striking way of saying that with faith what looks impossible becomes possible. Gandi said, “Those with a grain of faith never lose hope, because they believe in the ultimate triumph of truth.”
In the darkness, let us keep our eyes focused on the light - - and that light is Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, my friends, is more than enough to keep us going.