At Least the Shadow Might Fall on Them
By Gregory Seeley, Seminarian at Nashotah House
Acts 5:12-26
John 3:16-21
In today’s Gospel text, we hear that everyone who loves evil hates the light and dwells in darkness, and they fear to have their actions exposed. Yet also we hear in Acts 5, that as Peter walked the streets, there lay the sick and suffering so that his shadow might heal them. So the “darkness” caused by Peter’s shadow healed, but those who love God dwell in the light. How does this work?
It deals with the nature of sin and the nature of healing from that sin. Shadow is often used to represent protection. In the Psalms we read, “Hide me in the shadow of your wings,” “I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the danger has passed,” and, “under the shadow of your shoulders I will hope.” This shadow is in some ways a preparation for the light, a suggestion of light in shadow, a foretaste of the light. Those who are in darkness may not be ready for the light; they are ashamed to have their sins exposed, they are dirty and not yet prepared to live in the light. They may hate their brother, lust for things they cannot have, or any other number of appetites that sin would suggest to them; they need to put their beds down so that the shadow of the high priest might comfort and heal them.
Some live in the dark and do not understand the light. They are curious but are afraid to get too close to the light; the shadow allows them to indulge their curiosity. You see, Jesus wills that all men might be saved, but he also knows that sin is very tempting. Sin is, in the words of Yoda the Jedi master, easier, and more seductive. To leave the darkness requires courage that many who have lived in darkness for some time will not feel they have. But there is a long shadow they can hide in while they gather courage to step into the light. It is the shadow of the cross. As our gospel text says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Jesus came to call men, not to judgment but to healing and to a life in the light. Now that he has died and been raised, he has given his power to his disciples; they exercise the power of pardon and healing in his stead. As our passage in Acts suggests, the shadow of the priest can cover them. Once he has passed, the light can come and they will be ready, they will be healed, their infirmity will be gone, and they will be free to live in the light. It is a symbol of confession and forgiveness. We are all sinful and at some point ashamed to live in the light, so we take refuge in the shadow of the cross; that shadow is also the shadow of the priest.
We need to remember as ministers and future ministers that we need to be ready with shadow: to protect, to comfort, to heal, and to hide - not in darkness where evil dwells, but in the shadow of preparation for the light. For, again, shadow is not deep darkness, but suggests the light; it is an obscuring of direct light, it is not the absence of light.
Let those come to us who want to leave the darkness but aren't ready for the bright sun of the day. They are not ready to approach Christ in the bright day of his full glory; they first need his shadow of protective healing where they might confess their faults, receive pardon and then, once clean, they will be ready for the light.
Let us be ready to be that shadow, to welcome any to come to us, to bring their dirt, their darkness to our shadow. We need to keep in mind what Jesus said to those whom he healed: “Your faith has saved you.”
Gregory Seeley is a middler at Nashotah House and a postulant for holy orders from the Diocese of the Missouri Valley (ACNA). The preceding is a sermon he preached recently in St. Mary’s Chapel.