Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412060008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FAIRLAWN LENGTH: Long
But before the coming, there had to be darkness, said Jackson, a familiar figure to Fairlawn-Radford church folks for more than 23 years. Cold, depressing darkness related to failed political hopes, mourning of nonbelieving Jews and all the personal tragedies in that period of human history.
Into it, as a flashing satellite illuminates a black night, came the light of hope. Without some darkness, people do not seek, nor perhaps even recognize, the gift of Christ's light, Jackson said in his sermon on "Seeing in the Dark."
Advent, Christian tradition teaches, is a thoughtful time of waiting. Two traditions merge in its observance: joyful anticipation of the infant Jesus and reflection on "the end time," when Christ will come again to gather his people and judge the world. The word itself means "coming."
Thoroughly Presbyterian, Jackson - he was born in Zaire, Africa, to missionary parents 57 years ago - made sure last Sunday that his congregation understood the need for salvation. There were no threats of hellfire, but hearers of the word from Luke 21 got the distinct impression of humanity's need for deliverance from sin.
Advent is hardly a time to trumpet self-reliance, said Jackson, his black robe adorned with a somber purple stole. People who haven't been hurt, who think they can handle anything, tend to trust God little. The child Jesus comes most clearly to the broken-hearted each Christmas.
The somber side of Advent mocks sentimentality and positive thinking. The spirit of the season reminded Jackson of a cheery friend telling a person whose legs have been blown off to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps." Yet there is comfort, he concluded, in the realization that in the weakness of sickness, death and its mourning, the follower of Christ is strongest.
Despite the pastor's message, delivered in a strong voice to nearly 200 people who filled the nave, there were light touches at Fairlawn last Sunday. A young couple, David and Dina Yauger, came from Arlington to baptize their infant daughter, Laura Virginia, at the mother's home congregation. Accompanying them to the baptismal font was the baby's great-grandfather, Howard Donnelly.
Not only the parents but the whole congregation promised to do what they can to bring small Laura up as "a sister in the covenant." The pastor told the parents that to uphold their vows they must find a church nearer their present home.
Children of elementary-school age join their families for worship at Fairlawn. At the beginning of worship, a dozen children in the third through fifth grades presented a simple litany for the lighting of the first Advent candle on a church wreath.
The 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal is used at Fairlawn. A choir, robed in green, processed into the nave and later sang a joyful anthem, "The Advent of Our Lord," under the direction of Ruth Decker, who has led music at the church for most of its 49-year history.
The congregation sang the seasonal "O Come, O Come, Emanuel," "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" and "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus," as well as a baptismal hymn with contemporary words, "With Grateful Hearts Our Faith Professing."
In his study after the service, which lasted 55 minutes, Jackson said that Fairlawn Presbyterian is "sort of Low Church," meaning that more than half its members were reared in other denominations, many with the simplest of Protestant rituals.
They are more open to change than some older congregations, he said, and have adapted with "grace and patience" to such practices as lighting Advent wreaths, which were not part of the church of his earlier years.
Jackson has served the church for nearly half its life, has overseen two major building programs, in 1975 and 1988, and has watched membership grow from a mostly blue-collar neighborhood church for Radford Arsenal people to one that attracts Presbyterians from two counties and a broad cultural base.
Fairlawn Presbyterians are strong ecumenical supporters of the Radford Fairlawn Daily Bread hot lunch program, the clothing bank and events like the community Thanksgiving service, for Jackson believes that not only in numbers but also in service many denominational walls must be breached in changing economic times.
A sojourner at Fairlawn Presbyterian, which is on the Radford end of Virginia 114, finds it easy to find a ramp and rest rooms for those in wheelchairs, as well as the nursery and the sanctuary, because "visitor friendly" signs are in place everywhere. Get there by 10:50 a.m. to find a convenient parking spot, although an overflow grassy plot behind the next-door manse helps.
Sojourner appears monthly in the New River Current. Its purpose is not to promote a particular point of view but to inform readers of a variety of worship styles.
by CNB