The First Light of Hope
Dr Justine Toh opens our Advent 2025 series with a reflection on the way love breaks through, just as light breaks through the darkness.
CHARLES LOUWRENS
For our fourth Advent 2025 devotional, Charles Louwrens - challenged by the experiences of the refugees and asylum seekers he works alongside - urges us to resist the darkness of despair and trust in God’s promise of a new day.
Burning Brightly in the Darkness
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Romans 13:11-14
For me, Romans 13:11-14 is a clarion call or a warning bell: “The hour has already come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers”. This exhortation to cast off the “works of darkness” and put on the “armour of light” stirs me as a Christian, urging me to fight for what is right and good. It echoes the words of poet Dylan Thomas’s Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, where he implores us to resist despair, to “not go gentle” but to burn brightly against fading hope. This defiance aligns with Paul’s charge to shed darkness and embrace Christ’s light, a truth that shapes my work with refugees and asylum seekers, where God’s love is always needed to break through hopelessness and despair.
Those I work with have fled the horrors of persecution’s darkness, seeking safety in Australia, only to face a system that denies them permanent stability. Many have lived here for years, raising Australian-born children, built businesses, and formed tight-knit communities, yet they reside indefinitely on rolling visas renewed every six months, with no clear path to resettle elsewhere. Still, most refuse to “go gentle” into despair. Their hope - for recognition of their suffering, for policy change, for a future where they and their families can live with dignity - burns fiercely, like Thomas’s call to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” This resilience mirrors Advent’s anticipation of Christ’s light piercing the night, with the promise that salvation is near.
The challenge to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” calls us to embody this defiant hope through action. In my work as a refugee lawyer, I strive to challenge the legal barriers that exclude so many, while also offering comfort and solace - listening to a client’s fears for their children’s future, affirming their worth as God’s children in a system that so often overlooks them. This balance reflects the Shepherd of Isaiah 40:11, carrying the vulnerable with care and offering justice like a life-giving stream. My parents’ faithfulness as former missionaries who travelled the globe to help rebuild communities impacted by natural disasters fuels my resolve. Their practical love for those in need inspires me to walk alongside those in limbo, helping them burn brightly against despair and hold fast to the promise of a new and better day.
Advent reminds us that God’s love pierces the darkness of uncertainty, bringing light where hope seems faint.
My clients’ refusal to give up, like Thomas’s plea to resist the fading light, challenges me to live with purpose and persistence, rejecting apathy and above all letting Christ’s love shine through me. As we await Christ’s coming, we’re called to be vessels of this love - challenging injustice and comforting the weary. I pray for the strength to do this daily.
O God, in this Advent season, awaken us to burn brightly for you. May our frail deeds make a difference while it is still day and let your love break through the shadows of waiting - kindling hope in those who endure and courage in those who serve. Clothe us with Christ, that we may shine for all. Amen.
Charles Louwrens is a senior lawyer at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS), where he works in Tribunal matters, advocating for refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia. Beginning as a volunteer, he has worked across roles from paralegal to solicitor, and now oversees RACS’ Out of Offshore Program, supporting those denied permanent settlement despite being unable to return to their countries of origin. A committed Christian and son of missionaries, Charles is driven by faith to provide compassionate legal support and help those navigating Australia’s complex immigration system with hope and justice. RACS is a secular organisation and the views in this devotional are his own.
This devotional is the fourth in a series of daily email devotionals for Advent 2025 reflecting on the realities of our broken world along with the unshakable hope that love still breaks through. It explores how God’s love disrupts, heals, and transforms—breaking through darkness, despair, and injustice to bring light, joy, and renewal.
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Common Grace is a diverse movement of individuals, churches and communities passionate about Jesus and justice. We have come together as those from different Christian traditions who stand in the continuity of the historic Christian faith, centred on the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ as witnessed to in holy scripture. This series highlights the diversity of followers of Jesus across these lands. These voices may not agree with one another (or with you), but they are each an expression of longing for the God whose love we see break through in Jesus.
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