The Light of the World

Isaiah 60: 1-3

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

                  and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

         For darkness shall cover the earth,

                  and thick darkness the peoples;

         but the LORD will arise upon you,

                  and his glory will appear over you.

         Nations shall come to your light,

                  and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Luke 2: 1-20 

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

All went to their own towns to be registered.

Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.

He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:

to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

         “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

                  and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.

When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child;

and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

John 1: 1-5, 9-10, 3: 19-21, 8:12, 9:5, 12: 35-36, 46

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. 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.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.

But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going.

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.

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Tonight we gather to remember

         and to hear the wonderful story, and to

         celebrate an event that took place over 2000 years ago,

         that changed the world forever -

         – the night that God came down to earth to dwell with us,

         in the form of a tiny helpless baby, Jesus Christ.

Emmanuel – God with us.

The night that the True Light of life came

         into a dark and troubled world,

         to show us how to live and to love one another,

         to save us by shining light into the darkness.

Darkness has been with us from the beginning,

         according to Genesis.

Darkness surrounded the earth at the beginning –

         and God said, “Let there be light.”

God didn’t say, “let there be darkness”. It was already there.

When God’s Word spoke light into being,

         there was still darkness,

         but now there was both darkness and light, co-existing.

When God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai,

         making a promise with Moses to save God’s people,

         God comes to them in a dense, dark cloud.

The people below hear a voice come out of the cloud,

         but they cannot directly see God.

The God who will save them is in a cloud of darkness.

Perhaps darkness doesn’t have to be so scary

         if we understand that God is in the darkness.

How often does God come to us in the middle of the night?

         or in our dreams?

When we pray, we close our eyes.

In doing this, we shut out the world,

         and we also come closer to God,

         we seek to find God, in this darkness.

These days it’s hard to find real darkness outside.

We have installed artificial lights, building lights,

         lit-up signs, street lights, pretty much everywhere,

         and so our inability to experience real darkness

         also makes it much harder to see starlight than it used to be.

There’s a park near Petoskey now,

         a dark sky park,

         one of the first ten places in the world

         established as international dark sky parks,

         where the public can experience true darkness

         and see starts and galaxies, see the Milky Way

         in all its glory.

We just can’t see the stars

         unless we have the darkness to contrast with them.

We can’t see natural light in all its fullness,

         without there also being darkness.

The night that Jesus was born,

         we are told that a bright star led the wise men to him.

We are told that the glory of the Lord

         shone all around the shepherds

         when the angels came to tell

         the amazing wonderful Christmas story to them.

I wonder if we would be able to see that star,

         see the glory of the Lord, shining around us today,

         amidst all the lights we have turned on

         in order to banish our own darkness,

         whether it’s outside of us or inside us?

We turn on the lights to drive out fear.

There are motion sensor floodlights outside.

There are nightlights in the hallways and the bedrooms inside.

Digital clocks light up the time for us all night long.

TVs and smart phones provide a break

         from the long nights of darkness.

And we turn to all sorts of ways

         to avoid darkness inside us as well.

I wonder how much we unknowingly block our own ability

         to experience – to see, hear, recognize - the True Light.

The True Light is Jesus Christ,

         The Word that has always been, from the beginning,

         but the Word that became flesh one blessed dark night

         so long ago, that became one of us

         to show us God’s love in a way we could not see otherwise.

We need to acknowledge our own darkness,

         in order to experience the True Light of Christ.

It’s not an either/or for us –

         the darkness is not gone forever

         when we open our hearts to the True Light of Christ.

We live our lives with both darkness and light,

         with both good and bad in each and every one of us,

         both brokenness and wholeness happening in all our lives,

          both coldness and warmth in our emotions

                  toward one another.

When we are facing illness, or unemployment,

         or financial worries, or family worries, or fears of safety,

         we can become overwhelmed by darkness inside of us,

         or we might turn to other forms of artificial light

         or cheerful experiences or entertainment or

         whatever will numb us enough to tune it out.

Or we can acknowledge the darkness,

         and use it as contrast to the light, the hope,

         the love of Christ Jesus that also resides within us,

         if we have inner eyes to see Jesus Christ, the True Light,

         inner ears to hear Jesus Christ, the Living Word,

         by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We experience God’s grace in the True Light of Christ –

         that grace that says “you are my beloved child”

         no matter what we have done, or have not done,

         or ever will do, to deserve it.

We carry the True Light of Christ with us,

         so that we can gather hope from it,

         and can share it with others,

         who so desperately need to also experience the Light,

         the grace, and the mercy that God has given us in Christ.

The True Light of Christ has a lot in common

         with the vulnerability of a candle’s light,

         like the candles we lit tonight on the Advent wreath,

         and like the candles we will light later

         when we sing Silent Night.

Because Jesus came into this world at Christmas

         in the most vulnerable way possible –

         as a helpless baby, far from home,

         in a cold, dark shelter,

         about to become a refugee along with his parents.

And Jesus died on Good Friday in the most vulnerable way

         one could imagine, crucified on a cross.

But the comparison ends there, because on Easter,

         Christ emerges from the darkness of the tomb –

         triumphant over sin and death – over darkness.

And while the darkness remains,

         the light shines in the darkness,

         and the darkness has not overcome it.

Has not ever.

Will not ever – overcome it.

New hope was born on Christmas

         in the midst of a world filled with despair.

New hope is ours this Christmas and always,

         in the midst of a world still filled with despair.

New light, new life, born on Christmas,

         shines within us and in the hearts of all people;

         shines inside us and outside of us,

         if we are willing to see it in our hearts, and to let it be seen.

And unlike the candles we light tonight

         and then blow out before we leave this place,

the True Light of Christ is an eternal flame,

         which shall never, ever, be extinguished.