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.        

Everyday People

Luke 2:8-20

⁸ In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ 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: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,* the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,* praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”*

¹⁵ 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.” ¹⁶ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰

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

Matthew 1:1-17

An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac,

and Isaac the father of Jacob,

and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar,

and Perez the father of Hezron,

and Hezron the father of Aram,

and Aram the father of Aminadab,

and Aminadab the father of Nahshon,

and Nahshon the father of Salmon,

and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab,

and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth,

and Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of King David.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 

and Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

and Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

and Abijah the father of Asaph,

and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat,

and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,

and Joram the father of Uzziah,

and Uzziah the father of Jotham,

and Jotham the father of Ahaz,

and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

and Manasseh the father of Amos,

and Amos the father of Josiah, 

and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers,

at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

And after the deportation to Babylon:

Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel,

and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel,

and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,

and Abiud the father of Eliakim,

and Eliakim the father of Azor, 

and Azor the father of Zadok,

and Zadok the father of Achim,

and Achim the father of Eliud,

and Eliud the father of Eleazar,

and Eleazar the father of Matthan,

and Matthan the father of Jacob,  

and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary,

of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

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Yesterday morning, a group of everyday people gathered in Agape Hall, here at the church. They sorted groceries into groups for families, and then drove them to the families’ homes, along with big black plastic bags full of gifts for the children in the families.

The groceries were bought at a nearby store. Ordinary people who work at that store stocked the shelves. Regular folk from here filled five carts to overflowing with purchases. Everyday people working the checkout lanes rang everything up, and marveled at the length of the receipt when it was all done. Everyday people brought the groceries back to the church and unloaded them so they would be ready to be sorted Saturday morning. Then ordinary people, in groups of two, drove the food and the gifts to the homes where they were going. And everyday people were waiting at those homes to receive them.

Who remembers the song by Sly and the Family Stone, Everyday People? I looked it up this week, and could hardly believe it came out in 1968!

(Sung - with congregation joining in...)

There is a longhair that doesn’t like the short hair for being such a rich one that will not help the poor one.

Different strokes for different folks.

And so on and so on and shooby dooby dooby.

I-----I am everyday people!

Aren’t we all?

And thanks be to God, Jesus came for everyday people. Starting with the shepherds, who were the first to get the news, Jesus made it clear throughout his life that he was there for the ordinary people.

Shepherds were nothing special in those ancient times. We tend to develop a romantic view of them, holding those baby lambs across their shoulders so tenderly. We would like to think that all shepherds were good shepherds, like “the Lord is my shepherd”. But commentaries about this passage in Luke tell us that shepherding was a despised occupation. In the first century, according to Alan Culpepper, “shepherds were scorned as shiftless, dishonest people who grazed their flocks on others’ lands.” They were lowly and outcast people. And yet – the angels appeared first to them. And they knew good news when they heard it – and so off they went to see this amazing thing the angels had proclaimed to them. There was no reason for them to think they would be welcomed at the birth of a king, a Messiah. But that did not stop them.

Matthew begins his gospel story with the genealogy of Jesus. Now, a genealogy of Jesus in and of itself is an interesting thing to consider. Because it’s pretty easy for us to say, well, Jesus came from God, was begotten of God, right? And none of us descended from Jesus, at least not in a genealogical, bloodline sort of way. But – all of us are children of God, and Jesus is our brother. So.  Matthew lays out for us a genealogy to show how Jesus is the Son of Abraham, and the Son of David – those two being, of course, central figures in the plan God has for God’s people, especially as the Jews in that time understood it. But there’s more to this genealogy than those key connections.

This list sets up a history of the Messiah that is inclusive. It includes women and men of all nations.

For one thing, having women listed in the genealogy was a very unusual thing for those times. Descendants were described from father to father to father, primarily because the act of pregnancy was understood to be all about the seed, with no understanding at the time of the egg, waiting to be fertilized. But Matthew lists five women – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, “the wife of Uriah”, whose name is Bath-Sheba, and Mary. Commentaries suggest that Matthew is interested in showing that God worked through irregular, even scandalous ways – each one of these women mentioned are involved in some sort of questionable sexual behavior – and also that God worked through women who took initiative, like Tamar and Ruth. And an additional reason is that all the women except Mary are “outsiders”, Gentiles. So the genealogy of Jesus shows that the Messiah comes from a Jewish line that already includes Gentiles.

The other inclusiveness that this genealogy reflect is that Jesus descends from King David, but also that many others in the list have no kingship whatsoever. His “bloodline”, so to speak, does not read like the kings of England or other monarchies would.

Jesus came FROM everyday people, every bit as much as he came FOR everyday people.

I meet monthly with a Spiritual Director, and he often recommends excellent books to me. This last time I saw him he brought me a gift – a book by the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, a Lutheran pastor at a church in Colorado called “A House for All Sinners and Saints”. The book is called “Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People.” The book is full of stories about everyday people who reflect God, who serve as Christ to one another, who are the hands and feet and eyes and voice of Christ in unexpected ways.

Nadia tells the story of when she was asked to speak at a Lutheran national gathering of youth. And she really didn’t feel like she related to youth at all, so by the time she got on the plane to go she had pretty much psyched herself out – that she had nothing of value to say to this group, and that this was a really big mistake. Her test runs of her talks with her own teenagers pretty much confirmed her worst fears. But then she met a girl on the plane who was going to the gathering, who didn’t feel at all like she was going to fit in with the other youth, and who reminded Nadia of what it felt like to not fit in. And so, this is what she said she did:

“So I told my story: a girl who didn’t fit, raised fundamentalist Christian, left church, entered addiction, got clean, met nice Lutheran boy, became Lutheran Pastor, started church.  She said to them, ‘Some of your parents and pastors were really upset that I was your speaker tonight. They thought someone with my past shouldn’t be allowed to talk to thousands of teenagers. And you know what I have to say about that?... They are absolutely right.’

‘Somebody with my past of alcoholism and drug abuse and promiscuity and lying and stealing shouldn’t be allowed to talk to you. But you know what? Someone with my present, who I am now, shouldn’t be allowed to either. I am a sarcastic, heavily tattooed, angry person who swears like a truck driver! I am a flawed person who really should not be allowed to talk to you.’

‘But you know what?, she asked them. ‘That’s the God we are dealing with, people!’  She went on to tell them that this is a God who has always used imperfect people, that this is a God who walked among us and who ate with all the wrong people and kissed lepers. She told them that this is a God who rose from the dead and grilled fish on the beach with his friends and then ascended to heaven and is especially present to us in the most offensively ordinary things: wheat, wine, water, words.

She told those youth that this God has never made sense. And that they don’t need to, either, because this God will use you, all of you, and not just your strengths, but your failures and your failings. Our weakness is fertile ground for a forgiving God to make something new and beautiful.

She wraps up this chapter by saying, “Without higher-quality material to work with, God resorts to working through us for others and upon us through others. Those are some weirdly restorative, disconcerting shenanigans to be caught up in: God forcing God’s people to see themselves as God sees them, to do stuff they know they are incapable of doing, so that God might make use of them, and make them to be both humble recipients and generous givers of grace, so that they may be part of God’s big project on earth, so that they themselves might find unexpected joy through surprising situations.”

We experience the Holy Spirit in our relationships, in our connections, in our contacts with one another. And it is mutual – it flows both ways – we both give and receive the Holy Spirit in every loving encounter. Yesterday a group of everyday, ordinary people – God’s people, got to be both humble recipients as well as generous givers of God’s grace. Today and every day, individually and in this community we call New Life Presbyterian Church, we are called upon to be the everyday people that God will work miracles through on earth. Because God’s grace, peace, hope, love came down to us at Christmas, and dwelt with us, and lives in us today, and in all those whom we will ever seek to serve.

Amen.

References: "Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People", by Nadia Bolz-Weber; New Interpreter's Bible Commentary on Matthew and Luke.