The Word of Light
Hebrews 1:1-12, Psalm 19, John 1:1-14
With all of our technology today and with our ability to flood a room with light at the simple flick of a switch, it is easy to forget how much of a difference light makes. For those of you who go camping, have a fireplace, or like candles, you will know how special a little fire is on a cold dark night. In the midst of a darkness that would otherwise hide everything and turn even a little rock into a potential danger, there is this sweet romantic, almost dancing light that reveals everything before you. As the cold encroaches and ways heavy on you, those fires add just that touch of warmth that flows through you and fights off sickness, discomfort, and more. I think it is no wonder that many people portray baby Jesus in that manger as shining. He is like a little fire, a beacon, a warmth, in that manger and the cold dark nights of our lives.
Today’s Christmas story does not give us the infant story of Jesus. Instead, we get this poetic language of God’s Word, who became flesh, who walks among us, and is the light and life of the world. The poetry gives us this vision of a human God who has life itself inside of him and that life is a light, a beacon for all of humanity. So, can you imagine that? Here we are on a cold dark night and all of a sudden someone walks into the church and from within him there is such a light that it brightens the whole sanctuary and brings warmth and comfort to our souls. That is the vision we get of Jesus and that is the joy and comfort we come to at Christmas.
Yet, we feel a contrast, a discordance here, because wouldn’t everyone want this light, comfort, and joy? All we have to do is look around us and see, the world is still dark. There is still evil, wars, and heartache. The night still comes and we too easily can be overwhelmed.
Strangely, it is actually a good thing that we can recognize and call out these wrongs. The fact that we know war is wrong, that we know we shouldn’t experience heartache or death, and that we can point out evil in this world, means that the light is doing its work. It means that the light is revealing to us, at least as we can see. Just because the light hasn’t removed all danger, or changed every heart to avoid them, doesn’t mean the light isn’t there.
That’s the strange thing we hear in our reading today. Somehow, the light of the world is in their midst, our midst and we have not perceived him. You would think that if a beacon of light suddenly walked into our midst we couldn’t help but see him. To some degree that may be true, but what happens when we go from a very dark place into a very light place? We can be blinded by the light - at least at first. We might block our eyes. We might try to avoid the light. But, if we let our eyes slowly adjust to the light we will see far better than we did in the dark. The truth is that it is fairly easy to avoid the light. I have friends who sleep in and miss half the day. We know that many people exist more at night than at any time and for more reasons than just work. We know we can avoid the day by staying inside, closing our blinds, and more. These all are true examples but are also great metaphors for how we can miss and/or hide from Jesus, the light in our midst.
Some people want to stay in the darkness. They don’t want what the light means for them. For some that might be because they don’t want their weakness or evil revealed. It can be easy to feel like we don’t want people to know who we are. Often people don’t trust the light enough to lead them to what they need, so we think we have to live in the darkness - to connive, trick, and force people to get our way.
One of the hard things for people when they first really discover Jesus Christ is that living in light means that we can no longer live in the darkness. Do you know why pirates or sailors used to wear eye patches? It was so that one of their eyes would always be adjusted to the darkness. When they went inside the ship it was quite dark, so they would take off their eye patch and be able to see in that darkness. The light of Jesus Christ does a similar thing for us. We know that the more we live in it, the more his light infiltrates every part of us, and the less we will belong or be able to live in the darkness. We can’t be like everyone else. That can be really hard because we want to fit in, we want friends, we want things in this world. Sometimes we want all of these things of the world so much that we keep ourselves blind in one eye, or only accept certain things, so that we can still live in the darkness and so we get the danger and blindness that comes with it. We can so easily downplay for ourselves how wonderful and life-changing this light and warmth of Jesus Christ truly is.
This light is in your midst right now and the candles we light are just an essential reminder of that. The light is there to comfort and show you the way, but we have to trust it too. This can still be tough though. We know Jesus did walk the earth, but he ascended into heaven. We know our brothers and sisters in the church can be Christ’s light, but sometimes that doesn’t feel like enough. Well, the first thing to do is to recognize this doubt and step out in faith. It can be very easy to doubt that what God gives you will be enough, but for hundreds of generations of faithful followers it has been, and in our faithfulness it will be too. The light of Christ is working and moving and doing what is needed.
Also realize that as the word became flesh, which was the light of the world, the word is still the light too. The Word of God, Jesus is no longer limited to his fleshiness and so we don’t have to just meet him there in the flesh, though we know that helps. The Word of God is speaking to you this very night. He is trying to speak to you in Scripture, in your prayers, through the examples of the world, and through the order and life of everything around you. You can meet God in His word. There is a reason that millions upon millions of people have turned to and found comfort and guidance in Scripture throughout the last 6 thousand years. God through the Holy Spirit reveals himself and the world through it. Our generation is not beyond that need. Even if sometimes we think we have morally and scientifically overcome the Bible, we too often forget that it is the foundation for everything we know morally and scientifically, so we should trust it more.
The Word in the gospel of John is the Greek word logos, which also in this context means wisdom and order. So on top of telling us that Jesus was the word that created all order and science in the world, it also tells us that by looking at the order and seeing the wisdom beyond it, we might see God in our midst, we might see him at work. As at creation, God is ordering all things for life. We can see that at work. At those times, when we can’t see that order and all we feel is the chaos, we can trust that God’s Word, his wisdom and order has become flesh, it is in our midst, it is at work - it will turn even that darkness to light.
God, the Word that was before all things, became flesh, incarnate, a human baby so that we might know him. Can you imagine how great of an act this is? God gave up so much so that he could be with us - not to mention what he would give up to save us. If God was willing to do all of that, isn’t he far more willing to come to us in prayer? Yet, so many of us don’t believe that God will speak directly to us. We don’t always act like he is actually there. We don’t live as if his presence with us can and does change everything. I couldn’t even list the thousands, possibly millions of times I have turned to God and experienced his warmth, seen his revealing light, and even heard his word of life. I want the same for you. It does take time and openness, like any relationship, but God has already put in the majority of the work.
The light has shone in the darkness and the darkness can not overcome it. As you light your little tapers, look at and see what a difference it makes in this space, in the darkness. They are just little lights in it all and yet they mean something. God’s light in Jesus Christ is far grander than this. As his death and resurrection remind us, Jesus’ light is a light that can never be snuffed out or overcome. In fact, it is the only light that will always overcome the darkness and we can turn to it and live in it at any time. That is the light we have waited for. That is the light that came to us at Christmas. That is the light we celebrate. That is the light that you can take with you as you leave the place. The light of God’s one and only Son, Jesus, who invites you to become an adopted child and so a light with Him. AMEN
