The Light Shines In The Darkness
Posted on Jan 04, 2015 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
For most people Christmas was over by the end of the day on December 25, but technically, the Season of Christmas doesn’t end until tomorrow, which is the 12th day of Christmas. Well, the Season of Christmas is almost over. Now if you are like me, you love Christmas and to be honest I don’t want to see it end. It seems like during this season, everyone is happy and people seem to just be in better spirits. I mean, why shouldn’t we be in good spirits. Christmas is that time of year when we Christians remember that God has entered into this world and on that first Christmas God did something that turned the world upside down. God became human and fir the first time in history, humans were able to see the face of God, in Jesus.
As I was thinking about that notion this week, I thought about Moses. You see, in the days of the Exodus, Moses was the Lord's main man. Moses was the man who got Pharaoh to release God’s people. Moses led the people around the wilderness until God was ready for them to enter the promise land. But, when Moses, who had been the recipient of so much revelation and guidance learned that he would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land, he asked a final favor of God. He wanted to see God's face. And why not? If anybody deserved to see the face of God, it was Moses! But the request was denied. God said: "you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live." 21And the LORD continued, "See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; 22and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen." (Exodus 33:21-23) This man to whom God had spoken so clearly and so frequently and for so long, was told that he could see God, but not all of God. "You can see where I have been. You can see my backside, but you cannot see my face." That was as good as it was going to get.
No one, not even Moses was allowed to see God’s face and, some 1400 years after Moses asked God to let him see his face, God finally said, “it is time.” As the world grew darker and darker; as the world seemed to grow more violent, God finally said, it is time for my light to shine again and, so, God sent Jesus into this world and for the first time, humanity saw God face to face. That is what Christmas is all about, in Christ, you and I, ordinary everyday people were allowed to see God face to face.
Now in Jesus’s time, the Jews would not surprised that God would show up, but they did not expect God to show up as he did, a peasant child, without royal credentials, without power as they understood power and with a human face. The proclamation that God had become flesh and blood, with the feelings and features of any other man was to them beyond strange.
Now unlike Luke and Matthew, John offers no details of how and when God entered the world in the form of Jesus. In John, there is no manger scene, no adoring shepherds, no wise men from the East, just the incredible revolutionary announcement that God has become like us in Christ so that we can become like him. In this transaction we come to an understanding of the nature of God that exceeds any previous understanding. In Jesus, we are able to see all of God.
Now, as I said earlier, no one had ever seen the face of God before, not even Moses. But, there is something else in this story from John that reminds me of Moses. John tells us that “What has come into being 4in him (Jesus that is) was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (1:4-5). Jesus was more than a mere man, he was the light of God.
Moses experienced the light of God, too. You see, while Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s Word for the people, God’s light shined so bright that it burned Moses face. As the story goes, when Moses came down from the mountain, he skin actually shined because the glory of God, or I would say the light of God had changed Moses (Exodus 34:29). He actually was reflecting God’s light to the people.
In Jesus God’s light once again was shining directly on his people and that light can, and will change us. As we each seek to be in the presence of Jesus, his light, a light that cannot be put out, should reflect off of us and onto this darkened world and in our Gospel text today, we are reminded that that is what happened to John. John want the light, but he knew the light when he saw it and that light reflected off him.
You can tell the story of Jesus leaving out all sorts of important details. In John's gospel the shepherds, angels, and manger are all absent. But, as all of the Gospel writers knew, you cannot tell the story of Jesus without John the Baptist. You simply must have the one who comes solely to reflect the light of Jesus and point others to that light and this is our calling as well. We who are forgiven and redeemed, we who are claimed and called, are the ones who arte to reflect the light of Jesus and point others to him. Oh, I know, we would much rather leave the pointing of others to Jesus to the clergy and to the professional church folks, but reflecting the light of Jesus is all of our callings. AS followers of Christ, we are to shine his light on the world
How do we do this? Well we do this with the actions we take in our lives. We do this with the words we use, or don’t use. We point to Jesus when we feed the hungry, when we invite those we know and love to know the gift of grace we see in Jesus. We point to Jesus when we allow the holy light of the season to shine through all we do and all are. We point to Jesus when we truly welcome everyone into our midst, even those who are different from us.
In a world that continues to try and separate people based on economics, race, gender, sexual orientation and so many other things, John says, no. WE are not called to divide God’s creation. WE are called to bring God’s creation, all of it together. We are called to be the light of Christ and reflect that light to everyone.
Now that sounds like an impossible task and if it were only up to us, it would be impossible. But Christmas is a time that we are reminded that we are not alone. God himself, came into the world and through Jesus, he is still with us and through the gift of Jesus, each of us has been empowered to be alight in a darkened world.
Today, when you leave this place, I pray that each of you shines the light of Christ in the world. I pray that each of you will join me in being the Light of Christ here and now. I know it is hard to do, I know many will try to extinguish your light, but remember, The light shines and the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Amen.