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From John 1:1
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 was in him was life and
that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not overcome it and the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us.
Thanks be to God for His word.
Let us pray.
Lord, we thank you for this
opportunity to gather around Your Word once again. And we ask that you
would quicken our hearts to hear what your Spirit is saying at this
day. We ask that because of Christ. Amen.
There is a small village in Austria
by the name of Rattenberg that has a problem. You see this small
village is losing people. Every day it is getting smaller and smaller.
Part of the reason that it is getting smaller is that it is in shade for
most of the year. This small mountain village sits in the shadow of Rat
Mountain some three thousand feet above it. From November all the way
through February it is in shadows just about all the time, but that is
about to change thanks to a company in Austria. This company plans to
bring a little light on the situation. This company is going to install
thirty heliostat mirrors on the mountain to grab the sunlight and then
reflect it back into the town. The cost is 2.4 million euros and most
of that cost is going to be picked up by the European Union and the
company that made these mirrors. In fact, the director of the company
obviously is no dummy cause he says he sees the potential in other
markets as he says, “I’m sure soon other mountain villages will begin to
see the light.” Not too bad of a guy, huh?
In deed a great light has come into
the world and this light needs no mirrors for us to see it. This light
is the person of Jesus Christ. Today we have come to celebrate his
birth and our text that we just read speaks to the light that is life in
Christ. John frames this picture of Christ birth not in narrative form
as we have read over the last few weeks in Matthew and Luke but he forms
it in a metaphor. Jesus’ birth is life and light to all people, that is
John’s perspective. The life of Jesus is viewed as the coming of
light. As we begin to think about that metaphor and play with that a
little bit it is so rich and has so many layers. As we think about the
light of God, we think about the story of creation don’t we? And we
think about light standing in opposition to darkness the light even has
apocalyptic over tones.
This image of light is very much part
of what we know as the Christmas story. John the Baptist was called to
testify to the light and if we look at the banners in our sanctuary they
all somehow talk about light. We have the wise men following the star.
Over here we have the angels coming to the shepherds and that is all is
about the brightness of the Lord all of a sudden being shone on these
frightened shepherds. Then there is the light itself, Jesus, born in a
stable. Jesus is the light. John uses this metaphor of light
throughout his gospel. In fact, it is one of the main themes that you
can see running through all of his stories and it is Good News for us on
this Christmas day. For the light of our Lord shines as bright today as
it did that day in Bethlehem. Jesus is the light of the world. That is
how he describes himself in John. And it is Christmas day that we want
to talk about light.
It is a time on Christmas to play. I
want to ask; just to start with, how many of you have already opened
presents? A few, okay. Good. Yeah. Some of us are still going to do
that. Christmas is a time to play, play with your presents, play with
your kids as they open their presents, your grandkids. It’s a time to
enjoy ourselves so I thought what the heck it’s Christmas, lets play
with this metaphor of light a little bit and perhaps it can help us see
Christ in a new light.
As I think about light one of the
first things that comes to mind for me is fire. I brought us a candle
today that I’m going to light here as a way to begin to think about
Jesus as a light. As we look at the candle flames. Who doesn’t like to
just stare at a fire and watch the flames come dance around? I enjoy
that. Many times that’s the best part of a camp out isn’t it? Remove
the bugs youre good to go, right? A light, a fire is also part of our
Christmas season isn’t it? For those of you who maybe don’t have a
fireplace, I’m going to give you a little bit of advice right now. You
have the opportunity to bring a fire right into your home through the
magic of television. Yes, our friends in television land have brought
us a ready made fire in a fireplace just through the magic of turning on
your television. Complete with the sounds of a crackling fire along
with a little background Christmas music. What could be greater, right,
at Christmas watching a fire on TV? Check out channel forty five if
you’re looking for it. Those of us with real fire places, a Yule log
many times is a thing that we think about and we put in as a special log
to burn at Christmas. As we think about fire what kind of things come
to mind for us? warmth, Comfort, the idea of being home, peace, being
among family and friends, those are some of the things that begin to
come to our mind as we think about a fire.Well I want to ask you today,
can Jesus be thought of as a fire? Can some of the things that we think
about with fire be thought about with our Lord.
There is another type of light I want
to talk about as well besides fire. And it is very different from fire,
it is a laser. Now laser is a tightly focused beam of light that can
travel in a straight line over long distances. Think about what laser
is. It’s light that has been concentrated and focused to bring energy
to wherever it happens to be hitting. Laser technology is changing the
way we do much of our lives. It is used many times to cut through
something or to remove it or to get to the heart of the matter. Lasers
are becoming a surgeon’s tool of choice to remove tumors, to improve
eyesight. Lasers are used to point out what needs to be removed and
then do their work with great precision so that we might be made whole
and new again. Well on this Christmas day can Jesus be thought of as a
laser? One who cuts into our deepest thoughts and removes those things
that keep us from wholeness.
There is another kind of light as
well. This one may be very obvious: a light bulb. When we think about
light bulb what do we think of right away? We think of an idea, don’t
we? Usually it is a symbol of knowledge, of insight, of wisdom. Many
of you perhaps remember the old slogan from Ford. “Ford has a better
idea.” And what did they use? They used a light bulb lighting to help
reinforce that. A light bulb illuminates. A light bulb allows us to see
what we could not see before. It allows us to see in greater detail.
It sheds new light. It allows us to see in new ways. If that is the
case, can Jesus be a light bulb? Can he be one who can bring wisdom and
understanding into our lives? Food for thought.
I have one other type of light here
today. This type of light is usually expressed as an LED in this case
but many times also as neon. As you think about an LED flashing what
comes to mind. It’s used throughout the entertainment and hospitality
industries, why? Because there is something about an LED, about neon
that draws you in. it peaks your interest. It is inviting. You want to
find out more. Why do you think they call Las Vegas the neon capital of
the world? There’s a reason, they don’t just like the lights, there’s a
reason for it. The lights entice you. They invite you in. They’re fun
to be around. They’re exciting and they maybe even ask the “what if?”
question. Maybe this time. Can Jesus be an LED? Is that how Jesus
lived his life? Is that how he interacted with people, calling them to
something more? How was Jesus in inviting light in his world?
Jesus is the light of the world and I
hope that these metaphors bring you new ways to understand the babe in
the manger. I want to invite you on this Christmas day as you gather
with friends, family and loved ones to perhaps to continue to play with
this image, with this metaphor. Think about how Jesus might be these
and maybe more ways. How might they be worked out even in the Christmas
story? Jesus as fire. Jesus as laser. Jesus as light bulb. Jesus as
LED. My prayer for you this day is that God’s Spirit would continue to
work with your mind and your heart as you think these things through.
Just as Jesus is called the light of the world so are all that follow
him are called children of light. As children of light we are to then
have the same kind of qualities of light that Jesus did. So for us on
this Christmas day perhaps Christ wants to bring us another gift. He is
inviting you to reflect on how your light is. Perhaps there is a place
in your life where you need the comfort and the healing that is found in
Jesus, the fire. Or maybe the laser of Christ needs to perform surgery
somewhere in your life. Maybe you need to give or receive some wisdom
or counsel. Or perhaps the welcoming light of Christ is beaconing
someone you know and your chance to let that shine. Or maybe there are
some of you here today that hear the light of Christ calling you to him
for the first time. After the service I invite you that if you’re
thinking about that and you’re wrestling with that in your heart to come
and talk with me outside afterwards. I’d love to talk with you about
what it means to be a follower of Christ, the one who is calling you to
himself this Christmas day. There could be no better Christmas gift
than that. Christ is the light of the world. He came to us wrapped in
clothes lying in a manger. His light is a gift to us all, that we might
become children of light. Let his light shine through us this day so
that it might overcome the darkness. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.
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