“God with Us, The Light of the World”
John 1:1-14
Do you know that within our solar system we are the 4th largest planet?
93 million miles away from us is our star—the sun.
The sun is a pretty big star but it is no-where near as big as some of the other stars we know about.
One such star is 5 billion times the size of our sun.
We are part of the milky way galaxy.
And there are trillions of stars in our galaxy.
And all of them are circled by at least one planet, such as our own.
Within our Milky Way Galaxy we are not the only solar system.
So far, astronomers have found over 500 solar systems and are discovering new ones every year.
Scientists estimate that there are 10’s of billions of solar systems in our galaxy alone.
Through the Hubble Telescope, we have been able to see a very small slice of space and it shows hundreds of galaxies.
500 Billion light years away from us is something called the cosmic web where billions and billions of galaxies—just like our galaxy—reside.
And that is our universe.
But what is beyond our universe?
Scientists believe there are other universes.
I mean, compared to the eternal heavens, we are smaller than we can ever even begin to imagine.
Think about this, there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches on earth!
And yet, and yet, the God Who created all this and controls all this—down to the smallest microscopic particles known to humankind took on flesh and became one of us.
Oh, the audacity of our faith.
It is WAY beyond our comprehension.
And yet, and yet, I believe it to be true.
How about you?
As incomprehensible as it seems, the cosmic eternal Christ, the preexisting Word, is also a flesh and blood person, Who was born to a particular woman in a particular town at a particular time and died a painful physical death.
This incomprehensible mystery is what we mean when we talk about the Central theme of Christmas—That God became one of us.
The One Who shouted, “Let there be light!” came to us in Jesus.
The Word—the creative power and wisdom of God that spoke all things into existence—took on flesh as an infant in Bethlehem.
What are we to do about all this?
Think about it, John begins with the familiar words of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning…”
In Genesis 1 God creates all that is by speaking: “Then God said…”
As God speaks, everything comes to be.
In John Chapter 1 Jesus is described as the Word and, as John says, “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”
And because of this, the relationship between God and humanity has been forever altered.
Calvin imagines God speaking “baby-talk” to us in Christ—so that we might know the unknowable One.
But we will still not, necessarily accept Him.
Starting at verse 10 we are told that “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Jesus Christ is Wisdom, Scripture, reason, and the ordering force of all reality.
His story and the story of the cosmos is the same story.
His story is the story of REALITY.
But why does not everyone accept it?
Why does not everyone believe?
Could it be that we live in a veil of such thick darkness that it is too easy for us to ignore the existence of Christ?
Could it be that too many of us want things on our terms, want to live life our way and to do things our way that we are unwilling to accept the free gift of faith and thus salvation?
Could it be that the temptation to sin is that strong?
Could it be that our nature is that bent—that we are unwilling to live lives in accordance to the defining principal of all that is?
There can be no doubt that this world is incredibly complex.
The cosmos are beyond our abilities to grasp.
And God is so BIG, so OTHER, that how can we possibly come to know Him on a personal basis?
And how can it be that God has become one of us?
That is where faith comes into play.
Our faith, our everything—even our thoughts that tell us “No, no, no” this cannot possibly be true—don’t quite overcome the TRUTH that Jesus is God.
And that God has created everything.
And that our calling in life is to accept this…
…live into this…
…apply it to our lives and become the bearers of this good news in all we say and do.
As the old saying goes, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”
We are so very small.
We are but creatures floating on the seed of a dandelion in the summer breeze in comparison to all that is.
And yet, we sometimes think we know all there is to know.
We think we can take things into our own hands and live life on our own terms.
Well, we can.
God allows it.
He doesn’t force our hand.
But if we do this, we reject our humanity.
If we do this, we reject what we are, who we are and Whose we are.
If we do this, we reject why we were created in the first place, we turn our backs on the One Who created us and all that is and we spit in the face of the One Who so loves us that He became One of us, died the death we deserve and rose from the dead so that we, through the free gift of faith in Him—can live with Him and be transformed into the creatures created in His image—THE IMAGE that we were meant to be in the first place.
In speaking of Christ, John writes: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
And here lies our hope.
The twin realities of darkness and light permeate the Bible.
The Bible’s beginning and end highlight the tension between darkness and light, with the power of light coming from God.
And darkness is most often associated with evil, adversity, ignorance, despair, gloom, and even death.
As an example, the writer of Proverbs notes: “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness.”
And the writer of 1st John wrote something similar: “But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go.”
Jesus Himself sometimes describes hell as “outer darkness” where we are separated from God.
And this is a choice we make.
We decide whether we will walk in the darkness or the light.
We choose whether we will follow Satan or God.
We choose our destiny in this vast universe.
In the meantime, the Light shines.
In John Chapter 3, Jesus says: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”
Whenever I read that verse I am reminded of my first apartment, after graduating from college.
It was one room in a very large and very old building.
The refrigerator was in the closet and I slept on my boss’s old army cot.
One night, after I had turned out the lights and gotten into bed, I remembered to do something that I had forgotten.
So, I got up, turned on the light and saw that the walls of that apartment were literally covered thick in cockroaches quickly scurrying back to their hiding places, in order to get out of the light.
“Those who love evil hate the light and won’t come to the light, lest their deeds be exposed.”
That is what that verse means.
“But everyone who wants to walk in the truth comes into the light.”
What do you love?
Light or darkness?
Goodness or evil?
Love or hate?
Selfish desires or selfless giving?
I know we are a mess of all this stuff, but when we make the decision to receive Christ as our Lord and Savior—when we accept the free gift of faith which Jesus Christ went to the Cross in order to offer us: “we are given the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
Yes, the darkness of this world is great.
The temptation to sin is strong.
But, the Light is stronger still.
For as we are told in verse 5 of our Gospel Lesson for this morning: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
There is a good path that God intended from the beginning for us to walk.
And that path is described in Scripture as “walking in the light.”
When we stray from the path, we move toward the darkness.
When we succumb to thoughts, words, or deeds that bring, perhaps, momentary gratification followed by hurt, we walk in the darkness.
The battle between good and evil, light and darkness is one of the major themes of human existence.
And it’s not just a battle fought outside of us, it’s a battle fought within us.
There is, of course, another kind of darkness.
And this is not moral darkness, although it is sometimes the result of bad decisions or the evil actions of others.
This darkness is associated with grief, sadness, or despair; or the feelings of being lost or unloved.
We all know what this means because we have all been there in one way or another.
But, there is hope.
John’s telling of the Christmas story is rooted in the Creation story and aims to make clear the cosmic significance of Jesus becoming one of us, as God’s response to all darkness.
When God speaks, everything comes to be.
And Jesus is the Word of God.
As you have noticed, each week of Advent we light another candle in the Advent wreath.
The closer we come to Christmas, the greater the light until finally on Christmas Eve we light the Christ candle and celebrate that the Light of the world has been born into our world.
And that is what brings us hope and salvation and meaning.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples, “I am the light of the world.”
And in Matthew Jesus turns to His disciples and says: “You are the light of the world.
A city built on a hill cannot be hid…
…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Jesus is the light, and as we come to Him, trust in Him, and begin to follow Him, we walk in His light.
We have His light within us; we become His light in this dark world.
What does this mean?
It means we love God and neighbor.
And we do this by offering food to the hungry, caring for the sick, encouraging others, giving clothing to those who are without, a drink to the thirsty and love to those who feel unloved.
Isaiah says that when we bless and encourage others God’s light will break forth like the dawn, pushing away the darkness.
God’s healing will spring up quickly; when we help heal the hurt and brokenness in others.
And we receive healing as well.
Our gloom will be like noonday.
When we share the light of Christ we also receive it.
That is how it works.
We feed ourselves when we feed others.
We love ourselves when we love others.
We serve God and ourselves when we serve others.
It is true that compared to the eternal heavens, we are smaller than we could ever know.
But the stronger truth is that no matter how small we are compared to this vast universe, God so loves us that He came into this world, put on flesh and blood and became one of us so that we might come to know just a bit of Who He is, what He is about and through His death and resurrection we might be saved from darkness, sin and death.
The light that enlightens everyone has come into the world.
Do we recognize this One Who has entered into our midst?
Have we received Him, really, for Who He is?
Will we be born this Advent and Christmas Season, with the One Who has been born in a manger?
Will we become, with Him, the children of God?
May it be so.
Amen.
