Light
John 1: 10 - 18
Intro: I have given each of you a gift this morning. It is commonly known as a tea light. I have been told that if you are stranded in your car in the cold, it will provide enough heat to keep you warm. It will also provide light.
Light cannot be contained. Light has no shape or form. You can’t hold light in your hand even though you can shine it ON your hand. Looking in the dictionary, “light” is defined as something that makes vision possible. Light is mentioned 71 times in John’s gospel. According to John, light puts chaos to flight, shows things a they really are and guides or leads the way.
1 I seems to me that today many people prefer to live in a world of darkness. Simon and Garfunkel sang a song in the 70’s which could very well be the theme song for the year 2020. “Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk to you again.”
A Think for just a moment about the “dark times” you have experienced: the loss of a loved one, a job, health, resources, etc.
B Darkness in our lives is not what God intends for us. The emphasis here involves the presence or the absence of light.
C The world in which we live is full of darkness. It is easier to live in darkness than to live in the light because light calls attention to the things that we may not want to see.
II Earlier in his Gospel John says, VSS 4 & 5 “In him was life, and that life was the light of all humanity. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
A According to John, Jesus is the light of the world who came that we might see and know God.
B When light suddenly appears in the darkness, it takes time for our eyes to adjust.
C When the light comes, one must choose either to stay in the anonymity of darkness or move forward in the light. To believe what one is seeing sometimes takes a leap of faith.
III As human beings, we can see, hear, and know God in ways never possible before because of the incarnation of Christ Jesus as the light of the world.
A We must begin to realize that even in the darkness of our lives, God is there, with us in the darkness.
B Where and hoe do we encounter the presence of God in our lives? What difference does the light of Christ make for us.
C How might 2021 be different if the starting point was a recognition and acceptance that we belong to God who brings light into the world?
Concl: At Christmas, we light up our homes, stores, streets. We even light candles during advent and Christmas Eve. We give and receive gifts; but, perhaps the most precious gift we can give another person is the gift of the light of Christ. The surest way to bring light into our hurting world of darkness in 2021 is to introduce others to the light of the world, Christ Jesus.
