How Will You Light Your Christmas? Dec 2, 2001
Today is the first Sunday in Advent….a time for us to begin our preparations for the celebration of THE ONE that would change the face of the earth with his life. It’s the season when you and I participate in an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Jesus is the one who was born, He is the reason for this season and he often shared earthy stories with heavenly meanings. We refer to them as “parables”.
One great thing about Jesus was that he was the ultimate communicator. He knew how to reach the unreachable, touch the untouchable and breakthrough to those that were unbreakable. It was important to him in his life and ministry to be relevant, to share in ways that would resonate in the hearts of the hearers. Parables were given for three specific purposes:
To bring the hearer under conviction 2 Sam 12:1-6
To teach a spiritual truth IS 5:1-6
To illustrate a point Luke 10:25-37
Today I want to look at the very first parable that Christ shared in an effort to accomplish those three things and encourage us to think about how we are “lighting” our Christmas.
I’ll begin with the most popular bible verse of all time, John 3:16 and read on from there:
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,F that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.G 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Jesus told us that He was the light…in him there was no darkness.
You see “light” is a weapon. Where there are weapons there is controversy.
That is why we see opposition when we try to light up a nativity scene on the lawn of a public building. That is why we have struggles to display the 10 Commandments in the hallways of our schools.
I remember when we were going through the tragedy at Columbine seeing a letter written to God asking why He didn’t do anything to stop the madness. His reply, simple yet profound: “because I am not allowed in schools”
There may have been more reality in that than we realize
The bible tells us that people who live in darkness don’t want anything to do with the light.
In darkness there is no choice. It is the light that enables us to see the difference in things and it is Christ who is the light and who gives the light to us.
Turn over and look at Matt 5:14
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
You are the light…What did He mean by calling us the light?
The word is often used in synonyms for being alive (Job 3:20), being born (3:16), the pleasures of life (Ps 97:11), good days for the righteous (112:4), or an essential in man’s happiness (36:9). Light and truth are coupled biblically (Ps 43:3; cf. Ps 19; Prov 6:23; Isa 51:4).
The recipient of light becomes a light, shining outwardly (Ps 34:5; Eccl 8:1) and inwardly (Prov 20:27; Dan 5:11).
When we ask Him into our heart, when we accept the Lord, His light shines on us…thus making us alive, making us Born-again(new beginnings).
You will notice that when anyone accepts the Lord for the first time, they are like a blow-torch for God…they take that light everywhere and after talking with them, you know that you have been lit.
What Jesus was saying to those who received him is that we have been changed: we are now the “illumination of the world”. When we arrive in an office, on the job site, at the home, our radiance should do what it was given to us to do….
Expose darkness and light up the area we are in
Jesus went about doing good and healing ALL that were oppressed because He was the light. In fact He didn’t need to say anything…He just let that light shine. When he came there was no light. When he left there was no darkness.
Wouldn’t it be great if you were able to control the light instantly: you could be programmed to become the light just like the clapper? Clap on…
He said YOU are the light…YOU will make the difference…YOU can change your surroundings. Light is also referred to as fire..you have the ability to burn away the chaff ---sin will find that you are juts too hot to handle!
God enables you.
He goes on the provide us with the reason for why he called us the light
A city on a hill cannot be hidden
One thing you need to realize from this story is that your light will shine and it cannot be quenched if you choose to let it shine.
This “exposure” that come your way is not to lift you up but to disclose THE LIGHT…to bring attention to Christ
You don’t get a light and then not use it…its purpose is to illuminate.
15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl
Unfortunately in the day we live in, there seems to be more bowls than there are lights. The bowls being immorality, greed, envy, jealousy, hatred, anger, lying, deception…all of these are tools our enemy uses to snuff out our light/flame.
What happens to light when a bowl covers it? A flame?
Jesus said it can’t be hidden, you can’t allow it to be covered..
Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house
Consider that this doesn’t simply mean that you and your light are going to glow but that God is going to raise you up to another level, place you on a higher stand so that you can illuminate a larger area…your influence increases-your territory of effectiveness will broaden-more people will benefit from God’s light that is shining on and through you.
People will see your good works..but God will be the one praised
Verse 16.. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Just as we are able to see that covering a lamp dims its illumination, just as we see that covering the flame extinguishes the fire…he is saying that your light has to shine before men so that it can do what it was meant to do
Being a light is not beneficial if it is never turned on
Being on fire is pointless if no one receives the warmth from the flame
This is the season to prepare for THE Light of the world…
It’s time to remove the lamp shade…to allow His light to shine through us in acts of kindness towards our neighbor, in gifts of compassion towards the less fortunate…in encouraging words to those that are depressed and disenchanted during the holidays.
Conversion is spoken of as illumination (Heb 6:4; 10:32)
When we receive Christ, we become illuminated…we see things that were once covered up, we feel things that we have never felt and God works in us daily to smooth off the rough edges. All that we have comes from Him
. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows James 1:17
His light shines continuously…his flame is perpetual and His gift to us is eternal…He knows how to light up the darkness.
A group of tourists were visiting Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Among those observing the wonders of the phenomenal underground labyrinth were a girl of 12 and her 7 yr old brother. When they had reached the deepest part of the caverns, as was customary, the guide turned off the lights for a moment’s meditation and silence. The little boy became frightened and started to cry. And there in the pitch black darkness and quietness of the cavern, many an adult received a moral lift from the clear whisper of the girl to her little brother, “Don’t cry, don’t be afraid. There’s someone here who knows where the lights are and he can turn them on.”
For many of us there appears to be too much darkness around us, yet I think we would all do well to remember that:
God knows where the lights are and He can turn them on.
Who is going to benefit from your light this holiday? Who’s heart will you warm with your burning flame?
How will you light your Christmas?
Communion is open to all believers. "For where two or three are gathered in my name," Jesus told his disciples, "I am there among them" (Matthew 18:20). As we celebrate Holy Communion let us remember what was done for us so that we might be able to do more for Him.
Next slide-Communion slide –as we sing the choruses go to final slide “Connect with him today!
