The Light Of His Presence Series

THE SETTING: The sanctuary is in complete darkness, and in that darkness I stand at the pulpit with a candle and lighter in my hands)

OPEN: Prophesying about the coming Messiah, Isaiah wrote (about 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem) “Those who walked in darkness have seen a great light” Isaiah 9:2

(LIGHT the CANDLE with the lighter)

In the Gospel of John 1:4-5 were told: “In him was life, and the life was the LIGHT OF MEN. (He is) the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Darkness bothers people. For some people, darkness can make them afraid. They don’t know what happening in the dark - and it’s scary. I once read the story of a woman whose favorite place at the zoo was called “The the House of Night” where nocturnal creatures crawl and fly about. One very bright day, she stepped into the exhibit and was plunged into total darkness. Almost immediately, a small hand grabbed hers. “And who do you belong to?” she asked. His answer came swiftly: “I’m yours till the lights come on.”

For other people, darkness robs them of joy and hope and leaves them in despair. In some parts of Alaska I’m told that darkness can last for months. The night just never seems to end. And that darkness plays with their minds. Many of the suffer from something called Seasonal Affective Disorder (called SAD for short). Seasonal Affective Disorder causes people to become depressed and lethargic. It’s a form of despair, and it caused by DARKNESS

Now darkness is the absence of light. When God first created the world everything was dark. So the first thing He ordered to appear… was LIGHT: “Let there be LIGHT!”

And when God decided to become human, and to be WITH US, we’re told that the angel declared: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). God came down to be with us, and when He did so, He became our LIGHT. That’s why Jesus declared “I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Jesus became our light and help us deal with our fears, our despairs and our hopelessness.

WHEN THE LIGHT IS ON… GOD IS HOME (with us)

One last thought. Jesus didn’t just say HE was the light the world. He also said “YOU are the light of the world.” So “let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven.”

We spread the light of Christ to the world around us, and we light the way for other to come to Christ.

And it suddenly occurred to me that we do something at the end of every Christmas Eve service that illustrates that truth. At the end of our services, we all have our own candles, and we light candles from the ONE CANDLE (Jesus) that represents Jesus. And the light of our candles - fill the room with light.