In the name of God ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Merry Christmas! What a joy it is to be with you all on this splendid morning on which we celebrate the Incarnation of the Lord. Sacred time calls for sacred rituals and it just wouldn’t be Christmas for some of us without coming to this beautiful church, singing hymns of praise on cause of our Messiah’s birth, hearing John’s rich nativity poem, and partaking of the Holy Eucharist. As much as I enjoy the Christmas traditions of home and family, of breakfasts and presents, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without taking the time to remember what this day is all about and worshiping accordingly. So it is my joy and honor to be spending this sacred day with each of you.
This morning begs the question “What is Christmas all about?” An evangelical pastor, in defense of the Congressional tax bill, recently said “Jesus didn’t come primarily to solve the economic, political, and social problems of the world. He came to forgive our sins.” That statement set off a flurry of responses, and at least in the online clergy world that I live in, it was a very hot topic this past week. I’m not at all interested in either defending or criticizing the tax bill this morning, but I am interested in the question at the root of that remark – why did Jesus come?
There’s a clue as to why it is that God became incarnate in the person of Jesus in the epic passage that we heard this morning from John. I’ve preached this text from John for five Christmases in a row now, and each time I come to it, there’s always more. This prologue to John’s gospel is an overture to the entire Gospel. These 14 verses are densely packed with deep theological imagery that stimulates our imaginations and awakens our souls. John’s poetic prose can and, God willing, will serve as the foundation for a lifetime of Christmas sermons. This particular year, the part of this passage that caught my attention is the image of light.
John writes of Jesus, the Word made flesh, that “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” At least for this year, when I contemplate that question of what Christmas is all about, of why Jesus came, the answer is that he is the true light that has come into the world.
Today, of course, light comes from all sorts of places, from bulbs, lasers, and screens being the most prevalent. But in John’s day, light came from only one source: fire. Whether it was a lantern, candle, campfire, or a burning star, light and fire were inseparable. So the image for us this morning as we consider why it is that the Word became flesh is a burning candle. And there are several ways to interpret this image, and John likely had many of these in mind as he wrote about the light of Christ coming into the world.
The first thing that light does is to enlighten, that is, to give knowledge and understanding. Light shows us things that had previously been hidden. Think of how we speak of the “light of truth” or needing to “shed some light on that.” As John writes of Jesus, “we have seen his glory, the glory of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” Because of Jesus, light has shone on our faith. We don’t have to debate about what God is like because we have seen the face of God in Jesus. We don’t need to wonder if God really cares about the poor, because we saw that Jesus did. We don’t need to wonder if God cares about us, because God has come to us in Jesus. Jesus came to show us the truth that God deeply loves us.
Light also dispels darkness, and John makes this point when he writes that “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Because of Jesus, we don’t need to wonder if evil will persist forever. Without a doubt, there are dark corners of our world, we’ve all been there. Depression, addiction, selfishness, war, fear, greed, suffering, and death are all realities that surround us. But the light of Christ shows us that there is always a way out of that darkness. The light of Christ shows us that there is a narrative that is truer the dark narratives of scarcity and doubt because what is most true about us is that we are God’s beloved.
Light is useful in showing us the path that lies in front of us. As the well-known line from the Psalms says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Part of what Jesus’ coming into the world does is to give shape to our actions and priorities. In other words, the light of Christ forms our ethics. So going back to that controversial statement that I mentioned earlier, because of the light of Christ, it’s impossible to say that Jesus did not come primarily to solve the economic, political, and social problems of the world because those systems are exactly where sin is manifest, and Jesus brought his light to all parts of our lives. The light not only shines on us, but it makes demands of us. Just as fire can transform metals or cook foods, the light of Christ is to transform us. The light shows us which way to go.
If you’ve ever been camping on a cold night, you know that one of the things that fire is good for is warmth, and of course, who doesn’t find comfort in sitting near a warm fireplace. Jesus showed us God’s love for us throughout his life and ministry. Throughout his birth, teaching, healing, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost, Jesus shows us the mercy, peace, and compassion of God. Jesus reminds us that God is always with us and that there is never anything that can change that. So this light gives us comfort in the confidence of knowing that God wonderfully created us, and yet more wonderfully restored us in his love. And, as you know, when you light a candle from another candle, the first candle doesn’t lose its light. There is no limit to how many times a light can be shared without even once being diminished. The wonderful thing about this light is that just as God has shared it with us, we can share that warmth with others.
Flames are also used to purge impurities from metals and refine them. We were enslaved to sin, and Jesus did heal our sin sick souls. As any trial by fire is, this was a painful process. When Jesus pointed out the ways in which sin had infected our hearts, we killed him rather than listening to him. And the changes that Christ demands in us can be difficult and challenging, but the process is one of bringing us into alignment with God. A central part of Jesus’ coming was the atonement and purging of our sins.
Light also gives us energy. People who are excited are often described as being “fired up.” And part of what Christmas means is that we are given a newfound zeal and motivation. By taking on our flesh, Jesus tells us that life matters. If all that mattered was heaven, then there would have been no need for God to come to us in Jesus. But the Incarnation of Jesus affirms and declares the goodness of Creation and the importance of our lives. This light is a catalyst for us to wake us up from the status quo and alert us to most excellent way of God’s love.
And thanks to modern science, we also know that light is deeply mysterious. Physicists have been able to demonstrate that light behaves both like a wave and a particle. Einstein once wrote “We are faced with a new kind of difficulty. We have two contradictory pictures of reality; separately neither of them fully explains the phenomena of light, but together they do.” So the light of God that has come in Jesus is also a mystery that calls us to go deeper, but not to grasp or capture. This light isn’t something for us to control or explain, but something to be enlightened by, brightened by, guided by, warmed by, purged by, and sparked by.
This is why Christ came – to be the light of the world. The question “why did Jesus come” doesn’t have an answer that is simple, rather it takes a symbol like the one of light that John offers us. Just as the light from a flame has many functions and purposes, so too is the light of Christ polyvalent. And so when we approach the magisterial mysteries of God, such as the Incarnation, we need metaphors to help us enter into them. Light functions as one such doorway to understanding Christmas.
Now, as John notes, “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” We are all implicated in that statement. Light, as wonderful as it is, can also be searing and blinding when we have become accustomed to living in darkness. It’s no different than someone turning on all the lights in your bedroom the moment you’ve open your eyes. It’s overwhelming, so you bury your head in the pillow and scream “turn it off.” So do not be worried if you, or someone you know, isn’t able to immediately accept the grace of this light. For some, they will immediately “see the light” and walk by it. Others will take more time as their eyes get used to seeing the world in a new way. But this light changes everything.
One of my favorite CS Lewis quotes is “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” This light which has come into the world gives us a new perspective on everything. Suddenly, the shadows are dispersed and we see things as the truly are. This light is the dawning of the new creation, the time of God’s grace, mercy, peace, and love.
That’s one way to think about what Christmas is all about and one reason why Jesus came into the world – to bring the light of God into the darkness. So today and throughout the week, use this symbol of the light to think about Jesus. Thank God for his light. Let the light shine in and through you. Allow the light to change you, allow yourself to see new things in the light. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. Thanks be to God.
