"The Light of the World" Sermon / John 1:1-14 / Pr. Lucas Albrecht / Christmas Day December 25th 2018: Season Of Christmas / Mount Olive Lutheran Church

Text: John 1:1-14
Theme:  Christmas Day – Light in the Darkness
___________________________
Intr – People who suffer from sight problems have a precious help to see better: glasses. This invention gives blurred eyes the clarity and precision they so much need.[1]     

But if you are in a dark room, will it make a difference to wear or not wear glasses? Surely not. We can't see in ambient light when… there is no light! In that case, no lenses in the world will help us, because light is essential to sight. Actually, that is the way we can see things – because light reflects on them.

In order to be able to see:  
_we need our eyes
_We may need glasses;
_But above all, we need LIGHT.

Now, let’s transpose it to our way of looking at life and living it. Sometimes we spend time in the darkness trying to see good things in it. Sometimes we wear out of all our efforts because we insist in taking the darkest roads as we try to see clearly there. That is just waste of time and effort. If we spend time there, or with people who focus on the dark side of life, or if we "make our plans by night," or live our lives in rotting darkness of despair...then we can't expect to see well either. Here, not even a magnifying glass would help to overcome the biggest problem of all: the lack of light.

           That is a good thing to remember when we share the message of Christmas in a secularized society. It doesn’t help simply trying to open people’s eyes. It doesn’t help simply lending them our glasses – even because faith is personal. What really helps is announcing the Light that came into the World to enlighten it and to make us become Children of God.      Jesus’ Light is what people need to understand Christmas; and Easter; and every single teaching from the Scriptures.

         In the OT reading today we heard:

Isaiah 52:8: The voice of pyour watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; qfor eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion uThe Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, vand all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

         As we listened to Psalm 2 we were remembered that “The Lord said to me, b“You are my Son; today I have begotten you. And: Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

        And Hebrews talks about the radiance of His Glory: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and hthe exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

        Jesus is the Light from above, ahead of our eyes, so that through the lenses of Faith we can see Him as the Baby King, Saviour, Redeemer. Friend. Emannuel, God with us.

        Sometimes we feel like walking in the darkness. We don’t know where we are going, we can’t see much ahead. Or sometimes is just and undefined moment, like sunset, which we can’t say precisely if it is end of the day or the beginning of the night. It is there right in the middle of both. Undefined. Just like our lives sometimes is stuck in. Is it the end of the day or the beginning of the day? Is my marriage coming to an end or is it beginning again? What about my job, my personal life. Relationships… We are there, feeling right in the middle of something – or in the middle of nowhere.

       Again, here what we need is not to try to open our eyes wider, or to wash our lenses cleaner. We need the Light of the World. He makes us see. In Him we have a definite and safe place. God is security, definition for our lives, whether in a sunny day or in the darkest hour. When there’s smiles and cheering up or when there’s tears rolling down. In those moments when loneliness, dark times come close, He is even closer. As close as when His Son took human shape, He dwelt among us, and gave His life so we can live in the shadow of his presence. By faith he takes and carries us in His arms. The best and safest place in the world, definitely. If the undefined moment of the sunset remembers the light giving place to darkness, in Him we find the dawn: the darkness disappearing before the Sun.[2]

      John lets us know that in the midst of darkness we have Hope. We have Light. Jesus Christ. He won for us a wide and wonderful, clear and precise ambient light of peace in the presence of The Father. He became flesh and dwelt among us. By faith in Him we are brought out of darkness into His panorama of Light. We have the right glasses and we can see life through the lenses that show us The Way. In His Light we see more clearly, more precisely - even things that our eyes can’t see.  Being with Him allows us to always see... to see Him in His Word; to see Him in His Sacraments; to see Him in our neighbor wherever we have an opportunity to share, help, comfort, love.

Cc – Christmas Day is a day to remember that when we were walking in darkness, trying our best to see things only to be more lost and desperate, he brought Light to the World, to our lives, to our hearts. Because of His light shining on us, and on the World, now we can see things. Clearer, brighter, and under proper Light. We can share this Light, reflecting it over many lives that still walk in dark ways. This Light is for us. This Light is for all. This Light is forever.

__________________________________

[1] http://toquedevida.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-light.html
[2] One very important thing: we need to share the Light of the world Christ, as the Bible teaches us, and not try to share it the way we think is the best, or “less offensive”, or “more palatable” for the current culture. In this case, we may blind people with excess of light, instead of having them focused by Him on His word. Illustration: How to see without glasses.