Christmas Day 2008 John 1:1-14
In a large parish it was the custom for the church leaders to go on retreat each Advent. There they planned the
major activity for the Christmas season. At one retreat they decided on a big Christmas pageant. When it came
time to map out the production they got into a discussion on how to symbolize Jesus in the manger. They didn't want
to use a doll or a statue. And they ruled out using a real, live baby. Finally, they decided to put a light in
the manger. During the pageant a warm glow of light would shine out from the crib.
On opening
night the church hall was packed. The audience was expectant. But when the curtain went up there was something
was wrong. Then everyone heard the director say in a voice, just above a whisper, "Hey George, you forgot to turn on
Jesus."
The Christmas story begins in darkness. There was the darkness of oppression,
for God's people were a conquered and occupied people. There was the universal taxation that brought Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
to Bethlehem. That first Christmas the mood was despair and the darkness of disillusionment.
We too live in a world of darkness. There are wars and rumors of wars, hunger and unemployment, loneliness, and an
emptiness across the country. Perhaps the poet Robert Frost worded it best when
he wrote: “I have been acquainted with the night. I have walked in the
rain and out of the rain. I have been acquainted with the night.” Scripture affirms that darkness is a real and present danger.
Scripture
also affirms that the darkness is not everything. The prophet Isaiah wrote
that “the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light.” And
Saint John tells us: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”
There’s
an interesting historical footnote about light: During the dark winter of 1864
at Petersburg, Virginia, the Confederate army of Northern Virginia was besieged by the Union Army of the Potomac. The war had long since given way to the muck and mire of trench warfare. One
night Confederate Major General George Pickett received word that his wife had given birth to a baby boy. Up and down the line the Confederates built huge bonfires in celebration. These
fires were soon seen in the Northern camps and General Grant sent out a patrol to see what was going on. The scouts returned
with the news that Pickett had had a son and these were celebration fires. Grant and Pickett knew each other well from the
old Army, so Grant also ordered bonfires to be built and burned in the baby’s honor.
For miles
on both sides of the lines fires burned. No shots fired. No yelling back and forth. No war fought, only light celebrating
the birth of a child. But it didn't last forever. Soon the fires burned down
and once again the darkness came: the darkness of night and the darkness of war.
The good news of Christmas is
that in the midst of a deep darkness there came a light, and the darkness was not able to overcome that light. It was not just a temporary flicker. It was an eternal flame. There
are times in the events of the world and in the events of our own personal lives that we may fear that the light will be snuffed
out. But the Christmas story and the Good News of Jesus Christ affirm that the
light still shines.
Into the darkness God sent eternal light. The greatest need in our mixed
up and confused world this day is to let people know that there is hope. That life is worth living no matter what. We are the people of light and we share that light in a dark and a dreary land.
God chose
to use light from a star to guide the three wise men to Bethlehem. That
light was an eternal reminder to them and to us that in a sea of darkness, it
is the light that keeps us going forward. The light of hope and the light of
Christ leads the way. The light of Christmas shines and enlightens and darkness
in our lives and we, too, discover the pathway to Bethlehem. (2)
1. Sunday Sermons on line
2. “A Great Light”,
Brett Blair and Staff, ChristianGlobe Network, Inc, 2000, 0-0000-0000-1