JESUS, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
A sermon preached by
Rev. Dr. Randle R. (Rick) Mixon
First Baptist Church, Palo Alto, CA
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Text: John 1:1-14
Star-Giving
by Ann WeemsWhat I’d really like to give you for Christmas
is a star...
Brilliance in a package,
something you could keep in the pocket of your jeans
or in the pocket of your being.
Something to take out in times of darkness,
something that would never snuff out or tarnish,
something you could hold in your hand,
something for wonderment,
something for pondering,
something that would remind you of
what Christmas has always meant:
God’s Advent Light into the darkness of the world.
But Stars are only God’s for giving
and I must be content to give you words and wishes and
packages without stars.
But I can wish you life
as radiant as the Star
that announced the Christ Child’s coming,
and as filled with awe as the shepherds who stood
beneath its light.
And I can pass on to you the love
that has been given to me,
ignited countless times by others
who have knelt in Bethlehem’s light.
Perhaps, if you ask, God will give you a star.
“Past three o’clock, and a cold, frosty morning, past three o’clock; good morrow, masters all.” These words are the chorus to a carol we rarely hear and never sing, at least not in the circles in which I move. It’s a beautiful, haunting tune though a seemingly strange sentiment for Christmas. The chorus is based on the ancient call of the town crier – “Past three o’clock, and a cold, frosty morning…” I wonder if any of us was up past three o’clock on this cold, frosty morning – maybe assembling some complex toy with indecipherable instructions, maybe in eager anticipation of what might be under the tree, maybe trying to hold our eyes open to catch Santa in the act, maybe not sleeping from worry or pain, from grief or longing.
Whatever kept us up, one thing was certain, it was dark. Unless you live at one of the poles and it’s the proper solstice for that hemisphere, three o’clock is what is known as the “dead of the night.” Around here the sun would have set a good ten hours earlier and wouldn’t rise for another four and half hours. Three o’clock in the morning is pitch dark and it’s cold outside; often, for those awake at that hour, it is cold and dark inside as well. It is at just at that moment, in the dead of the night, at the depth of despair, when anxiety and fear hold sway that the baby is born. It is just when we think that change is impossible, that rescue will never come, that hope is beyond imagining that a tiny gleam of Life-light pierces the darkness. We hear a heavenly word, “Do not be afraid,” and we receive a holy invitation to come, see what wonder God has worked in a stable in Bethlehem. Jesus, the light of the world, is born in the flesh and, even at three o’clock in the morning, the shining is inextinguishable.
The writer of John affirms this in the prologue to his gospel. Remember how we talked about the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke as “parabolic overtures” to their gospels, as stories that lifted up all the major themes those gospels would treat in the same way an overture introduces an opera or musical. Well, the prologue to John’s gospel does something similar. True, it is not a parable; it is a hymn. Like the opening hymn to many of our worship services, it is a hymn that sets the tone and sounds the themes for what is to follow. “Good people all, this Christmas time, consider well and bear in mind what our good God has done in sending his beloved Son,” Tripp sang at the very beginning of today’s service. Then we followed up by affirming that “There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky!...for the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king.” These carols and hymns establish the theme for the day – the Life-light blazes, Jesus, the light of the world!
In words and images that are challenging for us to comprehend in all their fullness, the writer of John tells about the Word (with a capital “W”) or logos (a Greek word having to do with meaning and wisdom.) Robert Kysar says that “A simple but legitimate way of conceiving of logos in this passage is God’s self expression. Like a truthful and deeply personal self expression, the logos is God’s very self or person made public” (Robert Kysar, Preaching John, p. 180.) “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Or as Eugene Peterson puts it, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” Miracles of miracles, God took on human form in order show us the way, the truth and the life. The Life-light blazes, Jesus, the light of the world. This is what Christmas is all about.
John Boswell, in his introduction to Chris Glaser’s book, Uncommon Calling, writes these words about the concept of logos and the prologue to John’s gospel: “Although translators often render it as ‘word,’ it is much more than that. It is Greek for ‘reason’ or ‘argument.’ Christ was God’s unanswerable ‘argument.’ His people had hardened their hearts against his spoken reasons, the arguments propounded – in words – for centuries by the prophets and sages. So he sent an argument in the form of a human being, a life, a person. The argument became flesh and blood: so real that no one could refute it or ignore it” (John Boswell, “Introduction” to Chris Glaser, Uncommon Calling, p. xvii.) The Life-light blazes. Jesus, the light of the world, shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. “What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out. The Life-Light was the real thing: Every person entering Life he brings into Light.” Jesus brings everyone who enters into the Life he offers Light that cannot be overcome, wisdom beyond imagination, grace that cannot be exhausted, love that never runs out.
“Past three o’clock and a cold frosty morning.” A tiny gleam of Life-light pierces the darkness and the shining is inextinguishable. But it’s also important to remember, on this Christmas morning, that the light is not just for me nor is it just for you. It’s not even exclusively for us. Richard Rohr reminds us that this day we celebrate as Christ’s birth is an improbable one. There is little likelihood that Jesus was born on the 25th of December. The truth is that the early church, as was its habit, commandeered a Roman festival, the Rebirth of the Sun, celebrated annually at the time days began to lengthen ever so slightly and hope could be held that spring and summer would return. Linking Christ’s birth to the Rebirth of the Sun was a way to popularize the faith and spread it among the heathen. Rather than getting caught up in the current Christmas wars over keeping the season pure, Rohr observes of the early church that “…they aligned Jesus with the cosmos itself, which is probably a very good thing for us to do too, instead of merely aligning him with any competitive or tribal notion of religion.”
What is this light that the Christ brings into the world? Eugene Peterson calls it the “Life-light,” Robert Kysar says it’s “God’s self-expression,” John Boswell calls it “God’s unanswerable argument…in the form of a human being.” Richard Rohr says, “At Jesus' very birth he is fully identified with poverty, homelessness, immigrants, shepherds who were unclean by Temple criteria, and pagan astrologers from some offbeat Oriental religion! This Cosmic Christ did not come to create or maintain any in-groups or superiority systems, but to live and offer to the world a universal truth” (Richard Rohr, “Daily Meditation: Incarnation – Christmas Day - December 25, 2011,” cacradicalgrace.org.) It’s for the people walking in deepest darkness that the Life-light blazes most significantly. It’s for those in need of healing that great Physician comes. It’s for those snared in enmity and hostility that the Prince of Peace appears.
Jesus, the light of the world. We celebrate as the Life-light blazes. We rejoice that a tiny gleam, in the form of a poor baby, cuts through the darkness, bringing hope, peace, joy and love. We pray that that Life-light might enter us in this Christmas season, illuminating the shadows of our lives and drawing forth all the possibility that each of us holds. May the Life-light shine in us and through us as witness to the transforming power that has come once more to a world that often feels as if it is spiraling down into deep darkness.
“…stars are only God’s for giving,
[so] I must be content to give you words and wishes and
packages without stars.
[Still] I can wish you life
as radiant as the Star
that announced the Christ Child’s coming,
…And I can pass on to you the love
that has been given to me,
ignited countless times by others
who have knelt in Bethlehem’s light.Jesus the light of the world!
The Life-Light
1-2 The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.
3-5Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn't put it out.
6-8There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.
9-13The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
the world was there through him,
and yet the world didn't even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn't want him.
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
not blood-begotten,
not flesh-begotten,
not sex-begotten.
14The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.