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The True Light

Vicar Kirk Hulvey
December 11, 2011

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for our meditation is John 1:9. “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”

One of my favorite Christmas movies is the stop motion animation version of The Little Drummer Boy. In that movie, Baby Jesus is pictured as radiating light. As the drummer boy brings his injured lamb into the stable, light actually comes forth from the manger-from Baby Jesus-and shines on all the people and animals gathered there. He glows with golden light! He twinkles like a star!

I'm not sure that Jesus truly did shine like that the night He was born, but we read in our Gospel lesson that John the Baptist came to testify-to bear witness-about the Light. John came to let the world know that the True Light, Jesus Christ, was coming into the world. And you this day are the recipients of John's testimony! The True Light, Jesus Christ, has come to you!

Light, by its very nature, shines on things. It gives its brightness to objects. Some light falls beyond the spectrum of the human eye. But for the light that we can see, light brings things to light, so to speak. One might even say that light illumines or enlightens things that otherwise would not be seen.

The same is true of the True Light. John 1:9 tells us that Jesus Christ, the True Light, enlightens everyone. He shines in our darkness-the darkness of our sin-and breaks through that darkness. Jesus, the True Light, causes us to become the people who are described in Isaiah 9, verse 2: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.”

You were once those who walked in darkness. Darkness was your way of life... how you went about things... your whole life was in the dark. That darkness was the depth of your sin, and it completely separated you from God. You lived in the very shadow of death, the just consequence of your sin. But now you who walked in darkness have seen a great light. That means that you've already experienced the True Light of Jesus, and it has ongoing impact in your life. The Light of Jesus offers you the forgiveness of sins, shines brightly in the darkness of your former ways, and promises you the hope of everlasting life.

Ideally, now that we have come to know the True Light, we reflect that light to others. The light of Jesus shines in and through our darkness and enlightens the dark lives of those who do not yet know Him. As Christians, we become like John the Baptist: we testify that the Light of Jesus is coming into the world.

Sadly we do not always testify concerning the Light as we should. We do not bear witness about Jesus like John the Baptist did. Instead, we slip back into the darkness.

My most vivid experience of darkness occurred when I was on vacation in Central Oregon with my family. Just east of the Cascade Mountains, there is a desert plateau formed from lava fields. In those lava fields are lava tubes: long caves in which molten hot rock used to flow. Some of those caves are open for exploration. So my family decided to check out the largest of those caves-nearly a half-mile long tube located over 200 feet beneath the earth's surface.

When we arrived at the cave, we rented propane lanterns... any electric light would be swallowed up in the darkness. The entrance to the cave had rickety wooden stairs, and as we descended into the cave on a bright July day, the light at the entrance of the tunnel slowly began to disappear. The darkness was too much for my mom, so she decided to wait for my Dad, my brother, and me outside.

The three of us continued on. I remember glancing back toward the entrance of the tunnel, as the light got dimmer and dimmer. Eventually it became pitch dark, unlike any darkness I had ever experienced or have experienced since! Darker than sitting in a room with no windows with the lights off. Darker then being out in the middle of the woods at night, when it's overcast and there's no electric light for miles. It was as if the darkness was creeping in on us, surrounding us on every side. The light of our lanterns became less and less effective, so much so that I couldn't even see my hand that held it! The darkness felt as if it were right there with us, even inside of us! And the light that had once shown so brightly was now all but gone!

That's how I picture US-you and me-as we slip back into the darkness of our sin. Even though we have been given the True Light of Jesus Christ, and even though we have the opportunity to share that Light with others, we sometimes we slip back into the darkness. We may start out near the Light, where we can still see it clearly, but eventually the darkness creeps in around us. The Light which once radiated so brightly at the beginning of our journey has now dimmed because of our works of darkness, because of our sins. And so we trudge on, deeper and deeper into the darkness, allowing it to surround us. It becomes claustrophobic. We can't breathe. The darkness enters us. The Light that remains is all but a flicker. It hardly even shines in our lives, let alone in the lives of others who desperately need the Light of Jesus! Our testimony is all but snuffed out by the darkness of our sin!

When we finally reached the end of that cave-when we'd gone as far as we could in the darkness-my dad, brother and I had to turn around and hike back toward the light. We had to go back through the darkness we'd just experienced. We had to go through all the effort of getting back through the lava tube, up the stairs, and into the light of that July day.

But Jesus, the True Light, comes to you! Yes, you need to repent of your ways of darkness and confess your sins, as Pastor preached about last week and as we confessed in worship this day. But you do not have to hike out of the darkness into the Light. No. The Light comes to you! Jesus shines in your darkness, and the darkness has not understood it! (John 1:5) He comes to you this Christmas, and radiates His love and joy, mercy and grace into your life, and by His coming He casts away all your works of darkness! He comes to you in the waters of baptism, when you were given a candle: a reminder of the True Light which is now yours in Jesus. He comes to you in the Lord's Supper, forgiving your sins by His very body and blood, drawing you out of the works of darkness and into the light of His very real presence! He comes to you in His Word, shining the light of His salvation in your life this day and unto all eternity!

On Good Friday, Jesus, the True Light, took your darkness upon Himself and died. The world became dark. The sun did not shine. The Light seemed to be defeated. But now, through Jesus' resurrection and the life He lives for you, His Light shines in and through you forever!

All of this is what John the Baptist came to testify about: He came to proclaim that Jesus is the True Light and that that Light is for you! (John 1:9)

And now, like John, we testify about the True Light who is coming into the world. We proclaim Jesus' coming now during this Advent Season and at Christmas. We announce to the world that the True Light is for all people!

How do we testify about Jesus? We testify that the True Light is coming by our praise and worship. We sing of all the great things that Jesus has done for us, and we profess that this Light is not only for us but for all people. As we heard in Isaiah 61:11, the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all nations. That is, through us-through our worship and adoration-the message of Jesus the True Light is proclaimed to the nations.

We testify that the True Light is coming by our actions. John the Baptist did not only preach that Jesus was coming. He also baptized people with water for the forgiveness of sins. John's words were connected with action. So it is with our testimony about Jesus. Our testimony is connected with the actions of Jesus. (Isaiah 61:1-2) Like Jesus, we proclaim good news to the poor as we give them food, clothing, and money in their time of need. Like Jesus, we bring gladness to those who mourn when we write sympathy cards and sit with the bereaved in church. Like Jesus, we proclaim the year of the Lord's favor when we say to those who sin against us, “I forgive you.” And like John, who knew that he was not the Messiah, we announce the coming of the True Light by thinking less of ourselves and acting in ways that allow the Light of Jesus to shine in the lives of others!

We testify that the True Light is coming into the world by our words. We let the world know that Jesus is coming by our proclamation of the Gospel and by our invitation for others to receive Jesus as their True Light. Like John the Baptist, we cry in the wilderness. (John 1:23) We proclaim Jesus' coming in the land of the shadow of death, in our world where darkness dominates the landscape. But we have light to shine! We have the True Light, and with that Light we prepare the way for Jesus to come into the hearts and lives of others who do not yet know Him. We chat over coffee with others who need Jesus. We develop friendships with them. We look for opportunities to confidently share our testimony about Jesus with them. We testify to the Light by inviting people to join us here at church for Advent worship, for Christmas Eve services, or at any time throughout the year.

Jesus shines in our darkness, by who He is and what He does. And now, like John the Baptist, we bear witness that Jesus-the True Light-is coming into the world for all people. Amen.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.