Witness to the Light

John 1:1-8

December, 15 2008

back

Rev. Michael A. Trask

It was completely dark, I could not see anything. I didn’t know where I was or how I got there. For you see, I had been sleep walking, and now I was awake. I could hear my own heart beating in my ears. I started feeling the walls, hoping beyond hope that I would find something; anything that would tell me where I was. But no, in the darkness I recognized nothing.

I became more frantic; I wanted to scream as I moved along the wall more quickly. And then there was a great crash! A light came on. And a voice said “what are you doing in my room you dummy!” It was my older sister. I had knocked over her precious make-up table where she was known to sit for at least 5 hours a day, from my perspective as a 10 year old boy. And even though we didn’t get along so well in those days, I was never so glad to see her as I was at that moment.

More specifically, I was glad for that wonderful light that she had turned on. For it had instantly relieved the terror I had been experiencing. For now I knew where I was and I knew where I needed to Go. I needed to go up two flights of stairs to my own bedroom and the warm embrace of my own bed. Thanks to my sister, and the light she provided, that’s exactly what I did.

The coming of the light. That is one of the most gripping ways in which the Lord describes the coming of his Son into the world. The coming of the light. Listen to the opening verses of the Gospel of John.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. .”

You see? In Jesus, God turned on the lights for a world that was gripped by the darkness of sin, death, and the devil. We should not be so surprised when we discover how mean people can be. We should not be so surprised when we behold the evil and even self-destructive things that people are capable of. They are in the dark! They don’t know what’s going on. They don’t know where they are or who they are or even what they are. They’re in the dark and they need light

That’s what Christmas is about. It’s about the return of the light to a broken world. You probably noticed the way we light more and more candles on the advent wreath as we get nearer and nearer to Christmas. With that symbolism we’re saying “Light is coming folks!” It’s on the way! And then on Christmas Eve, we go even further, we light the center candle of the Advent wreath, which is called the “Christ Candle”. And we also pass out candles to everyone in attendance in effect saying: “the light is here and it’s for you personally!” And so we have a crescendo of light as we recall the coming of Christ into the world and into our lives and into the lives of others.

On Christmas eve, you hold a candle. The light is for you. It’s part of you now insofar as you believe in Jesus as your Eternal Savior from Sin and Death. Jesus has enlightened your life. Which means that you now can reflect that light and enlighten the lives of others! And you thought the faith to which you were called was your own private self-improvement course like dieting or working out.

Guess again. It’s way way bigger than that. Did you notice how the opening lines of John sound a lot like Genesis. Genesis reads “In the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth...” And John reads “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.”. John harkens back to Genesis for a reason....for the coming of Christ into the world is of the same Cosmic proportions as Creation! So lets put aside any idea that the Savior whom we have come to love is only for us. He’s for all the people that God created, and therefore everybody.

And guess what: he wants to use us to turn on the lights for those who are struggling in the darkness. We get that impression first and foremost from John the Baptist. In the next few lines of John it says: “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” As I was reading this recently, I looked at it from an angle that I never looked at it before. I started wondering why God even sent John ahead of Jesus. Why did he need John? Well, he was to prepare the way, to preach repentance so that people’s hearts will be prepared. But Jesus was perfectly capable of preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins just like John. So why did Jesus even need John?

And furthermore, I got to thinking, why did he need those goofy disciples, each of whom had their own personal failings. And for that matter, why does he need pastors and Sunday School teachers. And of course, I finally ended up at the point where I was asking: why does he even need me? Think about it, he’s got thousands of angels. Why doesn’t he just have the angels preach to people instead goofballs like me? Why doesn’t he have angels run the church and teach Sunday school and do mission work. I mean, they are very smart, they know a lot and they are without sin...so there would never be any controversies in the church.

The answer to that is obvious. God wanted those who were originally part of the problem to now be part of the solution. Sin originated in humanity; and now humanity is going to help bring about it’s end. He specifically wanted sinners who are saved by Jesus to be the ones to bring the news of salvation to the world. That’s why your pastor is a sinner. But he’s a forgiven sinner. He knows the utter peace and joy of having God’s forgiveness and he proclaims it to you. He shares the light with you. God wanted those who were given the light to now shed the light on those who are in darkness. Peter the Apostle wrote under inspiration of the Holy Spirit to all Christians “Always be prepared to give answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have and do this with gentleness and respect.” (1Peter 3:15) In other words, always be ready to turn on the light for someone.

And there are a lot of people who need light aren’t there? People are freaking out these days. The great Money God has been exposed for the sham that he is....and many are feeling helpless, lost and worried about the future. But you know that no matter how things might look, that God will cause them to work together for your ultimate good. (Rom. 8). You know that God is in charge. And through Jesus willingly going to the cross for you, you know that God is merciful, and that he loves you beyond what you can even understand.

So you have the light. It’s been given to you. Why not share it? Instead of us whining about how “people don’t Understand the meaning of Christmas”, why don’t we tell them the meaning of Christmas! Why don’t we do like my sister did and turn on the light for them but with “gentleness and respect”. You can be like john, the first witness. You can testifying concerning the light. How has knowing the Lord through Jesus helped you? Think about it. Has it changed the way you feel about stuff? Has it changed the way you see marriage, family work? I bet it has. Now put it in to words and bingo your ready to speak for him if the opportunity should present itself.

A simpler thing you could do is ask a person you know who is struggling in the darkness to come to one of our Wednesday night Advent Services. They can have some soup and hear a message about what it means that Jesus came into the world and get some light from that. In short, I believe there is no better spokesman; no better preacher or teacher than a layperson bearing witness to the light. God sent John. He sent out the apostles. He sent me. He sends you. AMEN