Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, through our Lord, Jesus Christ…
Tonight is Christmas Eve… In keeping with some of the traditions of Christmas, we celebrate the Birth of Christ with carols and candles, and the re-telling of the story through Luke’s Gospel. This evening, at the beginning of the service, we paused to light the Advent Wreath… lighting the four surrounding candles symbolizing prophecy, peace, joy, and love… and then we lit the Christ candle in the center of the wreath… As we lit each successive candle, the light grew in its intensity… And in a few minutes, we will take the light from the Christ Candle, and pass it on to the person next to us… As we stand around the perimeter of the sanctuary and bask in the soft glow of the candlelight, we will sing “Silent Night… Holy Night… All is calm… All is bright…”
We will then blow the candles out… the sanctuary lights will come up, and we will disperse into the night singing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king!”
For a moment now, I would like to ask us to pause and contemplate the intensity and the meaning of that light…
The Light of Christ Jesus is the same light that was spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah when he observed that “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light…” And then that light shines upon us… The people walking in darkness… through the darkness of sin… through the darkness of broken hearts and broken relationships… through the darkness of despair and disappointment… those people… you… and I… have seen a great light!
Those people have seen the Living Word… It was of that living word that King David wrote these words… “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path…”
There’s something fascinating about light, isn’t there?
The interesting thing about light is that it has certain properties… certain qualities which are unique to it, and define its characteristics…
It warms… It gives warmth to those who are in its glow… as a ray of sunshine streaming through a window gives warmth and comfort…
It illuminates… One cannot hide a light under a bushel basket, but set it on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house…
It gathers… It draws people into its glow…
By these three properties, I mean to suggest that the Light of Christ transforms our hearts and warms them. Of his own experience with the Holy Spirit, John Wesley observed that his heart was “strangely warmed” by the divine presence in his life…
The Light of Christ illuminates… this evening, the light in this sanctuary is dim, and you can, to a certain degree, tell who is sitting close to you, but you can scarcely tell who is sitting a few pews away from you. But as the light from the candles is passed on, and as the light grows and gathers, you can see more faces… you can recognize more people… And it dawns on you, as the Light of Christ dawns on you, that you are not alone… you are gathered this evening with more than a hundred people for the same purpose… to worship Christ Jesus… Tonight we are in one accord as we gather around the manger. We are focused together on the Light of the World.
I am reminded, not of some scripture at this point, but of words from Simon and Garfunkel… Their memorable song “Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend” contains words which speak of a revelation… of an epiphany. The writer is seemingly wandering around in the darkness, aimlessly, feeling alone and distraught… when “In the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more…”
Suddenly… you realize that there are a lot of people… more and more people streaming into the light as it shines more brilliantly than before… On this night… there are people, too numerous to count, gathering in churches throughout the world… across the 7 Continents… to celebrate the Light of Jesus… to celebrate the Birthday of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Literally a cloud of witnesses to that light… and Paul the Apostle asks the question… “Who can deny such a cloud of witnesses?
John bore witness to that light… to the light shining in the darkness… shining in the streets… in the homeless shelters… behind the WalMart… in the bus terminals… and while the darkness did not understand it… could not comprehend it… still the light shines brightly… testifying to the one… the only… the Bright Morning Star.
The Light of Christ shines for everyone… through every situation… through despair as well as through joy… it shines with God’s love, and the hope of the Savior.
It shines for the mother of the newborn child… it shines for the husband praying by his wife’s hospital bed… it shines for the widow bidding her husband a tearful “good bye” at the graveside… just as it shines for the young man who is happily stunned to hear the words “yes, I will marry you” from the young woman he loves more than life itself…
It shines for the Bride and Groom entering into the vows of marriage… just as it shines for the child celebrating a birthday… “Silent Night… Holy Night… Son of God loves pure light… Radiant streams from thy holy face… with the dawn of redeeming grace… Jesus, Lord, at thy birth… Jesus, Lord at thy birth.”
On a personal note, I must admit that it was rather difficult for me to get into the Joy of Christmas this year… With the economy spiraling out of control… with the hustle and bustle of Christmas Shopping… with the commercialism which has run rampant… Deep down inside, I felt like a Scrooge. I just wasn’t connecting with it… Until the evening of the Christmas Concert at my daughter’s school.
One of the songs that they sang that night declared that “Mary was the first one to carry the Gospel.” It really hit home for me that evening that the real Joy of Christmas isn’t in opening the presents under the tree and in your Christmas Stocking… The real Joy of Christmas is found in the smiles on the faces of those who are closest to you, gathered with you this Christmas. Jesus pointed to you and to me, and said to us “You are the light of the world…” and then passed that light on to us.
The real light of Christmas is not found in the glow of the candles this evening… The real light of Christmas is already here… it is shining in you… and it was ignited in you by God himself.
In the Message translation of the Bible, Jesus gives us these words. “Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
The best gift you can give to others this Christmas is to open yourself to those around you. Share the love of Jesus, let it overflow in your heart, and let that light shine brightly in your heart.
Monica and Amanda, and the whole Beres and Calandra family join me in wishing each of you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.
Tonight is Christmas Eve… In keeping with some of the traditions of Christmas, we celebrate the Birth of Christ with carols and candles, and the re-telling of the story through Luke’s Gospel. This evening, at the beginning of the service, we paused to light the Advent Wreath… lighting the four surrounding candles symbolizing prophecy, peace, joy, and love… and then we lit the Christ candle in the center of the wreath… As we lit each successive candle, the light grew in its intensity… And in a few minutes, we will take the light from the Christ Candle, and pass it on to the person next to us… As we stand around the perimeter of the sanctuary and bask in the soft glow of the candlelight, we will sing “Silent Night… Holy Night… All is calm… All is bright…”
We will then blow the candles out… the sanctuary lights will come up, and we will disperse into the night singing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king!”
For a moment now, I would like to ask us to pause and contemplate the intensity and the meaning of that light…
The Light of Christ Jesus is the same light that was spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah when he observed that “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light…” And then that light shines upon us… The people walking in darkness… through the darkness of sin… through the darkness of broken hearts and broken relationships… through the darkness of despair and disappointment… those people… you… and I… have seen a great light!
Those people have seen the Living Word… It was of that living word that King David wrote these words… “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path…”
There’s something fascinating about light, isn’t there?
The interesting thing about light is that it has certain properties… certain qualities which are unique to it, and define its characteristics…
It warms… It gives warmth to those who are in its glow… as a ray of sunshine streaming through a window gives warmth and comfort…
It illuminates… One cannot hide a light under a bushel basket, but set it on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house…
It gathers… It draws people into its glow…
By these three properties, I mean to suggest that the Light of Christ transforms our hearts and warms them. Of his own experience with the Holy Spirit, John Wesley observed that his heart was “strangely warmed” by the divine presence in his life…
The Light of Christ illuminates… this evening, the light in this sanctuary is dim, and you can, to a certain degree, tell who is sitting close to you, but you can scarcely tell who is sitting a few pews away from you. But as the light from the candles is passed on, and as the light grows and gathers, you can see more faces… you can recognize more people… And it dawns on you, as the Light of Christ dawns on you, that you are not alone… you are gathered this evening with more than a hundred people for the same purpose… to worship Christ Jesus… Tonight we are in one accord as we gather around the manger. We are focused together on the Light of the World.
I am reminded, not of some scripture at this point, but of words from Simon and Garfunkel… Their memorable song “Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend” contains words which speak of a revelation… of an epiphany. The writer is seemingly wandering around in the darkness, aimlessly, feeling alone and distraught… when “In the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more…”
Suddenly… you realize that there are a lot of people… more and more people streaming into the light as it shines more brilliantly than before… On this night… there are people, too numerous to count, gathering in churches throughout the world… across the 7 Continents… to celebrate the Light of Jesus… to celebrate the Birthday of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Literally a cloud of witnesses to that light… and Paul the Apostle asks the question… “Who can deny such a cloud of witnesses?
John bore witness to that light… to the light shining in the darkness… shining in the streets… in the homeless shelters… behind the WalMart… in the bus terminals… and while the darkness did not understand it… could not comprehend it… still the light shines brightly… testifying to the one… the only… the Bright Morning Star.
The Light of Christ shines for everyone… through every situation… through despair as well as through joy… it shines with God’s love, and the hope of the Savior.
It shines for the mother of the newborn child… it shines for the husband praying by his wife’s hospital bed… it shines for the widow bidding her husband a tearful “good bye” at the graveside… just as it shines for the young man who is happily stunned to hear the words “yes, I will marry you” from the young woman he loves more than life itself…
It shines for the Bride and Groom entering into the vows of marriage… just as it shines for the child celebrating a birthday… “Silent Night… Holy Night… Son of God loves pure light… Radiant streams from thy holy face… with the dawn of redeeming grace… Jesus, Lord, at thy birth… Jesus, Lord at thy birth.”
On a personal note, I must admit that it was rather difficult for me to get into the Joy of Christmas this year… With the economy spiraling out of control… with the hustle and bustle of Christmas Shopping… with the commercialism which has run rampant… Deep down inside, I felt like a Scrooge. I just wasn’t connecting with it… Until the evening of the Christmas Concert at my daughter’s school.
One of the songs that they sang that night declared that “Mary was the first one to carry the Gospel.” It really hit home for me that evening that the real Joy of Christmas isn’t in opening the presents under the tree and in your Christmas Stocking… The real Joy of Christmas is found in the smiles on the faces of those who are closest to you, gathered with you this Christmas. Jesus pointed to you and to me, and said to us “You are the light of the world…” and then passed that light on to us.
The real light of Christmas is not found in the glow of the candles this evening… The real light of Christmas is already here… it is shining in you… and it was ignited in you by God himself.
In the Message translation of the Bible, Jesus gives us these words. “Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
The best gift you can give to others this Christmas is to open yourself to those around you. Share the love of Jesus, let it overflow in your heart, and let that light shine brightly in your heart.
Monica and Amanda, and the whole Beres and Calandra family join me in wishing each of you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.
I Bid You Peace...
Dr. Ken+
No comments:
Post a Comment