The Light of Christmas: Shining the light of Christ
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
As we approach Christmas day we have been looking as a church at the theme of light and dark and how Jesus brings light into the world.
Christmas is really such a wonderful time.
People are generally happy and pleasant.
The season gives us a special reason to interact with one another.
As a kid, one of my Dad’s favorite traditions was to drive around and look at Christmas lights.
Each year my initial thoughts were, why should go out and drive around looking at a bunch of lights.
It feels like a waste of time, there are other things I could do.
But by the end of our travels each year I was enjoying the time with my family and enjoying the lights.
Lights are a symbol of hope.
I read a story as I was preparing of a house that kept their Christmas lights on long past Christmas.
This happened quite some time ago but is relevant for us today.
Neighbors began to get skeptical of the homeowners.
Some thought, If I were too lazy to take down my Christmas lights, you’d think I would at least turn them off.
But about the middle of the following March a sign appeared in the yard.
That sign read “Welcome home, Jimmy!”
That family had a son in Vietnam and they had unashamedly left their lights on in anticipation of his return.
The lights were a symbol of hope.
A beacon in the darkness.
We began with Isaiah a couple of weeks ago,
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
Lights are a symbol of hope.
A person lost in the darkness of the forest is relieved to see a glow of sunshine on the horizon.
Or perhaps the headlights of a vehicle.
Christmas arrives for us again with all the promises of remembrance and celebration.
As Christians, if we have trusted in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can celebrate Christmas because the light did dawn.
Christmas is more than a federal holiday.
More than a day off to spend with family.
At Christmas we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
A birth that was not only a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, but the dawn of a new age.
The birth of the Savior is, for believers, the very essence of Christmas.
Further, to understand Christmas is to know that the ultimate peace the Savior would bring
would be established by His death and resurrection.
Christ’s birth points towards His cross and the fulfillment of His saving work.
Jesus came for a purpose, to save His people from their sins.
It also gives us hope of His second coming.
When Isaiah told of the coming Prince of Peace, he spoke of light dispelling darkness.
The metaphor of light is central to our celebration of Christmas.
As we looked at last week as John introduced his gospel by identifying Jesus as the Word who became flesh,
John also describes Jesus as
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
The image of light dispelling darkness is central to our understanding of Jesus incarnation.
His physical birth on this earth!
Shortly after Jesus was born and he was presented at the temple the old man Simeon stated
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
Jesus would be a light for all people!
The metaphor of light makes sense only against the backdrop of darkness.
In the Bible, darkness is a rich metaphor that points to a double reality.
Darkness in one sense, points to the simple fact of human ignorance.
Lexham Theological Wordbook Theological Overview
Immoral or wicked living is described as walking “in the ways of darkness
Proverbs 2 tells of the value of wisdom
How it delivers those who keep it from the men of perverted speech,
who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
Isaiah urged the people of Israel to
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
Those who are “in the dark” are those who lack knowledge.
And today there are missions who still dwell in deep darkness, having never heard about the one true God or of Jesus Christ, His only Son.
They live in ignorance.
Darkness in scripture though also refers to evil and willful blindness.
Many will reject the light.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Countless more have heard about Jesus, yet have rejected him.
It is hard to believe - the son of God came from heaven, was born like any of us were, to come and live among sinful people.
Just as the Jewish people rejected Jesus.
Many people today celebrate Christmas, but do not know or care about Christ.
The vast majority of people set up a Christmas tree in there home, put up some sort of decorations and lights, at the very least get gifts to give.
It is strange when we think about it.
Why celebrate something that you don’t believe?
Part of the answer to that is that as humans, we are delighted to see light.
And Christmas brings light.
It’s a sign of hope.
But for many it is a false hope.
Because they have missed the true light.
Jesus in
I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
The world in which we live is engulfed in spiritual darkness, and people are groping to find a way out.
What I am about to speak about is a sensitive topic, and if you are struggling with this please come and talk to me,
I want to help you, and help you get help.
Many people believe that suicide rates are at their highest during the winter months, specifically around Christmas,
when many people struggle with loneliness, strains on their finances, and inflamed family issues.
The truth in fact, is that the bulk of research consistently shows that the spring/summer months result in the highest number of suicides, a pattern that has remained consistent for many years.
Although there are many stressors and difficulties, the holidays for many provide a brief reprieve from the darkness.
But if you don’t have the true light, once the season is past, darkness sets in again.
Again if this is something you struggle with, reach out!
There is light!
There is hope!
You do not need to remain in darkness.
C H Spurgeon - THIS world is dark as midnight; Jesus has come that by faith we may have light,
and may no longer sit in the gloom which covers all the rest of mankind.
In John 12:46 Jesus is saying that whoever believes.
Whoever is a very wide term: it means you and me.
If we trust in Jesus we shall no more sit in the dark shadow of death,
but shall enter into the warm light of a day which shall never end.
Why do we not come out into the light at once?
A cloud may sometimes hover over us, but we shall not abide in darkness if we believe in Jesus.
He has come to give us broad daylight.
Shall he come in vain?
If we have faith we have the privilege of sunlight: let us enjoy it.
From the night of natural depravity, of ignorance, of doubt, of despair, of sin, of dread, Jesus has come to set us free;
and all believers shall know that he no more comes in vain than the sun rises and fails to scatter his heat and light.
Just as the sun rises, drawing our attention.
Jesus coming to earth is meant to get our attention.
Christmas is meant to get our attention.
When somebody takes a flash picture, you notice.
Or if a spotlight is turned on on a dark stage, your eyes are immediately drawn to the light.
Jesus is the flash, Jesus is that spotlight.
Jesus attracts attention.
Take the circumstances surrounding Jesus birth for example.
Jesus' birth attracted more attention than you would think, considering the circumstances.
He was born to peasant parents.
Who was going to notice?
He was born away from home, and there weren't any grandparents to brag about him.
He was born in Bethlehem, an insignificant Judean village.
He was born at night when everybody was asleep.
He was born 1,450 years before the invention of the printing press and 1,900 years before the invention of the radio.
Who in the world was going to notice?
But God made it a point that Jesus attracted attention even at his birth.
An angel appeared to lowly shepherds in the field, the glory of the Lord shone around them.
The brightness of that angel immediately captivated the shepherds, and they were frightened.
The angel informed them the Messiah had been born.
The Bible says immediately the shepherds hurried to the place where they had been told, and they found it just as the angel had said.
We read, "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angels praising God."
It wasn't just one angel, but the sky was aglow with angels praising God.
The shepherds ran to see this thing that the angels told them about, and they worshiped the Christ child.
Then the Bible says, "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.
And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
The light was beginning to shine, and it was beginning to draw attention.
Jesus was the talk of the town for a few days.
Jesus still attracts attention through the use of light.
When Jesus grew up, he became the center of attention.
We read so many times that large crowds followed him.
On one occasion 5,000 men heard him preach.
At another time, the crowds were so massive Jesus had to get into a boat and push away from shore so the people could see and hear him.
From the time he was born until the time he died, Jesus, like a light, attracted people and attention, and he still does today.
People may be turned off by organized religion.
They may be repulsed by hypocritical church leaders, but there is something about Jesus that still captivates attention.
That is because He is an irresistible light.
It is our task as Christians to reflect that light in our lives.
Jesus said, "You're the light of the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden."
If we exalt Jesus Christ in our lives and in our church, people will be drawn to him.
Light is always more powerful than darkness.
And we can take hope in that.
Jesus is the light.
God has a way of sending a signal of light to remind us life is stronger than death.
Light is more powerful than darkness.
God is more powerful than Satan.
Good will overcome evil.
I want to close with a story
Man Supports Neighbor with Christmas Lights
A couple of years ago something special happened.
It started in November with a single string of Christmas lights on a Baltimore County street. Kim Morton was home watching a movie with her daughter when she received a text from her neighbor who lives directly across the road. He told her to peek outside.
Matt Riggs had hung a string of white Christmas lights, stretching from his home to hers. He also left a tin of homemade cookies on her doorstep. The lights, he told her, were meant to reinforce that they were always connected.
Riggs said, “I was reaching out to Kim to literally brighten her world.” He knew his neighbor was facing a dark time. Morton had shared that she was dealing with depression and anxiety. She was also grieving the loss of a loved one and struggling with work-related stress. The mounting pressure led to panic attacks.
A bit of brightness was in order, he decided, but he certainly did not expect that his one strand of Christmas lights would somehow spark a neighborhood-wide movement. In the days that followed Riggs’ light-hanging gesture, neighbor after neighbor followed suit, stretching lines of Christmas lights from one side of the street to the other.
When Leabe Commisso, who lives on the other end of the block, saw what Riggs had done, she wanted in. She said, to her neighbor, “Let’s do it, too. Before we knew it, we were cleaning out Home Depot of all the lights.”
Quickly, other neighbors caught on. Kim said, “Little by little, the whole neighborhood started doing it. The lights were a physical sign of connection and love.”
She and Riggs were stunned to see neighbors with drills and ladders, up on their rooftops and tangled in trees, doing whatever they had to do to hang the lights. For the first time in a long time, a feeling of togetherness—and light—had returned.
Riggs said, “What blows my mind is that it was all organic. It just happened. There was no planning. It just grew out of everybody’s desire for beauty and joy and connection.”
But the impromptu effort has perhaps had the most profound impact on the person for whom it was originally intended. Kim said, “It made me look up, literally and figuratively, above all the things that were dragging me down. It was light pushing back the darkness.”
Let’s band together as a church and push back on the darkness together this Christmas!
Let us this Christmas shine the love of Christ ever brighter in our community.