The Light of Christmas

Move 1 - Let There Be Light

One of fun traditions our family has during the Advent season is to pile into a vehicle, drive around our local neighborhoods looking at (and rating) Christmas lights.

Everything looks different on a house that has lights as contrasted with a house that does not.

The type of lights and objects with lights on the lawn can tell you something about the people who live in the house:

colored lights vs white lights

house with dachshunds

Santa kneeling at manger

From earliest centuries following Jesus’ birth, light was used in connection with Christmas:

Many early Christmas services started before dawn and so required lamplight

Candles were used to light gathering place

Eventually, lighting candles each week of Advent became a symbol of anticipating Christ’s birth

There is a (probably mostly legendary) story that the great reformer, Martin Luther, was struck by starlight twinkling through evergreen trees and so tried to recreate it indoors with candles on Christmas trees.

This may be why some of the first known Christmas trees were decorated by German Christians in the 1500’s

Real trees, real candles - see a problem?

In 1882, Edward H. Johnson who was a colleague of Thomas Edison, became the first to use electric lights on a Christmas tree in New York City.

From the 1920’s on, electric lights became more affordable and thus more common as away to illuminate the busy and dark nights, celebrate the Christmas season, and even for stores to draw customers in.

All of this started with Christians using the light they had to celebrate and declare the coming of Jesus into the world.

Christmas lights were theological before they were ever decorative.

I would argue that all light is theological before it is anything else.

Scripture states God is himself light:

1 John 1:5 “. . . God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Light was the first thing God created when he called something out of nothing:

Genesis 1:3–4

“3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”

Light is used throughout Scripture as one of the most predominant themes to contrast good and evil, life and death, right and wrong, salvation and judgment.

But I would say it is more than a theme that God used to tell the story of redemption. I would argue that God created light to help us understand his goodness, our sin, and yes, the Incarnation at Christmas.

It is by light that we see, and it is in that light that we see all things rightly.

Physically, we need light to see anything. Our eyes depend on light to see anything. Without light we are essentially blind.

We are physically separated from experiencing the visual beauty all round us. We find ourselves in a place of danger.

ILLUST - In the dark without my glasses, I am really out of luck!

However, beyond the basic visual function, light allows us to see things rightly.

ILLUST - Seeing eyeballs in the forest in the Poconos and assuming they were all bears until I shone my light on them and realized it was a squirrel.

It is by light that we see, and it is in that light that we see all things rightly.

C.S. Lewis said,

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

(in Is Theology Poetry?)

When we understand this concept physically, it takes but a small step to understand it spiritually.

In the beginning God created the light, and all that God created was good.

Not long after mankind was made in God’s image with the intention that they would reflect and live in the light of God’s goodness and glory.

However, Adam and Eve sinned, casting a dark shadow of sin over all Creation.

From that moment on, this world became as Paul describes it in Colossians “the domain of darkness,” where the Apostle John states,

John 3:19–20 “19 . . . people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

Light exposes things we need to see but it also exposes things we would rather not have seen.

The world is dark with sin, and sin’s shadow is cast on our souls.

The light God in this world is dim, but not gone.

Move 2 - A Light in the Darkness

Have you ever experienced a power outage longer than one day?

Not talking to you fancy people with your generators and backups.

If you have ever experienced an extended blackout, you understand how dark the night can be and how seemingly long it can last.

You can try to fight back the darkness with a candle or two, but it is really when the morning light dawns that the entire picture changes.

This was the world before Christmas.

The world was dark, not just physically but spiritually.

sin and darkness began to spread all the more.

Genesis 6:5 “5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”

However, though darkness spread, the hope of God’s light continued to be carried on.

“Noah walked with God” and carried God’s hope of salvation.

God destroyed the earth with a flood but saved Noah and his family to pass on the light of hope.

So it did by Abraham through whom God promised a covenant and sacrifice.

Jacob passed this promise on to Joseph whose trust in God was a bright spot in the middle of some of the dark situations in which he found himself.

Over the next several centuries, the promise to Jacob’s descendants, the people of Israel, became overshadowed by a wicked nation bent on extinguishing the people of God.

Like a bolt of lightning the Lord rescued His people from slavery in Egypt, even sending physical darkness as judgment upon this nation that worshipped the physical sun.

In this way, God reminded the world that the Creator of light would not allow his plan of salvation to be extinguished by a nation of darkness.

With light he blessed his people while the rest of the world sat in darkness,

With light he led his people out of slavery and into freedom.

With light God spoke with Moses, giving him the hope of God in relationship with man.

With light, Moses reflected the glory of God as he descended the mountain to share God’s goodness with the people.

God led his people to victoriously settle in the Promised Land - a land previously inhabited by people practicing sins notoriously wicked and dark. 

God placed his people at the center of the known world so they might (as it says in Isaiah 49):

Isaiah 49:6 “. . . as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.””

However, as we know, the darkness of sin is not BOUND to a certain land it is rather FOUND in the depths of every human heart.

As the centuries rolled on, the People of Israel, blinded by the darkness in their own hearts, began to do “what was right in their own eyes,” forsaking God, rejecting his relationship with them and (as John stated) they began to “love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:19–20 )

Even during this time, God had prophets who declared and shone the light of God’s Word in an effort to expose the people’s dark deeds of sin so that this “Light to the Nations” might not grow even more dim.

Unfortunately, after more than 1000 years in the land, the God’s people are taken into captivity as a judgment for their sin and a call back to God’s good plan.

For 70+ years, God’s people live in dark and foreign lands.

After their return, they face almost 400 years of silence from God and his prophets.

In this long and deep silence when all seems dark, the flicker of God’s promise remains.

It’s when the night seems the darkest that the smallest light seems the brightest.

The world has always been dark, but there had been pockets of light in Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, David, and more.

But for the people in the time of Mary and Joseph those times seem distant and dim.

It has been more than 400 years with seemingly little movement in God’s plan to save humanity from the darkness of Genesis 3

ILLUST - 400 years ago for us would be around the time that King Charles I took the throne.

about 15 generations would have passed

it will be another 150 years before the US is even a thing

250 years before there is a telephone

One of the few glints of hope remaining was given by God through his prophet Isaiah almost 800 years prior:

Isaiah 9:1–2 “1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 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.”

Isaiah 9:6–7 “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

God has promised a Light for the darkness

Move 3 - The Light of the Gospel

I love O Holy Night. Did you catch the imagery of light in what we just sang?

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; it is the night of the dear Savior’s birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

(You can almost hear the breaking in of light!)

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices! O night divine! O night when Christ was born! O night divine! O night, O night divine!

Isaiah 42:5–9 “5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. . .

Isaiah 42:16 “16 And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”

Jesus is here!

John 1:9 “9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

The light of God’s plan of redemption is no longer a fading reflection from Creation, it is now shining brightly through the person of Jesus!

John 8:12 “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

**KIDS STORY** (5-ish minutes)

Move 4 - Carry the Light of Christmas

Light changes things.

However, two things are needed for light to be effective in my life:

I need to receive the light.

I need to expose the darkness.

These are not the same thing, but both are critical.

Receive the Light

Hearing the story of Jesus and refusing to receive him as your Savior is as ineffective as someone holding out a flashlight to you and you walking away into the dark forest.

ILLUST - some people treat church as a friend with a flashlight - but it you walk too far, you lose the light. Take the light for yourself!!

John 8:12 “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

Expose the Darkness

Even though Jesus, the Light of the World, has come, the world around us is in many ways still dark.

The true Light is here but there are still shadows which we experience as darkness around us.

Jesus, the Light, is here, but there is still sickness and death

Jesus is here, but injustice is still felt by many

Jesus is here, but we still wrestle with sin

Jesus is here, but this is still in many respects a domain of darkness

This is not because Jesus is somehow not the true light - HE IS

It is not because he is somehow not bright enough - HE IS

John 1:5 “5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

ILLUST - turning on the light in a room dispels the darkness

the darkness cannot overcome it - there is no such thing as a “flashdark”

Even in a room with the light on there can be shadows.

Even though the true Light - Jesus - has come, there is still opposition to him which casts the shadow of sin in areas of our world.

Expose the darkness in your own life

Ephesians 5:8–11 “8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Stop living in the shadows - live in the light!

Expose the darkness in the world around you.

Perhaps not physically, (it may be that we live in a day and time that is physically the brightest).

Even still, it is not too hard to convince people around you that the world is still dark.

We live in the perhaps the brightest time ever - there are a lot of artificial lights - promising a happy life, fulfilment, etc.

Artificial light seems bright until it is exposed to the sun (Son)

What do the Christmas lights on your house say about you?

Regardless of if your house displays the lights of Christmas, the real question is whether your LIFE displays the light of Christ!

1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Philippians 2:15 “15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”

Don’t simply hold a candle tonight and not commit to carry the Light

*Where will you be tomorrow where the Light of Christ needs to be shone?

*What in your life have you been hiding that needs to be exposed?

*Will you receive Christ tonight as your Light and stop relying on others to light your path in life?