The Light Is Good News



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Below is my sermon text for our Christmas Eve services. The Gospel lessons are:Luke 2:6-14 and John 1:1-5, 9-14, 16-18. Apologies for the poor quality of the recording; this was the best of the three.
Merry Christmas.



The Gospels contain two very different stories about Jesus’ birth.

Luke, and to some degree Matthew, tell the story we know best. Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem because of the census. There is no place for them to stay, so she gives birth to her baby amongst the animals, and lays him in a feeding trough for his first crib.

But John begins differently. John begins back at THE Beginning.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

John tells us that everything that ever existed came into being by the Word, the Word that was with God and the Word that was God. The Word created life. The Word is the Light for all people. And that Light was coming into the world.

The creative force that was behind literally everything was coming into the world. The bang in the Big Bang was coming into the world. The knitter that knit the first strands of DNA together was coming into the world. The hand that placed the stars in the sky, and the hand that planted the seeds, was coming into the world.

That is certainly Good News, and should cause Great Joy, don’t you think?

The celestial army certainly thought so. They sent an advance emissary to make the proclamation. Not the to Caesar, nor to the kings, nor to the rich and powerful in their palaces of gold. But to simple people, to those who needed to know that God cares about them and for them.

Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

The One whom had been promised, a Savior, a Messiah, the Lord had been born. The True Light, the Word of God has taken on flesh.

This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.

The Word that spoke existence into being was born not into wealth, or power, or at a huge estate, but he was wrapped in rags and slept in a feeding trough. God took on human form and flesh, took on our existence, starting not at the top, but at the bottom. Because Christ came for us all.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

The Good News of Great Joy that the angels proclaimed to the shepherds is that God sent a light to shine into the darkness. It doesn’t matter if that darkness is caused by illness, depression, isolation, addiction or rejections; darkness brought by abuse, bullying, mistreatment, exploitation, discrimination, or harassment; darkness that comes from financial or economic problems, relationship difficulties, family struggles or the various things life throws in our way.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

That baby, born in a stable, wrapped in rags, beginning life at the bottom is the hope of the world. Through Him, death is defeated and our sins are swept away. Through Him, God expresses the ultimate sign of love, totally giving of one’s self, even to death, a death on a cross.

But beyond that, Christ is a light shining into OUR darkness, a light to remind us that we are beloved by God, no matter what.

No matter how much the darkness grabs at us, how much is surrounds and swallows us, there is a light that shines into the darkness, and the darkness cannot over come it.

God’s love burst into the world in that baby born in Bethlehem. God’s love shattered the suffocation that sin inflicts on us. God’s love destroys the dominion of death. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Remember, all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. Everyone and everything is a beloved creation of God. If you feel unloved, have been told you are unloved, or struggle to love yourself, God loves you. God shines as a light in the darkness, to remind you that you are loved. And God invites you to love others, because God loves you.

And that is Good News of Great Joy for All the people.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Merry Christmas and AMEN.

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