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A
Light for the New Year
John
8:12
12-30-01
by Janet Loughry, Associate Pastor
I wanted to have all the windows and doors blackened. I wanted
all the lights out and candles not lit. I wanted it as dark as
possible in here when you all came in for worship this morning.
I wanted us to remain in the dark to this point when I read the
scripture. However, you will just have to pretend being in the
dark, perhaps even close your eyes. I will tell you in a minute why I
wanted it dark - and when to open your eyes.
Listen to God’s Word which comes to us from the Gospel of John -
chapter 8 verse 12:
“Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light
of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but
will have the light of life.”
Now you can open your eyes. This is when all the lights would go
on and all the curtains would drop from the windows. Because
this is when the light shines in.
Alright, what are some words and emotions we associate with the word
DARKNESS or better the reality of actually being in the darkness?
There is the feeling of the unknown in front of you and around you.
There is the thought that, “If I move I could get hurt” or “I
can’t see, I’m unsure” or “I know I am going to jump a mile
when I am scared by the yelp the cat will make when I step on her
tail.” Therefore, we have no confidence in our
surroundings, or in ourselves. Many times we are filled with
fear. Other times our minds, so filled with fear, conjure up
things to be there in the darkness that really are not there.
Sometimes we are so paralyzed we cannot move forward.
It is like those few times just after Richard and I married and I
moved into our home. On occasion I was home alone while Richard
travelled. I would wake up with the specific and real feeling
that someone was in the house, in the bedroom. I worked up to be
down right scared. I was scared enough that I could not even
move to turn on the light. Then came the time when I gathered
enough courage to slowly pull my hand out from the safety of the
blankets and turned on the light. I then realized there was
absolutely no one there and absolutely nothing to fear.
Haven’t we all done something similar, especially when we are drawn
into and caught in our emotional and spiritual darknesses. We
are terrified of things that have no reality. We are so
terrified that we are paralyzed into no action whatsoever. We
are not alone in this. Jesus came to the Feast of Tabernacles
and made a great offer to people who share our own fears.
The Feast or Festival of Tabernacles (or Booths) was one of three
major pilgrimage festivals of Judaism. It was celebrated for
eight days in late September or early October. This festival was
Israel’s joyous, thanksgiving, autumn harvest festival. It
celebrated God’s presence, protection and guidance of Israel during
their wilderness wanderings, after they had come up out of
slavery in Egypt.
Jesus makes His offer of light in the part of the Temple where the
offerings were put. His was a strategic choice because this is
where candles were burned to symbolize the pillars of fire and cloud
that led the people of Israel through the wilderness (Exodus
13:21-22).
From the Esodus passage that Bil read we know that the pillar of fire
by night gave warmth to these people in the desert at night, where
temperatures can drop to freezing. It also gave them protection
so they did not need to fear the pitch blackness of the desert
night. This assured them that God was still present.
The cloud by day also provided the Israelites with protection from the
blazing sun above. Otherwise traveling by day, with no
protection, many would have died. This huge cloud was always
there during the day. It also guided them. For when
the cloud stopped above them that was their signal to stop and camp -
whether for a short time or for longer periods. When the cloud
moved, the entire group of thousands of people was also to move.
This background gives significance to the light. Jesus stands by
the huge candlesticks, and they were huge. This was the symbol
of the cloud and pillar. He stands there and calls himself
“the light of the world.” The people at the festival were to
remember that the cloud and pillar of the fire represented God’s
presence, protection and guidance to their ancestors.
Jesus now states that He brings God’s presence, protection
and guidance to them. But His claim is also for you
and for me today.
You and I know what the characteristics and uses of light are for us.
It illumines the darkness around us either bringing in a new day or by
lighting a specific area. We use light for guidance and rely on it for
security and protection. We know the sun warms the earth and our
bodies when we stand in its rays. We rely on that warm and
those rays (even the rays of man-made light) to help be the source of
life; including a source of healing and restoration - to plants,
animals and we humans. So by comparing Himself to light,
what is it that Jesus want us to know about Him in this bold claim?
Jesus says he is “The light of the world.” Not part of the world,
not just America; not a few select people - but all. Let’s see
if his claim to be THE source of life itself stands up. It
cannot be said better than God did to and through John in Chapter 1 -
“In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) 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.”
Awesome. Jesus claimed his deity and oneness with God
at the Feast. He states he is the source of all light and
life. Jesus brings to us those things of God which is
light and life - righteousness, goodness, love, joy, peace, holiness,
redemption and so much more. All these things and what and Who
they stand for are positive, uplifting, hope-filled. The
spiritual warmth of Jesus and His claim embodies each. This is
the light and life Jesus brings.
Jesus said He is the guide. All we have to do is follow.
The Gospel of Luke gives us a very clear reference to Jesus as being
The guiding light. The birth of Christ was imminent when
Luke restates what the prophet Zachariah had said so many years before
about the Messiah, “By the tender mercy of our God, the
dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit
in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way
of peace” (Luke 1:78-79). In being our guiding light,
Jesus reveals the direction for the way we should go. But we do
need to follow.
If the Israelites had ignored and not followed the signs before them
of God’s guidance, they, no doubt, would have returned to
Egypt - back into slavery. The next generation might have never
found the promised land. At the Festival of Tabernacles
Jesus picked up on the pillar of fire and cloud imagery, and the
wilderness wanderings of the Israelites. Through these Jesus
reminded those people and us, that God has always been the guide
by night and by day. Jesus tells these people and you and me
that we need guidance and deliverance also. We need
deliverance from our wanderings and our darknesses. Jesus said
that: If you follow me I will reveal the direction you must take for
your life.
You and I encounter our wilderness wanderings and dark times in
sickness, death, loss of employment, friends and family moving to
other areas of the country, difficulties in dealing with government
authorities, and for some the dark time is just in getting up in the
morning and in everyday living. During such
times dark emotions and thoughts can rule our worlds. Some
people continue to wander in fear of the past, as well as of the
future. Many live with addictions of all sorts, and exist
in a state of despair and hopelessness. These are not just words
from a list of symptoms from some book. When I was a chaplain at
St Johns’ I visited and prayed with people each day who were
immobilized with fear. Some of you live with these fears also.
You feel there is no way out. You are sure that there will never
be a light at the end of that long, lonely, dark tunnel. It does
not have to be that way. Jesus said so!
When we follow Jesus, we never need walk in darkness.
The last part of this year a very real and present evil has brought
much darkness to our nation, to our world, and to our personal lives.
Continuing to deal with the events of the September 11 atrocities, in
addition to other things that happened during the year in our lives,
wants to convince us that everything has changed since September 11.
In an article in the December issue of Presbyterian Today, Vernon
Broyles, associate director for social justice ministries of our
denomination, wrote this:
- We heard it over and over
again in the wake of the devastating attacks of September 11,
2001: “Everything has changed. Nothing will ever be the
same again.” It is true that for many the security we felt
within our own U.S. borders evaporated. The confidence with
which we flew all over the world was replaced by caution for some
and outright fear for others. Consumer confidence turned to
dark pessimism in many quarters. Civil liberties we took for
granted were curtailed under new security measures. And for
many the weeks that have passed since that tragic day have not
erased the grief over lost loved ones or the anxiety over what
terrors still await us. But it is NOT true that “everything has
changed.” It is not true that “nothing will ever be the
same.” It is still true that we all shall
die. It is still true that the shadow of sin falls across
every life, and often erupts in unspeakable violence. It is
still true that no nation is so powerful, economically,
politically, militarily, that it can put its whole trust in those
things for survival. Most important, it is still true that
there is a God who loved the world enough to take on our own
humanity so we might know that love, so we might see what God
intended for us as human beings, and so we might experience the
ultimate security and hope that only God can give. In this
year of the “September 11 atrocity (my word)” let us who
celebrate the Advent and birth of Emmanuel offer to our fearful
world with a fresh, clarion voice the Good News that God is with
us, the God who knows our pain, our suffering, our fear of death.
Let us tell all who will listen that God came to address all our
fears — to fulfill the words of Psalm 46 so frequently read
among us in the days following the attacks in New York and
Washington (and which Pastor Dave preached from the Sunday
following the 11th): “God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though
the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart
of the sea.... The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is
our refuge” (Psalm 46:1-2,7). And now this Child of
Christmas stands among us, crucified, risen and ascended,
and says once again, “Take courage; I have conquered the
world” (John 16:33).
(Title: Everything has not changed since 9/11, by Vernon S. Broyless,
III)
Indeed, because Jesus has conquered the world He brings us into that
Light that dispels the darkness surrounding our hearts, minds and
emotions. He tells us to take courage from him, so that
we can follow in his direction, out of darkness. In following we
receive the life-giving promise he is for us. Jesus said He is
the light of life.
I know about a young woman who was born with a large red birth mark on
her face. The mark began at her nose, went under her left eye,
and stretched out over her left cheek to her ear. She was
cruelly aware from a very young age that not only were her looks
different from other children, but that her looks were
distasteful to others. Then as she grew older she became quite
adept with makeup to cover the mark. Nonetheless, she
compulsively checked her makeup in every mirror like clockwork.
She avoided harsh lighting and sunlight because she would perspire and
cause the makeup to run. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to
learn she also avoided deep and lasting friendships of any kind.
As she grew older she would gather courage to see various doctors -
only to be told that their remedy could actually be worse than her
current condition. It wasn’t until she was almost 40,
not too many years ago, that laser surgery had been perfected to the
point that a doctor was able to say with confidence, “Take courage,
I can help you.” In spite of the mark, she had always been an
attractive woman. She was not able to see that - no
matter the number of mirrors she looked into - no matter the different
lights she turned on. Slowly but very specifically
and surely, the laser light came to restore what was always meant to
be for this young woman.
Today this young woman is working with parents and their children who
have debilitating birth marks, and scars. She is working with
them, teaching them how to give encouragement, reassurance and using
criticism sparingly. She is helping to build a positive
emotional base. She is also working with doctors who perform
laser surgery as a spokesperson enabling others to have the healing
and restorative light of life in their lives.
You know this young woman is being exactly what Jesus says we are.
A light to her world, just like Laurie Loring said in the Children’s
time. Jesus said that when He is in our life, then we are
the light of the world.
Is Jesus the light of your life? If He is not yet the light of
your world, is God calling you now to make a decision to look at
Christ more closely, perhaps for the very first time? You do not
need to continue to walk alone in the dark. Start the New
Year by making that decision. Tell God about it in prayer, and
come tell me about it after this service.
If Jesus is the light of your world, what difference does it
make? Are you needing to turn to Christ more fully?
Do you need to change more completely in some or many areas of your
life? Perhaps you are being urged to follow Jesus
more actively in sharing his light throughout the world in which you
live. What difference does it make because Jesus is the light of your
world?
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