John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. 8He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
9The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him. 11He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 13They were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
This afternoon will be very difficult. We always go on Christmas Day to Shelley’s parents’ home. Today will be the first Christmas without one of Shelley’s parents in that home. God called Shelley’s mom, Sue, home to heaven earlier this year.
Many of you know what this feels like. You remember decorating the tree with your dad. You recall baking cookies with your mom. You reminisce about making Christmas candies with your siblings. But now dad is gone. Your mom is in the nursing home. Your siblings have moved away.
You see all the decorations, hear the music and receive the bright, cheerful Christmas cards from friends and family. These things are pointed reminders of a long-felt grief, a hurt, a sorrow, a reminder that while many are merry, you are not.
This is the first Christmas without dad. The Christmas tree is empty because of job loss. The house is a mess because of depression. You are hurting.
Despite what the movies tell us, maybe it isn’t “A Wonderful Life.” Maybe there isn’t a happy ending to your “Christmas Story.” Perhaps the “Grinch Who Stole Christmas” kept it all from you.
We know we won’t find comfort in those Hollywood movies. So we come to church. We love the Christmas hymns. But what if our heart isn’t into singing this year. There doesn’t seem to be any joy to our world. Our silent nights are interrupted by weeping and crying. What if we are not so glad when Christmas comes?
It is when we are in the darkness that we so desperately need a light shining in our darkness. John describes Jesus this way: “The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world.”
The devil is doing everything he can to beat you down with depression, to keep you in the darkness, to feel like your life is covered with a shroud.
Today we celebrate that the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, has pierced the darkness. He has pierced your darkness. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). Jesus said of Himself: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Jesus entered our world of darkness and sin. He was born in the darkness on that first Christmas. He is God who took on human flesh to take our sin upon Himself. The warm, radiating light of His forgiveness washes over you, banishing the darkness from your world.
It is for those living in darkness that God was born as a human baby. To break your darkness, the Light of the world entered our darkness. He was born in darkness so that we might be reborn as children of light. He died in the darkness so that we might live in the light of His life. He rose at dawn to usher in the new day of His resurrection.
This Child is none other than the Word of God in the flesh, the One who reveals the Father, the only begotten Son of God, the second person of the blessed Holy Trinity. This Child is the everlasting Light, the fulfillment of all the hopes and fears of all the years, before and ever since. This Child’s chubby fingers would someday make the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk and the dead alive. The radiant beams from His holy face would shine once again upon the mountain of transfiguration. He was born in a barn so we might live forever in His mansion.
God was born for all those who are broken and living in darkness. For lonely children and hurting men. For wounded soldiers and depressed wives. For widowed spouses and grieving parents. For you – no matter your hurt, no matter how screwed up your life, no matter what kinds of stupid decisions you’ve made, no matter how filthy and vile and useless you think you are. God was born precisely for you.
God abandoned His golden throne room in favor of a dirty sheep pen. He replaced worshiping angels with kind but bewildered shepherds. He exchanged the praise of the saints for lowing cattle. Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of an unwed teenager and in the presence of a protective carpenter.
God left His bright and shiny heaven to plunge headfirst into the mud and muck of our world full of darkness and unbelief and tragedy. He didn’t stand in the light and call you out of the darkness. He invaded the night. He came in search for you.
You say, “But I’m a lost cause.”
Jesus says, “I specialize in lost causes. I came to seek and save the lost.”
You say, “But I can’t go on.”
Jesus says, “You don’t have to. I will carry you. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
You say, “But I’m hopeless.”
Jesus says, “I have all the hope you need. I will fill you with hope, joy and peace as you put your trust in me.”
You say, “But look at what I’ve done. I’m dirty. Nobody wants me.”
Jesus says, “I want you. Look at what I’ve done for you. I entered your world as a baby so that I could roll around in the dirt of your sins. I became dirty, so you could be clean. I received blood, so you could be washed clean in that divinely human blood. I became a human child so that you could become God’s child. I definitely want you!”
For whatever reason, your Christmas might be difficult this year. The darkness threatens to overwhelm you. The Christ Child enters your world this Christmas to ease your pain and drive away the darkness.
Into this dark world, inflicted with pain, racked with guilt, blemished with graves, God gladly and willingly was born in flesh and blood to make you His flesh and blood children. The deeper you have fallen, the farther He will dig to find you. The darker your despair, the more light he will bring to seek you out. The farther away from God you are, the better He sees you. No life has sunk so unfathomably deep that He cannot dig down to grasp you by the hand and climb out of the pit with you in His arms.
That’s the kind of God who was born on Christmas. That’s the kind of God Jesus is. He is the Light in your darkness. Amen.