Shine
“Shine” by Pastor Rosanna McFadden
Good morning! I want to again say how please we are to welcome guests from SPA, and to hear your testimony. It is, I believe, a testament to how light can overcome the darkness, and that the true light, which enlightens everyone, is Jesus Christ. It is also a reminder that darkness is a reality of our world and a reality of our human condition. We see, of course, the darkness of this season; morning comes late and the light begins to fade by 5 o’clock in the afternoon, but there are other kinds of darkness, too. I mentioned during the prayer time the darkness of grief or loss, and we also see the darkness of injustice and oppression and poverty. Even the most saintly people we can think of have had to struggle with darkness within themselves — pride, anger, self-righteousness, addiction. What makes us children of God is not that we have none of this darkness inside us, but that the light of Jesus has overcome it. Each one of us is called to let Christ to shine through our human sin and imperfection.
We have been considering names, or titles, of Jesus in the Sundays before Christmas, and today’s text is from the first chapter of John’s gospel. It may not feel very Christmas-y; there are no shepherds or angels, no stable with the baby in a manger. Sorry about that. I love that version of the Christmas story, but the only place to find that story in the Bible is in Luke chapter 2. If you want to hear that story and I hope you do — come back for our Christmas Eve service on Wednesday, or read it on your own. As I mentioned last week, the gospel of John doesn’t begin with a birth story, it begins with a creation story: reminding us that Jesus the Word was with God in the work of creation, and that all things came into being through him. What came into being was life, and the life was the light of all people.
And there, in John 1 verse 2 is a powerful theological statement of purpose and hope. And in a season of darkness — whatever kind of darkness we find ourselves walking through — we need purpose and hope. John makes this verbal equation that life = light. That light is Jesus Christ, and that is for all people. Those are some pretty radical claims: everyone has light, or at least the potential for light within, and all people have been give the same life through Jesus Christ. So what we have been created for, what gives us life, is to let God’s light shine within us. It is wonderful, life-giving gift, but it isn’t exclusive to me. In fact, one of the ways that my light shines is when I encourage other people to let their light shine. We were not created to be haters, or folks who disparage or judge other people. When I try to dim or block someone else’s light, I shine less brightly. Denying the light which other people carry is a win for the darkness — darkness for the other person, but especially darkness for me.
John 1 verse 7 and 8 tell us about John the Baptist and help us make a distinction between a light and the light. John was a prophet, sent by God, making a big stir baptizing folks in the Jordan River. John was a witness to testify to the light; he himself was not the light. The true light was coming into the world, and coming to their town. That light was Jesus, and John the Baptist recognized him, but most of the world did not. Jesus looked like an ordinary guy, not God the Creator. How were we supposed to know? Well, sisters and brothers, we know something that those folks along the Jordan River did not know; we know something that all of the gospel writers, including John, knew. We know the rest of the story. We know how Jesus taught, and healed, we know how Jesus cast out evil spirits and ate with sinners and outcasts. And we know what Jesus did for ALL people: his sacrifice on the cross, his forgiveness of our sins, and his power over death itself. This is how we know that Jesus is THE light of the world that even the darkness of death could not overcome.
To all those who have heard this story, and received Jesus and believed in his name, he has given power to become . . . children of God. Now that is an interesting pivot for John, to identify us as God’s children. It of course implies kinship with Jesus Christ, but also a relationship with each other. We’re not just a bunch of individuals; we are the family of God. I’d invite you to consider for a moment, your own children, younger people whom you parent, or maybe your own parents. I’m guessing your parents or grandparents had hopes and dreams for you, and that you have aspirations for the people you consider children. I hope they wanted you to happy and productive, to have meaningful work — maybe even work like they were familiar with. Your parents probably hoped that you would have a better life than they did. Undoubtedly your parents communicated and encouraged this imperfectly. We don’t have enough time this morning to list all the ways which our parents were imperfect, but I think the desire for good things for our children or the people we consider as children is pretty universal.
Imagine what that means for us as children of God: it means that God is on our side, that God desires good things for us, that God wants us to let the light of Jesus Christ shine in our lives. Letting the light shine is not simply a passive exercise. If you make it a point to tell people how you have received Jesus and believed in his name and don’t do anything different than you did before, it’s going to get old pretty quick. Folks don’t want us to just tell them how shiny we are, they want to see the difference that light has made in our lives. Being a child of God means doing stuff — and also not doing stuff — which demonstrates that Jesus has made a difference in our lives. I am not talking about works righteousness; we are not saved by our good works, John 1:16 says “from his fulness we have all received grace upon grace.” We all need that grace upon grace, but receiving grace changes our lives. It changes the way we see other people when we look for their light rather than despising their darkness; it changes the way we see ourselves when we recognize our potential rather than being stuck in our failure; it gives us hope that through Jesus, we can change and we can change the world by committing to be one light in the darkness.
Accepting ourselves as children of God carrying the light of Christ is powerful because it redefines our identity. However we considered ourselves before — failures, addicts, criminals, victims, or maybe just a little bit better than other people — Jesus Christ has leveled those distinctions. We may have some work to do to clear out the things which get in the way of letting our light shine, but knowing we are children of God is what give us the assurance and power to do that difficult work with Christ’s help.
May the light of Jesus Christ shine on our paths this Christmas season, not only to show us where to go, but to remind us who we are: we are God’s beloved children, and we have all been given the light of Jesus Christ: our work is to follow Jesus and let that light shine. Amen.