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Sermon
December 11, 2011 Hail the heaven-born Prince of peace! Hail the Sun of righteousness, Light and life to all he brings, Risen with healing in his wings x x x Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. X X X Silent Night, holy night, son of God, love’s pure light radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace Jesus, Lord at thy birth, Jesus lord at thy birth X X X O Star of
Wonder, Star of night, Star with royal
I suspect you all recognize these words from some of our most beloved Christmas carols --Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Silent Night and We Three Kings. If you listen closely you will realize that they share a metaphor. Each talks about the coming Light of Christmas that shines in the darkness of the world. Not so surprising that the music of this Advent and Christmas season should adopt this metaphor -- for that’s precisely what the writer of the gospel of John uses, There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. Light is truly mysterious. Einstein won the Nobel Prize, not for his theories of general and special relativity, but for his work trying to explain light. Think back to your high school physics course. Remember those experiments that showed that light was made up of waves like the ones produced in water when a pebble breaks the surface. But then, Einstein showed that light is also photons – that is little discrete packets of energy. Paradoxically, light exhibits characteristics of both waves and particles. Whether particles or waves we all know that light exists. We can see it as it illuminates our surroundings but we can’t grasp light or put it in a bottle. We certainly believe in its power; we have total faith in light -- though we would be hard pressed to explain it. And we know it’s essential. Think about those dark and stormy nights when the power is off and how precious your flashlight or candles become. Ask a sailor what his life would be like without lighthouses and navigational beacons and markers that rhythmically light up. To be sure we have Loran and GPS for navigation. But it is certainly important and reassuring to see that light from the lighthouse or that buoy lighting up every 30 seconds where you expect it to be. If you think that’s an out of date example here’s another. Talk to a surgeon or a doctor about light. Ask her how important light is in the world of surgery today. Think of those scopes with lights on their end that can help one see inside a body, avoiding the need for major surgical incisions. Now we can be in and out of the hospital or the ambulatory surgery center the same day after knee surgery or the removal of a gallbladder -- instead of spending days in the hospital recovering from major surgery and the large incision that is a part of the operation. Not only are we more comfortable postoperatively when arthroscopic devices are used, but the survival rates are higher and recovery times shorter. Think about the use of focused light in the form of lasers that repair retinas and kill targeted cancer cells. Light is amazing and at times miraculous. It shows us where to go and what to avoid. It heals, it comforts and it brightens our lives in so many ways. Light is, indeed a wonderful metaphor for the coming Christ Child. X X X We celebrate Christmas in late December not because we know that Jesus was born at this time of year -- we don’t. But rather because many cultures in the Northern Hemisphere had a celebration at the time of the solstice that involved bringing light into the deep cold darkness of winter. Christians adopted and adapted these pagan ceremonies. Indeed, our Advent wreaths are the modern floral descendents of medieval wagon wheels that were covered with candles and hung from the ceiling to shed much needed light in the darkness. Why this need for light--because in a primal, visceral way we are afraid of the dark. We cannot see our world or ourselves. We can’t see what lurks out there in the darkness. Like the sailor we can’t see which way is the safest. Darkness also brings us face to face with our own mortality. We seek out the light to push away our fears and to have our way forward in life illuminated. And like a surgeon we need the light to heal us when we are broken emotionally, spiritually or morally The Christmas celebration at this time of year – the advent or coming of the light of the world – is, thus, no accident. In the birth, life and death of this flesh and blood Son of David, who is yet the Son of God, a profound light has been cast on our world. Like the scientific mystery of light -- in the birth of the babe in the manger -- we have been given a mysterious gift that is perfect, though not fully knowable, light that is intangible, yet real. We are given the light that has proven for nearly 2000 years that the power of love overcomes the love of power and is never overcome by darkness. It is the light that illuminates the unexpected reversal: the last shall be first and the first shall be last. It is the Light, the Christ, who asks us to see that all people are our neighbors—not only the ones who look and act as we do or even worship as we do. And it is the light, the Christ, who calls us to focus every day, not just at Christmas time, less on the pleasure of receiving and more on the joy of giving. X X X Someone recently told me they want sermons that speak to real life. So let’s try and bring this wonderful metaphor of light down to the here and now. The challenge in our world is what light we will choose to use to illuminate our way forward. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor killed while imprisoned by the Nazi’s, agonized over what had happened in Germany. How had good people let the Nazi ascendency happen? How had the German churches become complicit in the horrors of the Nazi regime? In the end Bonhoeffer concluded it was the failure of the good people to put God at the center that contributed to the horror that was Nazi Germany. As Bonhoeffer wrote, “[It was only those who are] called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God” who can stand fast against evil?[1] To paraphrase Bonhoeffer it is the light we use to illumine our way that makes all the difference. What are the sources of light that guide us? What do we place at the very center—what is our primary light source? Is it the light of Madison Avenue, of Wall Street, of the sports arena or of the secular media? Life is complicated and the stresses great. Based on personal experience, I know that lawyers are under great pressure to put in hours and to bill clients. Careers turn on those totals as does the future of law firms and the many who work at them. Businesses succeed or fail depending on their ability to get and keep clients and customers. The bottom line -- positive or negative -- determines the course of people’s lives and those of the corporations for which they work. The pressures to succeed, to provide for one’s family, are great, real and understandable. Over work and loneliness take their toll in different ways. We often feel tired, lonely, frustrated, and unappreciated. These stresses can change and damage lives and relationships, sometimes irreparably. The real challenges of life for most of us are not in the stark choices between good and evil. They are in those moments in which good people waiver -- pushed to succumb to small and large temptations or pushed to do the wrong thing to achieve a good purpose. The light of the world speaks to these real life situations every bit as much to the great causes. Our need for the pure light of the babe in the manger that illuminates our way forward has never been greater. Jesus speaks to each of us about priorities, about the importance of relationships, that we treat others as we would want to be treated. In the coming of Jesus, God reaffirmed that human beings are good and worthy. Not because of what we have but simply because we are made in God’s image with the capacity to love and be loved -- with this kind of light at the center of our lives we can do amazing things. This light can show us the way to avoid the pitfalls life puts in our path -- be it over billing, taking questionable tax deductions, cheating on a spouse or deceiving a friend. No the light that comes into the world didn’t change just the trajectory of history; it can change the lives of ordinary people. Not only can this Holy Child light up paths before us but it can change us if we allow the dear Christ child to enter in. Think of those fireflies of summer or of the luminescence of water when you disturb it with a hand or oar. There are times when light seems to come from within. That too is an apt way to think of that light that comes at Christmas. It has the capacity to create within us a light that can help to light up the world. All in all sounds like something worth waiting for. Just few more days! Amen
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