December 30, 2007 , All Souls' Episcopal Church

Light
John 1: 1-18

Years ago there was a best selling novel entitled, The Name of the Rose, (It was also a motion picture starring Sean Connery) the author, at one point, describes the “scriptorium”of the l4th century monastery which is the setting for this medieval mystery.  The scriptorium was the room or floor where the monks copied, illustrated, and decorated by hand precious manuscripts left by former generations.  The author described the room in this manner:

“The abundance of windows meant that the great room was cheered by a constant diffused light, even on a winter afternoon.  The panes were not colored like church windows, and the lead-framed squares of clear glass allowed the light to enter in the purest possible fashion, not modulated by human art, and thus to serve its purpose which was to illuminate the work of reading and writing.  I have seen in other times in other places many scriptoria, but none where there shone so luminously, in the out-

pouring of physical light which made the room glow, the spiritual principle that light incarnates….”

 The spiritual principle that light incarnates.  Those few words sum up beautifully the incomparable first lines of Saint John’s Gospel I just read to you. Jesus the Christ is the spiritual principle, the light, the goodness, the animating force found in each of us; and that this light, this goodness, can never be defeated no matter how strong and vicious the powers of darkness and evil of this world become.

 In the Creation Story, God moved upon the dark, formless chaos which was before the world began and said “let there be light.”  The new-created light of God routed the empty chaos into which it came—so, as we listen to our Gospel, we see that Jesus is the light which shines in the darkness.  He is the one person who can save life from becoming “chaos.”  Left to ourselves, we are at the mercy of our passions and our fears.  “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John uses the word “light” no less than 2l times in his Gospel.  Now, it may well be that in John’s mind, there is a borrowed thought here.  John, as we know, was prepared to go out and to take in new ideas; if, by so doing, he could present and commend the Christian message to men.  The great Persian religion of Zoroastrianism had at this time a very great influence on men’s thoughts.  It believed that there were two great opposing powers in the universe, the god of the light and the god of the dark.  This whole universe was a battleground in the eternal, cosmic conflict between the light and the dark; and all that mattered in life was the side a man chose.

So, perhaps being influenced by these ideas, John is saying:  “Into the world  comes Jesus, the light of the world; there is no darkness which would seek to eliminate him, to banish him from life, to extinguish him. Yes, there is a power in Jesus that is undefeatable.  The darkness can hate him, but it can never get rid of him.”   The unconquerable light will in the end defeat the hostile dark.   John is saying:  “Choose your side in the eternal conflict and choose aright.”  You and I, sitting here this morning at All Souls, have made our choice, have we not? We choose the Light of Christ !!

 In all this amazing world, is there a more amazing thing than the invincibility of God’s Light? Everything seems against it yet it refuses to be extinguished. Often, it looks as if it were “out”; but somehow, it always comes back.  The tide ebbs out and out and then….. it returns.  The night falls, gets blacker and blacker, and then….. the dawn.

 Before Martin Luther’s Day, sparks of reformation attempted to flame, but were continually stamped out—until the winds of God blew over what seemed dead ashes where they burst into flames that nothing….nothing… could put out.  Yes, in every generation, the light—the Flame of Christ—still shines in spite of efforts of men to extinguish its brightness.

 But, you know, there are many in this world who prefer darkness.  Think of that rock in your backyard near the red bud tree.  Let’s bend over and pick it up.  Did you see all those little creatures scurrying in all directions?  Apparently they can’t stand the light.  They like to live in darkness; the kind they have under the rock.  They reject the light and run from it.  What an upside down life—to prefer dark obscurity to light.

 But, are you and I so different at times?   Have you not caught yourself scurrying for dark places when God’s light has shown on you?  Later, reflecting back, you see how you had separated yourself from God. All humanity does this! God’s light uncovers our secret thoughts and our actions.  We can’t hide our perversity or camouflage the revolt that rises up within us from time to time. God unmasks us with his light.  Light is the symbol of God, of faith, of goodness, of Christ.  Darkness is the symbol of evil, of chaos, of unbelief.

 Some comments:  In our time, our civilization seems to have embarked on a new dark age.  Evil in all its vicious forms has been let loose among us in an abundancy seldom seen in the history of the world; chaos of  mind and morals; and, above all, a loss of faith, a loss of belief, a loss of direction so severe that our society has not only dared to ridicule religion, but some have had the audacity to proclaim that we are in some sort of a “Post Christian Era.”

 For the whole of history bears out the truth of George Bernard Shaw’s conclusion that: “No nation has ever outlived the loss of its gods.” What gall it takes to proclaim a “Post-Christian Era.” What insolence!! What unmitigated mortal egotism, that some in our society feel that it has the authority to unilaterally announce a “Post-Christian Era.”

 The darkness of our civilization’s unbelief is match only by a preoccupation with its own importance.  By what authority does it dare say that we live in a Post-Christian civilization?  Our society has become so self-centered that it believes the world revolves only around itself; so egotistical that it thinks Christianity centers around it.  Our society has no right whatever to make these pronouncements….I’ll tell you “Why”!

 For, it is in the Third World that most Christians now live.  There are more Presbyterians in South Korea than in Scotland, more Anglicans in Africa than in England, more Roman Catholics in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere.  We are no longer the center of the Christian world.  The torch and the light have passed into other hands. Many in our civilization have grown too materialistic and self-indulgence to even retain the capacity to believe.

 Is there any hope for our civilization?  Can it regain its faith and its will to believe?  Or, as Christian missionaries once went from the outer Scottish Isles to re-Christianize a Europe mired in its great Dark Age, will missionaries from the Third World have to rescue us from our Twenty-first century dark age?  Is this not happening to some extent in the controversity our Episcopal Church is having with the world-wide Anglican Communion? The answer perhaps lies with whether or not our society can rediscover Christ and orthodox Bible belief, and whether or not we can once more see the Light that still shines in the darkness. 

 Yes, at times, we scurry to hide under the rocks of life huddling in the darkness.  Yet, huddling as we do from time-to-time, even then, if we let the light of Christ touch us (and it is an omnipresent light waiting to be allowed to come in), we can see ourselves as we are.  We really never see what our lives are like until we see them in the light of Christ.  Jesus often drives us to God by revealing us to ourselves!! Self revelation can be upsetting to say the least. Everyday must be one of renewal, repentance and resolve.

 Can we once more turn towards the Christ, towards the light that is Christ?  Can we remember the spiritual principle that light incarnates—incarnates Christ in our lives?  Of course we can, we can do all things in Christ.  Perhaps then we will be able to open ourselves to all those thing within us that call us toward spiritual goodness and greatness.  Within each of us is the ability to do this.  The twentieth century theologian, Paul Tillich, put the fundamental spiritual question for us like this: (and I quote)

 “Is there an empty space in your soul?  Or, is everything filled with that which is transitory, preliminary, ultimately insignificant, however important it tries to be?  Without a soul opened for it, no Word from the Lord can be received.  Listening with open soul, keeping an empty space in our inner life, sharpening our spiritual hearing:  This is the only thing we can do.  But this is much.  And blessed are those whose minds and hearts are open.” (end of quote)

 One of our greatest causes for hope is to remember that Jesus Christ keeps feeling for an opening into each mind and soul.  He came to us as a little child to grow with us and show us the way.

 Yes, there is darkness all around us, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God,  overcomes the darkness.. His light is penetrating to the core of our souls; His light is beyond brilliance! My friends, you and I now have the responsibility to carry the light……the Torch of Christ into the world!. We are His children…..God depends on us……

 It’s just that simple!

In the Name of the Father and the Son
And the Holy Ghost.”