Shining in the Darkness
The following is the sermon delivered by Ande MacDougall-Clumpus on Sunday, January 3rd.
Text: John 1:1-14
It was in late November when Rev. John sent me an instant message over the internet: “Would you be interested in preaching the first week of January?” I immediately typed out the answer “Yes,” but waited a few seconds before sending it, to make him think I was giving it some consideration. I asked him what the readings would be- I figured that being in the second week of Christmas, it’d probably be something about the wise men bearing gifts, which would make for an easy sermon on bringing our own gifts to God. My first time preaching, and I already had the sermon written.
Then John sent me a link to the lectionary, and instead of a great, metaphorically-rich passage about the magi, I got the wonderfully abstract text from John chapter 1, that Jordan just read. I hesitated. John 1 is great, but not for a first-time preacher who gets most of his theology from The Simpsons and U2 songs. But I wasn’t about to back down. I dove into the text, wrestled with it, read deeply into it, and, like a Magic Eye puzzle, after staring at it long enough I got an idea of what it all means, and how I can turn it into a successful sermon. So here it goes.
I get the feeling that I’m not the only person who sees John 1 and immediately wishes to turn to Matthew or Luke. In those two Gospels, we get the traditional nativity story- Mary is visited by an angel, she heads off with Joseph to Bethlehem, the shepherds see the heavenly host, the wise men visit, and an adorable Baby Jesus is born, surrounded by cute barnyard animals. It warms the heart and makes for a great Christmas pageant, because it’s easy to imagine. John’s first chapter doesn’t give us that. Here’s John’s entire story of Jesus being born: “In the beginning was the Word... And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” Well, that’s useful. I can see why we avoid turning this passage into a Christmas pageant- the end result would be a cross between the works of C.S Lewis, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch.
But maybe there’s a reason John’s account, or lack thereof, of Jesus’ birth is so different from the other two. John is technically the most recent of the four Gospels- his was written in the literal 80s, about 30 years after the other three, and his Gospel is focussed on presenting Jesus as God incarnate. That’s why we get such a different story- John had no interest in romanticizing the birth of Christ, he just wanted to make it clear that Jesus was God in the flesh. The in-the-flesh part is especially important considering that, at the time, there was an alternate belief about Christ called “Docetism,” which was the belief that Jesus was an illusion or a ghost, like Casper the Friendly Ghost or Patrick Swayze in Ghost, and didn’t actually take human form. John is rebuffing that idea completely.
But those are barely two verses out of the chapter, and to stop now would be a short sermon, even by Presbyterian standards. John still has a lot more to say, and he has a definite focus in mind. An easy way to see this is to make a Word Cloud, which is a creative diagram that shows which words in a selected text appear the most. The more often a word is used in the text, the bigger it shows up in the word cloud diagram. As an example, here’s a Word Cloud of a few of my recent grocery lists. (See picture here: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1423136/Sermon_Aid_%232) As you can tell, I’ve had cravings for chocolate, and, uh, some beverages, lately. Now let’s look at a Word Cloud of the passage. (http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1423102/John_Chapter_1) There are a few words that jump out. The word God is clearly used the most, for obvious reasons, and then after that it would appear that “light” is the next most-used word. John writes that in Jesus was life, and that life was light. Verse five says “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
The concept of light is prevalent throughout Christianity- it’s the first thing God creates in Genesis, it’s mentioned frequently throughout the Psalms as being synonymous with goodness and wisdom, and during the Advent season we became familiar with Isaiah Chapter 9, which states that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. We all know the song “This Little Light of Mine.” And, of course, there’s the light side and the dark side of the Force.
In the reading, John is describing the universal truth about light- it is stronger than darkness, and cannot be overcome by it. Where there is light, there is no darkness; darkness only exists where there is not light. It’s a fantastic metaphor for the ideas of good and evil, because it’s so tangible. We can all think of a time when, literally, a light shone in the darkness for us. For me, it reminds me of my adventures at Camp Mini-Yo-We, a Christian camp up in Huntsville, where I’ve spent five out of the last six summers as a volunteer counsellor and senior staff member. One of the favourite parts of the summer, for both campers and counsellors, is a game called Mission: Impossible. It’s played late at night, well after the sun has gone down. The campers, dressed in black, are all brought to the outskirts of the camp grounds, while the counsellors hide in the bushes with high-powered flashlights. The campers’ goal is to sneak into the middle of the camp without being spotted by a counsellor. Sounds hard? Well, it’s called Mission: Impossible for a reason.
You can imagine how much fun it is for me to crouch in a pitch black forest, waiting as the sound of footsteps gets closer and closer, then leaping up, shining my light on the faces of the captured kids. They had been practically unnoticeable in the darkness, but the second my flashlight came on, the darkness was no match for the light, and was no longer a place to hide. Good times.
Light and darkness… we live in a world of both- a world that has been filled with God’s light, but that humans have not always reflected, and where that has happened, where grace, peace and love have been ignored, we’ve had darkness.
We’re now beginning the second decade of the 21st century. It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since we celebrated the new millennium- I have to say, I sure feel old right now. We can all remember how we felt as the year 2000 began. There was an air of hope and excitement for the future- we saw countries that had been enemies for years coming together, we saw unparalleled advancements in technology and medicine, we saw governments making commitments to end poverty and support less-developed nations. The 90s had ended on a high note, and we anticipated that things were only going to get better.
Suffice to say, these last ten years have be shrouded in a lot of darkness. In our own lives, we had to face dealing with death, divorce and leaving friends and loved ones. As a church community, we had to go through some difficult tribulations- like most protestant churches across the country, we’ve seen a decline in numbers, especially among the youth, as Canada becomes a post-spiritualist society.
And on a global scale, we saw what happens when God’s light is ignored. We looked into the face of absolute depravity on a September morning in 2001. We observed nations going to war for unexplainable reasons. We witnessed environmental degradation, and we reaped what we sowed with massive hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes. We saw the effects of people putting greed ahead of compassion, understanding and even reason; we’re more than a year into the largest economic recession since the Great Depression, and it’s hard to see an end to it anytime soon.
But amid all the darkness- amid all the death and destruction, the fear and hatred- John’s words still rang true. We saw light shining through, even in the most difficult of times. We had family and friends whom we could turn to. We had leaders within our congregation who stepped up and found us a minister who not only brought a vast knowledge of Scripture, but was also a total geek with great technological prowess.
And even as the world seemed to shake from its foundations, we had hope. We had hope in the philanthropists and humanitarians who devoted their lives to helping those in the poorest of situations. We had hope in the millions of rescue workers and volunteers who risked life and limb to save others. We had hope in the election of an African American man to the presidency of a country that was built on the back of slavery. We had hope in our entertainers, our athletes, and our religious leaders. But most of all, we had hope in ourselves- hope that we can still be a light in the darkness.
And as we enter the second decade of the second millennium, we cannot give up on that hope. We have to have faith that God is still working in the world, even when it seems that we’re surrounded by darkness, and that He calls us to be the torchbearers of His light. Jesus said that we are the lights of the world, and in this time of immense darkness we have to shine even brighter. We have to show compassion and love towards others, in all that we say and do. We have to take care of our ever-fragile environment, knowing that it is God’s creation and we all called to be stewards of it. We have to continue to work within the Christian church to foster peace and development across the world.
We’re entering this decade in difficult times, but we can be assured that we will see a change for the better, as long as we continue to shine God’s light- His love, His grace, and His mercy- in the same way that He shone it when He became flesh and entered a world of darkness 2000 years ago.
Because when we do, we know that the darkness shall never overcome.
Amen.
Text: John 1:1-14
It was in late November when Rev. John sent me an instant message over the internet: “Would you be interested in preaching the first week of January?” I immediately typed out the answer “Yes,” but waited a few seconds before sending it, to make him think I was giving it some consideration. I asked him what the readings would be- I figured that being in the second week of Christmas, it’d probably be something about the wise men bearing gifts, which would make for an easy sermon on bringing our own gifts to God. My first time preaching, and I already had the sermon written.
Then John sent me a link to the lectionary, and instead of a great, metaphorically-rich passage about the magi, I got the wonderfully abstract text from John chapter 1, that Jordan just read. I hesitated. John 1 is great, but not for a first-time preacher who gets most of his theology from The Simpsons and U2 songs. But I wasn’t about to back down. I dove into the text, wrestled with it, read deeply into it, and, like a Magic Eye puzzle, after staring at it long enough I got an idea of what it all means, and how I can turn it into a successful sermon. So here it goes.
I get the feeling that I’m not the only person who sees John 1 and immediately wishes to turn to Matthew or Luke. In those two Gospels, we get the traditional nativity story- Mary is visited by an angel, she heads off with Joseph to Bethlehem, the shepherds see the heavenly host, the wise men visit, and an adorable Baby Jesus is born, surrounded by cute barnyard animals. It warms the heart and makes for a great Christmas pageant, because it’s easy to imagine. John’s first chapter doesn’t give us that. Here’s John’s entire story of Jesus being born: “In the beginning was the Word... And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” Well, that’s useful. I can see why we avoid turning this passage into a Christmas pageant- the end result would be a cross between the works of C.S Lewis, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch.
But maybe there’s a reason John’s account, or lack thereof, of Jesus’ birth is so different from the other two. John is technically the most recent of the four Gospels- his was written in the literal 80s, about 30 years after the other three, and his Gospel is focussed on presenting Jesus as God incarnate. That’s why we get such a different story- John had no interest in romanticizing the birth of Christ, he just wanted to make it clear that Jesus was God in the flesh. The in-the-flesh part is especially important considering that, at the time, there was an alternate belief about Christ called “Docetism,” which was the belief that Jesus was an illusion or a ghost, like Casper the Friendly Ghost or Patrick Swayze in Ghost, and didn’t actually take human form. John is rebuffing that idea completely.
But those are barely two verses out of the chapter, and to stop now would be a short sermon, even by Presbyterian standards. John still has a lot more to say, and he has a definite focus in mind. An easy way to see this is to make a Word Cloud, which is a creative diagram that shows which words in a selected text appear the most. The more often a word is used in the text, the bigger it shows up in the word cloud diagram. As an example, here’s a Word Cloud of a few of my recent grocery lists. (See picture here: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1423136/Sermon_Aid_%232) As you can tell, I’ve had cravings for chocolate, and, uh, some beverages, lately. Now let’s look at a Word Cloud of the passage. (http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1423102/John_Chapter_1) There are a few words that jump out. The word God is clearly used the most, for obvious reasons, and then after that it would appear that “light” is the next most-used word. John writes that in Jesus was life, and that life was light. Verse five says “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
The concept of light is prevalent throughout Christianity- it’s the first thing God creates in Genesis, it’s mentioned frequently throughout the Psalms as being synonymous with goodness and wisdom, and during the Advent season we became familiar with Isaiah Chapter 9, which states that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. We all know the song “This Little Light of Mine.” And, of course, there’s the light side and the dark side of the Force.
In the reading, John is describing the universal truth about light- it is stronger than darkness, and cannot be overcome by it. Where there is light, there is no darkness; darkness only exists where there is not light. It’s a fantastic metaphor for the ideas of good and evil, because it’s so tangible. We can all think of a time when, literally, a light shone in the darkness for us. For me, it reminds me of my adventures at Camp Mini-Yo-We, a Christian camp up in Huntsville, where I’ve spent five out of the last six summers as a volunteer counsellor and senior staff member. One of the favourite parts of the summer, for both campers and counsellors, is a game called Mission: Impossible. It’s played late at night, well after the sun has gone down. The campers, dressed in black, are all brought to the outskirts of the camp grounds, while the counsellors hide in the bushes with high-powered flashlights. The campers’ goal is to sneak into the middle of the camp without being spotted by a counsellor. Sounds hard? Well, it’s called Mission: Impossible for a reason.
You can imagine how much fun it is for me to crouch in a pitch black forest, waiting as the sound of footsteps gets closer and closer, then leaping up, shining my light on the faces of the captured kids. They had been practically unnoticeable in the darkness, but the second my flashlight came on, the darkness was no match for the light, and was no longer a place to hide. Good times.
Light and darkness… we live in a world of both- a world that has been filled with God’s light, but that humans have not always reflected, and where that has happened, where grace, peace and love have been ignored, we’ve had darkness.
We’re now beginning the second decade of the 21st century. It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since we celebrated the new millennium- I have to say, I sure feel old right now. We can all remember how we felt as the year 2000 began. There was an air of hope and excitement for the future- we saw countries that had been enemies for years coming together, we saw unparalleled advancements in technology and medicine, we saw governments making commitments to end poverty and support less-developed nations. The 90s had ended on a high note, and we anticipated that things were only going to get better.
Suffice to say, these last ten years have be shrouded in a lot of darkness. In our own lives, we had to face dealing with death, divorce and leaving friends and loved ones. As a church community, we had to go through some difficult tribulations- like most protestant churches across the country, we’ve seen a decline in numbers, especially among the youth, as Canada becomes a post-spiritualist society.
And on a global scale, we saw what happens when God’s light is ignored. We looked into the face of absolute depravity on a September morning in 2001. We observed nations going to war for unexplainable reasons. We witnessed environmental degradation, and we reaped what we sowed with massive hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes. We saw the effects of people putting greed ahead of compassion, understanding and even reason; we’re more than a year into the largest economic recession since the Great Depression, and it’s hard to see an end to it anytime soon.
But amid all the darkness- amid all the death and destruction, the fear and hatred- John’s words still rang true. We saw light shining through, even in the most difficult of times. We had family and friends whom we could turn to. We had leaders within our congregation who stepped up and found us a minister who not only brought a vast knowledge of Scripture, but was also a total geek with great technological prowess.
And even as the world seemed to shake from its foundations, we had hope. We had hope in the philanthropists and humanitarians who devoted their lives to helping those in the poorest of situations. We had hope in the millions of rescue workers and volunteers who risked life and limb to save others. We had hope in the election of an African American man to the presidency of a country that was built on the back of slavery. We had hope in our entertainers, our athletes, and our religious leaders. But most of all, we had hope in ourselves- hope that we can still be a light in the darkness.
And as we enter the second decade of the second millennium, we cannot give up on that hope. We have to have faith that God is still working in the world, even when it seems that we’re surrounded by darkness, and that He calls us to be the torchbearers of His light. Jesus said that we are the lights of the world, and in this time of immense darkness we have to shine even brighter. We have to show compassion and love towards others, in all that we say and do. We have to take care of our ever-fragile environment, knowing that it is God’s creation and we all called to be stewards of it. We have to continue to work within the Christian church to foster peace and development across the world.
We’re entering this decade in difficult times, but we can be assured that we will see a change for the better, as long as we continue to shine God’s light- His love, His grace, and His mercy- in the same way that He shone it when He became flesh and entered a world of darkness 2000 years ago.
Because when we do, we know that the darkness shall never overcome.
Amen.
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