The Light Has Come

December 24, 2024 Christmas Eve homily on Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 by Pastor Galen

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. — Isaiah 9:2

The other evening my family and I had an opportunity to drive through the Charm City lights display at Druid Hill Park. The Charm City light display consists of 250,000 Christmas lights set up in various formations over the course of about a mile on a winding drive through Druid Hill Park. There were some really dazzling light displays, including what looked like shooting stars or falling snow. 

Now I have been to Druid Hill Park a lot. I’m a runner and over the course of several years I was there almost every other day. And yet being there at night with all of those lights, I kind of forgot where we were. It felt like we had been transported to a magical realm or a different world. For the brief time that we were there, we were lost in the dazzle of the light display. 

There is something wonderful about lights at this time of the year, especially when the nights are longer and the weather is colder. Something about the warmth of candlelight or fire or the beauty of 250,000 Christmas lights raises our spirits.

But lights are not just beautiful. They also are a necessity, at least for those of us who rely upon sight to navigate in this world. Think about a time when you’ve experienced complete darkness. Maybe it was a power outage in the middle of the night and you woke up and you felt disoriented. Or maybe you were exploring a cave, and you experienced total darkness. 

If you’ve ever experienced total darkness, what is the one thing that you desperately want? If you’re like me, you want even just a tiny little bit of light. When we’re in darkness, we long for just a little bit of light so that we can see where we’re going. Light becomes a primary felt need for us in that moment.

This is perhaps why the biblical prophets use the analogy of darkness and light to describe the One who was to come — the one who would lead the people out of their confusion and chaos and help them to see and understand the way to God.

Ever since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, people walked about in spiritual confusion and chaos. They longed for direction and guidance, and the prophets foretold of the light that would come into the world. 

Jesus described himself as the light of the world. And indeed, the light of Christ was beautiful and people were drawn to him. In a little bit we’ll hear about the shepherds who came to see the baby Jesus. There were Magi who saw the star in the sky and it drew them to come and see the one who was born and laid in a manger. They were drawn because they realized their need for spiritual light (enlightenment.) Indeed, they knew that humanity would descend further and further into chaos if it were not for the light that Jesus came to bring.

Now, lights can indeed be beautiful and they fulfill a need that we have — to help us navigate. But too much light too fast can cause damage. Think about when someone shines a bright flashlight in your eyes and for a moment you can’t see. Blazing sunlight can be just as disorienting as complete darkness. 

And so God knew that we desperately needed light in order to find our way, but that we needed it to come to us in a way that would actually be helpful, and not harmful. We needed the light to come to us in such a way that would help us comprehend God’s love.

Often when people throughout history imagined God coming to the Earth, they imagined God coming in a flash of lightning or in a roaring flame. But lightning and fire cause damage. And so God came down to the Earth, not in a blaze of fire or a strike of lightning, but in the form of a little baby, born on a quiet and still night, in a sleepy little town of Bethlehem. In coming as a baby, God was essentially lighting a single little flame — peaceful and gentle, to illuminate our world and guide us, without being too harsh and disorienting.

But we should not discount the power of a tiny little candle. In a few moments, we’ll get to my favorite part of our Christmas Eve service where we’ll turn off all of the lights in the sanctuary, and we’ll just have the flickering flame of the Christ candle. And then we’ll take that flame and we’ll pass it from one person to another. Because, as gentle and as tiny and as minuscule as that little flame is, it is powerful, and as we pass it along it has the power to illuminate the whole room. And indeed if we were to continue to pass that flame along from person to person, it would have the ability to illuminate the whole world. 

Jesus may have come in the form of a vulnerable little baby, but we should never discount the power of that baby. Indeed that one little baby who came 2,000 years ago grew into a boy and then a teenager and then a man. He taught us how to live. He modeled for us what it looks like to live a life of peace and love and joy. And then he gave his life for us as a demonstration of God’s unending love. And then Jesus, the light of the world, passed the light to us and instructed us to be lights in this world. 

May we never discount the power of a single candle or flame to shed light in this world. May we never discount the power of a single good deed, or a smile shared with a stranger. May we never discount the power of a kind word. Because indeed, each one of these has the ability to be a flame that can be passed from one person to the next, lighting and illuminating our world, and making it that much brighter so that all can see and experience the love and the beauty and the wonder and the majesty of the Christ child who was laid in a manger. Jesus: The Light of the World. 

Amen!