The Light Shines in the Darkness

 

I'm the first to admit that I am much more of a low Christology priest. I like the Jesus who is closer to his humanity than the high Christology of John's Gospel which makes Jesus seem totally otherwordly. 

But I do love John's prologue...and after spending some time looking at it and considering it through the help of an online offering with Tripp Fuller and Diana Butler Bass...I found a way into this opening passage from John that gave me a deeper appreciation for his take on the life and ministry of Jesus.

How about you? What's your take?

Text: John 1:1-18

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The poet Allen Ginsburg once gave this description of poetry:

“Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.” 

And that’s what our poet laureate of the Gospels…John the Evangelist…is doing here with his prologue.

Where Matthew and Luke have detailed stories about the birth of Jesus…John uses poetic language to tell a different birthing story.

As the writer and theologian Diana Butler Bass said recently, the whole Gospel of John is one very long birth narrative…moving us from the present age into an evolving age to come.

John takes us back to the beginning…being with God…in God…of God…from the start of all time.

It’s a remix of the story that opens the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament.

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth…” becomes “In the beginning was the Word…”

Or…as it is written in the Greek…the  “Logos.”

And “Logos” conveys more than just a simply “a word” as we would understand it.

It’s more than a He or She or They.

The meaning of this Word…this Logos…is reason…a deeper understanding…a consciousness….the sense of that Wisdom or Sophia of God…all brought together.

This is a wise Word that was with God and is holding all things…all the created order…in itself.

For John…this is his moment of lying in bed at night and thinking through in poetic language a way of describing this incarnation of God…how and what it means that Jesus is “this Word became flesh and lived among us.”

It’s some of the most beautiful metaphorical expressions in our Scriptures.

And because it’s poetic in its style…it can either lift us up or for some…it can leave us utterly confused.

So let’s take some time to look closely at this passage…because I think there are some things that may be helpful to us in the 21^st century.

We see that through the Word  “all things came into being.”

All things…the whole of creation.

I think there’s a tendency for us that when we speak about “the creation”…we sometimes shortchange what that means.

We talk about the land and the sea…forests…hilltops…and maybe we’ll mention the animals and the birds.

Too often we forget that we…the human race…are also part of the creation story.

We also evolved from all of that creative activity of the birthing of the world and are interconnected with all the species and all life on the planet.

John asserts that “without him not one thing came into being.”

Without God and God’s Word…none of creation would have happened.

This isn’t about denying the science of anything like the Big Bang Theory.

But rather this is recognizing that God lit the spark and was in that creative mix.

“And what came into being in him was life…and the life was the light of all people.”

Take just a moment to breathe in that pronouncement.

“The life was the light of all people.”

Again…I think it can be too easy for us… a people who have the benefit of living in today’s world…to separate ourselves from the idea that there is a divine spark that is in all of us.

We tend to downplay not only our connection to the rest of creation…but we don’t see that connection as a line back to God…to Jesus…and to the Holy Trinity.

And yet…that seems to be what John wants us to see.

We are also bearers of the light…as adoptive children of God through Christ.

Remember what we prayed at the beginning of the service in our opening collect:

“Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives.”

 And that leads to another important part of this Gospel reading:

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”

There is a lot of hurt both in our own lives and out in the world around us.

The end of the year holidays always seem to bring a mix of the joyful celebrations and sadness and grief about those whom we no longer see.

Dreams that were not fulfilled.

And we know that not all is right in the world around us.

But even in the moments of loss and when things look their bleakest…the light shines on and does not burn out.

No matter what may seem heavy and weighty…that light of Christ within us…doesn’t fade.

I think about the response this community made to the scare over SNAP benefits ending as proof of that enduring light.

When the government was shut down and those who depended on food stamps to feed themselves and their families was under threat…the people here responded and have continued to respond…with canned food goods.

And our contributions have been noticed and very much appreciated.

At a time of great need…the light from this community shined into the darkness.

Just as the Word became flesh and lived among us….the Word continues to live through the flesh and blood that is us.

And the more we live into the teachings of Jesus…the more we look to his ministry and the way he cares for people…the bigger and brighter the light of Christ will shine through us and cut through the darkest corners of our world.

John’s Gospel text is not only telling us how Jesus came into this world.

John is calling on us to see ourselves in a new way…and to transform our lives and live into this mission of Jesus…as God’s adopted children…understanding that it won’t be an easy life.

That’s not the promise.

In fact…John makes it clear that even though the Word is the light to enlighten everyone…not everyone wanted a part of that light.

Rejection…disappointment…even abandonment are still part of the story.

And yet…the light shines on.

The purveyors of fear don’t stand a chance when the people of light commit to the Work of Christmas…which happens to be a poem by the theologian Howard Thurman…and seems like the appropriate bookend to John’s poetic Word:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

 To heal the broken,

 To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

 To bring peace among others,

 To make music in the heart.

May we all continue to build upon the light of Christ and carry it in our hearts and into our communities and commit our lives to this holy work.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.