Well hey everybody, I'm so glad that we could be here together tonight to celebrate the birth of our Savior as we prepare our hearts for Christmas by having this candlelight service. I just want to take a few minutes to talk about the idea of Jesus being the light and how we, as followers of Jesus, are to carry the Light of Christ and share it with other people.
If we look at Matthew 5:16, it says this: "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven." Let people see the light that you've received. You’ve got to let people see it. Let’s be light-bearers—let’s be carriers of the light that Christ has given. Let’s show the light to other people in the same way that our life has been illuminated.
With that said, I want to look at the Gospel of John in the New Testament and pull out some verses that I believe will encourage you during this time. John's description of the birth and arrival of Jesus is different than Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and it's just amazing. The theme is light—the light has come. That’s what he talks about.
Let’s look at John 1:1-5. It says this: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind." All mankind has the free gift of the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John starts off by saying that Jesus is life—he's our new life, our beginning of new life. Not only is he life, but he’s the life that lights up all of mankind.
Verse five is such a powerful verse in John's description of the arrival of our Savior: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Not only does it shine into the darkness, but there’s something you need to know about this light—it’s that darkness cannot do anything about it. It has no power; it will never overcome the light that has arrived in Emmanuel, Jesus Christ, God With Us. It doesn’t matter how dark things get; the light of Jesus Christ always wins. I absolutely love that.
Another scripture is in John 12:46. It says this: "I have come into the world as a light,"—this is Jesus speaking—"so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." You don’t have to stay in darkness. I want you to hear me: you don’t have to stay in darkness any longer.
The last scripture I’m going to give you tonight is in 1 John. It says this: "Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining." It’s already shining—it’s not something that has to be started from nothing. It’s always been shining. It’s never been out, and it never will go out.
John’s description of the birth of Jesus is so powerful. He describes it as a light. Think about this for just a second. When we think about lights around Christmas time, I think we all have different thoughts about them, don’t we? Maybe for you, you never want to see another Christmas light in your entire life because you fell off a ladder one time trying to hang them up. Maybe you’ve been driven into a fit because you were trying to untangle the lights. Maybe all you see is your power bill going up in the month of December, so you do as few lights as possible. Or maybe you love looking at them, and they bring back so many memories of your family driving around town together, looking at all the Christmas lights.
We all have a unique relationship with Christmas lights, but I want to get away from that because the light that John talks about is not a seasonal thing. It goes way beyond that—it’s the light of the whole world. It’s the light to all of mankind, and there’s no darkness that can extinguish the light that God wants to shine in and through our lives. Even now, in a time when it seems as though the world is getting darker and darker, we must keep the light shining. We have to.
I don’t know if you’re like me, but it seems like the older I get, the more forgetful I become. I forget more things than I used to. I also can’t see as well, especially in low-light situations, so I use the flashlight on my phone a lot. What happens is I forget to turn my flashlight off when I’m done, so I just put it back in my pocket. Sometimes I’ve left it on for hours and didn’t even realize it. It’s also funny when you see someone walking around with the light on in their pocket. Who knows what I’m talking about? You’ve probably done it, right?
What I love about the book of John is that John starts the whole book off by letting the whole world know there is a light in Jesus Christ that is on all the time—24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for all of eternity. The light is on, and nothing can extinguish it. John tells the Christmas story differently because I believe he knew that some of us needed something a little bit different. Sometimes in life, we go into Christmas, or we go into a season, and it’s not like the year before. Maybe we’ve lost someone. Maybe our traditions have changed. It’s not the same as it used to be. When I think about Christmas, I look back at the memories of my childhood, and I have good memories. But now, maybe you’re looking at your life and thinking, "I don’t look forward to Christmas anymore."
Tonight, I want us to focus on this idea of Christmas: that the light has come, and the darkness will not overcome it. John’s theme is that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. He goes straight to the point. He wants you to consider Jesus right from the very beginning. It’s not about the presents or the parades—it’s about Jesus Christ coming to this earth.
Jesus came to shine a light in your life. There’s no darkness, season, situation, trauma, or pain that can stop the light of the gospel. It will shine into all the corners of your life, even when you don’t recognize it. Christmas is a time to announce to the world that the light of Jesus is available to everyone. No sickness, pain, or hurt can stop it.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we would ask that you would do what you've told us you would do. If we believe in you and follow you, we don’t have to stay in darkness any longer. My prayer is that we would recognize the light that you are and that we would see you for who you really are.
You have always been. In the beginning was the Word. God, you are the Word. Jesus is the Word. He was sent to live a human life to experience what we experience so he could be Emmanuel—God with us. God, you brought a light to the world that is undeniable. We don’t have to live in the darkness that we see all around us. We have a choice—to be in the light, to know the light, and to allow that light to shine in and through us.
My prayer is for those who don’t know you to come to know you. For those living in darkness right now, step into the light and follow you with their lives. If that’s you today, say, "God, I don’t want to live in darkness anymore. I see the light today, and that light is you—Jesus Christ. I believe that you sent your son Jesus to this earth to be born as a baby. He lived a perfect life so that he could be the sacrifice for my sins. Today, I accept the free gift of grace. It’s nothing I’ve done—it’s what you’ve already done on the cross to save me. Today, I’m stepping into the light, and the darkness cannot overcome it."
God, we love you. We thank you for who you are and how good you are. Thank you for sending the light into the darkness so that our lives can be illuminated. Help us to share that light with everyone we meet. We love you and praise you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.