Faith Baptist Church

                     Christmas: When God Turned On The Light
                                             John 1:1-5; 12:46

What would Christmas be without the laughter and bright faces of children?  Christmas and kids go together like peanut butter and jelly.  The things they say around Christmas are often unforgettable.

Take some famous Christmas carols (Christian and secular), as sung by kids:

”On the first day of Christmas, my tulip gave to me…
”He’s making a list, chicken and rice…”
”Noel, Noel, ( not “born is,” but) Barney’s the king of Israel”.
”Oh, what fun it is to ride with one horse, soap and hay…”

Christmas is associated with light.  Here are the light displays at some of your homes.  Do you recognize any of them?

Christmas is inseparably linked with light. John chapter one is a stellar example:

Let’s turn to John chapter 1:1-5

John 12:46, Jesus said:

        “I am come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should
        not  abide in darkness.

Bob Russell, a pastor in Louisville, Ky, tells about a Christmas when a house near the entrance of their subdivision kept the Christmas lights burning weeks after Christmas had come and gone.

February came and toward the middle of the month, Pastor Russell confessed to becoming a bit critical:  “You know, if I were too lazy to take my Christmas lights down, I think I’d at least turn them off at night,” he thought.

March came; the lights stayed on.  Toward the middle of the month, a huge sign appeared outside the house that explained everything:  “Welcome home, Jimmy.”

Russell and his neighbors learned that the family had a son in Vietnam, and they had unashamedly left their Christmas lights on in anticipation of his return home. Light was a symbol of hope.

I cite that story also to remind us that our nation is at war this Christmas. Let us this Christmas be mindful and prayerful of the hundreds of thousands of our military men and women serving around the world, many of them in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families.  Several of them—family and friends—of our church family.

When John described the world into which Jesus came he used one word:  “darkness.” (Read verse 5).

One historian notes:

     “The people of that time were being heavily taxed, and faced every
      prospect of a sharp increase to cover expanding military expenses. The
      threat of world domination by a cruel, ungodly, power-intoxicated band of
      men was ever just below the threshold of consciousness. Moral
      deterioration had corrupted the upper levels of society and was moving
      rapidly into the broad base of the populace…conformity was the spirit of
      the age. Government handouts were being used with increasing
      lavishness to keep the population from rising up and throwing out their
      leaders…External religious observances were considered a political
      asset, and abnormal emphasis was being placed upon sports and athletic
      competition. Racial tensions were at a breaking point.”   Sherwood Wirt

It was a world and a culture that is many ways resembles our own. In the midst of dark, dreadful, deteriorating times—Jesus, the Light of the World, came!

*A person lost in a dark cave turns a corner and is relieved to see a ray of
 sunlight shining down an abandoned shaft.

*A person adrift on a life raft in the middle of the night cries out for joy when
 he spots the light of a distant ship.

*An explorer or hunter lost in the mountains breathes a sigh of deep relieve
 when he spots a single light on the porch of a cabin.
I want us to think about the metaphor of “light”- “the light was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness.” The attributes of light reflect the hopeful, joyous impact that the light of Jesus Christ still makes on our lives today.

I. Light Attracts Attention

When somebody takes a flash picture, you notice. If the lights in this room suddenly went out and I struck a single match, you couldn’t keep your eyes off of the light.

Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Jesus’ birth attracted more attention than you would think, considering the circumstances:

*He was born of peasant parents.
*He was born away from home in a strange place, in unfamiliar
   circumstances. (There weren’t even any proud grandparents present to
   spread the word!)
*He was born in Bethlehem.  It was more like “Mule Shoe” Texas, or
       “Pinchem Tight,” Kentucky, than Los Angeles, Chicago, or even
       Charleston.

      “Oh little town of Bethlehem” is an apt description.

Song: “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.” (Page 141- All Verses)

*Jesus was born at night when everyone was sleeping.
*He was born nearly a century and a half before the invention of the printing
    press, and almost two millennia before the invention of the radio.

But God saw to it that Jesus attracted attention, even at His birth:  There were angelic messengers shrouded in light!

What about the magi?  They traveled a thousand precipitous miles following a single light (a star)!  Whether there were three or thirty-three, isn’t important. “Bearing gifts, they traversed a-far”  Sing:  “We Three Kings” (p. 166)
When Jesus began his ministry, He was the center of attention wherever He went. Huge crowds followed Him; on one occasion 5,000 men heard Him preach.

From the time He was born until the time he died, Jesus, the Light, attracted people and attention, as he still does today.  He said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to me.”

*Worldwide, over 66,000 books have been written about Jesus.
*There are thirteen references to him in secular literature written in his day.
*A scholar at the University of Chicago estimates that more has been written
       about Him in the last 20 years than in all the previous centuries.

The historian Lecky was right: “No one in history has affected such a change upon the moral fabric of society as Jesus Christ.”

Light attracts attention.

II. Light Gives Guidance

*A beacon guides an airplane landing at night.
*A lighthouse steers a ship away from danger.
*Reflectors on the center line and sides of a highway guide a driver through
    wet and foggy conditions.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of fishing on New River at Sandstone Falls.  When miner’s vacation came, we would pack up, and stay in tents a week at a time.  (Sleeping on the ground was a fun.)

One evening, my dad and I were over at the main falls, which involved walking across rocks with precipitous cracks and ledges.  The fish were biting that evening; time got away, and we didn’t have a light. By the time we headed for camp, dusk was quickly surrendering to darkness.

After a while, my grandmother, realizing something was wrong, lit a lantern and hung it in the low branches of a tree in plain view. While that didn’t solve all our problems, when we saw it, it gave direction and hope.

*The star in the East directed the magi to the house where Jesus and his
  parents were.  Matthew notes, “And they found the Christ child and
  worshiped Him.” 

*In Luke 1:7-9, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied that
 Messiah would be like the rising sun to shine on those living in darkness and
 in the shadow of death to guide their feet into the path of peace.

*Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd, who guides my sheep.”  “…I am the
     Way…”

Do you ever need guidance? We all do. 

A mother named Rebecca Ricci, writes:

       “When my daughter was small, we took a vacation to Florida. Seated on
        the airplane near the wing, I pointed out to Rhonda that we were above
        the ocean. “Can you see the water,” I asked her.  ‘No,” she said,
        peering out the window at the wing, ‘but I can see the diving
        board.’”There are times when you can’t even see the diving board…and if you could, you’re not sure you are supposed to dive! There are times when you can’t even see the diving board…and if you could, you’re not sure you are supposed to dive! But He does.  And if you are open and you really want to know His will, you can be sensitive of his guidance, you can be confidence of his guidance.

There are times when you can’t even see the diving board…and if you could, you’re not sure you are supposed to dive! But He does.  And if you are open and you really want to know His will, you can be sensitive of his guidance, you can be confidence of his guidance.In his book, “Rumors Of Another World,” Phillip Yancey says we should think of ourselves as being engaged in a “theo-drama.”  He writes:

        “We accept that we are but actors in the play, not the director, and in fact
         we must listen carefully to the whispered directions. In a good play,
         even the most minor characters serve a purpose essential to the plot,
         and in the drama on this planet the unique role that is mine only
         becomes clear as my life unfolds. We succeed by following the counsel
         of the director, who alone knows how each part fits into the whole.” 
                                                                                                  (Page 70)

The Divine Director—The Light— sometimes leads in obvious, overt ways that skyrockets your faith, and you can’t wait to tell somebody about it. Often he guides through gentle Providence, when you aren’t even aware of it. 

Even when people manipulative you. There was an elderly man in Phoenix who called his son in New York and said,

        “Son, I hate to ruin your day. But I have to tell you that your mother and I
         are getting a divorce; forty five years of misery is enough.” 

         “Pop, what are you talking about?” said the son.

          “We can’t stand the sight of each other in longer,” said the old man.
          “We’re sick of one another, and I’m sick of talking about this.  So you
           call your sister in Chicago and tell her.” 

Frantic, the guy calls his sister in Chicago, and she explodes on the phone: ‘No, they are NOT getting a divorce; I will take care of this.”

So she hangs up, and calls Phoenix immediately and screams at her dad,

        “You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there.
        I’m calling my brother back and we’ll both be there by tomorrow, until         
        then, don’t you do a thing! Do you hear me?”

 The old man hung up his phone, turned to his wife and said,

      “Okay. They’re coming for Christmas and they’re paying their own
        way.”
Light Attracts Attention
Life gives guidanceIII. Light Dispels Darkness

Light is always more powerful than darkness.Light is always more powerful than darkness.*I once visited Organ Cave near Ronceverte. When we were deep in the
 cavern, the guide turned off the lights. It was pitch black.  I had no sense of
 direction.  Then he turned a flashlight on.  That little light pulverized the vast
  expanse of darkness!

Light is always more powerful than darkness.*I once visited Organ Cave near Ronceverte. When we were deep in the cavern, the guide turned off the lights. It was pitch black.  I had no sense of direction.  Then he turned a flashlight on.  That little light pulverized the vast  expanse of darkness!King Herod was the epitome of darkness.  He was a cruel and merciless man. He was jealous and suspicious.  Fearing any potential rival to his power, he had his brother-in law, a high priest named Aristobulus, drowned- after which he provided a magnificent funeral and pretended to weep.

He then had his Mariamne (Aristobulus’ sister), her mother, and her two sons killed.

Augustus commented that it was better to be Herod’s sow (hog) than to be Herod’s son, for a sow had a better chance of surviving in a Jewish community.

And when he neared death, Herod ordered the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem arrested and commanded that when he breathed his last they should be executed- to insure that there would be mourning on the day of his death.
 
This barbaric act was only bested by the slaughter, as Matthew tells us, of “all the male children who were in Bethlehem and environs, from two years and under.” 

In recording this incident Matthew quotes a verse from Jeremiah 31: “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning…”  Ramah was five miles north of Jerusalem. The mayhem and murder was apparently widespread. 

Incidentally, historians say that given the population of Bethlehem that time, approximately 30 babies would have been murdered. “That’s not many.” If it’s your child, one baby is an unspeakable atrocity!

Herod set his murderous eyes on the infant Jesus. But an angel warned Joseph, who escaped with his family into Egypt until the news came of Herod’s death.

Herod, the king of darkness, died; Jesus, the tiny infant of righteousness continued to live because light is more powerful than darkness.

And by the way:  Where God Guides, He provides.  Scholars believe that the trek into Egypt wasn’t financed by Visa or MasterCard, but by the selling of the Gold, Frankincense, and myrrh presented by the Magi.

I. Light Attracts Attention
II. Light Gives Guidance
III. Light Dispels Darkness.IV.  Light Conquers DeathWhen Jesus was crucified darkness engulfed the whole region between noon and three o’clock in the afternoon. His body was taken down and placed in a dark, sealed tomb.

When Jesus was crucified darkness engulfed the whole region between noon and three o’clock in the afternoon. His body was taken down and placed in a dark, sealed tomb.But the Bible says that on the first day of the week an angel came and rolled back the stone from the tomb and sat upon it.

When Jesus was crucified darkness engulfed the whole region between noon and three o’clock in the afternoon. His body was taken down and placed in a dark, sealed tomb.But the Bible says that on the first day of the week an angel came and rolled back the stone from the tomb and sat upon it.His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The dazzling light of God’s power came into the tomb, and it was more powerful than the darkness of death. 

Jesus walked out and proclaimed at Lazarus’ tomb: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, he though were dead, yet shall He live.”Dr. James Dobson tells of an elderly woman named Stella Thornhope who was struggling with her first Christmas alone. Her husband had died just a few months prior through a slow growing cancer. To make this worse,  several days before Christmas, she was snow-bound by a brutal weather system.tells of an elderly woman named Stella Thornhope who was struggling with her first Christmas alone. Her husband had died just a few months prior through a slow growing cancer. To make this worse,  several days before Christmas, she was snow-bound by a brutal weather system.She felt terribly alone—so much so that she decided she was not going to decorate for Christmas this year.   Having made that decision, later that afternoon the door bell rang, and there was a delivery boy who had trudged his way through the snow to her door; he was carrying a box.

tells of an elderly woman named Stella Thornhope who was struggling with her first Christmas alone. Her husband had died just a few months prior through a slow growing cancer. To make this worse,  several days before Christmas, she was snow-bound by a brutal weather system.She felt terribly alone—so much so that she decided she was not going to decorate for Christmas this year.   Having made that decision, later that afternoon the door bell rang, and there was a delivery boy who had trudged his way through the snow to her door; he was carrying a box.“Mrs. Thornhope? He asked. She nodded. 
“Would you sign here?”

She invited him to step inside and closed the door to get out of the cold.
She signed the paper and said, “What’s in the box?” The young man laughed and opened the flap, and inside was a little puppy, a golden Labrador Retriever.

The delivery boy picked up the squirming pup and explained,

        “This is for you Ma’am. He’s six weeks old, completely housebroken.”
   
The young puppy began to wiggle in happiness at being released from the prison of the box.

”Who sent this?” Mrs. Thornhope asked. The young man handed her an envelope and said,

        “It’s all explained in this envelope, Ma’am. The dog was bought last July
         while its mother was still pregnant. It was meant as a Christmas gift to
         you.” 
“Well, who…who sent me this puppy?”  As the young man turned to leave, he said, “Your husband, Ma’am. Merry Christmas.”

She opened the letter from her husband. He had written it three weeks before his death and left it with the kennel owners to be delivered with the puppy as his last Christmas gift to her. 

The letter was full of love, encouragement and admonitions to be strong. He avowed that he was waiting for the day when she, too, would go to be with Her Lord. He had sent her this pup to keep her company until that time.

She wiped away the tears, put the letter down; and then remembering the puppy at her feet, she picked up that little furry ball and held it close to her neck. Then looking out the window at the lights that outlined the neighbor’s house, she heard from the radio in the kitchen the strains of “Joy to the World the Lord is come.”

Suddenly Stella felt the most amazing sensation of peace washing over her. Her heart felt a joy and a wonder greater than the grief and loneliness.  She peered down at puppy and said,

        “Little fella, it’s just you and me. But you know what? There’s a box down
         in the basement I’ll bet you’d like. It’s got a little Christmas tree in it and
         some decorations and some lights that are going to impress you. And
         there’s a manger scene down there.  How about let’s go get it.”

Christmas is God’s laser beam of light; a clarion signal to us…

…that Providence is greater than our circumstances
…that grace is greater than our sin
…that peace is greater than loneliness
…that life is stronger than death
…that the baby in the manger- The Lord of light— has power to save anyone
        who calls upon Him.

And now…the joy of the angelic hosts
              …the joy of the shepherds;
              …the joy of the magi
              …the joy of Joseph and Mary …is our Joy.

The circumstances surrounding the manager assure us that Christmas don’t have to be perfect to be enjoyed; if celebrated in worship, wonder and with faith in Christ, the Light!   Song:  Joy To The World (p. 125- All Verses)