Word, Light, And Life
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
This Sunday offers us a choice of texts -- some congregations will use the readings for the Second Sunday after Christmas, while others will observe Epiphany Sunday and use that day’s lections. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer explores the overlapping themes in each set of texts: “light,” “word,” and “word and light.” The prologue from John (the gospel passage for the Second Sunday after Christmas) discusses the coming of “the true light which enlightens everyone” into the world. That dovetails well with the light imagery of the Epiphany texts, especially the Isaiah reading (“Arise, shine; for your light has come”). Dean points out the uses and importance of light in our world -- it both attracts us like moths to a flame (as with the wise men following the star) and illuminates the darkness, allowing us to see clearly and determine whether or not what we experience is real. For the wise men, their encounter with “the true light” is a fruitful one -- having followed the star to “the place where the child was,” they discern that this is someone worthy of their gifts... so they pay him homage and are “overwhelmed with joy.” But as Dean reminds us, not all of our encounters with light are so meaningful -- we can also be taken in by what seems real (as with many who believe they’ve had genuine encounters with UFOs). Yet there is no denying the reality of the true Light of the World -- Jesus draws us to him, and in our experience of his all-encompassing love we see firsthand what that light can mean both for our lives and for everyone in the world... and in turn, reflect that light to others.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the Ephesians passages for both Christmas 2 and Epiphany, focusing on Paul’s message that “in Christ we have obtained an inheritance.” As Mary notes, worldly inheritances often become contentious matters. Paul, however, tells us that we need not fight over our inheritance as children of God, because everyone who has been baptized has a share -- even Gentiles, who “have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise.” In other words, anyone and everyone is welcome -- and as Mary points out, that’s a powerful message in the midst of contentious debate over the best way to handle the burgeoning refugee crisis. Should we protect ourselves by refusing entry, as several politicians (most notably Donald Trump) have suggested? Or should we act like our neighbors to the north, where Canada’s newly elected government has been extraordinarily welcoming to refugees? If we take Paul seriously, than the church is called to be welcoming to spiritual refugees of all stripes -- not merely those whom we feel “safe” around, those who look and act just like us. Are we willing to share our inheritance... or are we like a greedy sibling who tries to maximize the contents of his parents’ will for himself?
Word, Light, and Life
by Dean Feldmeyer
John 1:1-18; Matthew 2:1-12
The opening paragraphs of John’s gospel are awash in metaphors concerning “word” and “light.” And the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel opens with the story of some wise men from the east who are so taken with a light in the sky that they follow it in order to see if there is some existential meaning attached to it.
Whether we celebrate this Sunday as the Second Sunday after Christmas or as Epiphany Sunday, light is going to be a significant theme in our worship experience. With the wise men, we will be asking which lights are worth following and which ones can be safely ignored. With John, we will ask about the meaning of light as a symbol. What does light expose to scrutiny? What does it unmask? Does the heat that inevitably accompanies light comfort or threaten us? And how does “word” function as a symbol and metaphor, and what does it mean for us as Christians?
Jesus, we are told, is our gift from God. He is both word and light, but such a gift may be a mixed blessing if we are not adequately prepared to receive it.
In the Scriptures
Matthew 2:1-12 (Epiphany Sunday)
“In the time of King Herod...”
We don’t know which “Herod” Matthew is talking about here -- but whether it was Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, or Herod Agrippa, the name alone would have thrown a dark and heavy pall over the telling of this story. They were all ruthless, cunning, and heartless in how they ruled their various kingdoms.
“Wise men from the east...”
There is no mention of how many wise men came to Jerusalem. The number of three is probably derived from the three gifts that are mentioned -- gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Many scholars speculate that they were Zoroastrian astrologers from Persia, whose habit was to search the night skies for signs of important events. The appearance of a brighter-than-usual star, comet, or long-lived asteroid would have been, to them, a sign of some significant event happening or about to happen on earth. Therefore, they have journeyed in the direction of the cosmic event in the night sky to see what earthly counter-phenomenon might be happening. It is important for Matthew that they were not Jews. Early in the story of the Christ event, Gentiles are, according to Matthew, going to play a significant role.
Upon entering Judea and asking around, they have been told of the promised birth of a messiah king spoken of in scripture -- and they assume that such a birth must have happened. So they go to the capital city of Jerusalem, where the royal family lives, to congratulate the king on the birth of his son.
No new son has been born to the king, however, so Herod -- and the entire city -- wonder and worry that some other king has had a son who will challenge Herod’s children for the throne of Judea. His own wise men search the scriptures until they come upon an obscure passage from the prophet Micah (5:2), which Matthew paraphrases for this story.
The passage is rather vague, but just to cover his bases, Herod sends the magi off with his blessing to find the child and come back and tell him about it -- ostensibly so he too can go and “pay him homage.” They leave and follow the star, which stops over the home of Jesus. Matthew doesn’t tell us where that home is. Scholars are divided as to the location -- some say it’s in Bethlehem; others say that it is in Nazareth. Wherever it is, they enter “the house” (not the stable), pay homage to Jesus, offer their gifts, and leave.
Because they have been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they take a shortcut home and bypass Jerusalem.
John 1:1-18 (Second Sunday after Christmas)
John’s opening lines tell us that this gospel is going to be different from the three “synoptic” gospels. This gospel is going to be built upon metaphor and symbol. It is going to be more spiritual than religious. It is going to make use of paradox and paradigm, with a nod to historical accuracy but not a slavish devotion to it.
John has a point to make, and that point is that Jesus is the Christ for Jews and Gentiles, for Judeans and Greeks. The Community of the Beloved Disciple (where John worshiped and wrote his gospel, probably in Ephesus) worships a God that is made known to us -- all of us -- through Jesus, who is for that reason the Christ. Jesus is, indeed, the human incarnation of God’s grace and love. He is God with us.
So John opens with two huge metaphors that will run as plumb lines throughout his gospel. The first is the metaphor of “word.”
Jesus is “the Word.” Not “a word.” He is the definitive word of God. Do you want to hear God speak? Listen to Jesus. Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus. Do you want to see God in action? Watch Jesus. Do you want to see authentic human life as God intended it to be? Look to Jesus... because life -- real life, authentic life -- came into being through him. And that life was the light of all people.
It was the light -- it illuminated both the way life is and the way life can be -- not just for a few, for the chosen, for the bright or the attractive or the rich or the well-educated, but for “all people” -- Jews and Gentiles, men and women, adults and children, black and white, gay and straight, suburban and inner-city, blue-collar and white-collar.
He is God with us and for us -- the very image, the incarnation of God... God in human form.
In the News
Light
Lots of people were looking up last week when a “white ball of light with a fiery tail” streaked across the night skies of California, Nevada, and Arizona.
According to USA Today, the phenomenon “triggered its own firestorm on social media, as observers on the ground shared videos and photos of the fireball flying through the sky and pondered whether it was a meteor or space debris from a fallen satellite.” One tweet speculated that it was “Santa Claus doing a test run.”
Many, no doubt, noted that it was at least an interesting coincidence that it should happen at this time of year -- when many Christians are telling a story about a strange event in the night sky that was so significant that it motivated scholars to travel halfway across the known world to investigate it.
The U.S. Strategic Command (which tracks such things) explained it away in its usual dry, military-style wording -- noting that it had “removed the SL-4 rocket body from the U.S. satellite catalog” after the “decayed object” entered the atmosphere. That’s government jargon for “it was space trash from a newly launched Russian rocket re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.”
Every bright light that happens along is not worth following or even paying attention to.
Pop celebrities come and go. Fashions become unfashionable in short order. Yesterday the darling of the cooking channels was kale; today it is bacon. Who knows what it will be tomorrow? News channels and periodicals are pumping out this week their top ten lists for 2015. Can anyone remember anything on any of those lists for 2014?
Word
We preachers live by words. They are our stock in trade. Whether from the pulpit or offering pastoral care, we are expected to have something to say, some words that bring meaning to whatever situation in which we find ourselves. So we are especially attuned to words and how they are used. We know that there is no such thing as “just words” or “empty rhetoric.” Words count.
A couple of weeks ago Donald Trump discovered to his chagrin that words, indeed one single word, can carry a great deal of weight when he uttered a vulgar Yiddish word in reference to Hillary Clinton. Not just Democrats but women in general came down pretty hard on him for choosing and using that single word.
Comedian Steve Harvey learned just how important words are when he accidentally read the wrong ones in announcing the winner of the Miss Universe pageant. The winner was Miss Philippines, but he mistakenly announced that it was Miss Colombia. As Miss Colombia was receiving the crown and about to make her victory stroll down the red carpet, Harvey stopped everything, admitted his mistake, and announced that the real winner was Miss Philippines. Awkward!
Miss Colombia gracefully relinquished her crown and roses to Miss Philippines and the show went on -- but social media has been agog (simply agog!) over the emcee’s faux pas. To his credit, Harvey used humor to try to move past the incident. On December 25 he issued a Twitter message with a picture of himself smoking a cigar and flashing a peace sign while standing in front of a swimming pool decorated for Christmas. The caption reads: “Merry Easter, y’all.”
Word and Light
One of the most popular films showing in theaters right now is Concussion, which is a story about both light and word. Written and directed by Peter Landesman, the drama is based on “Game Brain” -- a 2009 article by Jeanne Marie Laskas that appeared in GQ magazine. The article and film detail the efforts of Pittsburgh neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered a degenerative brain disease known as CTE after studying the autopsies of several deceased pro football players.
Dr. Omalu presented his research, but discovered that light also generates heat. The movie depicts how the NFL tried to discredit him, and when that didn’t work how they tried to bribe him into silence. Omalu persisted, however, and today -- because of the light that his words shined on this specific danger -- the entire world of sports has been changed forever.
Another current movie, Spotlight, tells the story of the Boston Globe team of investigative reporters who in 2002 broke the story of pedophile priests -- and how those priests were protected and their acts covered up by the church hierarchy in the Boston archdiocese. In one scene a reporter is talking to one of the hundreds of victims, who tells the journalist that a certain priest “molested” him. She sighs, closes her eyes for a moment, and then says to him with all the sympathy she can muster: “You know, I think that when we print this story, words are going to be very important.” She goes on to ask him to be painfully forthright about what he means when he says “molested.”
In another near-iconic scene (no doubt a tribute to old movies about newspaper reporters), we see the large printing presses that print and fold the newspapers churning out the papers with the headline clearly visible. Following this scene we see the delivery trucks leaving the docks, peeling off one at a time with military precision to deliver these heartbreaking words that will in just a few hours shine a broad and bright light on one of the biggest corruption and cover-up stories of our time.
In the Pulpit
In the 21st century, many of us don’t know about real darkness any more.
We have electricity and streetlights and security lights and night lights. We have ambient light from nearby shopping centers and car lots and airports and cities that bleeds over even into our rural areas. I live in Wilmington, a small town in rural southwestern Ohio -- but we have a large airport that services cargo planes. The pilots from our town have told me that when they leave Indianapolis at night, as soon as they get above the horizon they can see the lights from the Wilmington airport 150 miles away. It is that bright. So if people in our small rural town want to go stargazing or watch a meteor shower we actually have to leave town and drive even further into the hinterlands to find something like true darkness.
In the first century, however, darkness was really and truly dark.
There were no nightlights or streetlights. The only illumination at night came from the stars and the moon or oil lamps. This is why lamps, light, and darkness play such an important part in the parables and teachings of Jesus.
Light is a rich and multifaceted symbol and metaphor in the life of the Christian and the Christian Church.
Light illuminates and makes visible the things that we need to see and the things that we don’t want to see. It shows us the details and the flaws, the beautiful and the ugly. Light drives us out of the fantasy world and into reality.
Light generates heat. They are a package, and rarely can you have one without the other. If we, as Christians, are going to shine the light of Jesus Christ on the world, we had better be prepared for the heat that this action will inevitably generate. People don’t want to be told to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. They don’t want to be told to forgive those who have wronged them, and they certainly don’t want to give up the myth of redemptive violence in exchange for an ethic of love and grace. And they will often turn on the person who is shining the light on the ugliness of their lives.
Darkness, on the other hand, is where mold and corruption grow. It is not just the opposite of light; it is the enemy of light. Crime seeks darkness. Sin seeks darkness. All of the things which separate us from God and each other are born in darkness.
Darkness is the symbol for ignorance, for despair, for depression, for grief. Light is the symbol for hope, for love, for joy, for grace.
May God grant us the privilege of being sources of God’s light, the light of Jesus Christ, for the world.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Your Inheritance
by Mary Austin
Ephesians 1:3-14; Ephesians 3:1-12
Inheriting anything is a complicated mixture of gratitude, aggravation, greed, and dismay. I once worked with a family where the mother left everything she owned to one of her two daughters -- without any explanation. You can imagine the anger the one daughter felt, and the helpless feelings of the other as her relationship with her sister disintegrated over the actions of the now-deceased mother.
The problem with an inheritance is that nothing is promised, but much is expected. In the space between what we expect and what we receive, disappointment flourishes. When I listen to people talk about what they did and didn’t inherit from parents, I mentally insert the word “love” every time they say the word “money.” All of it is a gift, but we expect the gifts to be fair. They send a message much more powerful than the money itself, or the jewelry, or the long-used dining room table. We hold onto those things for the connection with generations past, as if the love travels with the objects.
Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, has a different view of our inheritance as children of God. In the text for the Second Sunday after Christmas (Ephesians 1:3-14), he tells the people of God that we have an inheritance in Christ, “having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will.” We are not an original part of the family, but have been adopted into the family of God -- and we now share in the inheritance of God’s people. This is an unexpected gift -- and mysteriously, our share of the inheritance is a place in God’s plans for the world.
Epiphany evokes the appearance of Jesus to the magi -- the first appearance to non-Jews. It also calls us out of the more narrow focus of Christmas into a wider way of living in the world with this gift we have been given. As the letter to the Ephesians reveals, it also points us to the constant manifestation of God’s grace in our lives. Amy Peeler writes that Ephesians 3:1-12 is a particularly apt passage for Epiphany because “for Paul, Epiphany is not just one day, but describes his entire life and calling.”
On this day, which celebrates the appearance of Jesus to people outside the original family of faith, the texts remind us that we are not the original heirs of this promise. But in the spirit of Epiphany, we can make an appearance at the family table, for we now belong to the family of God. Our own inheritance is made clear in these texts for Christmas and Epiphany. We show up as part of the household of God, adopted into the faith and sharing in the inheritance God has planned for us.
Here in America, we haven’t shown that spirit of generous welcome to those who are coming to us as refugees. The Christian Post reports on a new Quinnipiac poll which found that “more than half [of the people polled] are also opposed to accepting more Syrian refugees. ‘American voters are making a distinction between Syrian refugees and Muslims in general. A bare majority says keep the Syrians out, but an overwhelming majority rejects proposals to ban all Muslims from our shores,’ offered Tim Malloy,” assistant director of the poll.
Some here fear that immigrants will take jobs away from Americans and cost money as they use government benefits. How can they share in our inheritance when they’re just getting here, people ask. U.S. News suggests that the benefits may go the other way, adding that “a growing pool of research suggests refugees aren’t necessarily the economic leeches they’re often made out to be. In Cleveland, for example, local refugee services agencies spent about $4.8 million in 2012 as they helped refugees get established in the area, according to a study conducted by Chmura Economics & Analytics. But the economic impact those refugees had on the community weighed in at about $48 million, roughly 10 times the initial resettlement costs.” Countries with developed economies can benefit from an influx of refugees, and “studies suggest [they] could potentially benefit economically from opening their borders. And though there are no real winners when millions of civilians are displaced from their homes, it may ultimately behoove the U.S. to take in more refugees.”
How do we show God’s gracious welcome to our neighbors?
Our Canadian neighbors understand the power of that, in both symbol and practice. The Toronto Star reports that Canada is committed to welcoming 25,000 refugees, and wanted to have 10,000 on Canadian soil by January 1. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally welcomed refugees to Canada and gave them coats, saying: “This is a wonderful night where we get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, but we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult straits.” As the New York Times reports, “The Canadian public’s widespread embrace of a plan to accept thousands of Syrians stands in stark contrast to the controversy over the issue in the United States, where many politicians have called for restrictions or outright bans on the refugees.”
We miss seeing the connections between ourselves and the refugees, and can’t imagine that our lives would ever fall apart in the ways that life in Syria has. But as Sally Brown writes, “the ‘us’ here [in Ephesians 1:3-14] indicates a community, not a collection of individuals. The preacher needs to take this seriously and not overly individualize visions of blessing.... Being ‘in Christ’ reframes everything: we see ourselves and one another, neighbor or stranger, in a fresh way.” These Ephesians texts invite us to realize that our true inheritance is a legacy of inclusion -- we have been brought into the family, and now we have the chance to pass on the family trait of generosity. Our inheritance doesn’t need to be divided, but it can always be multiplied.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Places Where Lights Do Not Shine
At least 50 tornadoes have devastated southern and midwestern states since Christmas, breaking the record for the most tornado-related deaths for the month of December. Torrential storms made transit difficult for holiday travelers and left thousands without power. In Oklahoma, which has been under a state of emergency since November 29, more than 120,000 residents are still without power. In Dallas, several tornadoes and massive winds created widespread damage. As Texans braced for additional storms, the state’s governor promised that assistance was on the way. “Texas is doing everything we can to help you piece your lives back together and deal with the challenges you are facing right now,” said Governor Greg Abbott -- a reminder of how God’s light can shine even in the most desperate circumstances.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
No Light at All
Devastating storms can bring reminders of just how connected our lives are to the electrical grid. No power brings life for most Americans to a halt. Yet about a billion persons worldwide lack access to any sort of electricity. As recently as 2013, nearly 173 million urban dwellers lacked access to electricity. India and Nigeria lead a group of about 20 nations where electrical access is problematic. As cities grow in population, it becomes ever more urgent to bring not only the light of God but also the light of this world to schools, health clinics, and residential dwellings where lights do not shine.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Party Like It’s 2016...
If you can’t make it to New York City’s Times Square for New Year’s Eve, you can bring a bit of Times Square to your living room. Yep, there’s an app for that! Users of the Philips Hue wireless lighting system can access an app that coordinates their lights with the famous ball in Times Square, tracking the color-changing globe as it makes the two-minute countdown to 2016. Philips, the provider of the famous orb’s lighting, promises that the app will bring the fun of Times Square into your home -- minus the thousands of screaming partygoers, of course. All of it demonstrates the connective possibilities of technology to create “memorable moments” through light and innovation.
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Jeremiah 31:7-14
When I was a park ranger in Pennsylvania, I enjoyed working the midnight shift. It was quiet, and the beauty of the sun rising in the morning over the lake and trees gave me a real sense of serenity. In those early morning hours campers began to awake and stir, commencing their day. The arriving visitors for the day would come into the park to picnic, while others went to the boat docks. But those early morning hours were always characterized by things coming to life. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: In Jeremiah we read of a new life for a people restored.
*****
Jeremiah 31:7-14
I was a volunteer fireman for ten years. It troubled me that the younger volunteers on the force would always be yearning for the “big one” -- that is, a house fire. My home burned to the ground in 1985, and I had no desire for that calamity to strike another family. Those who waited in feverish anticipation of a three-alarm fire failed to understand the trauma to the occupants, as they were only focused on the exhilaration of firefighting. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: When one has experienced displacement, there is great joy (as Jeremiah describes it) in being restored.
*****
Jeremiah 31:7-14
In November a year ago I fell off my front porch and broke my right hip -- and the pain was every bit as severe as described by others who have broken their hips. My fall resulted in hip replacement surgery, and I was told by the surgeon that it would be 12 months before I was completely healed. I had a difficult time accepting that the recovery time would be a year, but the pain and weakness that persisted for months was a good indication that a year it would be. On a recent afternoon 13 months after my fall, as I watched Ben Roethlisberger lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to another victory, I decided I would rather be active than watch someone else play. So I went outside and raked leaves for three hours. It was only during the last hour that my hip began to hurt. It was a sign to me of recovery and restoration. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: As Jeremiah eloquently describes it, there is great joy in being restored to one’s former land.
*****
Ephesians 1:3-14
My third grade Sunday school teacher attended our church, but her husband went to another church. His congregation always had a bulletin cover featuring the traditional picture of Jesus, and she tacked one of those bulletins to the wall so we could see the picture. I so admired the picture that I asked if I could have one. She brought me a bulletin, and I carefully cut out the picture and framed it. I put the framed picture on a shelf next to my bed, where I could see it every evening. The picture alone brought me a great deal of comfort. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: Paul talks about the comforting presence of Christ in our lives.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
I remember as a young child seeing my first red-letter version of the Bible. Having heard in Sunday school how important and wonderful Jesus was, I opened the Bible with great anticipation. This was followed by confusion and disappointment -- I wondered how in such a big book there could be so few red lines. If Jesus was so important, how come he said so little? At that age I had no concept of Christianity beyond Jesus, and certainly no understanding of the Bible -- thus, my bewilderment. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: Jesus is the Word of God, and his word is the light of the world. Though Jesus may not have said a lot, he said more than enough to guide our lives.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
When I went on my only cruise, I remember walking to the back of the ship at night and looking over the railing. The lights from the ship illuminated the ocean for only a few feet -- and then it was darkness as I have never seen before. There were no stars and no moon, only the dark, foreboding ocean. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: In darkness, we welcome light. In the darkness of our lives, we welcome the light of Jesus.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
When I would go spelunking (better known as cave exploring), I was always surrounded by darkness. Inside a cave is absolute darkness, as it is impossible for any light to enter. While I explored the cave, I would wear a carbon light on my helmet that gave off the smallest of all flames. Yet that tiny flame was enough to light my way. When I was with a group, all those little flames could illuminate an entire cavern. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: It takes such a small amount of light to illuminate our way. That is why just a single word or phrase from Jesus can give us such hope.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
When I was an army chaplain I was assigned to a forward field hospital, similar to those depicted in the television program M*A*S*H. One night, in darkness that one can only experience in the field, I was walking between the tents when suddenly my right leg plunged into a ditch filled with all kinds of murk. It was the drainage ditch from the surgical tent -- and I did not have a pleasant time cleaning my leg and trying to restore my uniform. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: Absent of light, we will find ourselves stepping into all the wrong things. This is why we need the light of Christ to guide us.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
I remember the first time my older brother and I were allowed to stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve. Our parents were not home, so this added to the adventure. We settled in for the evening, deciding to watch a movie while we waited for the big moment. Suddenly we realized that it was 20 minutes past midnight and we missed it. We thought that New Year’s was so important that our movie would be interrupted to announce the hour, only to realize that it was not important to the station showing the movie. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: As John did, we need to preach the importance of the Jesus so that no one misses it.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
As I am on the autistic spectrum, school has always been difficult for me. I spent my elementary years in the lowest reading groups and going to special classes while the other students went to advanced French class. When I was in the second grade, the Christmas story that I wrote was published in the school newspaper -- and I remember that story to this day. It was about the littlest Christmas tree in the forest, and how it was finally selected to stand in the town square. I still remember the great joy of knowing my story was selected and seeing it in print. It was the great joy of knowing that they liked my story. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: Just as John tells the good news of Jesus to others, we all have a story of good news to share.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Praise your God, O Zion!
People: God strengthens the bars of our gates.
Leader: God blesses us and our children.
People: God grants peace within our borders.
Leader: God fills us with the finest of wheat.
People: Praise be to our God!
OR
Leader: The light of God shines for all people!
People: In God’s light we see the path to eternal life!
Leader: Praise God for the goodness shown to us.
People: Praise and glory to our God of light and life.
Leader: The Christ wants to shine in our hearts and lives.
People: We open our lives to the Christ, that all may know God’s light.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“When Morning Gilds the Skies”
found in:
UMH: 185
H82: 427
PH: 487
AAHH: 186
NCH: 86
CH: 100
LBW: 545, 546
ELA: 853
W&P: 111
AMEC: 59
“I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”
found in:
UMH: 206
H82: 490
ELA: 815
W&P: 218
“Love Came Down at Christmas”
found in:
UMH: 242
H82: 84
NCH: 165
W&P: 210
“Joy to the World”
found in:
UMH: 246
H82: 100
PH: 46
AAHH: 197
NNBH: 94
NCH: 132
CH: 143
LBW: 39
ELA: 267
W&P: 179
AMEC: 120
“O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright”
found in:
UMH: 247
PH: 69
NCH: 158
CH: 105
LBW: 76
ELA: 308
W&P: 230
“We Three Kings”
found in:
UMH: 254
H82: 128
PH: 66
AAHH: 218
NNBH: 97
CH: 172
W&P: 233
“We Would See Jesus”
found in:
UMH: 256
“Let There Be Light”
found in:
UMH: 440
NNBH: 450
NCH: 589
STLT: 142
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is light and in whom there is no darkness: Grant to us the wisdom to seek your light in Jesus and to follow him into the ways of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you are the light of all creation. In you there is no darkness at all. Open our hearts to your Spirit, that we might seek your light in Jesus and that we might follow him into the ways of eternal life. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the ways in which we turn away from light and pursue darkness.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. The light has shined in our lives, and instead we have chosen darkness. Rather than seeking love, peace, and compassion, we talk of revenge, war, and fear. We allow the darkness of the world to overwhelm us and to lead us astray. Blinded by the darkness we no longer seek to follow Jesus, instead seeking the ways of the world. May the Light of God shine on us so brightly that we may see our sins and our errors and again follow Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God desires that we should follow the light and live. Receive God’s compassion and forgiveness, and open your lives to the light the Christ brings to all.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Praise, glory, and honor be to you, O God, for you are the Light of Lights. Your presence casts out all darkness and shadows.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. The light has shined in our lives, and instead we have chosen darkness. Rather than seeking love, peace, and compassion, we talk of revenge, war, and fear. We allow the darkness of the world to overwhelm us and to lead us astray. Blinded by the darkness we no longer seek to follow Jesus, instead seeking the ways of the world. May the Light of God shine on us so brightly that we may see our sins and our errors and again follow Jesus.
We give you thanks for all the blessings of this life. We thank you for those who have let your light shine in their lives so that we might come to know you and your Christ. We thank you for your loving kindness that guides us to life eternal.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray to you for one another in our need. We are a people who are more accustomed to seeing the darkness around us rather than your light. We pray for those who have been swallowed up by the darkness around them and who no longer can find the light. Help us to live so that those around us see your light in us.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Lay out a line of straight tape for the children to walk on. Blindfold them one by one, and ask them to walk on the “path.” Then talk about how difficult it is to know where to walk when the light is shut out. Jesus is our light, and when we follow him we can see to follow the right path to God.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
by Robin Lostetter
John 1:1-18
Items needed:
a medium-size opaque blanket
a flashlight
an oil lamp (if you have one)
Have you ever been where it’s totally dark? Maybe you made a fort with blankets and crawled inside. Or maybe you went camping far from city lights, and at night it was dark except for the stars.
It’s very hard in the 21st century to be in total darkness. Even at home, without a night light, there’s light that seeps in your window from street lights, or car lights, or maybe the neighbor’s porch light. The closer you get to the center of a city or town, the brighter the light is from all the city lights. It’s so bright that you can’t even watch for things like comets, falling stars, constellations, or anything but low-flying airplanes at night.
But when Jesus was born, the only light they had at night came from candles and lanterns. You know how fast candles burn down, and lamps need to have their oil replaced. (If you’ve brought an oil lamp, you can show it now.) So the dark at night was really, really dark. And light was something very valuable. You couldn’t just turn on a light switch or a flashlight. You couldn’t run to the store and buy batteries if your flashlight batteries died, or buy new lightbulbs. When your candle burned out or your oil ran out, you were in the dark.
Shall we make our own mini-tent and see how dark we can make it, and then turn on our flashlight and see how wonderful it feels to have light? (You may have to do this with a few children at a time or just demonstrate with a few volunteers, especially if some are afraid. Pull the blanket over your head and that of a few kids, pulling the edges in as best you can, and notice the darkness. Then turn on the flashlight.)
There’s a lot in the Bible about light. The wise men followed the light of a star. The gospel of John even says that Jesus is the light of the world. Painters often draw a halo of light around Jesus’ head to show that he’s special. It helps us to understand when we realize how valuable light was in Jesus’ time.
Let’s say a prayer: Dear God, thank you for light. Thank you for how it pushes away the darkness. Thank you for how it leads us on a path like a flashlight. Thank you for how a special star’s light led the wise men. And thank you for Jesus, who was so special that John called him the Light of the World. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, January 3, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Team member Mary Austin shares some additional thoughts on the Ephesians passages for both Christmas 2 and Epiphany, focusing on Paul’s message that “in Christ we have obtained an inheritance.” As Mary notes, worldly inheritances often become contentious matters. Paul, however, tells us that we need not fight over our inheritance as children of God, because everyone who has been baptized has a share -- even Gentiles, who “have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise.” In other words, anyone and everyone is welcome -- and as Mary points out, that’s a powerful message in the midst of contentious debate over the best way to handle the burgeoning refugee crisis. Should we protect ourselves by refusing entry, as several politicians (most notably Donald Trump) have suggested? Or should we act like our neighbors to the north, where Canada’s newly elected government has been extraordinarily welcoming to refugees? If we take Paul seriously, than the church is called to be welcoming to spiritual refugees of all stripes -- not merely those whom we feel “safe” around, those who look and act just like us. Are we willing to share our inheritance... or are we like a greedy sibling who tries to maximize the contents of his parents’ will for himself?
Word, Light, and Life
by Dean Feldmeyer
John 1:1-18; Matthew 2:1-12
The opening paragraphs of John’s gospel are awash in metaphors concerning “word” and “light.” And the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel opens with the story of some wise men from the east who are so taken with a light in the sky that they follow it in order to see if there is some existential meaning attached to it.
Whether we celebrate this Sunday as the Second Sunday after Christmas or as Epiphany Sunday, light is going to be a significant theme in our worship experience. With the wise men, we will be asking which lights are worth following and which ones can be safely ignored. With John, we will ask about the meaning of light as a symbol. What does light expose to scrutiny? What does it unmask? Does the heat that inevitably accompanies light comfort or threaten us? And how does “word” function as a symbol and metaphor, and what does it mean for us as Christians?
Jesus, we are told, is our gift from God. He is both word and light, but such a gift may be a mixed blessing if we are not adequately prepared to receive it.
In the Scriptures
Matthew 2:1-12 (Epiphany Sunday)
“In the time of King Herod...”
We don’t know which “Herod” Matthew is talking about here -- but whether it was Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, or Herod Agrippa, the name alone would have thrown a dark and heavy pall over the telling of this story. They were all ruthless, cunning, and heartless in how they ruled their various kingdoms.
“Wise men from the east...”
There is no mention of how many wise men came to Jerusalem. The number of three is probably derived from the three gifts that are mentioned -- gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Many scholars speculate that they were Zoroastrian astrologers from Persia, whose habit was to search the night skies for signs of important events. The appearance of a brighter-than-usual star, comet, or long-lived asteroid would have been, to them, a sign of some significant event happening or about to happen on earth. Therefore, they have journeyed in the direction of the cosmic event in the night sky to see what earthly counter-phenomenon might be happening. It is important for Matthew that they were not Jews. Early in the story of the Christ event, Gentiles are, according to Matthew, going to play a significant role.
Upon entering Judea and asking around, they have been told of the promised birth of a messiah king spoken of in scripture -- and they assume that such a birth must have happened. So they go to the capital city of Jerusalem, where the royal family lives, to congratulate the king on the birth of his son.
No new son has been born to the king, however, so Herod -- and the entire city -- wonder and worry that some other king has had a son who will challenge Herod’s children for the throne of Judea. His own wise men search the scriptures until they come upon an obscure passage from the prophet Micah (5:2), which Matthew paraphrases for this story.
The passage is rather vague, but just to cover his bases, Herod sends the magi off with his blessing to find the child and come back and tell him about it -- ostensibly so he too can go and “pay him homage.” They leave and follow the star, which stops over the home of Jesus. Matthew doesn’t tell us where that home is. Scholars are divided as to the location -- some say it’s in Bethlehem; others say that it is in Nazareth. Wherever it is, they enter “the house” (not the stable), pay homage to Jesus, offer their gifts, and leave.
Because they have been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they take a shortcut home and bypass Jerusalem.
John 1:1-18 (Second Sunday after Christmas)
John’s opening lines tell us that this gospel is going to be different from the three “synoptic” gospels. This gospel is going to be built upon metaphor and symbol. It is going to be more spiritual than religious. It is going to make use of paradox and paradigm, with a nod to historical accuracy but not a slavish devotion to it.
John has a point to make, and that point is that Jesus is the Christ for Jews and Gentiles, for Judeans and Greeks. The Community of the Beloved Disciple (where John worshiped and wrote his gospel, probably in Ephesus) worships a God that is made known to us -- all of us -- through Jesus, who is for that reason the Christ. Jesus is, indeed, the human incarnation of God’s grace and love. He is God with us.
So John opens with two huge metaphors that will run as plumb lines throughout his gospel. The first is the metaphor of “word.”
Jesus is “the Word.” Not “a word.” He is the definitive word of God. Do you want to hear God speak? Listen to Jesus. Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus. Do you want to see God in action? Watch Jesus. Do you want to see authentic human life as God intended it to be? Look to Jesus... because life -- real life, authentic life -- came into being through him. And that life was the light of all people.
It was the light -- it illuminated both the way life is and the way life can be -- not just for a few, for the chosen, for the bright or the attractive or the rich or the well-educated, but for “all people” -- Jews and Gentiles, men and women, adults and children, black and white, gay and straight, suburban and inner-city, blue-collar and white-collar.
He is God with us and for us -- the very image, the incarnation of God... God in human form.
In the News
Light
Lots of people were looking up last week when a “white ball of light with a fiery tail” streaked across the night skies of California, Nevada, and Arizona.
According to USA Today, the phenomenon “triggered its own firestorm on social media, as observers on the ground shared videos and photos of the fireball flying through the sky and pondered whether it was a meteor or space debris from a fallen satellite.” One tweet speculated that it was “Santa Claus doing a test run.”
Many, no doubt, noted that it was at least an interesting coincidence that it should happen at this time of year -- when many Christians are telling a story about a strange event in the night sky that was so significant that it motivated scholars to travel halfway across the known world to investigate it.
The U.S. Strategic Command (which tracks such things) explained it away in its usual dry, military-style wording -- noting that it had “removed the SL-4 rocket body from the U.S. satellite catalog” after the “decayed object” entered the atmosphere. That’s government jargon for “it was space trash from a newly launched Russian rocket re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.”
Every bright light that happens along is not worth following or even paying attention to.
Pop celebrities come and go. Fashions become unfashionable in short order. Yesterday the darling of the cooking channels was kale; today it is bacon. Who knows what it will be tomorrow? News channels and periodicals are pumping out this week their top ten lists for 2015. Can anyone remember anything on any of those lists for 2014?
Word
We preachers live by words. They are our stock in trade. Whether from the pulpit or offering pastoral care, we are expected to have something to say, some words that bring meaning to whatever situation in which we find ourselves. So we are especially attuned to words and how they are used. We know that there is no such thing as “just words” or “empty rhetoric.” Words count.
A couple of weeks ago Donald Trump discovered to his chagrin that words, indeed one single word, can carry a great deal of weight when he uttered a vulgar Yiddish word in reference to Hillary Clinton. Not just Democrats but women in general came down pretty hard on him for choosing and using that single word.
Comedian Steve Harvey learned just how important words are when he accidentally read the wrong ones in announcing the winner of the Miss Universe pageant. The winner was Miss Philippines, but he mistakenly announced that it was Miss Colombia. As Miss Colombia was receiving the crown and about to make her victory stroll down the red carpet, Harvey stopped everything, admitted his mistake, and announced that the real winner was Miss Philippines. Awkward!
Miss Colombia gracefully relinquished her crown and roses to Miss Philippines and the show went on -- but social media has been agog (simply agog!) over the emcee’s faux pas. To his credit, Harvey used humor to try to move past the incident. On December 25 he issued a Twitter message with a picture of himself smoking a cigar and flashing a peace sign while standing in front of a swimming pool decorated for Christmas. The caption reads: “Merry Easter, y’all.”
Word and Light
One of the most popular films showing in theaters right now is Concussion, which is a story about both light and word. Written and directed by Peter Landesman, the drama is based on “Game Brain” -- a 2009 article by Jeanne Marie Laskas that appeared in GQ magazine. The article and film detail the efforts of Pittsburgh neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered a degenerative brain disease known as CTE after studying the autopsies of several deceased pro football players.
Dr. Omalu presented his research, but discovered that light also generates heat. The movie depicts how the NFL tried to discredit him, and when that didn’t work how they tried to bribe him into silence. Omalu persisted, however, and today -- because of the light that his words shined on this specific danger -- the entire world of sports has been changed forever.
Another current movie, Spotlight, tells the story of the Boston Globe team of investigative reporters who in 2002 broke the story of pedophile priests -- and how those priests were protected and their acts covered up by the church hierarchy in the Boston archdiocese. In one scene a reporter is talking to one of the hundreds of victims, who tells the journalist that a certain priest “molested” him. She sighs, closes her eyes for a moment, and then says to him with all the sympathy she can muster: “You know, I think that when we print this story, words are going to be very important.” She goes on to ask him to be painfully forthright about what he means when he says “molested.”
In another near-iconic scene (no doubt a tribute to old movies about newspaper reporters), we see the large printing presses that print and fold the newspapers churning out the papers with the headline clearly visible. Following this scene we see the delivery trucks leaving the docks, peeling off one at a time with military precision to deliver these heartbreaking words that will in just a few hours shine a broad and bright light on one of the biggest corruption and cover-up stories of our time.
In the Pulpit
In the 21st century, many of us don’t know about real darkness any more.
We have electricity and streetlights and security lights and night lights. We have ambient light from nearby shopping centers and car lots and airports and cities that bleeds over even into our rural areas. I live in Wilmington, a small town in rural southwestern Ohio -- but we have a large airport that services cargo planes. The pilots from our town have told me that when they leave Indianapolis at night, as soon as they get above the horizon they can see the lights from the Wilmington airport 150 miles away. It is that bright. So if people in our small rural town want to go stargazing or watch a meteor shower we actually have to leave town and drive even further into the hinterlands to find something like true darkness.
In the first century, however, darkness was really and truly dark.
There were no nightlights or streetlights. The only illumination at night came from the stars and the moon or oil lamps. This is why lamps, light, and darkness play such an important part in the parables and teachings of Jesus.
Light is a rich and multifaceted symbol and metaphor in the life of the Christian and the Christian Church.
Light illuminates and makes visible the things that we need to see and the things that we don’t want to see. It shows us the details and the flaws, the beautiful and the ugly. Light drives us out of the fantasy world and into reality.
Light generates heat. They are a package, and rarely can you have one without the other. If we, as Christians, are going to shine the light of Jesus Christ on the world, we had better be prepared for the heat that this action will inevitably generate. People don’t want to be told to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. They don’t want to be told to forgive those who have wronged them, and they certainly don’t want to give up the myth of redemptive violence in exchange for an ethic of love and grace. And they will often turn on the person who is shining the light on the ugliness of their lives.
Darkness, on the other hand, is where mold and corruption grow. It is not just the opposite of light; it is the enemy of light. Crime seeks darkness. Sin seeks darkness. All of the things which separate us from God and each other are born in darkness.
Darkness is the symbol for ignorance, for despair, for depression, for grief. Light is the symbol for hope, for love, for joy, for grace.
May God grant us the privilege of being sources of God’s light, the light of Jesus Christ, for the world.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Your Inheritance
by Mary Austin
Ephesians 1:3-14; Ephesians 3:1-12
Inheriting anything is a complicated mixture of gratitude, aggravation, greed, and dismay. I once worked with a family where the mother left everything she owned to one of her two daughters -- without any explanation. You can imagine the anger the one daughter felt, and the helpless feelings of the other as her relationship with her sister disintegrated over the actions of the now-deceased mother.
The problem with an inheritance is that nothing is promised, but much is expected. In the space between what we expect and what we receive, disappointment flourishes. When I listen to people talk about what they did and didn’t inherit from parents, I mentally insert the word “love” every time they say the word “money.” All of it is a gift, but we expect the gifts to be fair. They send a message much more powerful than the money itself, or the jewelry, or the long-used dining room table. We hold onto those things for the connection with generations past, as if the love travels with the objects.
Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, has a different view of our inheritance as children of God. In the text for the Second Sunday after Christmas (Ephesians 1:3-14), he tells the people of God that we have an inheritance in Christ, “having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will.” We are not an original part of the family, but have been adopted into the family of God -- and we now share in the inheritance of God’s people. This is an unexpected gift -- and mysteriously, our share of the inheritance is a place in God’s plans for the world.
Epiphany evokes the appearance of Jesus to the magi -- the first appearance to non-Jews. It also calls us out of the more narrow focus of Christmas into a wider way of living in the world with this gift we have been given. As the letter to the Ephesians reveals, it also points us to the constant manifestation of God’s grace in our lives. Amy Peeler writes that Ephesians 3:1-12 is a particularly apt passage for Epiphany because “for Paul, Epiphany is not just one day, but describes his entire life and calling.”
On this day, which celebrates the appearance of Jesus to people outside the original family of faith, the texts remind us that we are not the original heirs of this promise. But in the spirit of Epiphany, we can make an appearance at the family table, for we now belong to the family of God. Our own inheritance is made clear in these texts for Christmas and Epiphany. We show up as part of the household of God, adopted into the faith and sharing in the inheritance God has planned for us.
Here in America, we haven’t shown that spirit of generous welcome to those who are coming to us as refugees. The Christian Post reports on a new Quinnipiac poll which found that “more than half [of the people polled] are also opposed to accepting more Syrian refugees. ‘American voters are making a distinction between Syrian refugees and Muslims in general. A bare majority says keep the Syrians out, but an overwhelming majority rejects proposals to ban all Muslims from our shores,’ offered Tim Malloy,” assistant director of the poll.
Some here fear that immigrants will take jobs away from Americans and cost money as they use government benefits. How can they share in our inheritance when they’re just getting here, people ask. U.S. News suggests that the benefits may go the other way, adding that “a growing pool of research suggests refugees aren’t necessarily the economic leeches they’re often made out to be. In Cleveland, for example, local refugee services agencies spent about $4.8 million in 2012 as they helped refugees get established in the area, according to a study conducted by Chmura Economics & Analytics. But the economic impact those refugees had on the community weighed in at about $48 million, roughly 10 times the initial resettlement costs.” Countries with developed economies can benefit from an influx of refugees, and “studies suggest [they] could potentially benefit economically from opening their borders. And though there are no real winners when millions of civilians are displaced from their homes, it may ultimately behoove the U.S. to take in more refugees.”
How do we show God’s gracious welcome to our neighbors?
Our Canadian neighbors understand the power of that, in both symbol and practice. The Toronto Star reports that Canada is committed to welcoming 25,000 refugees, and wanted to have 10,000 on Canadian soil by January 1. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally welcomed refugees to Canada and gave them coats, saying: “This is a wonderful night where we get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, but we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult straits.” As the New York Times reports, “The Canadian public’s widespread embrace of a plan to accept thousands of Syrians stands in stark contrast to the controversy over the issue in the United States, where many politicians have called for restrictions or outright bans on the refugees.”
We miss seeing the connections between ourselves and the refugees, and can’t imagine that our lives would ever fall apart in the ways that life in Syria has. But as Sally Brown writes, “the ‘us’ here [in Ephesians 1:3-14] indicates a community, not a collection of individuals. The preacher needs to take this seriously and not overly individualize visions of blessing.... Being ‘in Christ’ reframes everything: we see ourselves and one another, neighbor or stranger, in a fresh way.” These Ephesians texts invite us to realize that our true inheritance is a legacy of inclusion -- we have been brought into the family, and now we have the chance to pass on the family trait of generosity. Our inheritance doesn’t need to be divided, but it can always be multiplied.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Places Where Lights Do Not Shine
At least 50 tornadoes have devastated southern and midwestern states since Christmas, breaking the record for the most tornado-related deaths for the month of December. Torrential storms made transit difficult for holiday travelers and left thousands without power. In Oklahoma, which has been under a state of emergency since November 29, more than 120,000 residents are still without power. In Dallas, several tornadoes and massive winds created widespread damage. As Texans braced for additional storms, the state’s governor promised that assistance was on the way. “Texas is doing everything we can to help you piece your lives back together and deal with the challenges you are facing right now,” said Governor Greg Abbott -- a reminder of how God’s light can shine even in the most desperate circumstances.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
No Light at All
Devastating storms can bring reminders of just how connected our lives are to the electrical grid. No power brings life for most Americans to a halt. Yet about a billion persons worldwide lack access to any sort of electricity. As recently as 2013, nearly 173 million urban dwellers lacked access to electricity. India and Nigeria lead a group of about 20 nations where electrical access is problematic. As cities grow in population, it becomes ever more urgent to bring not only the light of God but also the light of this world to schools, health clinics, and residential dwellings where lights do not shine.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Party Like It’s 2016...
If you can’t make it to New York City’s Times Square for New Year’s Eve, you can bring a bit of Times Square to your living room. Yep, there’s an app for that! Users of the Philips Hue wireless lighting system can access an app that coordinates their lights with the famous ball in Times Square, tracking the color-changing globe as it makes the two-minute countdown to 2016. Philips, the provider of the famous orb’s lighting, promises that the app will bring the fun of Times Square into your home -- minus the thousands of screaming partygoers, of course. All of it demonstrates the connective possibilities of technology to create “memorable moments” through light and innovation.
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Jeremiah 31:7-14
When I was a park ranger in Pennsylvania, I enjoyed working the midnight shift. It was quiet, and the beauty of the sun rising in the morning over the lake and trees gave me a real sense of serenity. In those early morning hours campers began to awake and stir, commencing their day. The arriving visitors for the day would come into the park to picnic, while others went to the boat docks. But those early morning hours were always characterized by things coming to life. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: In Jeremiah we read of a new life for a people restored.
*****
Jeremiah 31:7-14
I was a volunteer fireman for ten years. It troubled me that the younger volunteers on the force would always be yearning for the “big one” -- that is, a house fire. My home burned to the ground in 1985, and I had no desire for that calamity to strike another family. Those who waited in feverish anticipation of a three-alarm fire failed to understand the trauma to the occupants, as they were only focused on the exhilaration of firefighting. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: When one has experienced displacement, there is great joy (as Jeremiah describes it) in being restored.
*****
Jeremiah 31:7-14
In November a year ago I fell off my front porch and broke my right hip -- and the pain was every bit as severe as described by others who have broken their hips. My fall resulted in hip replacement surgery, and I was told by the surgeon that it would be 12 months before I was completely healed. I had a difficult time accepting that the recovery time would be a year, but the pain and weakness that persisted for months was a good indication that a year it would be. On a recent afternoon 13 months after my fall, as I watched Ben Roethlisberger lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to another victory, I decided I would rather be active than watch someone else play. So I went outside and raked leaves for three hours. It was only during the last hour that my hip began to hurt. It was a sign to me of recovery and restoration. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: As Jeremiah eloquently describes it, there is great joy in being restored to one’s former land.
*****
Ephesians 1:3-14
My third grade Sunday school teacher attended our church, but her husband went to another church. His congregation always had a bulletin cover featuring the traditional picture of Jesus, and she tacked one of those bulletins to the wall so we could see the picture. I so admired the picture that I asked if I could have one. She brought me a bulletin, and I carefully cut out the picture and framed it. I put the framed picture on a shelf next to my bed, where I could see it every evening. The picture alone brought me a great deal of comfort. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: Paul talks about the comforting presence of Christ in our lives.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
I remember as a young child seeing my first red-letter version of the Bible. Having heard in Sunday school how important and wonderful Jesus was, I opened the Bible with great anticipation. This was followed by confusion and disappointment -- I wondered how in such a big book there could be so few red lines. If Jesus was so important, how come he said so little? At that age I had no concept of Christianity beyond Jesus, and certainly no understanding of the Bible -- thus, my bewilderment. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: Jesus is the Word of God, and his word is the light of the world. Though Jesus may not have said a lot, he said more than enough to guide our lives.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
When I went on my only cruise, I remember walking to the back of the ship at night and looking over the railing. The lights from the ship illuminated the ocean for only a few feet -- and then it was darkness as I have never seen before. There were no stars and no moon, only the dark, foreboding ocean. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: In darkness, we welcome light. In the darkness of our lives, we welcome the light of Jesus.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
When I would go spelunking (better known as cave exploring), I was always surrounded by darkness. Inside a cave is absolute darkness, as it is impossible for any light to enter. While I explored the cave, I would wear a carbon light on my helmet that gave off the smallest of all flames. Yet that tiny flame was enough to light my way. When I was with a group, all those little flames could illuminate an entire cavern. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: It takes such a small amount of light to illuminate our way. That is why just a single word or phrase from Jesus can give us such hope.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
When I was an army chaplain I was assigned to a forward field hospital, similar to those depicted in the television program M*A*S*H. One night, in darkness that one can only experience in the field, I was walking between the tents when suddenly my right leg plunged into a ditch filled with all kinds of murk. It was the drainage ditch from the surgical tent -- and I did not have a pleasant time cleaning my leg and trying to restore my uniform. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: Absent of light, we will find ourselves stepping into all the wrong things. This is why we need the light of Christ to guide us.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
I remember the first time my older brother and I were allowed to stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve. Our parents were not home, so this added to the adventure. We settled in for the evening, deciding to watch a movie while we waited for the big moment. Suddenly we realized that it was 20 minutes past midnight and we missed it. We thought that New Year’s was so important that our movie would be interrupted to announce the hour, only to realize that it was not important to the station showing the movie. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: As John did, we need to preach the importance of the Jesus so that no one misses it.
*****
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
As I am on the autistic spectrum, school has always been difficult for me. I spent my elementary years in the lowest reading groups and going to special classes while the other students went to advanced French class. When I was in the second grade, the Christmas story that I wrote was published in the school newspaper -- and I remember that story to this day. It was about the littlest Christmas tree in the forest, and how it was finally selected to stand in the town square. I still remember the great joy of knowing my story was selected and seeing it in print. It was the great joy of knowing that they liked my story. (Note: You can personalize this story by introducing it with the words “a friend told me” or “I read about...”)
Application: Just as John tells the good news of Jesus to others, we all have a story of good news to share.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Praise your God, O Zion!
People: God strengthens the bars of our gates.
Leader: God blesses us and our children.
People: God grants peace within our borders.
Leader: God fills us with the finest of wheat.
People: Praise be to our God!
OR
Leader: The light of God shines for all people!
People: In God’s light we see the path to eternal life!
Leader: Praise God for the goodness shown to us.
People: Praise and glory to our God of light and life.
Leader: The Christ wants to shine in our hearts and lives.
People: We open our lives to the Christ, that all may know God’s light.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“When Morning Gilds the Skies”
found in:
UMH: 185
H82: 427
PH: 487
AAHH: 186
NCH: 86
CH: 100
LBW: 545, 546
ELA: 853
W&P: 111
AMEC: 59
“I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”
found in:
UMH: 206
H82: 490
ELA: 815
W&P: 218
“Love Came Down at Christmas”
found in:
UMH: 242
H82: 84
NCH: 165
W&P: 210
“Joy to the World”
found in:
UMH: 246
H82: 100
PH: 46
AAHH: 197
NNBH: 94
NCH: 132
CH: 143
LBW: 39
ELA: 267
W&P: 179
AMEC: 120
“O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright”
found in:
UMH: 247
PH: 69
NCH: 158
CH: 105
LBW: 76
ELA: 308
W&P: 230
“We Three Kings”
found in:
UMH: 254
H82: 128
PH: 66
AAHH: 218
NNBH: 97
CH: 172
W&P: 233
“We Would See Jesus”
found in:
UMH: 256
“Let There Be Light”
found in:
UMH: 440
NNBH: 450
NCH: 589
STLT: 142
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is light and in whom there is no darkness: Grant to us the wisdom to seek your light in Jesus and to follow him into the ways of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you are the light of all creation. In you there is no darkness at all. Open our hearts to your Spirit, that we might seek your light in Jesus and that we might follow him into the ways of eternal life. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the ways in which we turn away from light and pursue darkness.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. The light has shined in our lives, and instead we have chosen darkness. Rather than seeking love, peace, and compassion, we talk of revenge, war, and fear. We allow the darkness of the world to overwhelm us and to lead us astray. Blinded by the darkness we no longer seek to follow Jesus, instead seeking the ways of the world. May the Light of God shine on us so brightly that we may see our sins and our errors and again follow Jesus. Amen.
Leader: God desires that we should follow the light and live. Receive God’s compassion and forgiveness, and open your lives to the light the Christ brings to all.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Praise, glory, and honor be to you, O God, for you are the Light of Lights. Your presence casts out all darkness and shadows.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. The light has shined in our lives, and instead we have chosen darkness. Rather than seeking love, peace, and compassion, we talk of revenge, war, and fear. We allow the darkness of the world to overwhelm us and to lead us astray. Blinded by the darkness we no longer seek to follow Jesus, instead seeking the ways of the world. May the Light of God shine on us so brightly that we may see our sins and our errors and again follow Jesus.
We give you thanks for all the blessings of this life. We thank you for those who have let your light shine in their lives so that we might come to know you and your Christ. We thank you for your loving kindness that guides us to life eternal.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray to you for one another in our need. We are a people who are more accustomed to seeing the darkness around us rather than your light. We pray for those who have been swallowed up by the darkness around them and who no longer can find the light. Help us to live so that those around us see your light in us.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Lay out a line of straight tape for the children to walk on. Blindfold them one by one, and ask them to walk on the “path.” Then talk about how difficult it is to know where to walk when the light is shut out. Jesus is our light, and when we follow him we can see to follow the right path to God.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
by Robin Lostetter
John 1:1-18
Items needed:
a medium-size opaque blanket
a flashlight
an oil lamp (if you have one)
Have you ever been where it’s totally dark? Maybe you made a fort with blankets and crawled inside. Or maybe you went camping far from city lights, and at night it was dark except for the stars.
It’s very hard in the 21st century to be in total darkness. Even at home, without a night light, there’s light that seeps in your window from street lights, or car lights, or maybe the neighbor’s porch light. The closer you get to the center of a city or town, the brighter the light is from all the city lights. It’s so bright that you can’t even watch for things like comets, falling stars, constellations, or anything but low-flying airplanes at night.
But when Jesus was born, the only light they had at night came from candles and lanterns. You know how fast candles burn down, and lamps need to have their oil replaced. (If you’ve brought an oil lamp, you can show it now.) So the dark at night was really, really dark. And light was something very valuable. You couldn’t just turn on a light switch or a flashlight. You couldn’t run to the store and buy batteries if your flashlight batteries died, or buy new lightbulbs. When your candle burned out or your oil ran out, you were in the dark.
Shall we make our own mini-tent and see how dark we can make it, and then turn on our flashlight and see how wonderful it feels to have light? (You may have to do this with a few children at a time or just demonstrate with a few volunteers, especially if some are afraid. Pull the blanket over your head and that of a few kids, pulling the edges in as best you can, and notice the darkness. Then turn on the flashlight.)
There’s a lot in the Bible about light. The wise men followed the light of a star. The gospel of John even says that Jesus is the light of the world. Painters often draw a halo of light around Jesus’ head to show that he’s special. It helps us to understand when we realize how valuable light was in Jesus’ time.
Let’s say a prayer: Dear God, thank you for light. Thank you for how it pushes away the darkness. Thank you for how it leads us on a path like a flashlight. Thank you for how a special star’s light led the wise men. And thank you for Jesus, who was so special that John called him the Light of the World. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, January 3, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
