20^th December 2011

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 11 December 2011

Lessons -- Isaiah 60:1-3,19-22; 1 John 1:5-10; John 1:1-9,19-28

God is light and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
The true light that enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
(John 1:9)
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ . . . God from God,
Light from Light. (Nicene Creed)

In ordinary speech 'light' is often used as a symbol of truth, goodness and life in contrast to the 'darkness' of error, evil and death. Ignorance is banished when 'light is shed' on a subject.

In Plato the sun symbolises the 'Idea of Goodness' shining amidst evil.
The Buddha offers spiritual enlightenment to escape earthly suffering. New Agers find in themselves the inner light that illuminates truly spiritual knowledge. Secularists pride themselves on belonging to the 'Age of Enlightenment' in which the natural light of reason is said to have triumphed over irrational faith and bigoted religion. It is common to believe that there are many paths to 'enlightenment'.

In the Gospel and Letters, John uses this common image to say something very specific about Jesus. He is 'the light that has come into the world', 'the true light', 'the light of the world'. He illuminates God's love for the world -- love that is implacably opposed to the darkness of sin, evil and death. In his life, death and resurrection, the 'Word made flesh' has defeated the powers of darkness and so illuminated the unparalleled self- giving love of God 'for all'.

The Church is called to respond to God's presence in Jesus by 'bearing witness to the light'. This means taking up Israel's vocation to be 'a light to the nations' and following the example of John the Baptist in pointing to the light.

Israel's calling was to be a sign of hope for the nations. As Isaiah 60 says, she does not exist for her own sake but to be a beacon of faith, goodness and mercy in a darkened world. The Hebrews are to point away from themselves to God who 'brought light out of darkness': the Creator of the world, their covenant partner and the Redeemer of their flawed and strife- torn life.

John the Baptist too points away from himself. Instead of 'shedding light'
on his own religious achievements, he illuminates Jesus as 'the light of the world': the One in whom the 'glory of God' is reflected and embodied.
Thus John the Baptist represents Israel's vocation as a 'light to the nations'. He is also the herald of the One who fulfils-and-embodies that vocation as 'the light of the world'. 'He was not the light, but he came to bear witness to the light' (John 1:8).

John the Baptist illuminates the Gospel and the nature of faith. In 'bearing witness to the light' he points to the unique presence of God in Jesus. In pointing to the 'glory' of the incarnation in Christ, he 'sheds light' on the grace of God in a 'darkened world'.

He also 'sheds light' on what it means to live by faith. Jesus' disciples do not exist to draw attention to themselves! We are not encouraged to look within to find divine enlightenment but to look to what God has done for them and for all people in Christ. Thus we are to point away from ourselves to the incarnate, crucified and risen Jesus in whom God's life- giving purpose for the world has been supremely 'illuminated'.

Sadly, this is often forgotten. Some high profile preachers enjoy the spotlight. Some of us are proud of shining our little light in public.

Such self-centred faith is the very opposite of what the Church is called to be. It is a practical denial of our vocation in the world. We are called to bear witness, not to our own (fragile) faith and (flawed) actions, but to God's grace for humanity in Jesus Christ. We are to be 'torch-bearers' who, in the midst of darkness, point to God's costly and triumphant life in Christ -- to the One whom John the Baptist identifies as 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world'. (John 1:29)

Therefore, we must not reflect on our own (imagined) goodness but cast light on God's costly love for all in the Body of Jesus. As torch-bearers in the midst of darkness, our worship, ministry and mission must be directed to glorifying God for what he has done in Christ for all nations -
- to rejoice that God's goodness and mercy have been uniquely and splendidly illuminated in the man who is 'God from God, Light from Light'.

When we 'shed light' on the Incarnation of Jesus, we also commit ourselves to defend human dignity -- to 'shed light' on situations in the world where people have suffered, either by their own actions or the actions of others. In such 'dark' places, the 'true light' is sorely needed, to
illuminate evil, call wrong-doers to account and forgive the penitent.

In affirming 'Christ as the light of the world', the Church aligns herself with God's implacable judgment on fanaticism and tyranny that doesn't shrink from causing widespread terror, death and torture. The global scale of human evil is an affront to God! Millions of our brothers and sisters have been stripped of their dignity, had their bodies violated and their lives cut short. Others, claiming the right to choose their life-style, consent to do what is wrong. In places where 'religion' is strong (e.g.
Islam) or 'secular humanism' holds sway (e.g. the West), the dark shadow
of evil often dims the light of goodness and mercy.

Wherever God's incarnate, crucified and risen love is mocked and human beings do evil, the 'true light' of Christ is blanketed: terrorism (Iraq,
Afghanistan) ; tyranny (Syria, Egypt, Libya, Zimbabwe); militant atheism, euthanasia and abortion on demand (the West); rape (global); promiscuity (the West / Africa); mistreatment of refugees (global). In such situations, the Church's vocation is to be a torch-bearer -- to illuminate God's judgment and grace in Christ.

In practice this is daunting! Being 'a light to the nations' with the Jews, and bearing witness to Jesus Christ as the 'light of the world', is not 'all sweetness and light'.

Remember that John the Baptist suffered and was killed for being a 'witness' to the 'true light'! Jesus himself died on a cross. Down the ages martyrs have died because the 'enlightened' people of their day did not welcome the light being shone on their dark deeds. The Christian life is both demanding (knowing that we are summoned to shine the light of grace into the 'darkest' corners of earth) and liberating (knowing that our darkened lives have been illuminated by grace).

When the 'darkness' seems blackest and there is no glimmer of hope and 'light' seems far off, we must pray for courage to 'hold the torch' and 'keep the flame flickering'. A world that lives 'in darkness' needs to 'see the true light' of God's goodness and mercy in Christ. For the light that has come into the world in this incarnate, crucified and risen man is the sign of hope for a suffering world and a 'light to the nations'. It is also a pledge that in him, and at the last, God shall overcome the 'darkness'.

It is our happy responsibility to be torch-bearers. We are called to point to Jesus Christ, 'the light of the world', 'God from God, Light from Light' -- to illuminate the self-giving glory of God in his ministry and mission.

Sadly, it has become commonplace to treat such splendid affirmations with disdain -- as if they are unbelievable in an 'enlightened' age. But how 'enlightened' is it to sneer at the 'true light' of Christ and instead put hope in what flawed, arrogant and mortal human beings can do to illuminate our lives and bring about moral progress on earth?

Our hope is in what God has done specifically in Christ to shed light in a darkened world. Jesus did not shun the darkness or sidestep suffering. God did not detach himself from sin and death but, in Christ, suffered evil and triumphed over it for us! This Son of God shed light on our predicament (that we cannot free ourselves from sin) and on the glory of God (who raised him as a sign of hope for all nations).

It is incumbent on us, like John the Baptist, 'to bear witness to the light, that all might believe'. (1:7,8) The Church is summoned to declare that Jesus Christ is 'the light of the world' who reflects the glory of God and illuminates the humanity for which we are destined.

When we acknowledge that 'God is light and in him is no darkness at all'
and that Jesus Christ is 'God from God, Light from Light', the world has been uniquely encountered by God. Then we will be enabled to 'walk in the light as he is in the light' (1 John1:5ff) and be given courage to shed the light of Christ into the dark places of the earth.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.