“The Light Shines in the Darkness”

Rev. William G. Lamont, Pastor

 “What has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”  John 1:4-5

Last August while I was on vacation at my cottage, I heard on the radio that there was going to be a major meteor shower in the night sky. The earth would be coming into contact with a large amount of cosmic debris and some of it would enter the earth’s atmosphere and burn its way across the sky. The prediction was that we would see several hundred meteors per hour at the height of the storm. I was intrigued at the prospect, and so was my daughter, Beth, and we stayed up late to take in the spectacle.

About 11 am we trekked down to the water’s edge and out onto our dock where the canopy of pine branches gave way to the brilliant night sky. We stood awhile on the dock looking up, but that’s hard to do for a long period of time - you get dizzy staring upwards after awhile, plus your neck gets sore, so we both lay down on the dock to keep vigil under the night sky.

There were no clouds that night and the moon hugged the horizon behind the trees, so the stars were more brilliant and numerous than usual. And lying there looking at this awesome celestial sight we were both rendered silent... the heavens in all their brilliance declared the glory of God. We did not see many meteors that night (apparently the height of the storm was after 2am) but what the meteors lacked the stars more than made up for. They were spectacular, and I realized it had been too long since I had been stargazing. 

Did you know that there are more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy – the Milky Way? The naked eye can only see a few thousand of these stars but there are far more our there. They are spread out across a field that is 100,000 light years wide and 1,000 light years thick. And there are an estimated 125 billion other galaxies out there... only 3000 have actually been viewed through a telescope but the Hubble Space telescope has detected the collective light of many many other galaxies and has given us this estimate. God knows how many planets there are out there, like ours, revolving around their own sun! 

Lying on my dock that night I learned all over again that night sky is anything but a dark, empty void. If you look up with your eyes open you will see the glory of God shining down on you! The psalmist is right:  “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” And my revelation was that our God is Lord of the darkness as well as the light.

And that is all I really want to proclaim to you tonight, folks. Our God is Lord of the darkness as well as the light. And of course, you know it is true - it’s why we’re all staying up late to hold this service close to midnight. Because at Christmas God declares it true with the birth of Jesus Christ. Luke’s gospel reminds us that Jesus was born at night... which is more than a chronological truth but also a theological truth. Christ was born at night because he’s Lord over the darkness. And that is good news for those who dwell in deep darkness, isn’t it? I don’t know what the darkness of your life is but I am sure you all have some...we just don’t like to talk about it. 

Collectively we’ve shared some of this darkness: We’ve all endured a recession in the past three years, the worst economic downturn since the 30’s which has stolen people’s businesses and people’s homes and people’s livelihood. This year we witnessed the destructive power of a massive tsunami that hit northern Japan and damaged a nuclear power plant that only recently has been stabilized. And we’ve been victims ourselves to natural disaster here in the state...having been ravaged by one of the worst years for violent storms in USA’s history. Tornadoes have destroyed homes across the south and in the Midwest, one storm decimating an entire town - Joplin. 

We’ve re-lived the horror of another shooting at Virginia Tech and still the problem of gun control goes unchecked. We’ve seen our government deadlocked by political squabbling, unable to work together even in small ways for the sake of the nation. We’ve seen an end to war in Iraq, but nobody is declaring victory and peace is still very tentative. And as a congregation, we’ve said goodbye to 22 members this year, a record number for us... normally we have six to eight.

Lots of darkness, lots of hardship, lots of grief; but we gather to worship this night anyway, and in doing so we are making a theological declaration - the darkness is no match for the light of God in Jesus Christ. With the birth of the Christ-child, a new day has dawned and darkness has no dominion over him or his kingdom. His love, his peace, his joy, his reign will be forever.

Interesting that each gospel writer has their own way of declaring that: Matthew tells us that the night sky was pierced by a star so bright that it caught the attention of wise men from another country and it led them to Jesus’ birthplace in Bethlehem. The star declared not only his glory but also his GPS coordinates! Luke says that the first to witness the Christ-child’s birth were shepherds – night dwellers. They received the announcement of his birth directly from angels whose glory filled the night sky. And John, who more a theologian than a storyteller, simply says: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory.” All three have their own way declare the same truth: The darkness of this world is no match for the light of Christ.  

So we no longer need to fear the darkness...because our God is the lord of the darkness. That’s why Christians dare to go into some of the darkest of places imaginable without fear: they march into prisons and do ministry among convicted criminals; they set up shelters and feeding stations among the hungry and the homeless; they dare to send mission groups to Calcutta, to the Congo, to Haiti, where they minister to the poorest of the poor. They dare to put on gloves and masks and visit those dying of aids in hospice centers. Some go covertly into Kmart stores and Wal-Mart stores and pay off people’s layaway bills so that they will have Christmas gifts under the tree on Christmas morning – “layaway angels” they’re calling them. Christians go anywhere and everywhere without fear because Christ’s light shines in the darkness and the darkness is no match.  

Last Wednesday we held a service in the chapel called “The Longest Night” service where I shared a story about Hidenwood’s first-ever worship service. It was Christmas Eve 1954. Jim Lowry was minister and construction was started on the little church but it wasn’t completed yet. So they held a service outside on the lawn. About a hundred people attended and they had a big bonfire to keep warm. At the end of the service Bobbie Williamson walked into the shell of the chapel (which was still being built) and sang the first hymn ever sung inside those walls – “O Holy Night.”  

So the first carol ever sung inside the walls of this building was “O Holy Night.” Imagine singing a song about the night! Imagine calling the night holy! We Christians can call it so because Christ was born into the night...into the midst of our darkness he came and brought salvation for all. So don’t be afraid, people, no matter how dark it gets...Jesus is Lord, even of the darkness.

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