3^rd January 2015

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 14 December 2014

Lessons - Isaiah 60:1-3, 19-22; Revelation 22:1-5; John 1:6-9,19-29

'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)

'Light' is often used as a symbol of truth, goodness and life in contrast
with 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'. Buddha offers spiritual
enlightenment to escape earthly suffering. New Agers find in themselves the
inner light. 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. Many people agree with the Bahais that there are many
paths to 'enlightenment'.

In the Gospel, the image is used to say something 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 which is implacably
opposed to and has overcome the dark forces of sin, evil and death.

Our calling as a church is to respond to God's presence in him by 'bearing
witness to the light'. This means taking up Israel's vocation to be 'a light
to the nations' and following John the Baptist's lead.

As the prophet Isaiah says (chapter 60), Israel does not exist for her own
sake but to be a beacon of hope in a darkened world. The Hebrews are to point
away from themselves to God who 'brought light out of darkness' - to glorify
the Creator of the world and the Redeemer of their flawed and strife-torn
life.

John the Baptist too points away from himself. 'He was not the light, but he
came to bear witness to the light.' (John 1:8) Instead of 'shedding light' on
his own faith and courage, he points to the Incarnate Jesus - 'the light of
the world' - in whom God's glory is reflected and embodied in a dark world.

He also 'sheds light' on what it means for us to live by faith. Jesus'
disciples do not exist to draw attention to themselves. We are not to look
within us, as the New Agers do, to find our own divinity. We are to shine
light on what God has done for us in the incarnate, crucified and risen
Christ to enable us to experience fullness of life.

Sadly, this is often forgotten. Churches and preachers crave the spotlight
and public approval. At this time of the year we like to be thought of as
people of good will. We sign up for politically correct causes. We are
desperate to show the world that we tolerate everything and everybody.

Such a faith is the opposite of what the Church is called to be. It is a
denial of our vocation in the world. We are called to bear witness to God's
grace for humanity in Jesus Christ, not to our own fragile and flawed faith.
We are to be 'torch bearers' shining a light on God's costly and victorious
love in the one John the Baptist identifies as 'the Lamb of God who' - in a
unique act of sacrificial love - 'takes away the sin of the world' (John
1:29).

We do not exist to reflect on our own goodness but to cast light on God's
costly love for all in Christ. In this way, we are to reflect indirectly the
glory of God (Matthew 5:14-16). We are to rejoice that God's
goodness-and-mercy for all nations has been illuminated in the man who is
'God from God, Light from Light' (Nicene Creed).

When we shed light on the humanity of God in the Incarnation, we also commit
ourselves to defend human dignity. We are summoned to shed light on
situations 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 fanatics and tyrants who do not shrink from
causing 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, who claim the right
to choose their life-style, consent to do what is wrong. Where 'religion' is
very strong (as in some Islamic countries) or 'secular humanism' holds sway
(as in some Western nations), the dark shadow of evil is often present.

Wherever God's incarnate-crucified-risen love is mocked, and humans do evil,
the 'true light' of Christ is blanketed. In such places, the Church 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 our Jewish
cousins and bearing witness by ourselves to Jesus Christ as the 'light of the
world', is not 'all sweetness and light'.

Remember! John the Baptist was killed for being a 'witness' to the 'true
light'! (Matthew 14:6-12; Mark 6:17-29.) Jesus himself, described in the
Gospel and Revelation as 'Lamb of God who' - in a unique act of sacrificial
love - 'takes away the sin of the world' was crucified as if he were our
enemy. Down the ages, martyrs have died because those who thought themselves
'enlightened' did not welcome the light being shone on their dark deeds.

The Christian life is demanding because we are called to shine the light of
grace into the darkest corners of earth. It is also joyful because our
darkened lives have been lit by grace. When the darkness seems blackest 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.

It is also a pledge that, at the last, God shall overcome the darkness. As
the book of Revelation puts it, the future that has already been illuminated
in the sacrificial love of Christ will be a vibrant and joyful community
where there is 'no night' and no need for 'lamps to point to the truth'
because the victory of 'the Lamb' (Revelation 7:9-17) will radiate the glory
of God (22:1-5).

In the time given to us, it is our delight as a community of hope to be
'torch-bearers' by illuminating the glory of God in Jesus Christ, 'the light
of the world', 'God from God, Light from Light'.

As we pray for courage to fulfil this task, remember that Jesus did not shun
the darkness or sidestep suffering. God did not detach himself from the real
world but in him suffered and triumphed over evil for us! In the Lamb of God,
light is shed on our predicament (revealing that we are not 'enlightened')
and on God's power over sin, evil and death.

Like John the Baptist we are summoned to bear witness to the light, 'so that
all might believe' (1:7,8). In shining light, the 'true light in the world
which enlightens everybody' (John 1:9), we will be given courage to shed the
light of the crucified and risen Lamb of God into the dark places of the
earth. As a community of hope we are called to resist actively those who do
wrong and to support those who suffer at their hands. May we joyfully await
God's future when the darkness of sin, evil and death will be vanquished and
the light of grace radiates throughout the universe.

_________________________________

Rev Dr Max Champion is Minister in St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley,
Victoria, Australia.

Dr Champion is a member of the Council of the Assembly of Confessing
Congregations within the UCA.