Sermon: "The Light of God"

Sixth in the "A Community of Light" series.
Delivered December 25, 2005 by Rev. George Antonakos.
Other sermons in this series - 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

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Lord, we thank you so much for your loving grace that has poured out in us, that has been made most clear in the coming of your Son, not only in his coming, in his life and his death and his resurrection, and in his coming again we rejoice and celebrate that he walks with us today and we pray that your Holy Spirit would open our minds to understand the word and apply it, and as Doug just shared that there would be something different because of hearing it. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.

Today I am reading just from the first four verses of the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews was written later on and probably around 70 A.D., maybe a little later, but it's a second-generation book. So in some ways it shares in common with us, people who do not have the experience first hand of knowing Jesus, or even knowing some of the apostles. And so this second chapter book, so to speak, is developing a more mature understanding of who Jesus is, even before all the creeds were developed. So listen to the first four verses of The Book of Hebrews.

"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs."

If you were to keep reading in Hebrews you would see the word angels mentioned four or five times just in the first verses, but its like 14 times in two chapters. Now it's not quite clear why the word angel is mentioned so often, but it's really appropriate for Christmas Day that angels are mentioned so often, but back then they think maybe because people were into angel worship. They were into something else besides worshipping the King of angels. And so you will see as you go through Hebrews that Jesus is much more superior.

But I want to go on a different track here. Did you see it this year; did you see "The" movie? Let me give you a hint- Zuzu's petals, George Bailey. Did you see that movie? You know that movie, right? It's a Wonderful Life. And what's the point of that movie? The point of the movie is that it is a wonderful life; that you know George Bailey if he hadn't been born, right? You know the whole story. We know this story, but obviously the point we are supposed to make when we see this movie is what if we hadn't of been born? What would life be like if we had not been born? But even more to the point today is, what would like be like if Jesus hadn't been born? I remember my dad, I might have shared this war story with you before, and I won't belabor it just to say this, my dad had a miracle war story. He was in the front part of a ship or the back part of the ship and a guy got seasick. He took his place in the front part of the ship and on a certain tour of duty over the Mediterranean and the rear part of the ship got blasted with a torpedo and split like a banana peel and everybody back there was killed. He was spared because he was sent up to the front of the ship where he didn't want to go. One time I asked him, "What do you think of all that, dad? What do you make of all of that?" And you know what I thought he was going to say, I thought he was going to say, "Lucky I guess." He said, "You were supposed to be born."

And you know what, so were you. You were supposed to be born. God has a plan for you, a wonderful plan for your life. And so I asked, "What would it be like if Jesus hadn't been born?" Think about that for just a minute. We wouldn't have our current calendar. We wouldn't be calling this year 2005. There would be no Christmas, no wreaths, no carols, and no jingle bells. We wouldn't be here today. There would be no Central Presbyterian Church. It would have never have existed. America would be different. There would be no pilgrims, no Thanksgiving, no missionaries. Think of all the work done in Jesus' name; there would be no salvation, no Billy Graham association. None of it would exist. And if that were the case, we would be in darkness. We would be people in darkness. That is what the Bible says. People who sat in darkness saw a great light and we would be in darkness and we wouldn't understand a thing. And for those who have never trusted Jesus, they are walking in darkness. The Bible says, that Jesus has transferred us from the domain of darkness. He has transferred us from the power of darkness in to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

You know, what is it like to be walking in darkness? The power of darkness. Can you imagine if everything went pitch black in here? First of all, if it went pitch black it would not be a good illustration because many of you know, maybe you know the number of pews or something, right? But let's say, I mean it was pitch black and you didn't have any clue. Do you remember the movie, The Poseidon Adventure, when that ship turns over and it's totally upside down and its dark and nobody knows which way is up? Let's say you are in that situation and it's totally dark. To be in the darkness is to grope for your own way. It's just trying to find your way out. It's just you do what you think is best. But to be in the kingdom of his beloved Son is to be in the kingdom where we do what God thinks is best and we follow him. And Jesus said, "He who follows me will never walk in darkness." You can be taken out of that domain or that power where you always do what you think is best and be delivered from that and transferred in to the kingdom of light where you see clearly. And in Hebrews, Chapter 12, verses 1 to 4 it says in Verse 3, the Son is the radiance of God's glory. He is the radiance of God's glory. There is a certain version that calls it the effulgence; when was the last time you used the word effulgence in a sentence, right? The effulgence, the radiance, the reflection, the radiance shining forth from the source of light.

Do you remember when I had lit candles last night? If we had all raised the candles together, it would have cast an even greater radiance. When it says that Jesus is the radiance of the reflection of God's glory, He is what both the light is and what it creates. The radiance and the substance are the same thing. That's what the creed says. He's light of light. And just as the radiance of the sun reaches the earth, so in Christ the glorious light of God shines in to the hearts of all who will come to the light, will follow the light.

John, Chapter 1, Verse 4 says, "In him was life, and that life was the light of men and woman." The word, the light became flesh. And this light, this word that became flesh is the exact representation of God.

And I want you to think just with me theologically about two things because Jesus has come in the flesh. Number one, the first theological point I want to make is that this reality that we celebrate today blasts away at less fleshy brands of religion. I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and you whatever brand of religion you want to look at, you can look at; all about meditation, you are God, all kinds of ethereal stuff. It's less fleshy brands of religion. But John, and the writer of Hebrews, say no, God came in the flesh. Christ's followers are called to express him and meet him in the flesh of human community.

You know they knocked down my door again yesterday. Those of another brand of religion. This was the second time in like two weeks and I smile and I say, "You know what, I appreciate your zeal so much, but we just don't agree about the identity of Jesus. We don't agree. You don't think he came in the flesh. He came in the flesh and he became one of us. God of God and light of light." And they said, "At least thank you for being nice." That's what they said to me on the porch. "Thank you for being nice. We don't always get nice." I said, "He is the light of God." And I pray, I pray for folks who knock on the door and say, "Lord, in spite of themselves, help them know you, help them to really understand who you are." But you know on the electronic church, you know what the knock is on sitting in your living room always watching church, there is no one to hug, there is no holy kiss to exchange. There is no skin to touch. There is no one who will challenge you to dig in with middle school students in Sunday school. There is no one who will ask you to take a meal to a shut in. We follow one who became flesh and entered in to life of human community.

On the other hand, here is the second theological point, the doctrine of the incarnation blasts away at naive notions of the natural holiness of life. Now God has infused all life with holiness, but it concerns me when I see even churches of our own denominations getting into things like the Gaya hypothesis. Earth theology, where everything just kind of gets blended you know, and we all need to respect the earth. We have been put as stewards in the earth. We do not have dominion over. We are to take support of and all of that. But this is more than all of that. It's got to do with connecting with emanations and its just not incarnational theology.

There is a movie made about Saint Francis of Assisi's called "Brother Son and Sister Moon." In the movie its kind of like, I don't think they were trying to follow this hypothesis that I was just telling you about, but in the movie the birds talked to Saint Francis. That's not Christianity. Christianity, Saint Francis should be talking to the birds, because all of life is all in everything. And if you don't think that's true, just asked somebody who maybe survived Auschwitz. We have a friend like that, or ask somebody who is battling a malignant tumor or ask somebody who has tried to change the government. Life is not beautiful in all its own way, like the song says. Life has fallen, but the beauty of this day is that Jesus Christ in his holiness has come in, the light of God has come in through the cross and the resurrection and the reality is this. There is no place on this earth that the darkness can overcome the light. Because of Jesus all of human life is infused with holiness.

And to affirm the incarnation doesn't mean to affirm that life is a bowl of cherries. We see that people are not what they could be. We see that people do not do the best that they can do, but what today does mean is that there is no corner of human experience so hidden that grace cannot find it. There is no soil so sterile that a seed of holy wonder cannot grow in it. And there is no moment so dark that it can't extinguish the light of God, which even now shines in it. Christians do not float around on bubbles celebrating life. We celebrate God who entered and enters in to the life of times face creation and redeems it and changes it. The word became flesh. The radiant God is the light of life at work in every place whether we sense it or not. And so you and I are where the light is working. You are important. The you turned over to Jesus no matter how sad, or mad, or bad, you feel. The you turned over to Jesus is part of God's plan to spread the light. You were supposed to be born and you're supposed to be born again and in Jesus Christ we have both. So bear the light, today on this holy day, repent of anything that's not of the light, which is really God's love and walk in it and share it wherever you go. Amen.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are the light. We thank you that the darkness even in our own lives cannot overcome it. Lord we ask that as we have heard today through song and testimony that there would be change, that there would be transformation of our internal beings so that it would express itself in our external being. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

© 2005, Rev. George Antonakos
Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD 21204 410/823-6145
www.centralpc.org