“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. All things came into being through him… The Light shines in the darkness”

Familiar words. Heard every Christmas. Etched in our hearts. Echoing the story of Creation in Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heaven and earth, the earth was without form …darkness was over the face of the deep… and God said ‘Let there be light.”

Light breaking through darkness.

This is what drew me to the painter J. W. Turner. Every painting carries an imprint of John 1: “light shines in the darkness.” My encounter with Turner’s art came on the heels of another experience I had at Kings College Chapel, Cambridge that is dominated by stained glass windows. I visited the chapel with a friend who insisted I should see it. He and I had had heated discussions about God. We sat silently in the dim chapel. Suddenly the chapel burst into light and colour as the sun broke through and the stones glowed. I sat there transfixed. A little later my friend whispered to me, “I will argue against God’s existence, but at a moment like this, when the light breaks through those windows, I feel that God exists.”

I think my friend was expressing the essence of what humans long for. What we so desperately search for. That breaking through of Light into our lives and world that are threaded through with darkness.

It’s fascinating to see how light has captured the spirit of Christmas. Rightly so. As nights draw in, everyone delights in the Christmas lights: thousands of city lights adorn buildings; fairy lights on Christmas trees and in gardens; candles flickering in churches and our homes. Light takes centre stage.

There are many Festivals of light around the world. Hindus celebrate Diwali, Buddhist – Vesak, Muslims – Eid al-Fitr, and Jews Hannukah. Humans have always felt the darkness within and without. We have longed for light to lighten our darkness. As the Advent Collect puts it – to have the “grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light.”

Into this longing, Christ the Light of the world steps.

The gospel writers point to Christ as the Light. Matthew quotes Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” Luke echoes Isaiah: “the dawn from on high will break uponus, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” And John’s prologue today declares: “What has come into being in Christ was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

The light of Christ might sound vague. How do we see this Light? C. S. Lewis gives us a clue when he said “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” Frederick Buechner talks of how “our culture, our institutions… our whole understanding of ourselves and our world changed” by Christ’s coming. We remember William Wilberforce who fought for a decade to abolish slavery. We think of the NHS that Nye Bevan, its’ founder, described as “a little piece of Christianity.” Christ has changed our world. 

There is an image used by James May (one of the Top Gear lads) that captures the coming of Christ the Light of the world. In the series “The 20th Century,” James May describes the coming of electricity as one of the revolutionary changes of the era. Let me quote him:

“In previous centuries… if aliens had flown past our planet at night, they would have detected no signs of life… we would have blown out our dim candles and gone to bed. But now our planet glows in the dark. For the first time in 4.5 billion years, intergalactic travellers now know that the earth is worth visiting.”

The Earth, viewed from space, is no longer dark. It is a glowing globe. Our habits, interests, occupations, our very world has been transformed. Before electricity, the world was a very different place.

This image of our planet glowing in the dark is a wonderful metaphor for how our world was transformed by the coming of Christ, the Light of the World. A dark planet set ablaze by the Christ light.

The Baby of Bethlehem, in John’s words, is the “Eternal Word.” He is the one “who was with God.” “Who is God.” “The Word made flesh.” “The Light that comes into the darkness.” Our reading from Hebrews today resonates with the gospel of John as the writer tells us who Christ is: “He created the worlds.” “He is the exact reflection of God’s glory.” “He is the exact imprint of God’s very being.”

While we enjoy the stories of the baby born in the stable, the story is incomplete if we do not see Christ through the eyes of John and the writer of Hebrews. They speak to the hunger to see and know God, and into our longing for Light in our darkened lives and world.

As I close let me invite you to shut your eyes and imagine this scene described by Tom Wright: 

“You are standing in the dark looking eastwards out to sea. The stars flicker overhead. The first signs of light, and of life: grey pre-dawn sky, seabirds around the breaking waves. Grey turns to green, then gold. Curtains still closed inshore, oblivious to the wakening glory. Stars fade, sea and sky catch fire, and the bright overpowering disk emerges. Too radiant to look at. But in its light you see everything else.”

If there is one image of Christmas that I ask you to hold on to through Christmastide it is this one of Light. Shining in the darkness – transforming everything.

Prayer for the lighting of the Christ candle

Blessed are you, sovereign Lord, King of peace:
to you be praise and glory for ever.
The new light of your incarnate Word
gives gladness in our sorrow,
and a presence in our isolation.
Fill our lives with your light,
until they overflow with gladness and praise.
Blessed be God for ever.