Genesis 1: 1-5
John 1: 1-14
Luke 2: 8-20
“And the Word was Made Flesh” by Laurence Housman.
“Light looked down and beheld Darkness.
‘Thither will I go’, said Light.
Peace looked down and beheld War.
‘Thither will I go’, said Peace.
Love looked down and beheld Hatred.
‘Thither will I go’, said Love.
So came Light and shone.
So came Peace and gave rest.
So came Love and brought Life.”
Tonight’s message is about light;
though it could also be about beginnings... in our readings we heard from the
very first verses of the bible: the creation narrative in Genesis
And then from the beginning of John’s
Gospel – a different creation narrative
And then from Luke’s Gospel – the nativity
narrative: God’s creation in a very different way and a new beginning for the world
Each story; each explanation; each
narrative is about LIGHT coming into the world
Light to dispel the darkness
Light to show the way
Light to chase fears away
Light, that leads us through life, and ultimately
beyond it into the glorious Light of God’s presence.
Light is Love – God’s love, taking on
flesh, for us
Light is Intimacy – God coming close
enough to know everything about us
Light is Goodness – God who will not do
anything other than good
Light is Hope – God’s whose actions
bring only hope
Light is Trust – God in whom we all
trust, for his promises are fulfilled this night
Love, Intimacy, Goodness, Hope, Trust:
LIGHT
In the beginning
There was nothing
And then there was LIGHT
Light is the first thing God created,
because light is needed for everything else
Without light nothing will grow;
nothing will flourish; nothing will thrive
With light comes life
And with life comes everything else; the
poem I quoted at the start of this message says it all:
“And the Word was Made Flesh” by Laurence Housman.
“Light looked down and beheld Darkness.
‘Thither will I go’, said Light.
Peace looked down and beheld War.
‘Thither will I go’, said Peace.
Love looked down and beheld Hatred.
‘Thither will I go’, said Love.
So came Light and shone.
So came Peace and gave rest.
So came Love and brought Life.”
Light came into the world as the Word
became flesh
Light it is that calls us home – to God’s
kingdom of light, where there is no darkness
John, whose beautiful words paint a
vision of the Word and the Light that comes from the word, also wrote about the
kingdom to come where there was no need for the sun or the moon because the
glory of God lights the way, and the Lamb of God is the Light of that World,
and in that place there is no night – all is light.
And all of this came about because of
what we remember tonight.
A lowly stable
A courageous and willing couple, who
accepted the challenge of bringing that Light into the world
And the Glory of God
Shining forth as angels filled the
heavens
The Word was made flesh and dwelt
amongst us
Light has come into the world, and even
in our darkest night, will shine for us; will shine for all to
see.
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