Captivated by the Light

The Church of St. Paul & Incarnation, Jersey City NJ

December 25, 2019

Christmas Day

Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalm 98

Hebrews 1:1-4

John 1:1-14

Captivated by the Light

            Merry Christmas!

            As usual, our two celebrations last night were beautiful, with the our children doing a wonderfully charming job of telling the Christmas story, and Gail and our choir and musicians nearly blew the roof off of this old building with their gorgeous music at what we call “Midnight Mass.”

            Both of our services last night drew upon the stories of Jesus’ birth as found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

            They are stories filled with memorable characters, including Joseph and Mary, of course, and also shepherds and mysterious wise men from the East, and even a cruel ruler who was none-too-pleased at the news of a newborn king of the Jews.

            Both Matthew and Luke want to make sure that we understand that Jesus’ birth took place in a particular time and place. That’s why Luke lists the name of the emperor and his underlings, the name of the chief priest – it’s why they both give us names of specific places – it’s why they both give us a long list of ancestors.

            But, on Christmas morning we always hear another Christmas story, a different kind of Christmas story, one that looks at the big picture, one that starts…

            In the beginning.

            What’s called the Prologue of the Gospel of John isn’t so concerned with the details of time and place, though it does mention John the Baptist as the one who points to the light.

            Instead of giving us lots of tongue-twisting names, lots of historical detail, the author of the Gospel of John places the arrival of Jesus in the context of eternity: the Word was with God from the beginning, and now, in and though Jesus, the Word of God has come among us as a human being.

            “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”

            Jesus is the supreme and ultimate example of what God does all the time: shine light into shadow.

            At every Baptism, as I offer a little candle to the newly baptized, I say the words of Jesus: “You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine so that others may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

            Now, at that point in the Baptism I have to be extra-careful, because the light often captivates the babies and children, and, no surprise sometimes they reach out for it and I need to pass it safely to a parent or godparent.

 But, you know, no matter how old we are, no matter how long ago we were baptized, that light should captivate us, too, and we should reach out for it – and most of all, we should let that light, that bright beautiful light of Christ, shine out through our lives.

Today, God seeks to shine the light of Christ into our human mess.

Today, God seeks to shine the light of Christ into our very shadowy world.

Through us.

I don’t need to tell you that things have been pretty shadowy here in Jersey City lately with shocking outbursts of violence and hatred, along with the usual steady drumbeat of more “routine” violence and suffering, (there was even a shooting last night – on Christmas Eve (!) - just around the corner from us at Bergen and Montgomery).

And yet, it seems to me that even in the midst of all of that violence, fear, and sorrow, the light has been shining bright.

 The light has been shining bright as people of different faiths or no faith have gathered to pray and to reflect and commit ourselves to peace.

The light has been shining bright as Jersey City’s own Frank Gilmore, better known as Educational Gilmore, “Coach Woo,” a former drug dealer who has long committed his second chance at life to serving the youth of our community, was invited to share his story on Ellen and received $50,000 and two years free rent on his storefront community center.

So, the light was shining pretty bright already, right?

But then, Mr. Gilmore took $10,000 of that money and treated 80 children from the yeshiva on MLK Drive and the entire second grade class from Sacred Heart School, and some kids from a couple of other area schools, as well as the daughter of one of the victims, treated them all to a holiday shopping spree: shining light so bright, so very bright, into the shadows.

And the light has been shining pretty bright around here, too, with so many of us stepping up to help with Family Promise and so many of us providing a little Christmas joy to over 80 children, and even for the first time making our way around the neighborhood singing carols, something that I hope will become a tradition.

And so now, as the days are slowly growing brighter, my prayer is that the light of Christ will captivate us - that we will reach for it, grab hold of it, and shine it out into the world.

Amen – and merry Christmas!