St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
December 26, 2021
The First Sunday after Christmas
Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 147
Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7
John 1:1-18
Letting Our Light Shine
Merry Christmas!
We have had an amazing Christmas here at St. Thomas’.
Thanks to the creativity and hard work and generosity of parishioners, the church looks so beautiful.
And, despite their reduced numbers, Wanda and our choir produced so much glorious music – and, at our late service on Christmas Eve, the handbell choir sounded fantastic.
The children were adorable as they brought the nativity to life in the Christmas Tableau.
I knew Christmas would be amazing here but it was even more special than I had imagined.
By now, the world is beginning to move on from Christmas, on to whatever the next thing is – New Year’s Eve, I guess.
Very soon, people will be taking down their trees, and putting away the decorations for another year.
But, here in church, Christmas has just begun.
It’s still Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
And, to add to our Christmas joy, in just a few minutes I’ll have the honor of baptizing Annalouise – yet another Christmas gift for all of us.
Some of you may remember that last month I had my first baptisms here at St. Thomas’. Baptizing people is just about my favorite thing to do as a priest, so I was really excited, but also a little anxious that everything go well.
Near the end of the baptism, I light the baptismal candle from the Paschal Candle. I hold the candle before the newly baptized and I say:
“You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Often newly baptized babies are captivated by the light. Sometimes they even reach out for the light.
Well, anyway, at my first baptism here, just when it was time to light the first baptismal candle, I realized that we had forgotten to light the Paschal Candle.
John Lang and I put on a kind of Keystone Kops performance, desperately trying to get the candle lighted – and after what was probably just a minute but felt like a half hour, the candle finally burned bright, the newly baptized received the light, and there was great relief and rejoicing all around.
Today, on the First Sunday after Christmas, we hear the Christmas story as told by the Evangelist John.
John doesn’t tell us anything about Mary and Joseph, or angels and shepherds. There’s nothing about no room at the inn, and no mention of a manger.
Instead, John offers us a cosmic Christmas.
In and through Jesus, God’s light shines into our shadowy world.
God’s light is so bright that it overcomes the shadows of fear and hatred – God’s light is so bright that it is stronger even than death itself.
You know, I’ve never done a Christmas baptism before, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that it is absolutely perfect.
It’s perfect because it’s in the water of baptism that the light of Christ begins to shine bright in us.
It’s in the water of baptism that we really do become the light of the world.
That’s why the candle is such an important symbol – that’s why John and I were determined to get that candle burning if it was the last thing we did!
It’s in the water of baptism that the light of Christ begins to shine bright in us – but Baptism really is just the beginning.
For the rest of Annalouise’s life, and for the rest of all of our lives, with God’s help, our task is to shine our light into an often shadowy world.
With God’s help, our task is to resist evil – to be Good News for people who usually get a whole lot of bad news.
With God’s help, our task is to love our neighbor as our self – to devote our lives to justice and peace – to shine our light into the shadows so that the world may see our good works and give glory to the God who makes it all possible.
Now, I don’t know, maybe this all sounds like it’s too much to ask – maybe it sounds pie-in-the-sky – maybe it sounds like it’s impossible.
So, two things about that.
First, we have faithful role models – we have holy women and men who through the ages have allowed the light of Christ to shine through them.
This morning I woke up to the sad news that one of the holiest men of our time – Archbishop Desmond Tutu - has died.
During his life he courageously stood up to a cruel and seemingly invincible foe, absolutely convinced that light would overcome shadow.
Tutu was fearless because he knew the battle was already won. The only problem was his opponents had not realized it, yet.
And, after the fall of South Africa’s racist regime, he insisted that there needed to be truth and reconciliation, again shining light into some very deep shadows.
Once when I was in seminary, I had the privilege of hearing Archbishop Tutu preach – an experience I won’t ever forget.
The theme of his sermon was that God calls us to help with God’s mission – God calls us to shine God’s light into the shadows.
He concluded his sermon by allowing God to speak through him, saying to us over and over, “Help me, help me, help me…”
His voice grew ever softer, giving us all chills, convincing all of us that God really was – really is – calling us to shine God’s light into our shadowy world.
So, we know we can shine God’s light because others have showed us the way.
Second, while Annalouise and we can and should shine our light on our own – when we’re at work or school - when we’re in our car or in the supermarket, the truth is that our light shines even brighter together.
And you know I’m not making that up because you’ve all seen how bright it gets in here when we’re all together, how bright it gets when we all chip in to help people in need.
I’ve seen it myself.
For example, the mountain of gifts that you generously contributed to the Christmas Extravaganza made our parish hall so very bright.
So, St. Thomas’, this is my Christmas message:
You are the light of the world.
Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Merry Christmas!
Amen.
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