Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church - New Paltz

As we hear in our liturgy of worship every Christmas Eve and in our Gospel lesson today, “The light shone in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

This light is fact, not fiction, but it can be so hard to see it! We catch glimpses, we are blessed by inspirational stories of God’s work in our lives and that of other people, but on so many days we look around and do not see the Christ child laying in the manger, we do not see the Word made flesh who came to dwell among us. Maybe if the Christ story was made into a 3-D movie it would be easier for us to see, or a picture book to read with kids, or a mini-series with acclaimed grammy-winning musical score. Instead it is hard to hold on to, hard to see it acting in our daily lives.

Expand on this: Story of Cherokee boy rite of manhood, boys taken into woods one by one, blindfolded knowing they must wait out the night without running away to be accepted into full manhood within the tribe. In the morning, when the blindfold is taken off, there is the boy’s father, who had been sitting there protecting his son all along.

The story of grace, the story of the Word made flesh who walked among us, is maybe a bit like the comics in the newspaper. Held at arms length we can see the pictures and enjoy the story, but if we hold the paper right up to our nose – try this sometime – it just looks like a bunch of black dots. Maybe sometimes in life we try too hard to hold on to the story of the Word that is love made manifest in the world. We hold on so hard that it begins to look like little dots. We forget that the Word made flesh sits through every dark night with us, guarding and protecting our lives. That there is no need to strive to hold on for God in Christ holds on to us! Christ holds on to us in love, love that has shone into the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it!

And when we forget this, and we will forget, God gives us the gift of community, places like Redeemer where we can gather and be reminded again of this story, be reminded again that God holds us in love and will not let us go.

Hear again the words of Isaiah, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.”

The messengers of good news are all around us and they can be part of God reminding us, of us reminding others of how the good news continues to pour into this world! Organ donors, those whose financial gifts make possible scientific research, the arts, the work of the Church, the heroes who risked their lives to try to save others on 9/11, the moms and dads trying to take time to be with their kids, the adult children making sure their parents are cared for. How lovely are the messengers who bring the good news that God reigns on high and here on earth. How beautiful are the lunch ladies and the salespeople and the gas station attendants, the migrant workers and the taxi drivers.

I just recently learned that organ donor recipients can sometimes go through a process whereby they get in contact with the family of the deceased person who donated their organs to save their life. There are amazing stories of people thanking those whose family member saved their life and likewise of family members whose mourning process and healing was aided by these encounters and the knowledge that their family member had made new life possible for another person.

As those striving to follow Christ – to be Christian -we know who our donor is - it is Christ who gave himself for us. And here at this table our own healing is nourished by Christ’s body and blood, again, and again, and again.

So look around for the stories of God’s radical love carried out in people’s lives, in the organ donors, philanthropists, the parents. Look within for the story unfolding in your own life. And do not despair in those times when the story seems lost or you have ceased to hear the music of God’s love story sung to you: Even in our darkest hours, God sits alongside us, protecting us all-ways.

The light had shone in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Amen.