The Light Shines...Against the Darkness

It is Christmastime, correct? It’s the holidays! Everyone is supposed to be holly jolly and everything is supposed to be merry and bright.

And maybe you’ve even felt like that!
You wake up with a smile on your face.
Your pumpkin spice latte is already cooking in your pumpkin spiced latte maker.
You put on some sparkly Christmas socks, turn on Bing Crosby, and sit by the fireplace.
Everything is so merry and bright!
 
And then...?
You check your news feed.

11 killed in synagogue massacre.
3 killed in roadside bombing in Afghanistan.
KKK numbers rising.
 
And on Facebook…
Aunt Hilda still struggling with cancer.
Cousin Johnny is getting a divorce.
Your friend Melanie committed suicide around this time three years ago.

It’s supposed to be a bright time.
But life can be so…dark.  

How did it get this way?
 
Today we will focus on how the Light of the World shines against the darkness. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. How’d it Get so Dark?

To find out the answer to that question, we need to go all the way back to the beginning, the very first book of the bible called Genesis. It literally means “beginning.”
And “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (1:1) At the end of it, there is a small little phrase that God utters about creation. He says:
“It was very good.” (1:31)

That’s an important phrase. Because when God says, “Very good,” he means something very different than when I say it.

For instance, when I finish up wrapping a Christmas present, there’s crooked tape here, off-kilter tape there, and a big gap in the back exposing that it’s a box from Target…and I get done and I say, “It’s good.”

Understand. That’s not what God means.
When God says, “It’s good.” God means, “Perfect.”
“Holy.”
“Divine.”
 
That means when God created the world, there weren’t any of the “dark” things that we mentioned before.
There was no such thing as terrorism.
There was no such thing as racism.
There was no such thing as adultery.
There was no such thing as addiction. 
There was no such thing as cancer, criminal offenses or cattiness in the church fellowship hall.
 
God made the world good.
There was no darkness.
 
But…it happened.

Before I get into that you need to understand something about perfection.
In God’s mind, the concept of perfection involves love.
And in God’s mind, the perfect concept of love is not coerced, but freely and willingly given.
 
I think we get that. Case and point: If you have an Alexa robot, one of those Google inspired devices that can be programmed to listen to your voice and do whatever you ask it to do – and it does it. In addition to the Alexa robot, you have an Alex, a human child, who gets his toys stuck in the carpet, forgets to clean up the LEGOs and generally makes messes even when you tell him to clean up.

QUESTION: Between Alexa and Alex, which one would you say loves you?
Alex, of course.

Because Alexa is literally programmed to do whatever you say.
Alex can choose to blow snot bubbles or to come and give you a hug.
And when he chooses to give you a hug – that’s love.
 
God knew this.
When God created humans, he made them with the ability to love to him or to not love to him.
Specifically, he gave them one specific way to show this unforced, non-coerced love:
 
God said to them: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (2:16-27)

Did you follow that?
God told them to show love to him by not eating from one specific tree.  
That’s it.

No thank you notes necessary.
No finger paint art work that says, “I love you.”

Just don’t eat from the one tree.

It’s like when preschoolers come and give me a hug around the legs so that I can’t move, and they say, “Mr. Pastor, I love you.”
And I say, “Thank you. But do you know what will show you love me even better than this hug? If you line up like I’ve told you to do, about 17 times.”
 
Adam and Eve had a chance to show active love for God by not eating from the tree.

So how did they do with that?

Well…

One day, the two of them are walking through the garden. As they pass by the middle where the one tree that they aren’t supposed to eat from is located, a snake begins to talk to them.
 
Yes, a snake.

The snake is none other than Satan, the devil, Lucifer. The exact origins of Lucifer are unclear, but a few things to note:
God created him.
God created him in the same way he created humans – with a choice to serve him.
Lucifer chose to NOT serve God, but to oppose him.
 
And that’s exactly what he does here.

He says, “Did God really say that you must not eat from the fruit of this tree?” The answer is yes.
He says, “...You will not die.” But God said they would.
He says, “You will become like God.” But they already were.

So, question:
Whom should you believe?

The Holy, perfect God who created you and gave you the whole world?
Or a talking snake?

Well…
Adam and Eve look up at that fruit.
They see its faux shine.
They grab it off the branch.
They sink their teeth into it’s delicious nectar.

And, for the very first time, they taste:
EVIL.
 
Look at what happens:
Then, the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (v.7)

For the first time ever, they experience mistrust. “What is she looking at my 3 pack of abs? Stop judging me. There’s not a lot of exercise equipment in this garden.”
For the first time ever, they experience anxiety: “I wonder if I’m enough for him. He’s been looking at one of the other women…in this garden of so many women.”
For the first time ever, they experience judgment: “He does look like he’s had a few too many blueberries lately.”
For the first time ever, they experience marital disunity: “Leave me alone while I go over here and cover myself. You go over there and cover yourself.”
 
And then:  They heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden, so they hid from him. (v8)

For the first time ever, they experience fear of God: “What will he do to us?”
For the first time ever, they experience shame: “I don’t want him to see me like this.”
For the first time ever, they experience guilt: “We did the one thing we shouldn’t have done.”
 
And when they do come out of the bushes to talk to God:
“It was the woman! She did it!” Not my wife. Not my love. That woman.
“It was the snake! He did it!” Not me. Not my fault. I am the victim here! Some animal.
“It was the woman YOU put here God.” Really…the evil is on YOU.
 
Do you see it?
Darkness is firmly a part of history now.
Sin is here.
Sin is here to stay.
 
And God responds as only a Holy, Light-filled God who hates sin can respond. By doling out consequences:

Pain. Painful childbirth. Painful toil. Painful slivers and hangnails. Painful arthritis and headaches. Painful diseases and injuries.
Relationship Issues. He’ll be a jerk! Because he’s a sinner now. He’s had a taste of the darkness and it won’t stop him from calling you things that you should never call a woman. And to be fair – you won’t take it sitting down. You’ll tell him that you NEVER loved him and he’s a worth pile of dirt.
Work Issues. Because now it won’t be fun. Now there will be weeds in the ground. Now there will be computer crashes. Now there will be plumbing issues. Now there will be back stabbing, infighting, and gossip that ruins your career.
Death.  For “Dust you are and to dust you shall return.” (v.19) This is the origin of cancer, of car crashes, of terrorism, mass shooting, and terrifying nights in the E.R.

And that’s just the beginning…
Now?

It’s only gotten darker.
It’s only gotten crueler.
It’s only gotten harder to deal with.

II. The Light Shines against Darkness
 
Did you know that God didn’t just give consequences to the humans?
He also gave consequences to the snake.

God says he’ll crawl on his belly (v.14)
God says the snake will eat dust all the days of his life. (v.14b)
Some scholars wonder if maybe the original form of the snake had some little tiny legs. (Which is pretty horrifying thing to think of. Long, slithering, disgusting with legs?)
 
But then – pay careful attention to the final consequence for Satan:  
I will put enmity between you and the woman; between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head. (v.15)
 
Did you hear it?
This is more than just a consequence for the devil.
This is a promise for the people.
One day someone will come who will crush the evil one and destroy all of his power.
One day someone will come to overpower the evil.
One day someone will come to shine against the darkness.

One day…right around the very first Christmas:
In Jesus was life and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5)
 
This is why Christmas matters.
We live in a world of darkness and death.
We needed the Light. We need Life.

And we have both in Jesus.  

(1) Light
 
Because our world is only darkness.
And adding darkness to the darkness to try and get rid of the darkness, doesn’t work.  

For instance, no one ever says, “It’s dark in here. Let me get out my sunglasses because I’m sure that will make things brighter.”
Or: “Honey, I know you’re scared of the dark. Let me turn OFF the hallway light. That’ll make it easier to see.”
Adding darkness to darkness only leads to more darkness.

Since we live in a world infected by spiritual darkness, we cannot expect the light to come from that darkness.
We cannot expect the light to come from ourselves.

What I mean is, the solution to the darkness IS NOT and CANNOT EVER be:

“Just try harder.”
“Do good.”
“Do your best.”

They are all a version of:  
Let’s add more darkness this darkness because I’m sure that will make it brighter.

Nope.

The light of the world needs to come from outside of the world.
The light of the world needs to come from the place of light.
The light of the world needs to come from heaven itself.

That light of the world is Jesus.
 
And like a candle coming into dark room…
Jesus shines against the darkness.
And he always overcomes it.
 
Think about that. No matter what kind of darkness you are dealing with this holiday season, Jesus is the light that will overcome it.

When you’re dealing with the darkness of a relationship that has spoiled, he brings the light and says, “I will never leave you.”
When you’re struggling with the guilt of some kind of sin you committed around this time six years ago, Jesus says, “I forgive you.”
When you’re dealing with the dark effects of racist attitudes to you at work, Jesus shines the light and says, “I love you as you are.”
When there’s nothing but drama and disorder amongst your family, Jesus speaks to you and says, “We are at peace.”
When there’s financial struggles that leave you filled with anxiety, Jesus says, “I’ve got this” and drives the darkness away!

The light overcomes the darkness.
Every time.
Always.

Even in the darkest of times.

(2) Life

There is no greater darkness in this life than death.
There is probably nothing that you will face in life greater than death itself.
Your own.
Or that of a loved one.

That’s exactly what a man named Jairus was dealing with.
His daughter was sick.
Deathly sick.

And he had done everything he could think of to fix her.
He went to the doctor.
He went to the physician.
He got medicines and herbs and essential oils.

Nothing.

So, as the darkness of “I might lose her” settled in, he made his way to Jesus.
“Please sir! Help my daughter. Please sir! Do something. Heal her.”

But as Jesus and Jairus made their way to his house, what little life was left in her eyes…went out.
And when Jairus made his way to his daughter’s bedroom, he no longer saw her.
Only a cold, lifeless body.

As Jairus began to sob uncontrollably, clinging to his wife as if she could soak up the dark sadness that had overcome his soul.
Jesus walked past.
He approached the girl’s body.
He took her hand.
He looked her in her cold, dark eyes and said:
“Get up!”

And…

As Jairus watched, her eyes – he saw it:

Light returned.
Life returned. 
She sat up.

Alive!

Jesus is the light of the world.
Jesus is the life that brings light even in the face of death.

Years later Jesus himself faced death on the cross.
He died, but then came back to life.
He is the light of the world.
He is the LIFE of the world.

And the life always overcomes death.

Again – consider that deeply –

In Jesus, you will conquer death.
You will conquer death in all its form.

That arthritis that reminding you of decaying body, Jesus will overcome that.
That pain in your heart from missing a dearly departed loved one, Jesus will overcome that.
That cancer that leads you to a hospital bed, Jesus will overcome that.
That child that you lost, Jesus will overcome that pain.
In fact, Jesus brings LIFE! 
To you. To me. To all who believe.
 
III. What Now?

The only way to overcome the darkness is with Jesus.  Make that your number one this Christmas season.
Make sure you tell your kids about Jesus.
Make sure you meditate on your Savior.
Make sure you’re in worship.
Make sure your singing Jesus songs.

If you don’t get all the lights up…
If you don’t get all the presents wrapped…
If you don’t get all the mistletoe hung…

That’s OK.
Those things don’t make Christmas bright.
Jesus does.

May He shine as a light against whatever darkness you are facing.  Amen.