Pastor Tom Johnson, December 25, 2012
Have you ever been deep into a cave without light? I’ve taken short tours through the caves—but one time took an extended tour into the depths of the earth. The extended tour had no electric lights or electricity—it was a lantern tour. As you enter the passageway into this section of the cave, you can see nothing but black nothingness. The only source of light you are given is a oil lantern—the tour guide lit each of ours as we passed him by with his lighter. I was pretty sure that a little candle-light sized flame would not be enough light for us to see anything. But I was wrong. As our eyes adjusted, the little oil flames of light illuminated the darkness. We could see rock formations, navigate narrow passageways, and find our footing easily with just a flicker of light. I never would have guessed that such a little light could deliver so much. Perhaps it is because I had never been in such darkness.
As you might suspect, at one point in the tour, the tour guide asked us to all blow out our lanterns. One person asked if the tour guide remembered to bring his lighter. Only after he physically showed us two lighters did we all blow them out. He then instructed us to wait patiently for the smoldering wicks to completely die out. It was amazing how much of a bright, orange glow those smoldering wicks put out. Finally, he told us to make sure all our electronic devices were off. We were in complete darkness. We were deep within the heart of the mountain. The tour guide asked us to pass our hands in front of our faces…nothing. Nothing in our peripheral vision. Nothing around the corner trying to peak in—like the previous tour. Nothing but darkness, blackness, and nothingness. The tour guide said that if we spent just a number of hours in this complete darkness, our brains would become confused. There would be no signals between the retina and the brain. Blindness would set in. And, then madness.
And is this not an apt description of the world we live in…the darkness and lack of light on a global scale? We often live our lives unable to see the hand of God at work in our lives and in the world around us. Madness has set in: wars, terrorist attacks, murder, abuse of family, abuse of power, greed, hopelessness, depression, and profound anxiety—a worldwide pandemic of the darkness of the human condition—deep within the human soul.
Our reading from Hebrews remind us of the precious and life-giving truth of the Christ Child: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” He is the radiance of God’s glory. To gaze upon that Child underneath the Christmas star, is to gaze upon the Star of David, the Morning and Evening Star, the Sun and Dawn of a new morning, the radiance of the glory of God. To look to Jesus is to look to God. To bask in the light of Jesus is to bask in the Light of Glory. And he does not just reflect and radiate the light of almighty God—he is—he is God. He is the exact imprint of God’s nature. When Jesus’ fingerprint is found in our lives, it is because the finger of God has touched us. That is why on Christmas Day we sing the song of Isaiah, “For unto us a child is born” (Isa 9:2). “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”
After lingering for about 15 minutes in absolute darkness in that cave, we were all pretty eager to light our lanterns again. The tour guide was desperately wanting to drive us to madness with his ridiculous ghost story. Finally, he flicked on his lighter. It was like an explosion and sunburst of light. As he passed the lighter from lantern to lantern the illumined cave brought us back to the security and comfort of being able to navigate our world. A little Christ Child born in a manger—brightening the lives of a world struggling through deep darkness. He lights our lanterns through the water and fire of Baptism. He brings us the light of forgiveness through his own luminous Body and Blood in the bread and the wine. We are his little lanterns illuminating the dark caverns of this world. And not to belittle the great gifts that we enjoy now, the full revelation and unveiling of the bright Son of Glory is to come!
When we left that cave, we walked into the light of the Colorado summer sun—a blinding light. It made our candles a mere foretaste of the light to come. And so it will be when Christ’s light safely navigates us to our heavenly home. Revelation describes this as a place that “has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev 21:23). Outside of this Christ Child, there is no true light, no true comfort of forgiveness of sins, no assurance or certainty of eternal light. He is the Light of the World.
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