Testify to the Light

 John 1 6-8, 19 – 28

Advent 3

A few weeks ago I was reading a newspaper and noticed an article with the headline “Christmas cutbacks”. It said most people in the UK this year would be trying to cut back on the amount they spend this Christmas. Thinking about this I decided to be a little frugal myself. I thought that perhaps it would be nice to make gifts for a few close friends. How nice it is to receive a gift made by someone as it seems to mean a lot more. After much consideration I decided that for one of my friends I would make a nativity set made of clay. Now on the surface this sounds a good idea. But when I told my husband and parents they both had the same reaction “you have got to be joking – you are SO bad at art” I have to confess that I was actually told that I couldn’t take art at school because I was so bad at it. Undeterred I bought some clay and set to work. Mary, Joseph and the baby in a manger and then a donkey and an ox. By the time I got to the ox I realised that this whole thing had proved much more difficult than I could have imagined. What I had in my mind’s eye hadn’t really translated into reality. When my husband got back from work I told him that the art work was complete and he went into the kitchen to see it. He looked at it and after what seemed like 5
minutes of silence he said “You have made it look hideous on purpose!” When my Father saw it he asked why there was a Staffordshire bull terrier in the manger scene!! 

But seriously, perhaps having to be a little bit more frugal this year is a good thing.  It focuses our minds upon what is really important. It brings us back to remembering that the value is not in the price we pay for something but in the sentiment in which it is given. I think it is also important to remember that giving this season doesn’t just have to just mean the giving of material things. Giving could mean reaching out into wider community with an act of kindness or friendship. The message of Jesus is always that it is more blessed to give than receive. Indeed any giving, be it of ourselves or a physical gift, which is offered in a spirit of generosity and love, let’s some of Christ’s light illuminate the darkness.

Light and darkness are two words which we hear a lot about in Advent. We hear in our Gospel reading today how light is used to describe the coming of Jesus. “A man come sent by God, his name was John. He came as a witness as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light only a witness to the light”

The Gospel writer is careful to tell us that John the Baptist was indeed important, but that he was not the light, but only a witness to it.  John’s function was only to be a preparer of the way. Any greatness he had came from the greatness of the one whose coming he foretold. He is a wonderful example of someone who was prepared to stand back in order that Jesus could be seen. John saw himself merely as a signpost, a messenger who points to Christ. One who was not worthy even to untie the strap of Jesus’ sandal. To undo the strap your master’s sandal was slave’s work and there was a Rabbinic saying which said, that a disciple might do for his master anything that a servant did except untie his sandals. This was too menial a task for even a disciple to carry out. And here was John announcing that he was not even fit to be a slave of the one who was coming. We are told that John the Baptist stands in the darkness of wilderness and cries out “Here is Light!” The gospel writer want us to understand something about the wilderness: The wilderness always leads to the Light. It is way out of slavery, the way out of Exile. It is the path to freedom for all God's people.

Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah this morning, was probably written after the people of Israel returned from Exile. It foretells the total salvation of God’s people: bodily, spiritually, individually and socially and tells us of the good news of deliverance.  The prophet says that God has empowered him to act on God’s behalf; God has “anointed” him, commissioned him to preach and to hear the Word of faith, to understand God’s word, and to be strengthened in following it.

This is a message of rescue for God’s people, in all ways. And our deliverance comes from Jesus, the real light that had came to bring salvation to the world. Yes, before Jesus there were other lights that had been followed, but Jesus was the only genuine light, the real light to guide us upon our way. When Jesus came into the world he came to light the darkness.   Here is the Messiah, here is hope and his name is Jesus.

I wonder if you have you ever been in a situation where you have experienced complete darkness? Literally where there is no light at all and it is completely pitch black?. Some years ago I experienced just that. I had applied for a job as a Police Officer and part of the selection process was to go to an outward bound centre in Wales where my fitness and endurance would be tested. The first day was exhausting, we scaled a mountain and were dropped into an estuary in freezing conditions in the middle of November. The evening came and we went off to our dormitories for some well earned sleep. Unexpectedly at 1.30.am the lights went on and we were told we had five minutes to get dressed. Once dressed we were all loaded into a minibus and driven off into the night. We were told that we were being taken to a forest and that we would be dropped off at quarter mile intervals and would be left there until they decided to come and collect us. We had no idea how long this would be but were warned that it was possible that someone may creep up on us and it was our job to remain vigilant. On reaching our destination we were then blindfolded and led off into the forest. I was the first to be left. They took off the blindfold and left me next to a tree and said they would be back some time later. What struck me was just how dark it was. There was no moon light and it was so dark that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. Fortunately I had a digital watch which, if you pressed a button, lit up and I could see what time it was. It was 2.30am. I decided to stay with my back to the tree as that way no one could creep up on me from behind and I would fell less vulnerable.  It is strange that when you are in complete darkness you become acutely aware of sounds and the sounds of the forest seemed to be amplified. If I actually thought about the darkness I could feel almost a sense of claustrophobia setting in.  I found myself trying to remember poems I had memorised just to pass the time. What made it worse was that I didn’t know how long I was going to be left in this situation.

Eventually an hour and a half later I saw the beam of a torch in the distance. As torch penetrated the darkness and I felt such a sense of relief. At last after what seemed like an eternity, there was hope of being restored back to a place of safety. By the time I was returned to the dormitory it was 4.30am. Despite all of this we were up again at 6.30am for another round of physical endurance. But at least now I felt secure surrounded by the light of the morning.

It is true that for many Christmas will be a difficult time this year. For them, their day to day life may be shrouded in darkness for many reasons. There will those who mourn the loss of loved ones, those who will be separated from their family, those who have lost their jobs and face hardship.

 As we receive the Gospel message today, we find ourselves during this Advent season not only preparing ourselves for Christmas in the material things but in preparing our hearts and lives in readiness for the coming of Jesus  by letting in His light.  As Christians we, like John the Baptist, are called to testify to the light. When John announced the coming of the messiah in his day, there was a risk that people would not hear that message and so there is the same risk with us. The distraction of the hustle and bustle in the run up to Christmas can lessen our ability to attend to the things which are most important. Perhaps we need to ask ourselves -  How will we testify to the light? When people look at us will they see Christ’s shining back?

Advent provides us with an opportunity to search for the footprints of Jesus in the human lives of our community and our neighbours.  If the coming of Christ brings a message for the bereaved, the homeless, the unemployed, are we announcing that message through a spirit of generosity and love? Are we reflecting the light of Jesus in our everyday lives? Just as I was consoled with a sense of hope when I saw the torch beam in the darkness of the woodland, so Jesus comes to us, he is so much more than just a glimmer in the darkness but comes as the beacon of hope for the world. Jesus is present in the darkness and he will stand in the wilderness with us. He came to give us light, so that we might, in turn, give light to others.
 On this Gaudete Sunday we rejoice that we are people of light and Advent hope and as we move closer to Christmas, may we  find the space and time to reflect the light of Christ to all those we encounter.        Amen