“…The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
(Year B: Second Sunday of Christmas, 3rd January
2021)
It was a long year, 2020. It was an even longer winter here
in the Northern hemisphere of our common home. And it is far from over. In many ways it is the darkest of times. In
other ways, it is a time of wonderful possibility and hope. It is up to us what
to make of this time. We can curse the darkness and the restrictions on our
liberties as well as the uncertainty that prowls in the darkness. Or, we can
accept that this is life at least for now and the immediate time ahead and
start lighting little candles of kindness in the spaces where we find ourselves.
In accepting this situation we are not succumbing to the darkness of this
world. By darkness, I mean those forces that seek division, dominance and,
ultimately, death. The metaphor of
darkness at this time of year is particularly strong because a combination of
factors keeps us indoors and somewhat apart from others or, perhaps, somewhat
on top of others and they on us!
Two thousand years ago a light shone in the darkness of this
world with its pagan sacrifices, cruelty and superstitions. That light became a
guiding force for many down the centuries and up to this time. The light is the Son of God born among us and
living among us if we reach out and let him shine in our own darkness. May we
never forget that we have been called out of darkness into God’s own marvellous
light (1
Peter 2:9). What a wonderful privilege.
No matter how far we have travelled or progressed or
regressed or have got side-tracked – we can ‘start again’ to live life in a new
way. The startling, exhilarating and shocking aspect of living as human beings
is that we have the intelligence, will and understanding to ‘start again’ where
we are, how we are and as what we are. But,
we cannot earn our way to heaven or achieve salvation by sheer effort. We must
be open in faith and love to the call of grace. In a spiritual sense we, too,
can be born again (John 1:13) whether at the age of 18 or 70. It is never too
late or too early.
Perhaps it might be an exercise to write on one side of a
sheet of paper our worst fears, disappointments and regrets. Put them into a
tin box (or perhaps just throw them into the fire) and revisit them on 31st
December 2021. Perhaps, then, the sky
will not have fallen in after all and the very things we most feared didn’t
happen but the things we never really thought of (good or bad) happen. Life is
like that (just imagine the list from December 2019!).
What can make the difference to our lives in 2021? John 1
gives us a clue. The Light has come into the world. We are not that light. We
merely reflect that light. However, we can share in that Life that became flesh
as we are and shared our toils, pains and hopes. With the coming of spring (in the northern
hemisphere) and the prospect of less restrictions in a few months time (we
hope!) we will need to get out and about more and see the world full of grace,
full of potential and full of the glory of God hidden behind human suffering
and environmental chaos. And when we
return in the evening or when we rise early in the morning the Word will be
there to greet us and reassure us that we were never alone – neither in the
‘market place’ or in our own abodes as we wait out this current time of
darkness. The point is that we have
already received from the fullness of God-who-is-love.
There is a saying that nature abhors a vacuum. But, there is
no vacuum in our hearts if we dig deep enough. The Risen Christ already lives
there. ‘Grace upon grace’ awaits us. God
desires to fill our hearts and our minds – if we let him. The opening of John
hits a high theological note. Jesus was not just an extraordinary human being;
he was the Logos or the Word which was with God and was God. This reading of
the Good News is grounded in the flesh and blood Jesus we recognise in the
nativity story but is also leading us to a faith in a God who has become flesh
and blood and overturns our world and lives.
If there is one resolution we might consider in this coming
year can I suggest thankfulness:
We have been blessed with so much whether it is health or
friendship or peace. Above all, as Paul writes, we have been blessed ‘in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’ (Ephesians 1:3).
Thank you.
And once again
Thank you.
Words: 811
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