Shining in the Shadows:
A Difficult Invitation

January 2, 2022 • 2nd Sunday of Christmas
Scripture Reading: John 1:1-14 (The Inclusive Bible)
Pastor Alexis Lillie

I had a mouse in an apartment once, ironically the nicest apartment I’ve lived in! I flipped on the light in the kitchen one night and BOOM! There it was, running between the stove and the dishwasher. I went on to see it a handful of times over the next few years, in spite of extermination attempts. You'd go a few months, six months, think you were in the clear then one night ... the light goes on and – again – BOOM, there it is, always running between the stove and the dishwasher.

I am here to tell you ... light does not always feel good. Yes, in some ways I wanted to know the mouse was still there so I could rectify the situation. And yet. On the other hand ... ignorance is bliss? And I'd rather be in the dark, literally, about the existence of this mouse.

We’re going to come back to the mouse, but let's go to the text first. I promise, they're at least tangentially connected!

On this second Sunday of the Christmas season, we are walking the line between both celebrating the arrival of Christ in the world, and continuing to wait for the light of Epiphany. Although the Jesus birth narratives are written in different ways depending on which gospel you're reading, in the Christian church we celebrate Epiphany as the day when the Magi, led by the light of a star, visit the infant Jesus.

And there certainly is a lot about "light" in this text for today.

John is the only gospel that doesn't have a birth narrative, and in fact has something quite unusual and lovely in a lot of ways. This Christ hymn is majestic, and soaring, and has a lot to unpack.

So today, in celebration of the light of Jesus' birth, and in anticipation of the celebration of Epiphany later this week, we're going to consider what this text has to say about light. Because – as with my much less majestic mouse story – we are reminded that light has the power to illuminate all, even things we wish would remain shadowed.

Our text for today is full of powerful imagery for light – imagery that connects this "Word," this light, to the life and work of Jesus. And we are talking about a LOT of light! Or at least that's how the author of John sets it up.

“In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

“It is the true light, which enlightens everyone.”

Those are some big promises, some big statements about this light. See why this is unlike any other gospel introduction of Jesus?! There’s no baby-in-a-manger here, just light, light, LIGHT! Ok, John, we get it! The light is a big deal!

And yet ...was it?? Was the light really the life of all people? Did it really enlighten everyone? Even Jesus' light encounters resistance – right here in the next few lines of the same passage. People don't always feel, or experience, or believe the presence or the extent of this light:

“The world did not know him.”

“His own people did not accept him.”

The light isn't always this soaring, beautiful in-breaking that we imagine from the poetic words of this Christ hymn, and even from our Christmas stories. When we have light ... those "ah-ha" moments, those epiphanies ... they can sometimes be tough. They can feel pretty icky. What is revealed is difficult.

That doesn't make the light any less powerful, or what is being illuminated any less true. Rather, it beckons us to go further – to face our fears, our inherited expectations, our present difficulties – whatever we may be doing or using to hide the light of revelation

This approach to the text – as light not always illuminating nice, pleasant things, and maybe not always going as planned – really resonated with me this year. I’m going to get personal for a minute to try and bring this text into our daily lives. After a long journey and a lot of work, my husband and I decided to divorce last year. The light illuminating this decision eventually became too hard to ignore. What we saw in the light was, we could not grow into the people we were becoming, the people we wanted to be, and stay married. It was a hard truth. a painful truth.

But, it is a truth I am grateful to know because once I stepped into the light of this truth – instead of denying it or running from it – I was also able to step more fully into my light, and to open to the light of those around me. Which brings me to the next part of our text.

Yes, the light can illuminate difficult things – hard, painful realities: about who we are as individuals, about where decisions are leading us collectively, about what needs to be done to continue to walk in the path of illumination once we have experienced the "ah ha" moment.

It may be hard to step into the light of a hard truth, but this is where God invites us. God invites each of us, so that as we each open to the possibility of what is being illuminated around us, we may more fully reveal the light of God that is also within us.

We need the light of one another – of friends, of chosen family, of community – on this journey. Our text tells us this is true. Jesus – the light itself – also needed help!

From this passage, we know that John used his own light to witness to Jesus' light and presence. Because allowing our deepest truths to come to light is hard work, and people may not always be receptive – even to Jesus! We need support – those who "go before us," and who walk with us. Witnesses to help us see things more clearly and so we can help each other tell our full stories.

So for all its soaring grandeur, this opening chapter of John still highlights the "earthy" truth of Jesus' life and ministry: We need one another, in this endeavor to walk in the light of truth, and love, and grace that God is calling us into. Because the quest for illumination can be scary. What is brought to light isn't always what you're hoping to see. Sometimes it's a mouse darting across your floor. Sometimes it's a realization that you will be broken down before you can be built back into the person you're becoming. Light can take many forms depending on the truth that needs to be illuminated.

In this week of in-between, as we celebrate the light of Christmas and look to the light of Epiphany, may we remember that no matter where this light shines in our lives, no matter the pain when shadows are scattered, and what runs across the floor ... we walk together, in the call and the love of God, and the care of community.

(c) 2022 Alexis Lillie
All rights reserved.