A grandmother was struggling with a life-threatening illness. She had her young granddaughter visiting with her at Christmas. The granddaughter was watching her as she lit a candle and placed it in the window. \u201cGrandma,\u201d the little girl asked, \u201cwhy do we light candles on Christmas?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe light candles on Christmas, my dear, to tell the darkness we beg to differ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we come out on Christmas Eve, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we have candles lit in the church for all our services. But on Christmas Eve, we crank it up a notch. In addition to our usual candles, we have 88 candles in all the windows and a dozen candles down the center aisle \u2013 a hundred more candles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near the end of our service this evening we\u2019ll lower the electric lights and go with candle power as we sing \u201cSilent Night.\u201d That\u2019s because we all have a desire, deep within us, to tell the darkness,\u201cWe beg to differ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We light the candles because of what the prophet Isaiah said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people who walked in darkness<\/em> have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness \u2014 on them light has shined (9:2).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We come to St. Andrew\u2019s on Christmas Eve not because it\u2019s well-lighted and not because we physically need the illumination of candles. We come because something inside us calls us to this place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you can\u2019t put a name to it, this power that calls you. Maybe you\u2019re not even sure if you believe in it \u2014 but you feel better, somehow, when you\u2019re in a church with others, enjoying the candles and singing familiar carols. Call it sentimentality if you want. But something about this season of Christmas speaks even to the most cynical of hearts, something that can bring even the hardest of hard-core doubters and the most self-absorbed of self-convinced skeptics to the edge, to the border, between doubt and faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something rises within our souls and warms to the glow of the Christmas candles. The power that calls us to this place is not a light of our own creation. It\u2019s not jolly \u201cChristmas cheer.\u201d As we gather amidst the candles, we acknowledge that we are already<\/em> in darkness \u2014 that we possess not, within ourselves, the power to push back the gloom of human or natural evil. And we hope that the light of these candles will come to us from beyond ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a most particular kind of light, not a finite source. It\u2019s quite unlike the flickering candles that will burn out and die once their wax is consumed, their wicks burnt down to nothing. This is the distinctive light of Jesus Christ, who is himself the light of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greatest wonder of it all is this: that same light took on human form and was laid down on the prickly straw of a Bethlehem manger. He cried, slept, and ate. He loved, taught, and healed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe light shines in the darkness,\u201d as John puts it in the prologue to his Gospel, \u201cand the darkness did not overcome it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A church in Switzerland lost its historic building to a tragic fire. After grieving for a time, the congregation moved on to construct a new sanctuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An architect in the congregation offered to design the new church for free. However, he wanted absolute freedom to design the building as he saw fit. Knowing him to be a fine architect, the people agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What they saw, eventually, was very pleasing indeed. Some called it a masterpiece of simplicity and elegance. The materials were all natural and were displayed to their best advantage. The space was airy and open, the doorway inviting. A place was even found to display some of the old stained glass, salvaged from the former building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was when the church was nearly completed that one of the children looked up and noticed something that seemed to be missing. \u201cWhere are the lights?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure enough, there was not a single light fixture in the building \u2014 and nothing to indicate where any could be installed. Members began talking to one another \u2014 you know how churches are \u2014 and in no time at all the church board had gathered for a rump session, right there in the half-completed church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They summoned the architect. When he walked in, they besieged him with questions. Surely, he\u2019d made a terrible mistake, they said. He\u2019d left the lights out of the blueprints!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been no mistake,\u201d he replied. \u201cTrust me. Wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The night of dedication for the new building finally came, and it happened to be Christmas Eve. As the members walked through the doors, each one was handed a small oil-lamp of gleaming brass. The architect had specially designed those lamps to match the design of the building. As one worshiper after another walked into the darkened sanctuary, the room was bathed in a beautiful glow, as light and shadow played upon the ceiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pastor asked the architect to come forward and speak. He explained to the people that the lamps were his gift to the church. They were theirs to keep. He urged them to bring their lamps with them whenever they came to worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are the light of the world,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf you are not present in worship, there will be a dark corner in need of light. When worship is ended, take your light home with you. Allow it to shine in your homes and in your lives, a reminder of the presence of Christ, to whose glory this building is dedicated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Christmas Eve service was ended, and the company of worshipers wended their way back down the hill, lamps in hand, it was as though a river of light was flowing from that church back into the community. Those who lived in a land of deep darkness \u2014 on them light had shined<\/em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Christmas Eve, we are surrounded by candles. We sing those beloved carols, feel the warm embrace of Christian community, and celebrate the presence of the Christ child in our midst. Afterward, we will leave this place to go home, or to the home of others we may be visiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how<\/em> will we journey? Will we leave this church the same as when we entered? Will we step out into that dark night unaffected \u2014 untouched \u2014 by the vision of Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He expects more of us than that, this Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem. \u201cYou are the light of the world,\u201d he once told his disciples. The light of this Christian faith of ours is for sharing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the most trying and desperate days of America\u2019s early history, a man wrote a notably gloomy letter to Benjamin Franklin. He concluded his letter with these pessimistic words: \u201cThe sun of liberty has set.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old Ben wrote back to him the briefest of notes. It said: \u201cThen light the candles!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are the light-bearers who have answered the call of the gospel and whose task it is to \u201cproclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light\u201d (1 Peter 2:9). As we leave here tonight, we become light-bearers to a dark and troubled world. Keep your lights burning brightly so others can follow as you illuminate the path to salvation. May others find Jesus, the light of the world, through you. Go shine. And have a blessed and glorious Christmas!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A grandmother was struggling with a life-threatening illness. She had her young granddaughter visiting with her at Christmas. The granddaughter was watching her as she lit a candle and placed it in the window. \u201cGrandma,\u201d the little girl asked, \u201cwhy do we light candles on Christmas?\u201d \u201cWe light candles on Christmas, my dear, to tell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n