OPEN: A Nashville grandfather took his four-year old grandson out in the woods to select a Christmas tree. They tramped all over, but the boy couldn’t find a tree that suited him. Finally, it began to get dark and cold, and the grandfather shook his head and said: "We’ll HAVE to take the next tree." he said flatly.
The boy looked up in bewilderment: "Even if it doesn’t have any lights either?"
It’s a little wonder that boy was confused… Christmas is a time of lights. It’s said that about 500 years ago, Martin Luther lit the first "Christmas tree". Granted he used candles – which was a bit unsafe – but from that day on people lit candles in their homes to decorate for the season.
Then, in 1895, someone invented the first Electric Christmas tree lights.
Now, all thru December, the evenings will be lit up as homes, businesses, and city streets fill the night with beautiful colored lights and decorations. Some communities even have competitions to see who can put up the prettiest and most colorful light displays.
And that seems fitting - because the Birth of Christ was also decorated with lights.
· There were the Angels who lit up the night for the Shepherds.
· And the Star in the East which led the Wisemen to find Jesus.
Christmas is a time of lights. And that’s only right… because Jesus is the light of the world.
That’s what it tells us here in John 1.
John 1:4-5 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”
In John 8:12 Jesus… said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
And again in John 12:46 Jesus declared “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”
That’s what the prophets had predicted about the coming Christ:
Malachi 4:2 for example declared: “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…”
The Prophet Isaiah described Jesus’ coming this way: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2
It’s a repeated theme:
Jesus is the light of God to a people filled with darkness.
ILLUS: One atheist admitted to being puzzled by that.
Hemant Mehta became the "eBay atheist" when he posted his soul on eBay… and later he began accepting bids to visit churches and then share his thoughts.
"I didn’t want anyone to be able to tell me that I was just an atheist because I had never even thought about Christianity," Mehta says. Some 30 church services later, he’s still an atheist.
But… Mehta observed:
"At one church I visited, some people were asked to write down how they felt before and after becoming Christian. They said things like ’dark and light,’ ’lonely and befriended,’ which got me wondering: Is being down or lonely or desperate a prerequisite to finding God? …Do I have to go through some sort of trauma or crisis before finding some ultimate meaning?"
Outreach Magazine Newsletter, February 2007
I can understand his confusion, because I’ve seen people who’ve made dramatic changes in their lives. They’ve turned from darkness to light… from lonely to befriended… from dominated by sin to being dominated by Christ.
BUT, you don’t need to make such a dramatic turn around to become a Christian. Eleven and 12 year old kids have rarely had the time experience the darker sides of life. They haven’t lived with darkness. They haven’t tasted it, or felt it, or suffered from it.
But they do understand enough of their own personal darkness (sin) to want Jesus.
They can still know enough to believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God.
They can still know enough to understand their sin and their need to repent.
They can still know enough to confess as their Lord and Savior
And be buried in the waters of baptism and risen up to walk in newness of life.
The people who caught Mehta’s attention were those who HAD lived with darkness, and tasted it, and felt it, and suffered it’s pain and sorrow. For them, the contrast is obvious because their darkness was so black and empty.
And when Mehta looked at these folks… he missed the real genius of Christ.
You see, it’s the lives of people who’ve lived in the depth of the blackness of despair that proves the power of Jesus’ light. They’re the kinds of people which “polite society” would cast aside as ‘undesirable’.
· They’ve done terrible things.
· They’ve lived unsavory and darkened lives.
· They’re not the kind of people most folks would invite to tea parties, let alone invite to church!
To many in this world, only the “good” deserve acceptance.
And that’s one of the bizarre mindsets of Christmas.
ILLUS: You remember the phrase from that song (sing it with me if you know it).
“You better watch out, you better not cry
You better not pout I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He’s making a list, checking it twice
gonna’ find out who’s naughty, who’s nice
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake”
Cute little song isn’t it?
Yeah, cute song… but really bad theology.
What’s the bad theology of that song?
Think about it. Who does the song say deserves to be accepted and receive Santa’s gifts? (only those who’ve done good)
In other words: “Only the righteous deserve acceptance.
Only the “good” will receive their Christmas gift”
ILLUS: Lewis Sperry Chafer once said:
“Anyone can devise a plan by which good people may go to Heaven.
Only God can devise a plan whereby sinners, who are His enemies, can go to Heaven”
Only God could devise a plan by which people who’ve made terrible decisions in their lives could receive hope, mercy and forgiveness.
That’s what frustrated the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.
Here was Jesus spending His time with those who’d been naughty… not nice.
Jesus ate with prostitutes, and tax collectors/ sinners
These were the folks that deserved a lump of coal in their sock.
And then He had the gall to condemn the ones who should have gotten the “good Christmas gifts” because they were “Righteous”.
ILLUS: In Luke 18, Jesus told the story of two men who came into the temple to pray
One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
“The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men— robbers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
(Luke 18:11-14)
The message of the light that came into a dark world was this:
You can’t be good enough to be good enough to be acceptable to God.
If you think your life is “righteous” without depending upon the blood of Jesus, your vision is darkened… you’ve failed to shine the light of God on your life.
Because IF you DID shine God’s light on your life you’d recognize that there is a standard of righteousness… and you’d realize that neither you weren’t going to measure up… and neither would I.
That’s the kind of truth that men like Hemant Mehta have trouble understanding:
The truth that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
You see: Jesus came for both for those who were OBVIOUSLY unrighteous
AND for those who have mistakenly thought they were righteous enough on their own
HE is the light for ALL the world
(pause…)
Now, I want you to notice the other focus of this passage
Look with me to John 1:6-7
“There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
Who was this John? (John the Baptist).
John the Baptist had one specific purpose in his life:
He had been sent to be a witness to light.
His life’s goal was to point the way Jesus.
And because of that, Jesus said: “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist….” Matthew 11:11
Why would Jesus praise John like that?
Because John lived his life pointing people to Jesus.
He lived his life bringing God’s light into people’s lives.
Now, what that means for us is this:
Every time we share Jesus with others - bring people to God, invite people to church - we receive praise from Jesus. In fact, that’s precisely what Jesus said:
“… Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God” Luke 12:8
Every time you talk about Jesus to others Jesus is up there in heaven – mentioning you by name, talking about YOU with His angels. It’s as if you’d decorated your life with so many Christmas lights it could be seen from outer space.
And there are people out there who ARE waiting for you to share your Jesus
ILLUS: Last year New LifeWay research found tht
· 62% of formerly churched people are open to attending church regularly again
· 58% simply feel it’s time to return to the church;
· 41% say a friend or acquaintance invited them;
· 35% would return if they knew there were people there like them;
· 31% feel God is calling them to attend church;
· 25% would resume if their children asked them to go with them;
· and another 25% would go if an adult family member invited them to return.
It’s simply a matter of deciding to share the light of Jesus with people around you!
ILLUS: Our Southern Gospel Quartet sang up at the Mall last Friday night, and there was this really cute little girl that was determined to sit in the audience and hear us sing (even though her mother wanted to do something else). She sat in the front row for a couple of songs, and then I went over to the edge of the stage and asked her if she wanted to come up on stage and sing with us. She was excited. We sang “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer” with her, and then she went back and sat down as we finished our concert.
All the time we’re singing, I’m thinking to myself about how I can get over to them quickly after we’ve sung to give the little girl a cassette of our quartet and give her mother a brochure for the church. But by the time I got down there, Wayne (one of our deacons) had already given her the cassette, and Rinda (the wife of one of the quartet) was giving them a brochure.
They didn’t need me! They didn’t wait for me to give them instructions! They just walked right over and talked to this family about Jesus and our church.
ILLUS: Even the truly wicked are open to your witness. Did you hear the story about the 92 year old woman who preached to the man who robbed her?
92 year old Pauline Jacobi had just returned to her car with her groceries, gotten into the driver’s seat and a man with a gun opened the passenger door and sat down beside her. He demanded all her money.
She said “No!” (no????)
In fact, she turned him down 3 times.
She told him “As quick as you kill me I’ll go to heaven and you’ll go to hell.” And then she witnessed to him for the next 10 minutes.
By the time she was finished, she had the man in tears, and she gave him $10 – all the money she had – telling him not to spend in whiskey. He kissed her on the cheek and walked away.
She witnessed to a man who walked in darkness. A man who carried a gun. A man who might very well have hurt her. But she witnessed to him anyway because, as she said “Jesus is in this car and He goes with me everywhere I go.”
Lastly, I want you to notice what John 1:9 says about Jesus –
He is “the true light.”
You go down to a local mall you’ll see “Santa”… in fact, you might even see 2 or 3 St. Nick’s. The kids probably figure he gets around real fast, or that these are merely representatives of the “Real” Santa Claus. Thus, as far as kids are concerned… one Santa is as good as another.
Similarly, some people have come to the conclusion that one Light is as good as another when it comes to pleasing God. They’ll say “all religions lead to the same destination.”
The idea that there would be only ONE true light that leads to God offends some. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach the Dean of Oxford Líchaim Society once said:
"Jesus was a great teacher, a very ethical, moral, human being -- perhaps in our opinion, not a prophet, but certainly a phenomenal teacher and Christianity is a great world religion . . .and while I agree he is a great light, once we say he is the only light, this is what leads to all kinds of spiritual racism and a division..." James Wilson on sermoncentral.com
YET… that is the precisely the message of Christianity
Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
And the apostle Peter told the Sanhedrin “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
There is no other religion that will bring people to God… period!
No other religion can make you good enough to be good enough for God.
AND people will not make it into heaven because they’re “nice people”
So, let’s revue
1. Jesus is the light of the world
2. There is no other “light” that will change people’s lives like Jesus can
3. There is no other “light” that will lead people to be acceptable to God
4. AND you are the one who can bring that light into the lives of other people.
BUT… what if I’m not very good at sharing Jesus?
What if I’m not well enough versed in Scripture to convince people that they need Jesus?
Well, that’s where God’s Spirit comes in.
God isn’t expecting you to be eloquent… only obedient
If you talk to others about Jesus/ church… God will do the rest.
CLOSE: A blind man once stood on a corner at a busy intersection reading aloud Acts 4 from a portion of a Braille Bible. A gentleman on his way home stopped at the edge of the crowd that had gathered to listen. At that very moment, the sightless man lost his place. While trying to find it, he kept repeating the last three words he had just read: "No other name... No other name... No other name..."
Many smiled, but the inquisitive bystander went away impressed. He had been searching for inner peace and therefore was ready to be influenced by a few words spoken "in season." He had heard the verse before, but that one phrase haunted him. Before morning he surrendered to the Holy Spirit’s wooing and accepted the Savior. "I see it all now," he cried. "I’ve been trying to be saved by my own works and prayers. But Jesus alone can help me. He is my mediator. There is no other name whereby I must be saved." Thus a blind man’s witness, given in a stumbling manner, was used to lead a seeking soul to Christ.
This blind man stumbled and failed – by our human standards. But God took his frailty and failure and turned one man’s heart from darkness to light.
