Dr. Scott McKee: Well today is the first Sunday in Advent and we've arranged a mood setting snowfall for the weekend. It's a list making time of year. We make guest lists for our holiday parties, we make grocery lists for upcoming meals, we make Christmas wish lists. These are fun lists to make, you list the things you wish for for Christmas and then you leak that list to people you know who might want to be giving you a Christmas gift. It's a very appropriate thing to do and can be very helpful to the gift giver.
My wife Angie has all of our adult children update their Amazon wish list this time of year. Just maybe, just maybe at Christmas they will get something that they wished for, for Christmas. Now this Advent season we're asking you to think a little deeper about what you want for Christmas. Inside your pew pocket in front of you or maybe on the way in you were handed an old fashioned index card, if you had an index card with you would you pull it out this time or find one. We are asking you to write down what you wish for Christmas at the highest level even if it's something that seems elusive or impossible.
Now this is not a list where you write down Nintendo or lawn gnomes or whatever you're into. This is where you might write something like a marriage restored, a wayward child returned, a body healed. You could be as general or as specific as you like. Now another way to refer to this Christmas wish list is a prayer request. These are prayer requests, and I encourage you to think broadly about your prayers.
Maybe you'll say that school shootings would be no more, that peace would arrive in The Middle East, that fractured families and a fractured nation might know some unity. And these prayer requests you could drop off in the fancy display, the beautiful display in the back lobby, or all the desks and kiosks have these boxes that say more than a list, and you can drop your cards in there. And these prayer requests, these lists are going to guide our prayers over the course of Advent. So you could use one card for multiple items, you could use multiple cards, there are extra cards at the desks out there. For the purpose of this sermon series, we're flipping the question altogether, what if God made a Christmas list?
What would God want us to give God for Christmas? Now God is the ultimate Christmas gift giver, of course, and we're gonna talk about that. But what can we give God this Christmas season? What what does God long for in His people? And today I wanna explore the idea that God's list might include this, shine my light in the world.
Shine my light in the world. In fact, God says this many different ways throughout the scriptures. Do you know where the tradition of hanging Christmas lights comes from? We might assume that it started long ago at the beginning of time at some convention where a bunch of wives got together to determine how to frustrate their husbands. I pictured that convention, one woman said, I have an idea, let's start a tradition where husbands have to go up dangerous ladders in the wintertime and hang lights on the gutters.
And people said, That's a fantastic idea. And then someone said, I have an idea. What if we made the cords in such a way that they automatically and mysteriously tangled up while in storage? And someone said, nice addition. That's great.
And then finally one participant said, oh, I I I have an idea. What if we made the bulbs in such a way that if one goes out, they all go out and the whole room bursted into applause. That's actually not how the tradition started. The practice of decorating, with Christmas lights began in medieval times where they would light candles as an expression of the light of Jesus entering a dark world. Now you may know that the birth date of Jesus is actually not known to us.
Hate to burst your bubble, but December 25, we don't know if that is the day that Jesus was born. That day was simply chosen because it's a it's a season with really great sales. Now we don't know why that day was chosen. It may have something to do with the winter solstice that Advent occurs during the darkest time of the year and expresses the longing of this world for a light to come. And then after December 25, which was solstice on the Roman calendar, the light begins to expand in our world.
A scripture reading that we read today from from Isaiah chapter nine, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. There's beautiful Christmas lights everywhere right now. Angie and I love to drive the Wayne County Light Fest on Hines Drive and take in all the beautiful lights. Lots of cities put up elaborate light displays. There's something captivating about light in unexpected places.
Light and darkness. It's a theme in many books and movies and songs, and it's a theme in the scriptures as well. All throughout the scriptures from beginning to end, we see this theme of light driving out the darkness. The whole Biblical story itself begins with light. This from the very first chapter of the Bible, Genesis chapter one.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, let there be light, and there was light. So in the beginning of creation, we see that light that is there. Now I very curious about this light, that this light is not from the sun, because the sun wasn't created until day number four.
This light is from God Himself. The God of which we read this. This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. This is a fantastic verse for us to memorize and meditate on right now because we see darkness all around us.
We see darkness in our leaders, in government, and business, and religion. And even the leaders that we like, we wonder, are you telling me the whole truth? Can I trust you? Are you hiding anything? And friends, you never have to wonder that about God because God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Nothing hidden, nothing concealed, only light. It's a beautiful thought to meditate on in our world right now. So God, the grand story begins with the light of God, a creation. And then this idea throughout scripture is that the light dispels the darkness. This is from beginning to end of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.
In fact, let's turn to the very last chapter of the Bible. This is Revelation chapter 22. At the end of times, there will be no more light, no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever and ever. So the perfect creation begins with the light of God Himself, and His redemption story ends with the light of God Himself.
And then in the gospel book of John, it says this, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning, through Him all things were made, without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Beginning, middle, and end, God is light and God's light has shown in the darkness.
There's a natural, innate fear of the dark all of us have from childhood. Dave Barry puts it like this. He says, All of us have been born with an innate set of fears, a falling of the dark, of lobsters, a falling on lobsters in the dark, of speaking before rotary club, and of the words, some assembly required. When my kids were little, we would put night lights in their room to dispel some of the darkness that they feared. Darkness is best defined as the absence of light.
Mentioned more than 200 times in the Bible, it's often used as a metaphor for the absence of God. Until we graph the darkness around us, we can't fully appreciate the light of Christmas. Without realizing it, we can get used to a level of spiritual darkness in the world. We will adjust over time if we are not careful to the place the darkness just seems normal. An amber alert sounds on the way to work, but we're so used to it, it doesn't really affect us.
The evening news shows a story of another murder, and we sit on the couch and eat Christmas cookies. We stop noticing the darkness. But if we're honest, the reason we stop noticing the darkness is that some of the darkness is inside of us. And this is the darkness that concerns me the most. How do I respond when I don't get what I want, When it feels as if someone treats me unfairly.
The Bible says Jesus is the light of the world, and He came to us in the midst of the darkness. The light of God broke through. We see three reactions in the Christmas story to the light. King Herod was threatened by the light. He saw the popularity of the baby Jesus as a threat to his kingship.
He knew that Jesus was there to be king, and so he had all the babies, boys under the age of two eliminated. He powered up and fought against the light. Second reaction we see, the Jewish religious leaders ignored the light, which is kind of ironic because they had all the research. They knew all the prophecies. They knew where the baby was to be born.
So why didn't they respond when this miraculous, mysterious star stopped over the town of Bethlehem? Well, they were comfortable with the way things are. They didn't feel the need for a light. But then Mary is our example. Mary received the light.
She believed the words of the angel. She pondered them in her heart and she was forever changed. Jesus invites you to receive the light of Himself and to be transformed. John eight twelve says, when Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, what did He say? I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. What a wonderful promise. If you're walking in darkness, follow the light. If you're walking in darkness, follow the light. And who is the light?
Yeah, you're in church. Could that's the right that Who's the light of the world? Jesus. Jesus is the light of the world. That's what he said.
I am the light of the world. Jesus is the light of the world. Who's the light of the world? Jesus. Jesus.
But then Jesus said this, you are the light of the world. Oh, wait a wait a minute. So who's the light of the world according to Jesus? We are. Everybody please say, I am the light of the world.
I am the light of the world. It sounds wrong, doesn't it? But that's what Jesus said. We are the light of the world. Here's the entire quote of Jesus.
He didn't stop there. He said, you are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven.
When we receive the light, not only are we transformed, but we begin to embody that light. We are supposed to go into the world and drive out the darkness, the fear, the hopelessness, and the injustice. It has been fun this last week to see rays of light go out from this building, in fact. You provided more than 2,000 shoe boxes filled with toys as part of Operation Christmas Child, more than 2,000 boxes brought in to date, which is a new ward church record, friends. 2,000 shoe boxes.
And then because we are a regional distribution site, other churches bring their boxes here, and those little boxes get put into great big boxes and they get loaded into semi truck trailers. And a few days ago two semi trucks left here with, ready, 20,000 shoe boxes. Every shoe box has a little booklet about Jesus. These are this is light going out. Our Forgotten Harvest volunteers distribute groceries every single Monday morning, but last week's distribution included turkeys and potatoes and yams.
Again, this is light of hope going out. As wonderful as these things are, they are just scratching the surface. We are to drive out the darkness by praying, by listening, by sharing meals, by sharing stories with people, by encouraging them, by serving them, by showing God's love in practical ways, and by ultimately, by letting people know that Jesus is the light of the world. Letting people know God loves you, Jesus died for you, and I care about you. And not just giving the words, but to be genuine people of light, people of integrity.
Now there are naturally gregarious people who light up a room when they walk in, you know them. I'm not talking about those people, I'm talking about regular people like us. Here's the deal, you cannot produce this light, you can only reflect it. Sadly, people are turned off by organized religion and repulsed by hypocritical church people who say they represent Jesus, but are not reflecting His light. Thankfully, there's still something about Jesus that still captivates people's attention, especially as they take their eyes off fallible people and put it on Jesus.
He is irresistible light. Jesus is irresistible light. And when the church is doing its job, it's lifting up the name of Jesus, people will always be drawn to Him. It's been this way for hundreds of years. People will be drawn to the light of Jesus.
My prayer is that the light of Jesus would shine brighter and brighter in your life, but also through your life. Who is it that needs to know that you care? Who needs to know that they are forgiven? That there is a God? Is there a need that God is calling you to meet?
Don't let this Christmas season pass without letting the light of Jesus flow through you. What does God want for Christmas? I think nothing would please God more than for us to be bearers of light. May the light of Jesus transform us to shine in every area of darkness this Advent season and beyond. Let's pray together.
Oh God of light and life, thank you that you come to dark places. You're not intimidated by by dark lives and dark situations. You go right to the center of it and dispel it. Thank you for the way you've shown your light in us and in our church and in our world. God, pray that this Advent season, we would reflect your light all the more, That people would see in us, Your Son, our Savior.
That we would reflect the wisdom and the compassion and the grace of Jesus. May we be people of light. We pray this through Christ our Lord. Amen.