2nd Sunday after Christmas

Texts: John 1: 10-18
Grace, Peace, and Mercy from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
As I reflected on today’s Gospel, I was struck by the theme of light and darkness. A light that shines in the darkness, that leads through uncertainty into overwhelming joy, to grace upon grace. I was thinking on this theme no less, because as I thought about these readings during New Year’s Eve in Puerto Rico, there was an island-wide blackout that left the island without power for most of the day, interrupting and even cancelling celebrations for many families. Puerto Rico’s energy problems are not new, people have been dealing with constant blackouts for years now. But this one takes the cake in regard to the timing. A reminder that things are simply and understatedly not right. To be mired in the darkness of night, unable to join the celebration of the world, what light will guide us towards hope and restoration? When we are in the darkness, what happens? The darkness does not allow us to distinguish between one thing and another, everything becomes dark. The path disappears. We can become paralyzed because we do not know where to go. Life just stops. There is no movement, no growth that we can see. Yet, when the light shines, then we can start to discern the shape, and scope and breadth of our journey. Under the shining light, we can move forward, each step illuminating a new way to go. Life unfolds under the light. Once the light is on, then we could feast, then we could celebrate, then we could reach other, yes, recognize each other, across the darkness. And literally, once the
power was back on, we lit the party up and indeed the fireworks were even more prominent in the night sky of that New Year’s Day.

Tomorrow, on January 6th, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, a feast popularly known as Three Kings Day. And in the story of the Epiphany, we also witness a bright shining light, a star that rises in the east, that leads the magi to the location of the newborn Messiah. The magi did not know where to go, except by the prompting of the star that shone the path to them as they traveled in the darkness of night. At the end of darkness, at the site of the star’s prompting, the path opened up by the divine light, there was life, the life of the newborn Jesus. And that life is the light of the world. The life of that little Jesus in the manger showed us the way forward to see what our lives are supposed to be about since the beginning of time. For this Jesus that is born to us, this light that enlightens everyone, and gives us the power to be children of God, is close to the Father’s heart. This small child that the magi discovered and that John witnessed to, He makes the Father, our Creator, known to us. How to describe God the Father’s heart? Look at Jesus the Christ, the light that enters the world and dispels the darkness of our death dealing ways.
So how does Jesus enlighten us about the true life? Where does the star of His life lead us close towards the Father’s heart? I can certainly speak about my own experience. When I was seeking what to do with my life in college, I could say I was in the darkness of not knowing what meaning my life had. What was the purpose of living? What was the purpose of doing anything for a matter of fact? To work arduously to what end? These were questions I would ask myself and I did not have a clear answer to them. Would I strive for recognition? Would I strive for money, was money the end goal of my life? Was the pursuit of excellence and success the goal of living? In the darkness these thoughts can produce, for they can cloud our vision with all the possibilities and consequences, I then stumbled upon Jesus again. Not because I did not already have Jesus, I was raised in a house devoted to the Lord! But I had to be enlightened, to remove the limitations of my old conception of Jesus, to truly understand what Jesus did for me and how He is the light and life of the world. A light was lit in my heart that this Jesus was not just about getting to Heaven after I die, but rather that His life and His invitation to me was to live for a radical love and grace upon grace that would uplift those cast down. A light shone in the darkness when I discovered that this Jesus wants my whole life to be rooted in love, mercy and justice. That Jesus is more than a Name, but that He is also a verb, that I’m sent out into action. Then, pathways began to appear that could answer my questions. The light of Jesus began to clarify to me that it doesn’t really matter how much I excelled, or how much I earned, or what career I chose and what recognition I would receive. What mattered was how deep does my love go? Where is my mercy for God’s poor? Where is my thirst for justice? It didn’t matter what title I would have before my name, as long as I lived in the light of Christ. That if Christ’s life shined in me, then I could be the most insignificant of the insignificant in this world, and yet if this light shined in the darkness, my life would have ultimate meaning. If this love possessed me, then I could be small and hidden, and yet my life would be true and worthy indeed. That was a gift that God gave me, a liberation even, and that He gives to every single one of us. The light that leads to the heart of the Father, Jesus’ life in us, that proves to be all the difference. For it roots you in the love for which you were made for, it roots you in the love that was the first Word that existed in the beginning of all things. The Catholic priest Henri Nouwen is correct when he wrote: “For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. There are only children, women and men to be loved.” Love is the destiny which the star led the Magi to. Love incarnate in the very life of this world.

So beloved, follow the light of Jesus’ life, journey with His light towards the true life of God’s Kingdom that seeks to restore all things to wholeness. Bask in the gift of Jesus’ life in us, that makes every single cell of you meaningful because you exist for love and to be loved. That is the light that has come into our world. That is the star that shines in the night sky leading us to the One that brings true life. And what overwhelming joy we have that it shines within us and for us. Let us pray.