Sermon for December 13, 2020 Advent 3 B House of Prayer Lutheran Church

John 1:6-8, 19-28; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 Rev. Karl-John N. Stone

Shine the light on Jesus

Light at the end of the tunnel. A lightbulb turned on in my head. Blinded by the light. I’ve been enlightened….all common sayings, all things I’ve said, and things you’ve probably said. They each point to gaining something good, like knowledge, wisdom, hope, or joy--things that we can rejoice in when we have them.

I’m sure many of you have decorated the outside of your homes with Christmas lights, and strung lights around the Christmas tree. We’ve even done that here at church--you should drive by some evening and see our new Christmas lights outside the church. Maybe you like to walk around or drive around town looking at the lights the neighbors have put up. It gives a festive touch to the darkest time of the year. And all these lights can be a reminder of “the true light” who has come into the world. At a time when it’s cold and dark, when many people are carrying so much grief and heavy burdens on their souls--we can still find joy and rejoice, because God has given us the greatest gift imaginable: God’s Word became flesh to live among us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We hear again this week about John the Baptist. He was Jesus’ cousin, sent by God to prepare the way of the Lord and as the gospel puts it, to be “a witness to testify to the light.” To point away from himself and towards Jesus. To shine a light on Jesus--so we can see Jesus more clearly.

Isn’t that why light exists? (At least one reason why.) To help us see more clearly? If you’ve ever bumped your head or stubbed your toe on something in the dark, then you know the value of light and light’s ability to help us see better. Light exists to help us. So maybe that’s a good way to think about John the Baptist, being a “witness to testify to the light”--his whole mission in life was to point people so they could see the light of Jesus, so that Jesus can help us.

John teaches a basic idea of evangelism right there in our gospel: “testifying to the Light” (as John the Baptist did) means telling the story of Jesus; that Jesus has come down from heaven to earth to help us; to be light that helps us see clearly; who helps us through our struggles; who helps us carry our grief; who helps us by forgiving our sins; who helps to lighten our burdens as we turn to him in trust and faith.

After you’ve been helped by Jesus--and his light has shined in your life to help you through the dark valleys of life--then you are better able to be like John the Baptist and to point someone else to the light of Jesus, so that they can have his help in their life.

I know as Lutherans we don’t exactly have the reputation of being “great evangelists”. I don’t know if that’s fair or not, because there are some great Lutheran evangelists, but it is our reputation. I know part of that is because of the stereotypes of “evangelism”: knocking on doors, asking people if they’re saved, things like that. And we don’t like doing things like that. Well, I have not met very many people who are interested in being on either side of that stereotype of evangelism. But we can learn from John the Baptist how to grow into a different kind of evangelism--simply being a witness to testify to the light.

You don’t even have to call it “evangelism” if you don’t want to--call it “shining the light on Jesus”, because Jesus is the one who has come from God to help everyone. He went to the cross to take away the sins of the whole world. He rose from the tomb to open the door of salvation to everyone. And you can “testify to the light” by simply being able to say how God has helped you.

Can you describe a time when prayer or worship helped you? That’s evangelism--shining the light on Jesus. Can you describe how reading the Bible or hearing the Word has helped you? That’s evangelism--shining the light on Jesus. Have you ever been supported or comforted by a brother or sister in Christ? If you can tell that story of that experience, then you can be an evangelist like John the Baptist, because that is shining the light on Jesus.

Have you ever felt like God met you when you were down in the deepest pit you can imagine? Or have you felt God lifting you up out of that pit, and putting you on a new path? Either way, that’s the light of Christ shining.

Has forgiveness ever lifted a burden off of your soul? Have God’s promises in Baptism given you hope? Has the Lord’s presence in Holy Communion ever given you comfort of strength? That’s the light of Christ shining in the darkness. All we can do it point to what Jesus is doing--and that’s how we become witnesses testifying to the light. There sure are lots of people who need that light shining in their life right about now.

Even if you’re in a place where you find it hard to rejoice, the promises Christ makes to shine his light into the world--these promises are the downpayment on our future hope of rejoicing. So even if you can’t rejoice now, know that through Christ there will come a time when you will rejoice, and the darkness will be turned to brilliant light. Amen.