Light and Dark - A Sermon for the 4th Sunday in Advent December 21, 2025

We did it!

We made it through our survey of the Old Testament

through the Narrative Lectionary.

We began - in the beginning,

hearing the first creation story,

and God’s irrevocable connection and commitment

to the people Israel.

God promised them land and blessing,

God freed them from captivity in Egypt,

and God spoke to the people amidst their exile.

Invite Reader Forward

Now we shift to the New Testament,

to Jesus,

to Christmas,

towards the cross and empty tomb.

This is the year of John’s Gospel,

and it is much like a return to Genesis,

to God’s work in the beginning

now continued in and through Jesus.

Narrative Lectionary Gospel: John 1:1-18

The holy gospel according to St. John, the first chapter.

Glory to you, O Lord.

  ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
  ⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
  ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
  ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) ¹⁶ From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

The assembly is seated.

Light and Dark.

When you hear the first creation story from Genesis,

as we heard months ago beginning

our Narrative Lectionary journey, you hear:

God separated the light and the dark.

It’s like laundry day;

the two don’t mix well.

Again today in John’s creation story,

it is about the separation of the light and the dark.

To be abundantly clear,

I’m not talking about skin colour:

That’s the damage that has unfortunately happened

with texts like these being interpreted poorly.

Light and dark here are not about colour,

but about illumination

in the face of chaos,

sin,

disbelief,

and evil.

Each time that we read from John’s gospel,

we ought to remember why this gospel was written.

In chapter 20, we read the purpose of the book:

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of 

his disciples, which are not written in this book.

31 But these are written so that you may come to

believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and

that through believing you may have life in his name.

John’s gospel is all about belief:

stories and words of Jesus

stories and words of grace and truth

stories and words that witness to Jesus Christ

so that we might believe in Jesus;

who is the Son of God,

the Light of the world.

But it does not end at belief:

belief leads to new life,

real, abundant life.

So, if you hear one thing today, hear this,

and say this with me:

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overtake it.

At the risk of sounding cliche,

Christmas really is a magical time.

Children will soon lie awake with wonder

as they anticipate the sound of

reindeer hoofs on the roof,

jingle bells

and Santa Clause.

Yet somehow,

without their hearing,

Santa always finds a way

to sneak in quietly,

not making a sound,

no little “Ho Ho Ho”

Somehow, Santa leaves treasures for little children

whether they’ve been naughty or nice.

For many, Santa at Christmas is a minor miracle,

and for others,

Santa happening is a major miracle.

As we grow older,

the wonder of Santa Clause might shift towards

a more mature Christmas wonder:

a wonder about the Incarnation -

the fancy word for God in the flesh,

for Jesus Christ

100% God, 100% human.

We wonder, how can the God of all creation

exist fully in the flesh of a little baby,

let alone in a full-grown human being?

Christmas is a magical time

that we join the shepherds and the Magi -

the wise men,

who searched out this king by a star of wonder.

We wonder and we worship.

It is truly magical - poetic even.

We worship Jesus,

the baby in the manger,

who is God’s love song for us.

Yet for many people,

this season of wonder

is a very different kind of wonder.

Many wonder:

how am I going to pay my bills?

How am I going to make a good impression?

How can I be happy when all I feel is sadness?

How can I continue on?

or simply wondering - why?

Some people experience deep sadness at Christmas.

Many in our community are there right now.

Some people experience uncertainty,

transition,

poor health,

the death of a loved one,

family problems,

loss of jobs.

This can be a very tough time of year for some of us

to sing Joy to the World!

while trying to look past our loss and grief,

our sadness and anger.

For many it is near impossible to not dwell

on loved ones who we want to be with.

In our wondering, remember:

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overtake it.

Christmas says that whatever darkness you encounter,

it cannot overtake the Light of the world,

Jesus Christ.

Our scripture lesson from John makes it sound like

it is possible for darkness to overtake light.

Another translation says that

the darkness did not grasp the Light.

When we think of our own darkness -

whatever that may be -

sadness,

grief,

despair,

anger,

hatred,

loss,

emptiness,

fear -

this is what darkness does -

Darkness tries to grasp us,

or to understand how we operate,

and darkness pulls us down.

If we think of grasp in its other English usage -

darkness tries to take a hold of us,

like a constricting snake,

trying to squeeze and suffocate us.

There is a real struggle between light and darkness

within us,

and within the world.

This is what the Genesis first creation story is about.

In the beginning,

when the earth was created,

the earth was a formless void

and darkness covered the face of the deep.

God created order and beauty

in the face of darkness and chaos.

John’s gospel says that this is what Jesus is all about,

what God’s Word is all about,

that this is what Christmas is all about -

God comes into this world in Jesus Christ,

fully God and fully human -

to speak and bring us Light

amid our darkness and our chaos.

The Light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overtake it!

At Christmas, God moved into the neighbourhood

because God cares about the neighbourhood.

I believe that if we look hard enough,

we can still see Jesus, today

in our own neighbourhoods.

When you see justice for the oppressed,

when you see the outcast being included,

when you see strangers being welcomed,

when you see unexpected people

used for wonderful things,

that might just be Jesus,

full of grace and truth.

The Light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overtake it!

Christmas says that darkness and chaos cannot win.

Christmas is the start of Jesus’ bodily presence,

a new way of continuing God’s work

of bringing forth order and beauty

out of deep darkness and chaos.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overtake it.

When you find yourself in that place of darkness,

in that world of chaos,

longing for a childlike wonder,

longing for order and beauty

and meaning and purpose,

remember that you have Christ in you.

When darkness tries to take a hold of you,

remember that Christ has a hold on you first.

Christmas says that the little baby born in Bethlehem,

the pre-teen whose parents

accidentally leave him behind in the temple,

the miracle worker who healed the sick,

raised the dead and cast out demons,

this Jesus lives in you.

The Word of God,

who existed with God before the creation -

the one through whom all things came into being -

this Jesus lives in you.

When you experience darkness,

remember your baptism!

As you are baptized,

you are baptized into Christ.

God always keeps God’s promises -

God promised a Saviour,

and Christmas is about God fulfilling that promise.

In baptism,

God promises to neither leave you nor forsake you,

God promises you the gift of the Holy Spirit,

with you always.

God will not break that promise.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overtake it.

As you come to the table today,

may you remember that, by Christ’s invitation,

you take in Christ

and Christ takes you in -

you are one with Christ -

the Light of the world.

No amount of darkness can extinguish this light!

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overtake it.

Thanks be to God. Amen.