All Saints really comes
into its own at Christmas
It's a tried and
trusted recipe
Take a beautiful
building,
some Christmas
decorations
and a very talented flower
team.
Then add candle-light
and the whole thing springs into life.
Wonderful!
I love candles, don't
you?
They add a beauty all
their own and today, the shortest of the year, we are specially
thankful for the warmth and light they bring.
They aren't always that
convenient, of course...If somebody lost a contact lens during this
service (I speak from experience here) we'd doubtless hurry to put
the lights on – and when we leave the building, we're glad that
there are other lights to guide our way.
We live in an age where
light can just happen – at the flick of a switch – so perhaps we
don't really grasp how frightening and oppressive darkness can seem,
how alarming the longer nights of winter were to our ancestors.
Perhaps the sun was gone for good.
We still don't much
enjoy the dark
Who knows what dangers
might lurk in dark corners, how easily we might get lost , go
hopelessly astray as we seek a way home...?
And so the darkness
has, since the early days, become an image for all that is sad and
broken in our world.
The grieving families,
in Newport Connecticut and closer to home in Stroud, feel the
darkness very near of course, and across the world there will be many
for whom the comfort and joy that we sing about feel impossible.
Terrible, tragic things
happen
People mourn, and feel
that they will never be happy again...
But still we dare to
celebrate.
On this, the longest
night of the year, when the darkness, both real and metaphorical,
feels very strong we gather to rejoice in that gift of hope that
Christmas offers.
Born in poverty, a
refugee whose birth was followed by violence and bloodshed, Jesus
brought the Love of God into our world in a human life.
From the beginning, he
drew others...and as they came close to him, they were touched by
that love
which shone through
everything that Jesus said, and did and was.
As he grew up, and told
them wonderful stories that showed them the way to live, they began
to learn to share that love with others.
They told their
friends.....who told their friends....who told their friends.....so
that down through the ages the light of that love was passed in a
relay that puts even the Olympic torch to shame.
Of course – loving
like that is costly. Remember, a candle destroys itself as it burns –
making a gift of itself to shed light for others.
Loving like that cost
Jesus everything...and on the 1st Good Friday, it looked
as if the darkness of the world had won forever.
Jesus died – and with
him died the hopes and fears of all the years.
But …...after 3 days
came Easter, new life, new hope as the light burst forth again...and
now, today, we have the choice and the chance to share it with
others.
We can share it with
our words – as we remind others that Christmas begins with Christ,
God's gift for the world forever.
We can share it by our
actions – as we give love and care, time and energy, to those who
need to know that there IS still love in the world.
It will be costly for
us too – at least, if we do it properly...
but it's a cost well
worth bearing.
As we go from this
church, whatever we are going home to, let us each one carry the
light of God's love with us and show to a troubled world the truth
that
THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE
DARKNESS AND THE DARKNESS HAS NEVER PUT IT OUT.
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