This is a reading I wrote for the Christmas Eve service at our church a few years back. Merry Christmas to you and yours and may you be blessed by the Light that shines!
In the beginning was the Word
and the word was with God,
and the word was God.
Genesis tells us that the first thing God made was light.
The first thing Jesus – the Word who was with God – made, was light.
“Let there be light” said the Word.
And there was light.
God saw that the light was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness.
“Let us make humans in our image,” said the Word.
And life was brought into being.
Humans were made in the image of God,
in the image of light,
in the image of the life that was the light of all people.
The first thing God made was light,
but the first thing we chose was darkness.
We chose darkness and it welcomed us,
with promises to hide our need and nakedness,
with promises to bring us life.
Our eyes became dim and we learned to flee the light.
The darkness wrapped us with itself,
we became prisoners and captives
and the light that smoldered within us went dark.
We walked in darkness
and lived in the land of the shadow of death.
God looked down and saw our darkness.
The Word said, “I am the Light of the world. Let me go to them.”
And he came.
The people who lived in the land of deep darkness saw a great light.
Like the coming of the dawn.
Like the sun in all its glory.
And the angels sang, “Arise, shine, for your light has come.”
But we didn’t know him for who he was.
We knew darkness. We knew captivity.
The light was painful and we clung to the darkness.
But some remembered how it felt to live in light and love.
They squinted and stared, even though it caused great pain,
even though his light exposed their darkness.
They welcomed the light
and the light within them flickered and grew.
Then they too became light
and the light spread,
like a fire that burns and never goes out.
The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness has not overcome it.
And now Christ comes
in every person who will welcome him,
in every one who will bear the light.
