I still have problems with Christmas.
It seems so triumphant.
Words from 2 Corinthians 4 speak of the wonder of Christ's light shining in a world of darkness.
For we do not proclaim ourselves;
we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord
and ourselves as your slaves
for Jesus’ sake.
For it is the God who said,
‘Let light shine out of darkness’,
who has shone in our hearts
to give the light
of the knowledge
of the glory
of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
This is a wonderful echo of one of the great Christmas prophecies.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
When I look around, however, it’s not quite like that. There’s a lot of darkness in this world of ours. The darkness of loneliness, the darkness of sorrow, the darkness of deprivation, the darkness of war.
The irony of Christmas is that the darkness is too often accentuated.
The genius of Christmas is that it addresses precisely that issue.
A Vulnerable, Flickering Light
Read on in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and you find that this light that we treasure not least at Christmas, is a light that is contained in the most fragile of vessels. We have this treasure in clay jars.
It is not an all-triumphant light that shines into every nook and cranny and takes away the darkness for all time. It is a vulnerable, flickering light, that makes its presence felt in weakness, in frailty, in times of immense difficulty.
We have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.
It is an extraordinary power … but this extraordinary power belongs to God and is not dependent on everything going right for us. It is a power that is with us when things go wrong, when things are out of sorts, when we are all too conscious of the darkness.
We are afflicted in every way. That’s something that’s a given. That’s not going to go away, suggests Paul. But we are not crushed.
We are perplexed. Given the nature of the world we live in and the lives we lead that’s not going to go away … but, says Paul, we are not driven to despair.
Christmas does not give us the false reassurance that now the light has come there will no longer be darkness.
While we live, says Paul, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake.
Christmas Offers us an Assurance
It offers us the assurance that no matter how dark the darkness may be the light of God’s presence will still be there … it may at times be no more than a flicker, it may be in a very clay-y jar, but it will continue to glow. continue to shine, nothing will put it out.
Something wonderful comes with that commitment we make to believe.
We believe and so we speak … we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us up also with Jesus and will bring us into his presence.
What a wonderful thought.
However dim the light may seem … we do not lose heart. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.
With that sense of blessed assurance, however, goes something more.
Christmas sets us a task to do
We have a task to do. Our task at Christmas and at every other time is to make this light, the light of Christ’s presence, the light that shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ … to make this light visible.
How can we make this light visible? The clue lies in verse 5 and in verse 11.
We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves, your servants for Jesus’ sake.
That’s how we make the life of Jesus visible, that’s how we make the light visible of Christ’s presence visible, that’s how we let the light of Christ shine. While we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake. That’s not just a statement of the realities of the world. It is also a reminder that Christ calls us to take up our cross daily and be his servants. Our task is to serve Christ by serving one another and serving other people.
That’s the commitment we make through our communion collection for County Community Projects. That’s the commitment we make through our Christmas Day Collection for The Lilian Elizabeth Fund bringing health care to the village of Sika in the Gambia. More importantly that’s the commitment we make through our church’s care in the community and our own daily service of others.
While we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake. Taking our up our cross daily in a life of selfless service, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh, in what we do with our lives.
That’s it. In what we do – in our lives – in our mortal flesh – in our day to day living – this is what will make Jesus visible. This is what will enable the light of Christ’s presence to shine in a world of darkness.
Two things then.
Christmas Offers us Assurance and Sets us a Task
Assurance – no matter how dark the world, the light of Christ’s presence shines on, however vulnerable and weak the flickering flame may seem. Hold on to that … sure of an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.
Making the life of Jesus visible, the light of Christ’s presence visible, through the service of Christ, and through the life-time service of others in their need – this is the task we are called to at Christmas.
Here are the words that Paul shared with the Christians of Corinth.
2 Corinthians 4:7 - 5:1
But we have this treasure in clay jars,
so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God
and does not come from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.
For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake,
so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.
But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—
‘I believed, and so I spoke’—
we also believe, and so we speak,
because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus,
and will bring us with you into his presence.
Yes, everything is for your sake,
so that grace, as it extends to more and more people,
may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart.
Even though our outer nature is wasting away,
our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us
for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen;
for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,
we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
It seems so triumphant.
Words from 2 Corinthians 4 speak of the wonder of Christ's light shining in a world of darkness.
For we do not proclaim ourselves;
we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord
and ourselves as your slaves
for Jesus’ sake.
For it is the God who said,
‘Let light shine out of darkness’,
who has shone in our hearts
to give the light
of the knowledge
of the glory
of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
This is a wonderful echo of one of the great Christmas prophecies.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
When I look around, however, it’s not quite like that. There’s a lot of darkness in this world of ours. The darkness of loneliness, the darkness of sorrow, the darkness of deprivation, the darkness of war.
The irony of Christmas is that the darkness is too often accentuated.
The genius of Christmas is that it addresses precisely that issue.
A Vulnerable, Flickering Light
Read on in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and you find that this light that we treasure not least at Christmas, is a light that is contained in the most fragile of vessels. We have this treasure in clay jars.
It is not an all-triumphant light that shines into every nook and cranny and takes away the darkness for all time. It is a vulnerable, flickering light, that makes its presence felt in weakness, in frailty, in times of immense difficulty.
We have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.
It is an extraordinary power … but this extraordinary power belongs to God and is not dependent on everything going right for us. It is a power that is with us when things go wrong, when things are out of sorts, when we are all too conscious of the darkness.
We are afflicted in every way. That’s something that’s a given. That’s not going to go away, suggests Paul. But we are not crushed.
We are perplexed. Given the nature of the world we live in and the lives we lead that’s not going to go away … but, says Paul, we are not driven to despair.
Christmas does not give us the false reassurance that now the light has come there will no longer be darkness.
While we live, says Paul, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake.
Christmas Offers us an Assurance
It offers us the assurance that no matter how dark the darkness may be the light of God’s presence will still be there … it may at times be no more than a flicker, it may be in a very clay-y jar, but it will continue to glow. continue to shine, nothing will put it out.
Something wonderful comes with that commitment we make to believe.
We believe and so we speak … we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us up also with Jesus and will bring us into his presence.
What a wonderful thought.
However dim the light may seem … we do not lose heart. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.
With that sense of blessed assurance, however, goes something more.
Christmas sets us a task to do
We have a task to do. Our task at Christmas and at every other time is to make this light, the light of Christ’s presence, the light that shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ … to make this light visible.
How can we make this light visible? The clue lies in verse 5 and in verse 11.
We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves, your servants for Jesus’ sake.
That’s how we make the life of Jesus visible, that’s how we make the light visible of Christ’s presence visible, that’s how we let the light of Christ shine. While we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake. That’s not just a statement of the realities of the world. It is also a reminder that Christ calls us to take up our cross daily and be his servants. Our task is to serve Christ by serving one another and serving other people.
That’s the commitment we make through our communion collection for County Community Projects. That’s the commitment we make through our Christmas Day Collection for The Lilian Elizabeth Fund bringing health care to the village of Sika in the Gambia. More importantly that’s the commitment we make through our church’s care in the community and our own daily service of others.
While we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake. Taking our up our cross daily in a life of selfless service, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh, in what we do with our lives.
That’s it. In what we do – in our lives – in our mortal flesh – in our day to day living – this is what will make Jesus visible. This is what will enable the light of Christ’s presence to shine in a world of darkness.
Two things then.
Christmas Offers us Assurance and Sets us a Task
Assurance – no matter how dark the world, the light of Christ’s presence shines on, however vulnerable and weak the flickering flame may seem. Hold on to that … sure of an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.
Making the life of Jesus visible, the light of Christ’s presence visible, through the service of Christ, and through the life-time service of others in their need – this is the task we are called to at Christmas.
Here are the words that Paul shared with the Christians of Corinth.
2 Corinthians 4:7 - 5:1
But we have this treasure in clay jars,
so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God
and does not come from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.
For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake,
so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.
But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—
‘I believed, and so I spoke’—
we also believe, and so we speak,
because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus,
and will bring us with you into his presence.
Yes, everything is for your sake,
so that grace, as it extends to more and more people,
may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart.
Even though our outer nature is wasting away,
our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us
for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen;
for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,
we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
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