A candle in the darkness John 1: 1-­‐18 The Rev Lisa Fry January 30, 2012 Picture this: a small child, perhaps 5 or 6 steps into the aisle at the back of a
dark cathedral. In her hand is a small lit candle. She walks fearlessly down
the aisle of the dark cathedral, candle in hand, and joins the dean of the
cathedral at the crossing. Together they mount the steps to the chancel, and
together they light the paschal candle. From this light, the rest of the
cathedral is lit. This is, in fact, the opening moment from Christ Church
Cathedral in Cincinnati’s Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival, a theatrical
piece and pageant that the church does annually for the city of Cincinnati
each year between Christmas and New Year's.
It is a powerful moment. One small candle of light lights the darkness and is
used to light the entire Cathedral.
It’s the image that came to my mind when I read and reread John’s prologue
to his Gospel that we just heard read.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being
through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come
into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it…The true
light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
That first Light from which all the stars, and world, and all living beings were
lit has come into our world to show us how to live in that light and take that
flame inside us and be the light of the world. Children of Light.
A candle in the darkness John 1: 1-­‐18 The Rev Lisa Fry January 30, 2012 It’s a funny thing, this metaphor of Light and Darkness—darkness cannot
really extinguish light. Darkness is not an entity Darkness isn’t something
we can measure scientifically. It has no mass, no form, no existence. Darkness, by definition is void of either mass or energy: it is the absence of
something. It can seem to be very powerful, but all it takes is a small light, a
single candle, to banish it.
Light -- on the other hand--is measurable—we can measure wattage and
candlepower, and intensity. Light has mass and momentum, and energy. It
is a positive force that can be measured scientifically. It is not the absence
of something. It matters.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness (or the absence of light)
cannot overcome it. And that is our responsibility in this world to be
followers of the Light, Children of the Light, and to be the light in the world
that the dark can never extinguish.
My daughter, Zoe, got picked to carry the candle to the altar when she was
about 5, and I remember being terrified that she would set herself-- or
someone else-- on fire somewhere between the back of the church and the
altar. But now I see her walk down the aisle more as a metaphor for life.
Our candle is lit when we are born, and we carry our light, sometimes
lighting other candles, sometimes lighting fires– until we reach the end of
our journey and our small lights rejoin the Light of the world that the dark
can never extinguish.
The other night I was complaining to my family about some failures within
our justice system, and a specific place where I believe it has failed-- it
doesn't matter where-- add your own thoughts on that here-- and I was
saying someone should do something about it.
After listening politely, my daughter said- "If you want something done—DO
it. How do you think things get changed? It’s because people care enough
to get involved." I was caught between annoyance at the "I'm 21 years old
A candle in the darkness John 1: 1-­‐18 The Rev Lisa Fry January 30, 2012 and I can solve the world's problems if people would only listen to me"
attitude, and gladness that I must have done something right by
encouraging her to be a socially and politically conscious person. So I did
what any self respecting other parent has probably done: I argued with her.
I said that I didn’t know enough to do that, I didn’t know where to begin, I
didn’t have the time.
I could hear the hopelessness, the knowledge of my own failings in my
voice. It was as if I had already given in to it. But she was relentless: "I
make it sound easy," she said, "but it's not. It isn’t easy to get involved, it
takes time, effort and motivation. But it's the only way things will change-- if
we all get involved!" Sometimes I really hate it when she's right.
I love the Mahatma Ghandi quote: Be the change you want to see in the
world. It is much easier to say “Be the change you want to see in the world,
than it is to actually BE the change in the world.
It has always been easier to talk about Christ, and affirm we are the face of
Christ to the world, followers of the way, Children of Light, that to hold our
candle high and ACT like Jesus did. What would happen if we embodied
what we say we believe? Would we tackle hunger, poverty, disease,
incarceration, violence?
Would people look to Christians in hope? Would we begin to usher in the
kingdom Jesus talked about? Jesus thought so. " You are the light of the
world..no one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on a
lampstand... to give light to all..."
So carry your light, sometimes lighting other candles, sometimes lighting
fires– and let your light shine in the darkness, because all it takes is a small
candle to banish the darkness and light a fire.
Amen.