Where is the light shining?

Hey, week 3 of Advent 2020, for some we can see the light at the end of the tunnel of Covid through the imminent release of the vaccine to the population; for others they can see the light through their purchase on #BlackFriday or #CyberMonday! Where is the light shining?

This week our New Testament text is from the Gospel of John. This Gospel doesn’t get full coverage as the other Gospels, the ones they call Synoptic – look the same, get their own emphasis every third year. John’s Gospel gets a mention every Christmas and Easter. Also worth mentioning, just like the Gospel according to Mark, within John’s Gospel, there is no Christmas story!

What a Contrast

The reading is John 1:6-8, 19-28 which immediately poses the question: what about those missing verses John 1:9-18?

The passage we are reflecting upon focusses upon John the Baptist, whereas the other missing verses are all about Jesus. Surely Jesus is the main character? Where is the light shining?

So Advent points to John the Baptist, leaving Christmas for Jesus!

John makes some interesting statements: a man sent by God but NOT:
the Messiah,
nor a Prophet, nor Elijah;
but the Voice.

“I am the Voice crying in the Wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord”

John 1:23 citing Isaiah 40:3

Wilderness

Once driving in the United States, you enter the freeway and drive out for the city. Ahead of you is the “open road“, and it may not be very well lit. The scrubland on either side of the highway is barren, forbidding perhaps? It is a long, long road until another city – but at least the roads are straight.

John wasn’t asking for roads to be built out of the wilderness but INTO the wilderness.

Prepare the Way of the Lord

Have you heard of the term ‘harbinger of doom’? Harbingers were those characters who announced or signalled something a-coming. That was John.

He was a pioneer, an explorer, not only of the barren land but of society. He could see that there was something which had to change within society, and he believed that through God this change was going to be incredible.

God had led the Israelites INTO the wilderness before (Exodus). There, they learnt about waiting upon God. When they were ready God led them out of the Wilderness. From the Apocrypha “For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.”
Baruch 5:7

During Advent we seek to wait upon God, listening for God’s call. How might we seek to help others find a way out out of the wilderness? Could we metaphorically remove some boulders en route, clear the path of debris, perhaps even some stuff we have left?

Water

Baptism was and continues to be seen by many as the entry point into faith. This is borne out with the early history of Advent itself. Baptism is also seen as an outward sign of an internal change – that we have turned a corner (repent or μετανοέω, referring to changing one’s mind).

That would mean that our authentic self is seen. One that is wary of the truth about ourselves, one whom can be vulnerable.

Torchlight

So if Jesus is the light of the world, John is the one who points to Jesus. Where is the light shining? John is the one who spotlights Jesus, not wishing to be in the limelight but shine his torch on Jesus.

Are we the light, the lens through which Jesus is seen? Transforming those around us or possibly that spotlight so others may see Jesus at work? or both?

What might it mean to be the
light of Jesus today?
Possibly Be the Christ in Christmas