December 2025 Connection
Light
This Advent season, the Worship and Arts Team has been drawing upon the work of “Sanctified Art” and their 2025 Advent series, “What Do You Fear?” I’m immensely grateful for the wisdom of this series and the way it invites us to hear the promise of God that, in a world that so often stokes our fear, we need not be afraid.
Admittedly, fear is easy to come by and hard to leave behind. Fear, known to associate with its friends, anxiety, depression, hopelessness…perhaps even grief and despair, convinces us that fear is the only logical response to the world around us.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring…FEAR!
I’m not certain that I’m loveable…FEAR!
How could anyone look past the mistakes I’ve made…FEAR!
There is turmoil in the world, and it doesn’t seem to let up…FEAR!
Again and again, we are taught that fear is the most logical – even responsible – way forward. We’re taught that a “healthy amount of fear” will ultimately protect us. But at the end of the day, as Christians, we are left with a pressing question: If fear is supposed to be part of our lives, then why does Jesus say over and over again, “do not be afraid?”
In response to that question, we could question Jesus’ naivete. Did he just not get the fullness of the human experience? Did he not fully understand that there are things in this world worthy of our fear? What if, instead of naivete, Jesus was protesting against the insistence that fear remain a steadfast part of our lives, inviting us to experience something altogether new?
And what is that new thing? I’m getting there.
In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we read:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (vv.1, 4-6, 14a).
In the midst of the world as we have come to know it – as we have come to expect it – Jesus, “the Word,” comes to dwell/live/move among us. The incarnation of God in Jesus Christ this Christmastime is an invitation to see the very world we live in as having been wholly changed. No longer are we “a people who walk in darkness” as Isaiah puts it. No longer are we searching for hope among hopelessness. No longer are we strangers to love. No longer are we destined to the chains of our past. Darkness HAS been driven out. Fear no longer gets to have the final word. Death does not win!
The “altogether new” thing that I mentioned a bit ago – the thing that replaces fear is this: Light. Fear tells me that there is something concerning in the unknown-ness of the dark. Christ – the incarnation of God – stands in the midst of the darkest night, illuminating the world to show us that the boogieman isn’t real, that dragons are slain by knights, that death no longer has the same sting, and that fallen, oh fallen is Babylon! (okay, so I mixed in some non-biblical references).
Christmas insists that light, not fear, rule our lives!
Lastly, I want to share with a resource from “Sanctified Art” that I have found meaningful. It’s a creed. It’s a statement of belief. I hope that you will find in it a reflection of yourself this season:
We have seen the valley.
We have seen a sky without stars.
We have seen the longest night,
and still we believe.
We believe in a with-us God.
We believe in the hope of tomorrow.
We believe that good news is louder than fear.
We believe this good news is for all people.
So even when our knees shake,
even when our voice trembles,
even when fear is all around us,
we will hold onto that good news.
We will reach for each other.
We will look for God in our midst.
We will sing songs of joy.
We will proclaim:
Unto us, love is born.
We have seen the longest night,
and we have seen unimaginable love.
So still, we believe.
Amen.
Admittedly, fear is easy to come by and hard to leave behind. Fear, known to associate with its friends, anxiety, depression, hopelessness…perhaps even grief and despair, convinces us that fear is the only logical response to the world around us.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring…FEAR!
I’m not certain that I’m loveable…FEAR!
How could anyone look past the mistakes I’ve made…FEAR!
There is turmoil in the world, and it doesn’t seem to let up…FEAR!
Again and again, we are taught that fear is the most logical – even responsible – way forward. We’re taught that a “healthy amount of fear” will ultimately protect us. But at the end of the day, as Christians, we are left with a pressing question: If fear is supposed to be part of our lives, then why does Jesus say over and over again, “do not be afraid?”
In response to that question, we could question Jesus’ naivete. Did he just not get the fullness of the human experience? Did he not fully understand that there are things in this world worthy of our fear? What if, instead of naivete, Jesus was protesting against the insistence that fear remain a steadfast part of our lives, inviting us to experience something altogether new?
And what is that new thing? I’m getting there.
In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we read:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (vv.1, 4-6, 14a).
In the midst of the world as we have come to know it – as we have come to expect it – Jesus, “the Word,” comes to dwell/live/move among us. The incarnation of God in Jesus Christ this Christmastime is an invitation to see the very world we live in as having been wholly changed. No longer are we “a people who walk in darkness” as Isaiah puts it. No longer are we searching for hope among hopelessness. No longer are we strangers to love. No longer are we destined to the chains of our past. Darkness HAS been driven out. Fear no longer gets to have the final word. Death does not win!
The “altogether new” thing that I mentioned a bit ago – the thing that replaces fear is this: Light. Fear tells me that there is something concerning in the unknown-ness of the dark. Christ – the incarnation of God – stands in the midst of the darkest night, illuminating the world to show us that the boogieman isn’t real, that dragons are slain by knights, that death no longer has the same sting, and that fallen, oh fallen is Babylon! (okay, so I mixed in some non-biblical references).
Christmas insists that light, not fear, rule our lives!
Lastly, I want to share with a resource from “Sanctified Art” that I have found meaningful. It’s a creed. It’s a statement of belief. I hope that you will find in it a reflection of yourself this season:
We have seen the valley.
We have seen a sky without stars.
We have seen the longest night,
and still we believe.
We believe in a with-us God.
We believe in the hope of tomorrow.
We believe that good news is louder than fear.
We believe this good news is for all people.
So even when our knees shake,
even when our voice trembles,
even when fear is all around us,
we will hold onto that good news.
We will reach for each other.
We will look for God in our midst.
We will sing songs of joy.
We will proclaim:
Unto us, love is born.
We have seen the longest night,
and we have seen unimaginable love.
So still, we believe.
Amen.
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