25-december-2015-christmas-sermon-preached-by-fr-daniel-dries

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Dr Daniel Dries Christmas Christ Church St Laurence – 24 & 25 December 2015

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight: O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

On the 13th of November this year, one of the world’s most beautiful cities was held captive by a few deranged people claiming to act in the name of their God. The following day, the Premier of the State of New South Wales, the Honourable Mike Baird, posted a brief but powerful message on his Facebook Page. A photograph of the Sydney Opera House, with red, white and blue sails was accompanied by this most defiant statement from the First Chapter of St John’s Gospel: The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. This post generated almost 2,000 comments, though not all of them were favourable. The Premier was criticised for mixing religion and politics.

He was condemned for focussing on one act of human aggression, while others seem to go unnoticed. Other critics remarked that religion is the cause of so much violence in our world that it should be abandoned entirely.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The reality is that there are times when it seems that the forces of darkness have indeed overtaken our world. John’s defiant statement can seem more like a vain hope than a reality. For the very first readers of St John’s Gospel, a message of light shining in the darkness must have also seemed, at best, like a completely futile aspiration. As they waited for their long-promised Messiah, the Jewish people endured centuries of oppression, corruption and exile. Terrorism and barbaric acts of human aggression exceeded anything we could imagine. John’s message of light overpowering the darkness must have seemed far- fetched, particularly for those who were completely caught up in the politics and power struggles of their society.

It often comes as a surprise, even to Christians, to discover that our Christmas tradition is pieced together from three of the four Gospels. John the Evangelist speaks of the incarnation – the Word becoming Flesh – in beautiful, yet mystical prose. Luke gives us the account of the shepherds running to the manger to witness the light of Christ coming into the world, while only Matthew gives us the dramatic account of the Magi or the Wise Men. As this is a very correct church, you’ll notice that the Wise Men are nowhere to be seen. They will arrive for the Epiphany. After all, they were 12 days late.

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Jokes abound about the benefits of having three wise women. They would have asked directions, arrived on time, cleaned the stable, helped to deliver the baby and made a casserole. The truth is that the Wise Men did not simply lack practicality and a sense of direction. They were caught up in politics and power struggles. They were delayed in seeing the light of Christ because they were distracted by the dark forces that have always been present in our world. It was only the shepherds, the simple ones of little account in their own society, who were capable of gazing upon the Christ Child without hindrance or interruption.

Above the altar of this church hangs a lamp that burns 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It has been burning now in this church for over 130 years. It reminds us that the Blessed Sacrament is reserved here, and it constantly reminds us that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it. As I enter the peace and stillness of this historic church day by day, I often find the homeless of our city taking refuge here. I mean no disrespect when I say that our treasured homeless brothers and sisters are the shepherds of this community; the ones who are often overlooked and ignored. And they are the ones who so often claim the darkness of this place, gazing upon the light of Christ, while the rich and powerful of our city are caught up and distracted by so many other forces that dominate our world.

The media does us no favours as it dwells so much on misery, corruption and violence. The front pages of our newspapers or news websites often suggest that the dark forces of our world have indeed conquered the light. As wise men and women, we also become completely consumed by stories of corruption, aggression and greed. Even the Christmas Eve edition of the Sydney Morning Herald was dominated by stories of abuse, terrorism and Sydney’s ever-worsening transport crisis.

To balance things, there was an article suggesting that “Your dog needs to get online”, complete with a photograph of Rosie the Boxer, who dreams of the day she’ll become fully connected to the internet! The light may shine in the darkness, but sometimes it really is a great challenge to see it.   On the 13th of November, the world media was understandably consumed by the latest senseless act of violence, justified by a completed distorted expression of religion. What the media failed to report is that while we were so focussed on acts of human aggression, a family sat around the bed of a dying man at that Sacred Heart Hospice in Darlinghurst. As we were completely distracted by barbaric acts of violence, a volunteer was offering words of encouragement to a refugee in a brutal Australian detention centre. As we were completely focussed on one of the world’s centres of culture and sophistication, a homeless woman was being given something to eat in the park across the road.

You may wonder how I know these things were taking place. I know because they are always taking place. While the wise people of our world are so preoccupied with power, corruption and domination, those of little account are being shown the light of Christ. And as we are constantly overwhelmed by dark forces, that lamp and others like it continue to remind anyone who stops to look that The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

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I wish you and all whom you love every blessing of this most holy season. I pray that you find the time to be silent and still, and to bask again in eternal light of the Christ Child, the Prince of Peace.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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