FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Christmas Eve Meditation by Dr. George Bryant Wirth
December 24, 2004
CHRIST AT THE CENTER: THE STORY IS TRUE!
Text: The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
John 1:9
Throughout the past four weeks in Advent, our sermon series has focused on the theme “Christ at the Center,” affirming and rejoicing in the reality that He is the reason for this season. The prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist have helped to lead us to Bethlehem, and tonight we draw near to our destination with expectation in our eyes and hope in our hearts.
We have read the scripture lessons and sung the Christmas Carols, and before we celebrate communion and light all of the candles, I want to ask a question of all of you: “How do we know that the story about Jesus’ birth is true?”
You may remember the old Swedish story about a country doctor who came to a farmhouse one night to help deliver a child. As the mother labored on the kitchen table, her husband, the farmer, assisted the doctor by holding up a lantern to illuminate the makeshift delivery room. After six hours of painful struggle, the mother game birth to a little baby boy, and there was great celebration.
But then, much to the surprise of both parents, the doctor announced that a second child was due to arrive. And a few minutes later, sure enough, the mother delivered a beautiful daughter.
The husband was already shaken by the unexpected turn of events, so you can imagine his astonishment when he heard the doctor exclaim “Hang on! I think there’s another one – it looks like triplets!”
At that moment, the farmer began to back out of the room. “Hold it!” said the doctor. “Come back here with that lantern.” “Oh no,” said the farmer. “It’s the light that attracts them.”
Now I don’t know if that story is actually, factually true, but it takes us back to something that happened in Bethlehem nearly 2000 years ago. John’s gospel describes it this way:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came…to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to bear witness to the light.
The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world…He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not. But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become the children of God…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth… (John 1:1-14, selected verses).
As you are aware, there are four gospels in the New Testament, and the first one written, the Gospel of Mark, does not include the Christmas story. Why? Well, we don’t know for certain. Matthew and Luke are the ones who tell the story about Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and angels and sometime later the wise men, all gathered round for the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
But John, who wrote the final gospel around 100 A.D., he described things from a theological point of view. And even though his version of the story is different from Matthew and Luke, John is the only one who underscores and emphasizes that the story is true. The words are so familiar that we can easily miss them, so listen again:
The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth (verses 9 and 14).
The Greek word that John uses here for true, for truth is “aletheia,” and in the Greek Lexicon, this is the definition: “aletheia – what is true in any matter under consideration…and it is opposite to what is feigned, fictitious or false” (From Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament).
If we are to assume, and I believe we can, that John had access to the other three gospels and had read and was familiar with the Bethlehem story, it would appear here in John’s theological version that he is telling us, almost 100 years after the birth of Jesus, that the story was and is true.
For you see, by then, the church was moving into it’s second generation and was already bearing witness to Jesus as the “True Light” shining in the darkness, and as the “Word of God” in person, “full of grace and truth.” Those early Christians, who lived under Roman persecution, knew that the story was true because their lives had been changed. In the darkness of their struggle and pain, they had seen the light of Jesus Christ and received His healing power and grace. To them, the story was not some myth or fable, but rather the life-giving hope and love that enabled those Christians to go on instead of giving up.
And so it still is tonight. How do we know that the story is true? Our assurance does not come from academic research or scientific proof. Our assurance comes instead from believing in God’s biblical word and receiving the Word made flesh - Jesus Christ - into our hearts and into our lives. And as that happens, He will help to open our eyes and will show us how to share His love and His light in a world that is still shrouded in darkness.
Years ago, Dr. Karl Menninger received a phone call one night at his Topeka, Kansas home. It was Christmas time, and one of his friends was calling to say that their eight year old daughter had become angry and upset, had climbed up into a tree in the backyard and was out on a limb. Nothing the parents could say would persuade the girl to come down – she’d been up there for three hours.
The frantic mother told Dr. Menninger “We’ve tried everything. We’ve threatened and cajoled, told her we would call the fire department, warned her she might fall and hurt herself or get sick out there in the cold. We’ve tried everything, but she says that if we put the ladder up or call the police, she’ll jump. What can we do?”
Dr. Menninger, who was a faithful Christian as well as a wise psychiatrist, thought for a moment and then asked, “Have you told her to come down because you love her and want to be with her tonight?” “No,” said the mother, “we haven’t tried that.” Dr. Menninger said, “Well, try that and then call me back.” After ten minutes, the phone rang and the mother said with great relief and gratitude, “Thank God, she’s down.”
Now that is a true story, and I tell it in closing because when the time was right, on that first silent night in Bethlehem, God did the same thing. In the midst of the darkness, He came down to dwell among us in person, and to show us how much He loves us through the birth of His Son, our Savior Jesus. And we know that the story is true because His love, His light, His grace and truth are alive and at work in us and in this world tonight.
So as we prepare to celebrate around this communion table and give thanks for the greatest gift ever given, with open hearts, open minds, open hands and open lives, let us receive Him and believe in Him, just as they did in Bethlehem a long time ago.
In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The sermon distribution fund has been established by the Session of First Presbyterian Church to enable friends and groups to make contributions for the printing of the Sunday sermons. Sermon leaflets will be printed from time to time, as they are requested and as funds are available. Please designate your gift for Sermon Distribution Fund. Thank you for your support.