"Jesus is the light of the world

Just when the world most needed God's light, a babe was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Jesus is the light that shined in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. The light of Christ never stops shining. Wars, pestilence, famine, good times and bad, that light continues to shine. Our grandparents saw it in the darkest hours of the depression. Our soldiers saw its glow even on distant battlefields. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

Senator John McCain once wrote a story for Reader's Digest. It was about the time he spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Any of you who know his story know he was cruelly mistreated in that prison camp. Fortunately, he and the other prisoners were given a little freedom as the time drew closer for them to go home. This increased freedom made for a very special Christmas.

The prisoners were gathered in a dimly lit room with one light bulb. With solemn awareness of where they were and what they had been through, they began to sing "Silent Night" and exchange crude handmade gifts. John McCain remembers it as his best Christmas ever.

The world cannot extinguish the light of Christ. That light shines in prison camps. It shines in hospital rooms and funeral parlors. It shines amidst poverty and every manner of heartache and hardship. Nothing can stop it. Life nor death nor powers nor principalities, nor anything in all creation can stop the light of Christ, the light of God's love for humanity from penetrating the darkness. You can try burying it in the ground and it will still break through. "In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." (John 1:4-5)

The light was Christ, who is the life and light of the world. Our job is not to be the light but to let the light of Christ shine through us. Thank God for allowing us to share the light of Christ with others.Rev. Charlotte Austin

McCary's Chapel United Methodist Church