John’s gospel has much to say about light. John creates a theological commentary on how ho logos (the Word) and to phos (the Light) survive even in the greatest darkness. “Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (1:5). This cosmic struggle declares the incarnation of Jesus the Word made flesh dwelling among us. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). “All things came into being through him… in him was life and the life was the light to all people” (1:3-4). Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the Light. With this foundation we are ready to hear our gospel message.
Cats and laser pointers. I think we have all seen a cute cat chasing a laser with more gusto and energy than might seem necessary. You Tube is filled with video clips of our furry friends hunting a light beam with flare. Some cats jump off the walls, other spin in circles and other simply follow wherever the light leads. I was surprised to find that other animals chase the laser too- fish, iguanas, penguins, even tigers can be seen chasing these colorful beams of light. They actually sell laser pointers just to entertain cats. Pointers which were designed to point out information in a presentation are living lights or at least that is what the cats think. This chasing seems to satisfy an instinctual need. The movement and light mimic living things. The cat thinks the light is alive but it is not. They think it is prey, but it is not. They imagine that the light might be food, but it is not. Still, they track and pounce; following the light with complete abandon.
At this time of year we are drawn to the light too. Well at least we display lights in every manner possible. Lights in the windows (more an east coast thing). Lights on the tree, in the shops, in the shrubbery. We will not even mention the house consumed in holiday lights. Visiting Dominican hospital to see Maxine I saw a huge star of lights atop the chapel. Today these lights are seen as decorations, but they are also a reminder of the one true light of Christ. The light that John came to proclaim. Please don’t think of him as simply John the Baptist even though he baptized. In this gospel, his purpose is different. John is to witness the light, the one true light of Christ. One commentator wrote of his unique vocation as the one “sent by God to bear witness to ‘the Word’ and point to ‘the Light” (Feasting on the Word B1, 71). The principal vocation of John in this gospel is to bear witness, a verb that occurs 33 times in this gospel and only twice in the other three gospels COMBINED.
As John seeks to bear witness to the Light, the Pharisees demand to know who he is. All John says is who he is not. They think he is the Messiah, but he is not. Elijah, but he is not. A Prophet, but he is not. He is the voice crying in the wilderness, bearing witness to the Light. He is unworthy to untie the sandals of one coming. Karl Barth the theologian wrote, “John the Baptist is no independent figure. He belongs entirely to Christ… He is only there to collect and give back the light that falls upon him from the figure of the one and only Christ. Thus standing then being totally dependent, being totally man and sinner, totally serving” (Feast 1B, 68). John was a well-known preacher in his own right, traveling around preaching repentance. He put that aside to bear witness to Christ. It was not about him, his ego. No, he humbled himself and proclaimed the Light.
We too are to bear witness to the light. Not simply follow Christ but let Christ’s light shine through us for others to see. We get distracted. Sometimes we can be like the cat chasing so many unattainable lights. Imagine a cat surrounded by multiple colored light beams all demanding her attention. She pounces from one light to the next, never catching anything. Now imagine yourself surrounded by laser beams.
Green laser light might be financial success,
the yellow one your standing in the community,
the blue one achievements within your family.
Every time you pounce on a light you think you are getting ahead, filling that instinctual need. But you’re not. What you really need is the true light, the living light of Christ. Christ’s light is steady, rich, luminous and love filled. We do not have to chase it. We simply stand in Christ’s light and then bear witness to it. We keep chasing these moving laser lights because we too have an instinctual need – not for prey like the cat. Our instinctual need is for God. We need the Word, the incarnation, the Light of Christ. Very often we chase these other lights trying to fill this need. Just like John we might have to define ourselves by what we are not to fully enter the light of Christ. German philosopher Meister Eckhart believed God is found in the soul not by adding anything but by subtracting (Feasting B1, 71).
Maybe you say I am not one who gossips. I am not one who tells little white lies. I am not …fill in your own growth area. I am not a Christian who shies away from sharing the love of Christ in the world. Defining yourself by what you are not might help you to proclaim more clearly who Christ is.
This Advent season we too are to bear witness to Christ and Christ’s love. Like John who arrived not to get everything decorated and everyone ready for Christmas, we are to heed John’s words; we are to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Prepare our hearts and minds for the coming one, God’s only Son, the one true light. Then instead of chasing laser lights we can become the ones pointing to the Light and drawing others to the magnificent love and light of Christ. Amen.
