Hitting The Fast Forward Button Toward Christmas....

In our culture, this past weekend tends to mark a time of transition. During this past weekend, we tend to find ourselves transitioning from a time of thanksgiving to a time of frenetic activity and expectation. On thanksgiving, we paused to give thanks for the blessings of the past year. By the following day, however, we tend to move from hitting the pause button in our lives to hitting the fast forward button in our lives.

We hit the fast forward button because we feel like there is just so much to get done, don’t we? I mean, we have to hit the fast forward button to keep up with everyone else who is looking for the perfect gift. We have to hit the fast forward button to keep up with the fast paced holiday schedule. Whether it is a Christmas concert or play at a local school; whether it is a Christmas party at work; whether it is a Christmas trip to visit family and friends; our schedules quickly become filled with activities that require us to hit the fast forward button.

However, when we hit the fast forward button in our lives, there is something else that rises in our lives. You see, when we hit the fast forward button in our lives, our stress level also rises. The faster we go, the more stressed we become. And when we hit the fast forward button in our lives, it only elevates the stress that is already present in our lives. And that elevated stress often can produce a cloud of darkness in our lives.

Maybe you can totally relate to this reality. Maybe you feel that darkness invading your life. Maybe for you it is the darkness that is formed by the stress and frustration that comes from a loss of finances. You find yourself trying to hit the fast forward button while struggling as a result of losing a job or having your hours cut at your current job. Maybe for you it is the darkness that comes from the stress and loss of a relationship. You find yourself trying to hit the fast forward button while struggling with the grief and pain of loss that comes from a past relationship that is now gone.

Or maybe for you it is the darkness that comes from what seem to be a dark season in our country and culture.  As a culture, this has been a season of amazing uncertainty and frustration. Politically, socially, economically, and culturally, our culture seems to be covered by a dark raincloud of stress, frustration, and anxiety. For many of us, it seems that almost every day, we turn on our media devices only to see or hear someone sounding like Eeore from Winnie the Pooh, saying “Oh bother, here we go again”.

And as we move closer to Christmas, we can often find ourselves in a place where we are wrestling with that growing darkness that threatens to surround us and overwhelm us as we attempt to hit the fast forward button toward Christmas. However, this idea of wrestling with darkness is nothing new. Throughout history, humanity has wrestled with darkness and dark times. And while some times in history were darker than others, humanity has always had to wrestle with darkness.

For example, during the first century, darkness seemed to be expanding across much of the known world as the Roman Empire ruled over most of the world, including Israel. During the first century, the Roman Emperor was viewed as a god who was to be the object of worship throughout the empire. Julius Caesar had been viewed as being Divine, which meant that his son Augustus claimed the title of “the son of god.” Emperor worship became ingrained in the culture of many parts of the Empire. In most of the Roman world, the belief in the emperor as divine was obvious and uncontroversial.

As part of their rule, the Roman Empire imposed heavy taxes including produce taxes, sales taxes, temple taxes, occupational taxes, custom taxes, transit taxes, to name a few. The demand for taxes to the Roman Empire and its officials, in addition to the tithes and offerings to the Temple and priesthood, dramatically escalated the economic pressures on those in the Empire. After decades of multiple demands from multiple layers of rulers many families fell increasingly into debt and were faced with loss of their family inheritance. The impoverishment of families led to the disintegration of communities, which was the fundamental form of the society. Politically, socially, economically, and culturally, the culture of the first century seemed to be covered by a darkening cloud of stress, frustration, and anxiety.

And it was into this time of growing darkness that something happened in history. Something happened in history that literally split history in two. And in our time together leading up to Christmas, we are going to spend our time together at the church where I serve in a sermon series entitled light. During this series, we are going to spend our time together looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John.

Now the gospel of John was written the person who had perhaps the closest relationship with Jesus while He was on earth, a man named John. John is referred to as the disciple Jesus loved. John was Jesus best friend. And it is in the gospel of John that we see John, as he was looking back in the rearview mirror of his life, record for us something that happened in history that radically changed the course of his life, the course of human history, and that can radically change our lives today.

Tomorrow, we will see John begin his letter that has been preserved of us for 2,000 years…