Radiating Light: The Danger of Moralistic Self-Reflection

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
So welcome, my name is Andrea Smith.
[00:00:03] I have the privilege of being the pastor here and still not knowing how to work a microphone.
[00:00:07] So we are grateful that you are here this evening on Christmas Eve.
[00:00:11] If you are worshiping with us online, we extend a very special and warm welcome to you.
[00:00:17] Grateful that you are taking time out of the sacredness of family and friends and the holiday to be here.
[00:00:25] And again, a special and warm welcome to those of you who are online.
[00:00:29] If you're new to West, we are grateful that of all the churches that you could have chosen to spend Christmas Eve with, you chose to be here tonight.
[00:00:38] One of our core values here at West is that we follow the Jesus model, so we're going to talk about Christ through Jesus, Jesus the Son of God that we celebrate his birth this evening.
[00:00:49] We also are going to have a little fun, and so we hope
[00:00:52] Thank you for joining us today.
[00:01:10] One thing we do want to make you aware of is that on Sunday after Christmas, we are online only.
[00:01:18] We want to give our tech team and our volunteers and our band and the children's ministry team, the hospitality, all those teams, some time to rest.
[00:01:27] Will you join me in giving them a very huge thank you for all that they do?
[00:01:36] They are invaluable to the work of West and we are so grateful for them.
[00:01:42] Tonight we are going to be talking about things that have been around for a very long time and hopefully clap if you've owned or purchased any of the toys that you saw in the opening or the video just now.
[00:01:58] Clap if you've stood in line in an inordinate amount of time to purchase one of those toys.
[00:02:04] Yeah, back in the day, like, there was no such thing as online shopping.
[00:02:08] You stood in line, you fought people to get a Tickle Me Elmo.
[00:02:12] And we even have our own version of Tickle Me Elmo up here on the stage.
[00:02:16] He has morphed over the years.
[00:02:23] This Elmo does the chicken dance, which we have our chicken here on the stage.
[00:02:28] We have Westy.
[00:02:29] The reason we have a rubber chicken on our stage is to show that here at West, all people are welcome, even rubber chickens.
[00:02:36] So that's why we have a rubber chicken on our stage.
[00:02:38] Now, we play a game every year on Christmas Eve.
[00:02:42] West has been in existence for 15 years and so we have morphed our game over the years because sometimes we crash and burn during the game.
[00:02:53] Typically, the one that crashes and burns would be me.
[00:02:56] because there's only so much logic and steps that I can follow.
[00:03:00] And so tonight, I invite you to get out your cell phone.
[00:03:03] We have really cool prizes for you.
[00:03:05] Those are what you can see behind me, Tickle Me Elbow, Furby, Lilo and Stitch, Star Wars figurines, Legos, Slinky, a Razor Scooter, and for the current generation of toys, we have Beats in-ear headphones.
[00:03:21] Now, unlike other years, and now that we have two services, what you're going to do is you're going to take your cell phone, and I really do, I don't see your faces lighting up, so this is how you're going to win.
[00:03:32] You're going to get your cell phones out, you're going to put the number
[00:03:36] I'm going to give you like 30 seconds of awkward me talking for you to do that and then what we're going to do is in a minute we're going to put pictures of
[00:03:59] of toys across the generations on the screen and whoever guesses the year of its release not necessarily invention the year of its release first
[00:04:14] And then after that will trickle down and you too can have your own Tickle Me Elmo that you did not have to fight for this year on Christmas.
[00:04:33] 15 more seconds for you to put that number in your phone and then we're going to start and the reason we're doing it this year is because chat GPT and AI can give you the answers a whole lot quicker than normal and so we are trying to take out the room for cheating so you just gotta guess a year and whoever gets closest to the years of release for these toys and I get the text the quickest the time stamp
[00:05:00] has to be the quickest will be the winner it will be announced on Friday we'll send out an email if you don't get our email emails you can stop by our VIP tent or you can text in or you can watch our Facebook page all right are you ready here is the first toy it is a Viewmaster what year was the Viewmaster released
[00:05:30] All right, anybody want to guess?
[00:05:32] 1939.
[00:05:36] Yeah, okay.
[00:05:40] Probably nobody got that one.
[00:05:42] All right.
[00:05:43] Next.
[00:05:44] Now, I hope nobody that's coming to 7 is watching online because then they get all the answers.
[00:05:48] But anyway, we'll worry about that next year.
[00:05:50] Next toy.
[00:05:53] The Slinky.
[00:05:54] What year was the Slinky?
[00:05:56] Don't say it.
[00:05:57] What year was the Slinky released?
[00:06:01] Alright, the answer is 1943.
[00:06:06] I wish I knew what y'all were thinking.
[00:06:14] Now the next one is tricky because it came out two different times and ways.
[00:06:20] Mr.
[00:06:20] Potato Head.
[00:06:24] It first came out and the plastic pieces were invented for families to literally stick into a real potato.
[00:06:33] Not the plastic thing, but a real potato.
[00:06:36] And then they figured out that didn't work and so they came out with the plastic potato head.
[00:06:42] The year Mr.
[00:06:43] Potato Head was released was 1952.
[00:06:45] Oh good, we had some people get that one right.
[00:06:51] Next one.
[00:06:53] The Easy Bake Oven.
[00:06:55] Clap if you had an Easy Bake Oven.
[00:06:58] All right.
[00:07:02] It is still in existence today.
[00:07:04] The Easy Bake Oven was released in 1963.
[00:07:11] All right, very good.
[00:07:13] We got some On Point people.
[00:07:14] Next one.
[00:07:15] This one caused childhood trauma for me.
[00:07:23] The Cabbage Patch Doll was released in 1978.
[00:07:34] My parents thought it would be okay to get a homemade version.
[00:07:37] It didn't go well when you're in fourth grade and everybody else has the real thing.
[00:07:43] I have been to therapy for it and still need to go.
[00:07:46] Next one, Tickle Me Elmo.
[00:07:54] Tickle Me Elmo.
[00:07:56] Elmo was released in 1996.
[00:07:59] All right, very good.
[00:08:03] And we have one last toy.
[00:08:07] Squishmallows.
[00:08:12] I don't even know what they are.
[00:08:14] That tells you how old I am as a person.
[00:08:17] A Squishmallow was invented in?
[00:08:23] 2017 whoever said 14 you are so close so give your hand selves a hand for playing tonight we're going to be talking about things that have been around for a long time like some of these toys i'm really grateful that you're here and i hope you find tonight's message meaningful our experience our worship experience meaningful and relevant to usher in the christmas day clap if you've seen that movie it's armageddon
[00:08:54] if you haven't it's an it's an interesting film to watch and if you have any idea before I get into my message why that might be the video we show before the message I'd love for you to text me and take a guess at that I was talking and one of the worship team members heard me before the service and they're like you're gonna show Armageddon on Christmas Eve that seems very odd
[00:09:18] and it is odd and so just want to lay that out there when you are taught how to public speak if you've ever watched any leadership things about that or if you had a class in college or you've ever heard anyone tell you how to public speak they always teach you that the first stuff out of your mouth and the last stuff out of your mouth really really matters they're your anchor point so you better get
[00:09:43] Get it good at the beginning.
[00:09:45] You don't want to fumble.
[00:09:46] And you don't want to fumble the end.
[00:09:48] And you need some content in the middle.
[00:09:50] But if your opening hook will get them, then you're pretty much home free.
[00:09:56] And then you can coast in to the end.
[00:09:59] I spend a lot of time, to be very honest with you, thinking about what the opening illustration will be on Christmas Eve and what the closing will be same for Easter because I recognize that for many of you it is your first time here.
[00:10:13] It might be your only time here in a while and I really want the fact that you gave your time to be here tonight to matter.
[00:10:20] And so this message really matters.
[00:10:23] and so when I came up with the opening illustration for tonight I was so excited and honestly very relieved I'm like whoo all right now I can dive into the theological stuff because I know what I want to talk about and I was so excited about this opening illustration I started asking people I'm like hey
[00:10:40] Have you heard of blah blah blah and they're like no what's that and so because I was going to come out here and say and I was going to show a picture of it and say hey how many of you have heard of this and I just expected all of you like you know with the toys and stuff to or the worship team singing to clap and be like yeah we know exactly what you're talking about I literally and I kid you not pulled 30 different people of all age demographics
[00:11:09] and it was not until today that I found two people two out of the thirty that I asked do you know what this is and they're all like no I found two today that said yes and so I'm like all right can't start it that way because it will flop so fast so I just started it and now I want to show you a picture of what I'm talking about because it's perhaps one of the coolest things we can learn about in a really long time this is an image of three
[00:11:39] I, Atlas, or Atlas IIIi, whichever way you want to say it.
[00:11:44] Will you clap if you've ever heard of it?
[00:11:49] Like six.
[00:11:50] We've grown.
[00:11:50] We've grown from the two that I had before the service started to six.
[00:11:55] So what this is is a comet.
[00:11:58] And it is the third comet, interstellar comet, to exist that we know of.
[00:12:05] And what interstellar means is that
[00:12:08] it did not originate from our galaxy our solar system it came from a galaxy beyond and I don't know what it means about me that my TikTok algorithm put in some random comment into my algorithm and then of course there's all the doomsday and the Armageddon kind of stuff that starts showing up and and with the use of AI you don't know what videos are real and what so
[00:12:33] I became pretty fascinated with this thing because I did watch Armageddon years ago and I remember thinking when I first found out about this comet I'm like oh my gosh Tom is in another country for work and I hope he gets home before the comet comes like I don't want to be alone when the comet crashes into earth that is how neurotic I can be at certain times and and I was I was really concerned about it
[00:12:58] But then the more I read, the more I understood that it is billions and billions of light years away.
[00:13:06] But the coolest thing about it is that on December the 19th, it came the closest to Earth that it is projected to come, and it is over 11 billion years old.
[00:13:25] Think about that for just a second.
[00:13:27] An object in space that has been discovered that is not even from our galaxy that is over 11 billion years old.
[00:13:40] I was listening to a lecture from a Harvard
[00:13:44] Astrophysics professor one his name is Ali Jobe and or Avi sorry and and he's controversial so I don't want to say oh go listen to all his stuff because I mean he's got his own stuff and thinks different things perhaps that
[00:14:02] You or I may think or maybe not, but I listened to one of his lectures and then another podcast with him and he was talking about NASA and why NASA's, you know, pretty tight-lipped on it and then, you know, the pictures that have been released, the best pictures are from amateur astronomers, not from the billion-dollar equipment that exists.
[00:14:24] I reached out to a friend of mine that I have that actually works for NASA
[00:14:28] and I'm like hey I'm gonna use this for a Christmas Eve message could you tell me what you know about this I know you work for NASA and they declined to comment and so I'm like okay well moving on but it's so cool because this thing has been in existence for over 11 billion years
[00:14:50] And it doesn't emit its own light.
[00:14:54] It doesn't like give off its own light even though when you see it, you see that it is an object of light.
[00:15:01] The coolest thing about a comet is that it reflects the light around us.
[00:15:10] And this comet, Atlas IIIi, has been doing that for 11 billion years.
[00:15:21] We're here tonight to talk for a few minutes about a baby that was born a couple of thousand plus years ago who proclaimed that he was light and that in his light was life.
[00:15:44] and all who would follow that light would have life.
[00:15:53] And on this Christmas Eve, what better message to think about and to think about that there is light and life that has been going long before our earth was ever in existence.
[00:16:10] Light has.
[00:16:16] If you read and you look for the Christmas story, each gospel writer that we find in scriptures, in our New Testament scriptures, each one tells it differently.
[00:16:25] One not really even at all.
[00:16:30] So it helps us understand that everybody brings a different perspective to this story.
[00:16:37] Matthew talks about the genealogy of Jesus and traces down his lineage so you can tie it all together.
[00:16:45] He was writing to the Jewish people.
[00:16:47] Mark just dives right into the ministry of Jesus.
[00:16:51] Luke is the traditional story that we typically read and then tonight I want to read to you the Gospel of John because this ties it all together.
[00:17:03] The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word.
[00:17:07] The Word was God.
[00:17:09] And the Word was in readiness for God from day one.
[00:17:15] Everything was created through Him.
[00:17:21] Nothing, not one thing came into being without God.
[00:17:26] And what came into existence was life.
[00:17:31] and the life was light to live by.
[00:17:35] The life light blazed out of the darkness and the darkness could not put it out.
[00:17:46] This light, this word that was first, that was present to God became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood
[00:17:58] We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true, true from start to finish.
[00:18:16] Atlas, 3i, 3i, Atlas, passed closest to Earth right before we celebrate Christmas.
[00:18:28] Scientists say it's a coincidence.
[00:18:33] Theologians, and that's a fancy word for people who study faith and God.
[00:18:38] Theologians say maybe the universe is trying to tell us something.
[00:18:46] It's been around a long time.
[00:18:50] And over our 2000 plus years, we have done something that's not really cool.
[00:18:59] We just read about this beautiful gift that came.
[00:19:02] The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.
[00:19:06] It doesn't specify which zip code or which neighborhood.
[00:19:09] The Word moved into the neighborhood and dwelt among us and this Word was light and this Word was life and gave those two things to all people.
[00:19:22] The early followers of Jesus who were called followers of the way they were not called Christians, the early followers of Jesus got it because the stories as they were passed down from generation to generation were so authentic and so tied into the person Jesus of Nazareth who became known as the Christ, the Cosmic Christ, meaning
[00:19:50] that it has existed long before it became incarnate.
[00:19:59] Long before it became in human form in a baby in a manger in a town that we celebrate tonight.
[00:20:08] That word, that life, that light, it has always existed.
[00:20:12] We call it God.
[00:20:13] And God embodied God's self in the person of Jesus who came and showed us what and who God is.
[00:20:21] And the earliest followers and adapters, they got it.
[00:20:26] And they were so on fire about that light and that life.
[00:20:29] And just like a comet, they would reflect that light in all that they did.
[00:20:34] And then because we're so human,
[00:20:39] And we're so driven by our own ideas and egos and opinions like even the earliest followers, they just couldn't agree.
[00:20:48] And so it's known as the Great Schism.
[00:20:52] In 1058 the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western Orthodox Church became in existence.
[00:21:01] And we are derived from the Western Orthodox Church and we have personified and humanized this Jesus.
[00:21:14] And we have made it about religion and not about life and light like the earliest followers.
[00:21:25] So on this Christmas Eve, I would just encourage us and challenge us all to ask ourselves like, how do we radiate light?
[00:21:35] Because whether you come to the Christmas story or not, whether you believe any of it or not,
[00:21:41] If you just look at the literal stories of Jesus in scripture, it's so hard to argue like he was good and kind and when he said, I am the light of the world and those who follow me you will never walk in darkness.
[00:21:58] He lived it.
[00:21:59] He showed it.
[00:22:00] He gave it to all people.
[00:22:06] And the ones that were the most unhappy with him and angry with him were the religious ones.
[00:22:13] Not the people on the margins and not the people that others would turn away.
[00:22:21] He turned everything upside down.
[00:22:26] And the shepherds, the ones that the light came to and said,
[00:22:32] There is this gift for you for all people in this place.
[00:22:37] Go and follow the light they went.
[00:22:40] They were not the chosen ones in society's eyes, but they were the chosen ones in the story.
[00:22:46] And the confused young mom who had the privilege of bringing the light of the world into existence
[00:22:58] and probably a very tired, confused and scared gentleman who was told you're gonna raise the Son of God who's gonna be the light of the world.
[00:23:09] They all had their lives turned upside down but what they did was they clung to the light.
[00:23:19] Christmas Eve is a time of hope.
[00:23:23] It is a time of light.
[00:23:26] And it is a time that light breaks through the darkness.
[00:23:31] Whatever darkness you are facing, I promise you that just like that comet reflects the light, you do too.
[00:23:44] You reflect it, you have it, and it is always yours and that there is nothing that life can do to take away your light.
[00:23:59] So I hope that is the message that you cling to on this Christmas Eve.
[00:24:08] One of the privileges that I have in ministry is to celebrate weddings or two of the privileges is to celebrate weddings and the other is to celebrate celebrations of life.
[00:24:22] When folks move from the physical world to the eternal one.
[00:24:30] A few weeks ago I had the privilege to speak with a family who had lost a loved one.
[00:24:39] And we were talking and they were sharing with me about their loved one's life and what they would like communicated at the service.
[00:24:51] and it was so interesting we'd been on a zoom call and I'd been on the zoom call with them for over an hour they were in their home there were beautiful light fixtures hanging down from behind them and it was it was just a nice time it was one of those rare privileges in ministry and as we were getting ready to end the call one of the the the daughter was telling me you know her her closing words to her parent
[00:25:19] and she told me how she crawled up beside him it was in his final final moments of life and she whispered into his ear hey daddy it's okay to go which what a beautiful gift we can give those that we love
[00:25:37] Now, when she told me that, nothing, I swear to you, and I don't normally swear, I'm a preacher, but I swear to you, nothing changed in their environment.
[00:25:49] Where they were sitting, nothing.
[00:25:52] And I'm not making this stuff up, like, I just don't do that.
[00:25:57] But as she said those words, Daddy, it is okay for you to go, the craziest, biggest, beautiful light like blew up my computer screen.
[00:26:12] So much so that I thought the light bulb behind her head had burst.
[00:26:18] and I watched she and her mom because I assumed they were gonna react I assumed they were gonna go oh my gosh the light bulb just blew they never missed a beat they kept talking to me and I got ready to tell them that story then in the moment but I thought no save that for when you're standing in front of them and they are looking for some hope these days before Christmas when they miss the one that they love so much
[00:26:48] When she gave him that gift, Daddy, it is okay to go, and light permeated my screen.
[00:26:55] Some could call it coincidence.
[00:26:58] I call it the universe trying to tell us something.
[00:27:03] Light is real.
[00:27:06] and the light that Jesus ushered into this world.
[00:27:09] It is not to be taken for granted or lightly.
[00:27:14] It holds all things together, even comets 11 billion years old.
[00:27:24] So wherever you are in your journey this Christmas, I hope that you will cling to that light
[00:27:33] Because despite whatever circumstances life throws at you, job, health, relationships, anything, the light will always bring you home.
[00:27:50] Jesus, when he was with his best friends, he told them, I'm not going to be with you much longer.
[00:27:59] And they didn't get it.
[00:28:03] He said, I'm going to go to prepare a place for you and where I go, you're not going to go or understand right now, but you will someday.
[00:28:10] But I'm going to leave with you an advocate, the Holy Spirit, and my presence is going to be with you always.
[00:28:19] Peace, my peace will be with you.
[00:28:25] Do not ever be afraid.
[00:28:27] So that is the message that we have on this Christmas Eve that we always are recipients of that peace and that hope and that light.
[00:28:37] He took the bread, he gave thanks for it, and he said this is my body which is broken for you and every time you take of this do it in remembrance of me and then he took the cup
[00:28:48] which had meant one thing for them with the festival and the feast of the Passover but this night he gave it different meaning and he said this I give thanks to God and I ask God to forgive me and us of the times that we have missed the mark this is the blood of the new covenant which is poured out for you and for all
[00:29:16] And every time you drink of this, I want you to do it in remembrance of me.
[00:29:21] And these are the gifts we have this Christmas Eve of the light and the life that abides in us all.
[00:29:32] If you are new to West or church, communion is open to all people.
[00:29:39] It is a gift of grace and we don't have to do anything to earn it or deserve it, so I hope in a few moments you'll come forward and receive the gift of the bread and the cup.
[00:29:51] It is our gift of knowing that the light is indeed alive and abides in us all now and always.
[00:29:57] Will you pray with me?
[00:29:58] Gracious God, pour out your Spirit on this bread and on this cup.
[00:30:03] Make it be for us, you.
[00:30:06] Make it be for us your light that we can cling to in times of fear and darkness God we are so grateful that billions of years ago you somehow mystically cosmically spoke this just whole thing into being and then over time eventually
[00:30:30] A couple of thousand years ago, revealed yourself to us through a tiny baby who grew and lived and loved and now calls us to love ourselves and one another.
[00:30:42] Thank you for that gift of life and light we offer ourselves to you this Christmas Eve.
[00:30:49] In Christ's holy name we pray.
[00:30:52] Amen.
[00:30:55] Don and Lane, two of our staff people here at West, wanted to thank all the volunteers that serve in their ministry areas and I did as well and so we ended up making goodies for the volunteers and so I was buying a bunch of cereal and ingredients at Walmart and it looked odd and the receipt was this long and so the lady checking the receipt at the door looked at it and looked at me and
[00:31:20] And then like right before the service tonight, someone, one of our online community said, are we live streaming?
[00:31:39] And it's one of those details.
[00:31:41] I'm not a detail girl, so I'm like, I think so, but I don't know.
[00:31:44] So I sent Josh, our worship production person, I said, are we love streaking tonight?
[00:31:52] And I'm like, that is spellcheck at its finest.
[00:31:56] Love streaking.
[00:31:57] No, we're not streaking, but we hopefully will be sharing love.
[00:32:03] So I hope tonight you go love streak in the best way possible and I hope you have the absolute best Christmas reflecting light.