There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. The Life-Light was the real thing: Every person entering Life he brings into Light.

In this prologue John unites the words Life, Light and Word together. You cannot get the full meaning of one word without the other. Word relates to the gift of Life, brought through the gift of creation, and Light relates to the wisdom and spiritual activity that is necessary to live within this creation. These are the foundations that are essential to joyful and purposeful life designed for all humanity. It was this Word, Life and Light that came into the world through Jesus. His birth was an explosion, the Word come in the flesh to bring light and life to a world tittering on implosion.

John imagines a person beyond this world come to turn humanity from its erosion. This is a man who embodies the ingredients that created the world: wisdom, love, grace and purpose. What he knows, and is, is grounded in his wisdom that created the world and gave it life and light. He is God, come in the flesh.

John writes, “The life-light was the real thing; every person entering life he brings into the light.” There is the difference. Word, Life, Light are the real things of this world. They are what pushes us forward, keeps our hearts touched by the spirit and what turns everyone towards the hope and love of God. In Jesus, we are grounded in these created ingredients of life. We are part of creation because we are part of the creator.

You cannot keep balance without moral and spiritual guidance. The light is this balance. The light is a metaphor for the wisdom of God come to this world in one person. The light is embodied in a person; not an abstraction. We have seen the light, the truth, that walks and breaths within the very fabric of society. We cannot change what he did.

We have many witnesses to confirm the life and words of Jesus, who is the Word. John is one of them. John’s purpose was to reflect the light. He was that reflective material that concentrated the light in one direction. He was able to be the witness of the light, that then created other witnesses to bend the light onward. Ultimately, the whole world will be bent toward the light. They can either chose to be drawn to it, or to run from it.

With the coming of the Word and Light is faith. They are inseparable units that feed off each other. They are brothers and sisters in the infiltration of God’s truth in the world.

Think for a moment about the Shepherds. They are witnesses of the light as well. Faith was connected to their movements in the fields, to the events at the stable. They were witnesses of the true light, that light that stands with humanity and against falsehood. These shepherds and John were drawn to the light and consequently, became reflective instruments, witnesses, of the one true light.

Light can be harsh: the light that reveals the secrets of the world, and shines bright upon our heads. But there is the light that is encouraging and joyful. It opens up the beauty all around us.

When I think of these different kinds of light, I am reminded of the Lincoln and Douglas Senate debates. I believe the one that caught my attention was in Springfield. Douglas just finished delivering his passionate, and slightly harsh, statement about freedom and slavery. He believed that both could co-exist. Then he ended his speech with, “If we can show ourselves to be righteous and fair to the Negro, then we can reveal that we can be the terror of the world.” Of course, he meant keeping them in their place and proving we can still be a generous nation.

Lincoln countered with, “I do not think we want to be the terror of the world. I believe that we should be the encouragement of the world,” meaning that we can no longer live half slave and half free. We should show that we can live together with equality. Then the world will see that it can change its ways to a more just way of living. Then he ended his speech, “A house divided cannot stand.”

The true-light can be a terror if used to demand rather than encourage. The church should be the encouragement of the world, providing hope, love and support. We don’t want to be the terror of the world, demanding our theology become the law of the land. I would hope that we wouldn’t demand that any human be forced into believing. I would hope that the church would encourage the world to step forward in love, believing in God who has sent the light to live among us. Come himself, in humility.

Demanding that others believe is a losing strategy. Like John and the Shepherds, we are witnesses of the light, enlightening everyone. We are gift-carriers, not the pious that carry a whip against those that don’t believe. We are the encouragement of the world. We are its hope and servants.