THE coming of the light of Christ provides hope at the end of a dark and difficult year, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have said in their Christmas Day sermons. The Queen, too, has spoken about the teachings of Christ as her “inner light”.
In a sermon preached on Christmas Day morning in Canterbury Cathedral, broadcast online, Archbishop Justin Welby said that 2020 had been characterised by “the darkness of Covid, of economic crisis, of climate emergency, evils of racism, of war, genocide, and persecution. For billions around the world, 2020 has been a year walking through the valley of the shadow of death.” There had been “gifts of good news, of hope” in recent weeks, however, including the vaccine and “the capacity of governments to find a way forward in relations after Brexit”. He continued: “But above and beyond all these there is the simple history, the reality that the light came into the world and the darkness has not overcome it. Not because we feel it or believe it or it works for us, but because the light of the birth of Jesus reveals God as God is.
“Jesus Christ reveals God leaning into the darkness and defeating it through embracing every aspect of our sufferings and struggles, anxieties and fears.” The Archbishop said that, 2000 years later, “the darkness has still not overcome the light. Empires have come and gone. Tyrants have risen and fallen. Economies have emerged and collapsed. Science has offered us obliteration and solutions. Diseases have swept the planet or been eliminated. Wars have threatened human destruction and good people united for peace. Treaties are made and broken. “But the defining event of human history is the coming of the light. As much as we may currently be tempted to imagine this virus as the pivot of our lives — ‘Before Covid and After Covid’ — the pivot for every life, for human history is in fact the coming of the light of Christ.” The light of Christ could be seen today, he said, “in a society that because of our Christian heritage — even if not current belief — thinks it matters fundamentally that the poor are cared for, that the hungry are fed, that the sick have access to the health care they need, that children are educated, that the elderly are cherished and protected.
“We see that light in the food banks of Dover, in those helping across every part of Kent, where amidst much struggle people are cared for by local government and by volunteers. We see that light in the hospitals where people offer their life and their future, in the schools looking to the long-term hopes of the next generation. We praise God for that light which has so penetrated this land and so many other lands, the light that calls us back to its source.”
About The Author
Harrison Okafor
editor
Judith is a believer, a lover of Christ and a Gospel freak person. A passionate gospel blogger and press writer. I work with GospelHitsNaija.net Media, no 1 Gospel music platform.
