The Light Wears Skin: Becoming Real, Becoming Radiant
Texts: Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3 and John 1:1-18
It happens every year: we pack up the ornaments, turn off the lights, and return to business as usual. Yet outside our windows—and sometimes inside our own hearts—the darkness lingers. News headlines, daily stresses, and painful divisions can make it feel like hope is in short supply.
But that’s exactly why the Christmas story still matters.
The heart of Christmas isn’t a perfect holiday or a fleeting mood. It’s this: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John’s gospel doesn’t give us a cozy manger or angel choirs. Instead, we get the bold claim that God’s own presence, love, and light show up exactly where life is most real—right in the mess and the beauty of our ordinary days.
Isaiah describes it as being “clothed with the garments of salvation.” Not a way of escaping the world, but a promise that God’s hope and justice can take root in us, here and now.
Here’s where it gets personal.
John says everyone who is open and receptive receives the power—the capacity—to become children of God. That’s more than a label. It’s the invitation to live fully, honestly, compassionately, and to shine a little brighter wherever we are.
Being “light” isn’t about perfection or piety. It’s found in every small act of kindness, in moments when we choose hope over cynicism, and every time we build bridges where others only see walls. It’s about letting God’s presence move through us — when we forgive, reach out, or simply show up for one another.
Yes, the darkness is real. But the light is stubborn, and it’s meant to be shared.
So here’s the challenge I’m holding onto, and maybe you will too:
Don’t pack away the hope of Christmas. Don’t hide your light out of fatigue or fear.
Let the story linger. Let love become real in your choices and relationships.
Because the miracle of Christmas wasn’t just then, and it isn’t just for “the religious.”
It’s happening right now, through us, when we dare to shine.
God is with us. The darkness cannot overcome that light.