We Belong Here, Together, in the Light

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
December 28, 2025
1 Christmas
Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 147:13-21
John 1:1-18

Happy Christmas, everyone. This is the fourth day of the twelve-day season of Christmas, the season of light shining in the darkness. For us in the northern hemisphere, this is the dark time of year. The days have been getting shorter and the nights getting longer, right up until the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, after which the days start getting longer and the nights start getting shorter. The Winter Solstice is, then, a celebration of the return of the light.

So, the date for Christmas was chosen to be on that longest night of the year so that we celebrate the light of Jesus coming into the world at the same time that we celebrate the return of the light into the world. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Reverent Hannah, the head priest here at Trinity Episcopal Church preached on Christmas Eve, and she noted that we often think of light as good and darkness as bad, and she pointed out that there are times when we also need darkness.

The season of darkness, of winter, is also a season of rest for the earth. We need rest. We sleep in darkness. We have lights to guide us in the darkness, and without the darkness, we wouldn’t be able to notice the light. Darkness is a part of creation. It’s needed. Darkness can also come from hurt and trauma, and that darkness can definitely hurt us, yet even that darkness has a place. It’s our body’s way of protecting us. Anger, fear? They are natural responses to being hurt. Anger and fear can help lead us to safety. When we are overcome by anger and fear, however, then we become lost in the darkness. So, “the light [of Jesus] shines in the darkness, and the darkness [does] not overcome it.” 

Think about guilt as well. Guilt may feel like darkness, guilt over ways we’ve harmed others. More accurately, guilt is how we feel the darkness we’ve caused. It’s a good thing. Guilt helps us know we’ve done wrong and that darkness we feel helps nudge us back to the light. That is, unless, we get overcome by the darkness, and our guilt turns to shame.

When that happens, we become lost and alone in the darkness. Who has felt alone, ashamed of what you’ve done or ashamed of what someone has done to you? That shame is darkness overtaking us, no longer helping us heal or guiding us to the light. Shame keeps us alone, telling us no one will ever understand. No one will ever forgive us. No one will ever accept us if we let this secret shame be known. 

Shame tells us we are unloved and unlovable. Jesus tells us that shame is wrong. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 

We are loved. We are lovable. Whatever we have done, and whatever has been done to us, we belong in the light. That’s why God became human, to help heal us and, when we are overcome by darkness, to guide us back to the light. 

The Word of God became flesh and lived among us, and his name, Jesus, comes from the Hebrew name Yehoshua, which means “God is salvation,” “God saves,” “God is deliverance.” To believe in Jesus’ name means to believe that God is the salvation we seek. God is the deliverance we need. God is the light which shines in our darkness, and God is the light which our darkness cannot overcome. Into our darkness, God’s light shines, saying, “Come, my beloved child.”

Every morning when we rise, God’s light shines in the darkness. See, sleep is like a tiny, daily darkness, which we call the shadow of death, the big darkness. Now, even that darkness is not a bad thing. Our bodies wear out, and death is a natural part of life. Death is the great rest at the end of life, and yet even the darkness of death does not overcome the light of life. 

Jesus showed us in his resurrection, that death does not have the final say. There is life, stronger even than death. That life is the light of God, and the darkness of death does not overcome it. Be at peace even with death, then, trusting that God’s light is not overcome by the darkness, and that life will return. Then, live with the peace that comes from that belief. “God is salvation.” 

God is salvation for all people and for all the mess and darkness of our lives.

When Jesus grew up, he was friends with sinners. He taught forgiveness. He healed people and proclaimed forgiveness. Jesus was the light of God shining for people who were lost and alone in the dark. Jesus is still the light of God shining for people who are lost and alone in the dark. 

So, Jesus’ church is a community for people who are lost and alone in the dark. We’re not the good folks proclaiming judgement on the world. We’re the messed up, broken folks who come to Jesus and the church and find that we’re not alone. When we come to Jesus and the community of the church, we find that don’t need to be alone and ashamed. We don’t need to be lost in the darkness. Jesus says, “I love you. I see you. Come to me, and join with the rest of this rag tag band of screwups. Join with this group of hurt, beaten, and damned people, and find that you’re not actually damned. Those thoughts are just the darkness overcoming you. Come, be loved, and be healed.” That’s the light shining in the darkness and the darkness not overcoming it.

How many have been a part of the church who had murdered someone in the past, who had raped someone in the past? How many have been drug dealers and gang members? How many have been part of the church who are ex-convicts or current convicts? How many have been part of the church who made fortunes at the expense of others and found their lives empty? How many have prostituted themselves, doing whatever they felt they needed to in order to survive? How many, of all of the above, did all of those things because they felt they needed to in order to survive, or because they were so hurt and beaten down, that they just didn’t care who they hurt anymore?

The church is full of people who have been overcome by darkness. The church is full of people who have then found healing together, as we recognize our own hurts and darkness in one another, and we also see our belovedness and the light of God in one another. The church is full of people who have found healing in the name of Jesus. “God is salvation.” The church is full of people who have found healing believing that God is light, life, and healing for all of us together.

So stay, and keep returning. Keep joining together recognizing one another as God’s beloved, because we are loved. We are lovable. Whatever we have done, and whatever has been done to us, we belong here, together, in the light.