A year ago I came into this church and we prayed for the 30 or so people who had been killed in what seemed to be a freak wave somewhere very far away, somewhere that some people might have been to on holiday. Later that day the number rose and a new word became part of English language – tsunami.

And the light shines in the darkness.

The 7th July, you remember the 7th July …

And the light shines in the darkness.

And the earthquake in Pakistan …
and the hurriance in New Orleans …
and those moments of our own lives where the shadows lengthen and the darkness seems doubly dark …

And the light shines in the darkness.

That is why we are here. That is why we have gathered on this cold December night: to proclaim that despite the darkness, the very real and ever present darkness, the light shines and the darkness shall not, cannot, will not, overshadow it.

I’m not a great fan of the Daily Mail but for once they did a good job. In fact, of all the newspapers that came out that day, the Daily Mail had the scoop. No other photographer clicked at the right moment. There were photos galore on all the front pages, but nobody clicked at the moment the person looked heavenward for inspiration. Standing on the steps of the courthouse as her son’s killers had just been sentenced Gee Walker looked heavenward … and the Daily Mail got it right. I saw the footage, and I’m sure you did too, on the television, as she was talking to the reporters and she glanced upwards … none of the other papers got it. The Daily Mail got the picture.

Does the light shine in the darkness? Gee Walker was looking up as if heavenward, to check if, in the midst of her terrible darkness, she could catch a glimpse, a glimmer of the light that shines in the darkness. It was as if, in that moment, her faith shifted from being an intellectual exercise of something read and learnt and accepted, to one of being a personal encounter with something very real, an experience of the light shining in the darkness. It was as if, in that moment, her faith shifted from her head to her heart. I totally accept that I am making an outrageous claim on Jean Walker’s behalf, but that’s what it looked like that to me.

Tonight we celebrate the light shining in the darkness – the Word made flesh. And what is that Word: love, acceptance, forgiveness.

The love for each one of us as we are, created by God in God’s own image. You are loved by God, you are accepted by God. You have been found worthy to come into his presence, to sing that new song the psalmists wrote about, to come and kneel at the manger and to offer your gifts, however meagre they may be. And you are forgiven for all that you have done, for all that you have failed to do. Christ, the baby in the manger, has said so.

As she stood on the steps of the courthouse, Gee Walker was asked a question by a reporter. She answered that question and then went on:

And I know what’s coming next … do I forgive them? At the point of death, Jesus said ‘I forgive them for they know not what they do’. I forgive them. I have to forgive them.

The light shines in the darkness. And it tells us that we are forgiven, that we are accepted and that we are loved.