[Propertalk] Fwd: Proclaim Sermon for this week and illustration - John 1:6-28

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded:




Proclaim Sermon for this Sunday
December 11, 2011


Witnesses to the Light
John 1: 6-28
Advent 3


Summary
The ancients witnessed to a great light because it was important to them. John the Baptist was also, in the words of this gospel, "a witness to the light." We stand in this great tradition, and witness to the light of Jesus.


Excerpt
  There are both written and silent witnesses to the overwhelming light that burst into the night sky on July 6, 1054. Not that any of the witnesses to the light we know about would have called the day July 6 or the year 1054.
  About two hours after midnight, the Chinese royal astronomer Yang Wei-te was a witness to a great light. On the day of chi-ch'ou of the fifth moon of Chih-ho, he saw what he called a "guest star" in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. According to Yang, it was a reddish-white color and displayed pointed rays all around. The star was so bright it was visible in broad daylight for 23 days, and visible at night for a couple of years.
  Japanese astronomers were also witnesses to the light, and recorded its appearance in their archives. And thousands of miles away, the Native Americans we now call the Anasazi were witnesses to the light. They did not write it down but we know, anyway. How? Go to Chaco Canyon, in New Mexico, and you will find gently crumbling ruins of an ancient civilization whose trade routes spanned thousands of miles. All roads led to Chaco, and Chaco was where all roads ended.
  Hike the arid desert landscape of the Peňasco Blanco trail, about three-and-a-half miles north of the Pueblo del Arroyo and Kin Kletso cluster of ruins. You will find yourself standing under a rock ledge where someone painted a many-pointed star, a crescent moon and a handprint. Many believe this is a record of one who also saw the same star as the Chinese and Japanese astronomers. And there are other pictographs and paintings in the American Southwest witnessing to this light.
  We know what they were seeing was not just a nova, an exploding star nearing the end of its life, but a supernova. Supernovas occur when the largest stars have spent much of their fuel burning fiercely bright. With a breathtaking suddenness, they collapse into their now solid iron cores, and often become for a short time brighter than all the billions of stars in their home galaxy combined.
  An event like this had to have been very significant for all who saw it. The Chinese astronomer Yang wrote to the emperor to tell him it meant there was a wise and virtuous person in the country.


John, the witness
  In today's gospel passage, the author is also talking about a witness to a startling light, who pointed to a wise and virtuous person. John the Baptist was sent by God, we're told, to witness to the (1,359 more words...)


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