A Little dab of yellow

John 1:4-5

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness..."

In the Name of the Christ Child, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

This is the time of year when the countryside takes on a rather stark and barren look. The leaves are all gone from the trees. The vegetation that's left above the snow is brown and withered, and there seems to be no life anywhere.

An artist was once doing a painting of a similar winter landscape, when a friend of his showed up to watch him work. As he looked over the artist's shoulder, he saw the picture take shape. It was a dreary scene; the evening of a winter's day in the country. The landscape was a colorless arrangement of greys and blacks. At the center of the picture was a large, grey farmhouse, cold and dark. It was a very accurate painting, but the visitor couldn't help thinking how depressing was the scene it presented, grey and lifeless as it was. The canvas almost seemed to breathe a feeling of deep hopelessness and grief.

Then the artist did something surprising. As his friend watched, he went to his palette and took a tiny dab of yellow on his brush. With a single stroke, he filled in one of the windows of the farmhouse with the yellow paint. His friend gasped; that single yellow light in the window of the farmhouse had transformed the entire painting! From a picture of depression, it had now turned into to a picture of warmth and cheer. It was amazing, the friend thought, what a huge effect a little dab of yellow could have!

Tonight we're commemorating the arrival of...a little dab of yellow in a very bleak and forbidding landscape. On the canvas of history, the arrival of Jesus on earth wasn't painted in bold, blaring colors; He came humbly, simply, born in a stable on outskirts of the little country town of Bethlehem. But the arrival of that Child is the spot of color that transforms the canvas of men's lives. The Evangelist John says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness..."

Without that Light, our lives would be dark indeed. We'd be left with nothing but the grey shadows of our own sin, and the barren nakedness of a future without hope. But tonight we rejoice in the coming of the Light. Jesus, born of Mary, Son of God and Son of man...He comes to shed light into our darkened world. He brings forgiveness for all our sins. He presents us with a Christmas gift - of peace in the present life, and the certain confidence of eternal happiness in the future life.

Almost 2,000 years ago the Christ-Child arrived on earth, like a tiny spot of light in a dark painting. But what a huge, earth-shaking transformation took place in the history of mankind because of the arrival of that Light! He is now our Light, our Life, our Redemption. In this one simple brushstroke, we can recognize the hand of the Artist - we can see clearly the miraculous love of God for us sinners. What a difference a little dab of yellow can make!

The Sun of Grace for thee is beaming; Rejoice, my soul, in Jesus' birth! The light from yonder manger streaming Sends forth its rays o'er all the earth. It drives the night of sin away And turns our darkness into day.

O Jesus, precious Sun of gladness, Fill Thou my soul with light, I pray. Dispel the gloomy night of sadness And teach Thou me this happy day How I a child of light may be, Aglow with light that comes from Thee! AMEN.