![]() ![]() Starting right from this darkest moment of humanity when the Son of God died on the cross the light has shone until now, even for us in this difficult time of our lives. And when in Golgotha the sun darkened and “darkness came over all the land” (Matt 27:45) Jesus cried in loud voice: “It is finished” (John 19:30). But in this darkness indeed the light was shining: Jesus took away the sin of the world, our sin. To His enemies He said: “This is your hour and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). In fact He trembled and sweated blood in Gethsemane when the cup of anguish was not taken away but he had to drink it up. Jesus dared to go out amongst His betrayers. When the night around Him had deepened, He established the Last Supper of love in remembrance of the new covenant that offers us the forgiveness of sins through His blood. He introduced Holy Communion in the night he was betrayed. When He had momentous decisions to make, He stayed the whole night praying alone on a mountain. Jesus was courageous and dared to go out into the night. We can say that Jesus achieved His biggest victories by night. The deeper the darkness around us, the more wonderful to us is the holy birth of Jesus, His life, His death and His resurrection. The darker the night, the brighter the stars shine. In Him they found new hope.Ĭhristmas still comes into the darkness. In the light of the Gospel they found the way to the Child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. They started walking in the dark night, having as their guide the divine proclamation, the Gospel of Christmas. The shepherds found Baby Jesus in the middle of a dark night. This is the eternal message of Christmas but it suits this current Christmas and the people sitting in the darkness especially well. ![]() God wants to say to us through the Gospel of today: The Redeemer is born to you who are sitting in the darkness. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” The Evangelist John says the same as follows: “The light shines in the darkness” (1:5.). The Gospel of today tells us: “There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch over their flock by night. The prophet of the old covenant already said: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who lived in the land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” You may have noticed that when the Bible tells us about the birth of the Redeemer of the world it takes us into a dark night, but all of a sudden a powerful light starts shining. ![]() It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940.) (Background: The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland. It is translated from Finnish into English and suits the actual worldwide situation well. Jaakko Haavio (1904-1984) which he preached early on Christmas morning, 1939. The following is the sermon of my grandfather Rev. Maija preached the following very special sermon during our Christmas Day Service 2020. ![]()
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