"New Light for a New Year" - John 1:1-18 - January 2, 2004

One of the highlights of my trip to Germany in December was a visit to the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany. Johannes Gutenberg printed the first bible in movable type in the year 1436. The museum had a reproduction of the very first printing press. Our tour included a demonstration of how the press works. I was asked to be a volunteer to help with the printing of a single page. The page we printed just happened to be the first page of the gospel of John. It was printed in Latin.

Our tour of the museum also included a visit to the vault where five original bibles, first printed by Gutenberg, were kept in a secure area but on display. It was extremely meaningful to see such extraordinary books that have been kept in excellent condition for over five centuries.

In the 15th century most of the people in Europe were illiterate. It was only the very elite who could read. This meant that a small minority of society could interpret the bible. Gutenberg developed the printed bible so the masses could have access to the scriptures. Unfortunately few of them could read them, let alone afford them.

Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman from the mining town of Mainz borrowed money to develop a technology that changed the world of communication. The press used by Gutenberg was a hand press, in which ink was rolled over the raised surfaces of hand-set letters held within a wooden form and the form was then press against a sheet of paper. Gutenberg's name does not appear on any of his work but he is generally accredited with the world's first book printed with movable type, the 42-line (the number of lines per page) Bible, also known as the Gutenberg Bible or the Mainz Bible (for the place where it was produced).

In three decades, printing spread across Europe where it became one of the chief means by which the Renaissance, the humanist re-birth of interest in learning and the classics, was transmitted from culture to culture.

As I peered over those original printed bibles in a glass case I couldn’t help but think of all the bibles in our society, many in homes, that sit on a shelf or a bookcase and never get read. What good is the bible if it is never read? Gutenberg deserves a lot of praise for making the scriptures available to the masses, but unless you take time to read it, it is worthless.

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." The gospel of John begins by reminding us that to understand God, we must read the word. Living in the light is to live in the word. It means that first you have to read it. Secondly you need to study it and thirdly, we are called to spread it.

Our faith doesn’t end with reading and understanding the word. Our faith, as the gospel also states, the word has to become flesh. "And the word became flesh and lived among us." In other words, it is a "living word" that embodies faith. And, according the gospel the good news is we have the "power" to live our lives in faith.

In Columbus last week during the snowstorm, thousands of residents had no power for several days. Ice on power lines caused huge power outages. With God, however we are never without power. The power of faith is always within us which can be used in any situation.

One thing I wanted for Christmas this year was a good flashlight. So, my wife gave me a Magna Flashlight. It is extremely bright. It is small enough to carry in your pocket. It even has an extra bulb in the end of the cylinder The other evening I was reading the directions to make sure I was operating it properly. I noticed that it said something about turning the flashlight into a candle. I thought, that would be really helpful for our Christmas eve service. I wasn’t sure how to transform it into a candle so I had to read additional instructions. Voila! Now I have a really cool flashlight that is also a candle. Every pastor should own one.

Until I read the instructions I had no idea how the darn thing worked. It is truly amazing. My flashlight not only has great power, it has multiple uses. This is also true with the word of God. You have to read it to know what all God is trying to tell you. Perhaps the reason so many people are lost and confused and living without power is that they are failing to read the scriptures.

God gives us the power we need to live by, especially when we are willing to study the word and apply it to our lives. God wants us to be a light to the world but we have to know how to operate that light in order to help others find their way.

We need instruction but at the same time we still live in grace. My flashlight was a gift just as grace is a gift from God. Today is the first Sunday of a new year. Therefore, it is an opportunity to close the door on last year and resolve to live our lives in a new way. What happened last year is over. We can lament over our mistakes or we can accept God’s grace and move forward.

Sometimes we don’t have the luxury of detailed instructions. We can follow all the rules, obey all the laws and still things happen that we can’t control. We have no alternative but to live by the grace of God.

Henry Gardener was flying a passenger to Asheville, North Carolina in his Cessna 180. He’d taken off from Victoria, Texas and stopped in Jackson, Mississippi to fix his malfunctioning radio. Now he was close to Asheville only to find that the fog was too thick to land. "Sorry," came the voice from the air traffic controller. You’d better head to Greenville." But, Henry was low on fuel and he would have to land in Asheville.

"We’re going to have to land," Henry insisted. The controller gave him permission to make an emergency landing. But, then his radio sputtered as he began to make his descent. "Pull it up" came a shout. Then Henry could see an interstate highway below him. He pulled back on the stick, barely missing an overpass.

A voice on the radio then said, "If you listen to me, I’ll show you how to land." And then came a series of detailed instructions. "Raise it up. Turn to your left a little. Easy, easy. You’re nearing the runway. Let it down…now!" Suddenly the lights appeared on the runway out of the fog. What a welcome sight they were. Henry landed safely. First he thanked God. Then he went over to the controller to thank him, who looked at him in bewilderment. "I don’t understand," he said. "I lost contact with you after I told you to make an emergency landing. Your radio sputtered and I never heard from you again." (from Sourcebook of Wit and Wisdom, Communication Resources, Canton, Ohio, 1996)

Let us not keep the word under glass. May we take the time to read and study it. May we accept the power that God gives us and let our lights shine. And, may we always remember that by the grace of God, go we.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio