“Thank you, Mr. Dalton,” said Rev. Briley. “I appreciate being here, and it’s great to see this wonderful crowd here tonight. It’s thrilling to see the tree be turned on.
“When I think of Christmas -- this is kind of a little strange for a lot of people -- but I think of the Gospel of John. John is one of two Gospels that did not share the birth of Jesus Christ. So, everybody’s saying, ‘That is strange.’ Usually, you read in Matthew or Luke. But, in John, I like to hear the very beginning of that, because John has a lot of symbolism, and it’s deep theologically. The Gospel starts off, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.’ He was in the beginning. All things came through Him and without Him not one thing came into being. In him was life and the light was the life of all of the people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’
“In the very beginning of John, you hear those words of creation: ‘In the beginning.’ You hear that in Genesis: ‘In the beginning, God created.’ I think John wanted everybody to know that this was a new beginning, a new way of living, a new way of seeing how God is, a fresh, innovative way to live life.
“I think John also wanted us to know two other things about Jesus. First, that Jesus was around in the beginning. Yes, he came as human, but He has always been around, because Jesus was and is God. He was the divine nature. Jesus was and is Emmanel, God with us through Christ. I think the second thing he wanted us to know was that light is necessary for life. We cannot survive without light. I read an ancient proverb the other day, confirmed by our science. The death of sunlight is the death of what we know as life. Light is essential for survival. And John is saying that Jesus Christ is the life-giving light. Jesus is essential for life. Later in the Gospel, Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never be in darkness but will have the light of life.’
“As you know, the darkness can be very scary and very frigid at times. One can go crazy if you’re just in darkness. This past year, in our country, in our world, we have experienced much darkness. For a number of years, we had as many mass shootings as we had days of the year. That’s hard to believe. We only hear about the big ones, but we have them every day. This past year, we experienced terror in our country. This past year -- and you folks at Blue Ridge know this -- Pickens experienced some horrendous storms. As we look at our newspaper or our electronic devices, we see darkness every day. I want you to imagine what life would be if there was no light in Christ in the midst of that darkness. In the midst of the hatred and destruction that we see, if we did not have hope and peace, if we did not have love, if we didn’t have the possibility of joy, what would life be like? If we did not see the light of Christ in others, the way we do here at Pickens every day, we would not have hope, peace, love, and joy. It would be very difficult to go through it. Jesus Christ gives us hope, He gives us love, He gives us peace and joy in the midst of difficult times.
“My mother-in-law loves lighthouses. So, every time my family goes anywhere near a lighthouse, we have to go visit it. We have to go in it, around it, and we have to take lots of pictures and send to Grammy. And if we like it or not, we have to smile. But actually, I’m fascinated with lighthouses. I’ve always enjoyed them. I can imagine being a sailor in a boat and not knowing where to go but seeing that light, and that light is the direction to the land.
“I read a story of a time right after the end of the second World War. A lighthouse keeper off the coast of Scotland spied, in the distance, a mine that was coming toward him. The beach wave was coming closer and closer. He couldn’t do anything to stop it. All he could do is get the lighthouse ready. And, all of a sudden, a big boom. And people could hear that boom for miles and miles away. Folks from the mainland saw it and sailed over there to see what had happened. They saw on the island a big hole in the middle, the lighthouse standing and the injured lighthouse keeper. The light was still shining for those lost sailors to come home. Friends, Jesus is that light. When we’re lost, when we’re having difficult times, when we’re in the darkness, we can look and see that light.
“And each one of us can carry that light and share that light with others. As we light this beautiful Christmas tree, this wonderful light, as we drive by it, let us remember the light of Christ, to always shine here in Pickens and throughout the world. And remember the wonderful people here at Blue Ridge, under the leadership of Mr. Dalton, who make sure that we have visible light. They also share the spiritual light of Jesus Christ. May we all experience the life-giving light of Christ every day of our lives.
“Let us pray. Precious and loving God, we give you thanks for everyone here. We give you thanks for everyone in Pickens and throughout the world. Lord, bad things happen, and there is darkness in the world. But we know that your light will shine in all darkness. Your light will overcome darkness. So, Lord, please let us share your light with each other, share your love, peace, hope, and joy. Let us enjoy this Christmas season like no other. In the name of Christ we pray, Amen.”
“Rev. Briley, thank you so much for that message,” said Dalton, “and thank you for being with us today, and thanks again for the music provided by Ashley.