Burn with God’s fire, and wait for the dawn.

Those were the words I ended the video with, because my longing is for each of us to want more of God, to be ignited anew by the light and flame of Jesus. We need Christ’s light burning in us, and the world needs to see that light and feel its warmth.

I’m so glad for the way God drew near to us, for how his light can and does shine, how it shines in the darkness. It’s a mark of hope.

But even with the wonder of Christmas, the wonder of God coming near, it is not all there is. There is still a greater hope, a greater dawn, a greater light that we await. When Jesus comes again, we will finally see life as it was meant to be. We will finally see the dawn break the sky.

We’ve spent time this year with a different kind of Advent candle.

Some of you may have been thinking, “What’s the deal with the barbwire and the candle? Sort of a downer, isn’t it?”

To me, it’s a more REAL version of hope. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and this candle shining out of the surrounding barbwire speaks so loudly to me.

I want to be a voice that shouts to the world, “Christ has come! Light has entered our dark world!” I want to be one who lives in the reality of the presence of Jesus. I want to live full of hope, and invite others into the light of God’s hope for us.

For me, as much as I might like it better when it’s just a pretty candle, this image is actually more hopeful to me.

Because it isn’t a disconnected, foolish hope. It’s real. And it reflects my longing.

I so clearly see how God has changed my life for the better. I would never change my life course or my decision to follow him. I see how my life is different because I have decided to follow Jesus, and because of that, I have experienced the beginnings of living in God’s light.

Yet there is still a clear longing for something more.

I find myself yearning for the first light of morning, waiting for a dawn that pales the light of flashlights and matches and campfires.

I want everyone to live in the light I’ve experienced; and I know I’m still longing for more in my own life.

I hope that’s not a scary statement, to say that I’m still longing for more. It might be scary to some. I haven’t always been this comfortable with the “now” and the “not yet” part of following Jesus.

I was in college when U2 came out with the “Joshua Tree” CD.

There had been all kinds of discussion up to that point about U2, about whether they were a “Christian” rock group or not. And for me, when the song “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” showed up on the Joshua Tree CD, I had my answer.

They couldn’t be Christian, I thought then, because they didn’t have it all figured out. I was really uncomfortable with the song, because it spoke about Jesus, explicitly.

You broke the bonds/And you loosed the chains/Carried the cross/

Of my shame/Of my shame

You know I believed it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I heard that then as if they had tried Jesus, and felt like he wasn’t enough. And at that time in my life, I was much more sure that Jesus was something we could fully understand, fully grasp, fully live into.

I missed the point of the song.

I think the point is that once we give up yearning, looking, seeking, growing, we have given up on God. We have given up on the journey.

I’m in a much different place today, one where I can say with absolute confidence that Jesus has changed my life and his light makes all the difference to me.

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. I still haven’t found who I’m created to be. We have Christ’s light now, but it isn’t the full dawn. It’s still to come!

I’m one who stands today to tell you Christ has changed my life, and to say that he can be your light, too.

And I stand today to say that there is even more: more light, more love, more change, a new dawn coming where the sun will NEVER set, where the moon will NEVER fade…for the Lord will be our eternal light. Our days of grieving WILL come to an end!

In our time of open worship, I want to invite us to pray, either silently or out loud.

Where in your life are you most in need of the light of Christ? Ask him to shine!

Ask Jesus to start a new fire within you. And thank him that one day a brand new dawn will come.