On the Greatest Endeavor
January 4, 2026
Rev. Traceymay Kalvaitis
Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
Holy people and blameless offspring wisdom delivered from a nation of oppressors. She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs. She gave to holy people the reward of their labors; she guided them along a marvelous way and became a shelter to them by day and a starry flame through the night.
John 1:1-16
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
*** Today’s sermon is titled On the Greatest Endeavor.
Each year I take the month of August for rest and renewal, and yet I find each year that I stumble upon some topic to research. This past August, my topic of study was lighthouse lenses. In particular I am interested the Fresnel lens, and by association, the creator of the lens, Augustin-Jean Fresnel. Fresnel was born in Normandy in 1788 and only lived to the age of 39. In his brief time on the earth, Fresnel devoted himself entirely to the study of light. In an age when shipwrecks were all too common, Fresnel was determined to create a new system of lenses that could refract the light from a single flame into a beam of light that would reach far out over
the sea. [Q] “As frightening as is the vast unknown of the blue horizon, mariners knew that it was land that would kill you. On the average during the early 1800’s, it is estimated that more than 250 ships were lost per year.”* Fresnel worked with expert glassmakers to create a series of 1,008 lenses and prisms that he constructed into a 10-foot-tall beehive shaped lantern. The first order Fresnel lens was and still is capable of focusing a single light source into a beam of light that can reach 21 miles over land and sea. Fresnel is credited as being “the man who saved a million ships.”
From records of correspondence, the following prayer was preserved from the letters of Augustin’s mother, “I pray God to give my son the grace to employ the great talents, which he has received, for his own benefit, and for the God of all. Much will be asked from him to whom much has been given, and most will be required of him who has received most.”** Through Fresnel’s great endeavor to learn about light he changed his world by testing his knowledge, extending it, applying it, and following it as it expanded beyond previously known limits.
The title of this sermon is On the Greatest Endeavor so before we go further, let’s make sure we are carrying a common understanding that the word endeavor means “one’s utmost effort.” The etymology reveals that the root word dever means duty, so endeavor can be more deeply understood to indicate that when one endeavors to do something they regard it as their duty, their purpose, even, and so the endeavor becomes an act of service for the common good.
The lectionary offered us two scriptures for today, one from the Wisdom of Solomon and one from the prologue of the Gospel of John. Both reference light as a guiding force, and both reference what I propose is the greatest endeavor, the quest to enlighten our hearts and minds that we may live in service to one another.
Listen again to the words we heard this morning from the Wisdom of Solomon where wisdom is personified in the feminine, holding true to both the Hebrew word for wisdom, chokmah
( המָ כְ חָ ) and the Greek word for wisdom, sophia, both feminine: “Holy people and blameless offspring wisdom delivered from a nation of oppressors. She (wisdom) entered the soul of a servant of the Lord and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs. She (wisdom) gave to holy people the reward of their labors; she (wisdom) guided them along a marvelous way and became a shelter to them by day and a starry flame through the night.”
We are also offered the words from the prologue of John. Biblical scholar Matthew Skinner identifies this passage as “essential” for understanding the magnitude of the events we revisit each Christmas, so on this second Sunday of Christmastide, on this Communion Sunday, two days before Epiphany, let’s take a few moments to appreciate the sheer scope of what the first few verses of the Gospel of John offer to humanity: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came
into being through him…what has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”
You will often hear reference to the “light of Christ.” There could be no more perfect metaphor, in my opinion. Let’s take our last few minutes together to consider the nature of the light that came into the world in the form of a tiny, vulnerable, dependent baby, and the nature, also, of the darkness of the times into which that baby was born.
The king at the time of Jesus’s birth, King Herod, was a perfect example of the most dangerous sort of ruler. (Feel free here to draw your own parallels.) King Herod was unpopular and afraid. He overtaxed the poor, he resorted to violence against his own people, and he suffered from paranoid delusions. King Herod was a king of darkness and what he feared the most was losing his power and position. He would stop at nothing to protect himself. You will remember the terrible story from Matthew 2: 16-18, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under.” In the same chapter of Matthew, we read, “An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.’ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod.” For three years, Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus lived as refugees in the land of Egypt after being forced to emigrate from the country of their births. The forces of darkness may perpetuate violence and division, but there is a light that shines in the darkness.
The Light that shines in the darkness shines indiscriminately and without judgement on all within its sphere. The Light confirms what Jesus states in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 20: “I am in the Father and you in me and I in you.” There is no separation. There is no “other” that is not connected to us in some way. The incarnation of God that came to earth as the baby Jesus came to show us that truth. The incarnation of God that came to earth as the baby Jesus came to achieve the greatest endeavor, to illuminate the hearts and minds of humanity with the truth that we are all one. Whatever we do the least among us, we do to God, so we are to love one another as God loves us. This, Friends, is the greatest endeavor. This is the good news of the Gospel and this is the gift of Christmas.
In closing, may endeavor to make of ourselves magnifiers of the Christ light, like lighthouses along the shores of life. May we always remember that there is a Light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Amen.
*https://www.ponceinlet.org/the-genius-of-augustin-jean-fresnel-and-his-lens/
**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel
https://www.nps.gov/articles/fresnel-lens.htm
***https://www.etymonline.com/word/endeavor
Pastoral Prayer
God of all, we are in need your grace. At any age, true security and peace are difficult for us to find. As a culture we strive to do more and more, and find we have less and less. Remind us to search for and hold fast to what holds the most meaning for us in our lives. Help us to trust in our wisdom and to take a stand for what we know we need. God of all, we need your grace. Help us to find the place within us where you reside. From this place, we are stronger and we see more clearly, because your strength and vision become ours. From this centered place within, we can live in gratitude, even as we are struggling; as the chaos rages around us, we can be a source of peace. Thank you, God, for the calm waters of our lives, and for the stormy seas, as well. Thank you for being our anchor when we need to be held, and our buoy when we need to rest. Turn our minds to prayer in all that we face, Lord, and remind us, please, that we are never alone. This we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
Benediction
I leave you with the poetic verse we heard from the book of Isaiah, chapter 60, as a blessing to us and as a blessing to our country:
Arise and shine, for your light has come.
May the Lord rise upon you and his glory appear over you. May nations come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your dawn.