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December 03, 2008 |
The Light of the World
"So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." - Luke 2:16-18
When the sun goes down we usually close the curtains in our house. With nothing to see outside, there's no point in keeping them open. But on our first night home from a Thanksgiving trip, just as I was about to pull the cord on the curtains in our living room, the sight of a home across the way beautifully decorated in Christmas lights prompted me to leave the curtains open, to sit on the couch, and just drink in the sight.
With headlines bemoaning tight-fisted shoppers, and the horrific news that one person even died in a stampede of deal-seekers, those lights lifted my spirits. They brought me back to the original meaning of Christmas lights: to proclaim that Jesus is the Light of the world.
As Christmas becomes ever busier, ever more commercial, it restores my soul to re-read the story of the first Christmas. I need the reminder that the first celebrants were not in a hurry to get to the mall; they were in a hurry to get to Jesus. And upon seeing Jesus, their thoughts did not turn to fretting over what to buy or bake; their thoughts turned to telling others about him. That's a timeless prescription for a great Christmas.
While Jesus is the true Light of the world (John 8:12), he made the remarkable statement that we, too, are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). So, this Christmas, let's remember that we don't have an obligation to prop up the economy, but we do have an opportunity to spread the word about all that has been told us about "this child." That isn't about adding one more thing to our to-do list. It's simply about being who God made us to be.
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