In one of the homes where my family previously lived, we had a large window that spanned the width of our living room - something like 12 feet wide by 8 feet tall - right at the front of our house. We loved the natural light this window brought to our home, but the nickname I had for that room sums up the obvious downside of having a window like this facing the street along the front of your house - “The American Family Exhibit.”
This window provided the perfect place to display our Christmas Tree each year. I would also line the border of the large window with a string of lights, creating a picturesque “American Family Christmas” scene for passers-by.
One evening, before bed, I remember unplugging the string of lights around the window and feeling a shock in my hand. The feeling was unsettling, but not intense. I didn’t think much of it.
The next evening, when I plugged the lights back in, I full-on electrocuted myself - teeth chattering, hand shaking and all!
Why did I plug the lights back in, given the shock I’d received the previous night? Perhaps I’m stubborn or just plain stupid. Or, at the risk of sounding a little dramatic, perhaps I felt that the beauty the lights brought to our home and neighborhood was worth some risk. (Rest assured – I did toss the offending light string…)
There’s something special about the presence that light brings to a cold, dark night. It illuminates what is hidden and provides safety and direction in a beautiful way.
In the centuries prior to Jesus’ birth, the people of Israel found themselves in an extended season of waiting, hoping to experience the light of God’s rescue in their lives.
Over a span of 700 years, Israel was conquered by a long line of foreign oppressors – first Assyria, then Babylon, and finally Persia. In this season, the Israelites experienced God’s judgment for their unfaithfulness to him, though his ultimate purpose was to use this period to help them remember their need for him. (Nothing like lessons learned the hard way, right?)
It was during this long, dark season that the announcement of a coming Savior for the people of God first arrived.
The prophet Isaiah delivered these words of hope to the Israelites in the midst of their circumstances, about how rescue and restoration from God was on the horizon in Isaiah 9:2, 6, 7:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it, with justice and with righteousness, from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
Words like these from the Prophets gave the Israelites strength to press on in the midst of their long, dark season. These kinds of words gave them a sense of optimism in God – faith - that a better future would soon be theirs. God hadn’t forgotten them and a day was coming when he would send a righteous ruler to carry out justice and set his people free.
These prophecies anticipated the birth of Jesus Christ – whose coming is why we celebrate Christmas. Though Jesus was not the leader that many people wanted - one who would wield political power to free God’s people from their immediate circumstances - Jesus was the leader that the whole world needed, who would show himself to be the greatest by being the servant of all.
At Christmas, the eternal Son of God - who was present at the dawn of time - stepped into creation. In this great miracle, God took on flesh and represented himself to the world with crystal clarity through Jesus’ words and actions. But so much more than just coming to serve as our teacher, Jesus lived a perfect life in our place and laid it down on the cross so that lost and sinful people like you and I might draw near to the perfectly righteous God who made us through his sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus took the penalty for sin that we deserve that all who will look to him, confess our need, and believe might share in his resurrection and all of the blessings of God that belong to him.
I love the way the author CS Lewis gives expression to this reality in his book, Miracles:
“In the Christian story, God descends and reascends. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity…But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him.”
This is the hope on which the Christian faith is founded.
At Christmas, we’re reminded that God loves this world. He’s committed to it and he has no plans to scrap it - only to renew it. Jesus Christ began this good work during his earthly ministry and the Bible gives us the hope that this is a project Jesus will ultimately complete when he comes again to restore this world in full.
During the season of Advent, we celebrate the hope that was born in Jesus’ first coming, but as people who live in the tension of “the already, but not yet,” our celebration also takes on a sense of longing for the day when Jesus will return to defeat sin and death in full, and complete the good work he has begun.
Until that day, may we respond to the hope of Christ and his coming (his first coming and his second!) by making Jesus’ mission our own.
Jesus tells his followers in Matthew 5:14-16:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Each and every day, you and I have the opportunity to show others something of God’s light through honoring what is good and true in our own words and actions. We have the opportunity to show something of God’s light through being a life-giving presence in the places where God has positioned us to serve, as his grace works in and through us. This can happen in a myriad of transformative ways as we put forward words, attitudes, actions, and ideas that reflect God’s heart to redeem, renew, and restore. Our task is to pinpoint areas where “things are not as they should be” and seek realignment with the heart and priorities of God.
What opportunities do you have to bring this kind of presence to your workplace? To your field, your city, or your relationships?
This Christmas season, may you and I be inspired by the purpose we have been assigned - to reflect the light of Jesus in our own lives - and filled with the Spirit to live this purpose out, for the glory of God and the good of the world.
