The Light Has Come

It is hard to believe that there could be someone in the world today who doesn’t know anything about Christmas. But imagine, with me, that such persons exist and they do. So, you run into them just before Christmas. Perhaps they are from a foreign country where there are no Christians and they have never heard about this holiday. Or perhaps they have lived in isolation their whole lives and have never been exposed to this joyous celebration.

They look around them and they see so many different sights. People scurrying

around with brightly coloured packages. They see bright multi-coloured lights hanging everywhere. Everyone seems to be cheerful and they greet one another with a smile. The children are all excited and you hear people singing beautiful songs. In their hearts they wonder or perhaps they cry out loud, “What is this all about?” “What is going on here?”

What would you tell them? Where would you start? Would you talk about the decorated Christmas trees? Or would you tell them about the tradition of exchanging gifts? Or perhaps you would share a story about Santa Claus and his amazing flying reindeer? Maybe you want to share something about the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of the Christ Child. Again the question, “Where do I begin?”

One way to express the true meaning of Christmas is to share that Christmas is the celebration of light coming into the world. One doesn’t have to look far to see the visible lights that are symbols of the season. There are the electric lights on Christmas trees and houses and that are at every store and street corner. I remember going for a trip with my wife and her boys to view the Christmas lights. It wasn’t something I was used to.  Seeing the lights was amazing for that first time.

For me as child it had been the truck that parked itself under the lights outside our place and the Salvation Army Band and Choir beginning to sing and play that heralded the season. You know though, at this time other visible lights are around us, whether they are the candles that burn in many of our homes or that are an integral part of our Christmas worship. In many churches there are Advent wreaths with their glowing candles, and many churches have candlelight services on Christmas Eve. There are the lights that twinkle in people’s eyes during this season. We especially see it in the eyes of the children as they anticipate Christmas morning and in the eyes of adults as they reflect upon the wonderful memories of Christmases past.

The Christmas story is full of events that are filled with light. The Christmas story begins with the visit of the angel Gabriel to a young woman named Mary. When we read about the appearance of angels we are usually told that they are surrounded by a bright light and they are dazzling in appearance. Later in the Christmas story, after the baby Jesus is born in Bethlehem, shepherds out in the fields see first one angel and then a multitude of angels accompanied by a bright light. We are told that these shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks in the night. They probably had a fire and torches to see with and to ward off any predators.

In the stable, or perhaps cave, where Christ was born, I envision the light of lamps and torches. Then there is the star that gave light and guidance to the wise travellers from the East. There is a beautiful theme of light running throughout the Bible. At Christmas we celebrate the coming of this light into the world. In our scripture passage for Christmas day from John 1 we hear, “In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” The baby whose birth we celebrate came to bring us all light. Jesus came to light a world filled with darkness.

Christmas also reminds us that there is a light that shines in all of us. This light always burns brighter at Christmas. We are called to be children of light and to let our lights shine. As we celebrate Christmas Day, we are once again reminded that the “Light” has come. Jesus has come to bring light to a world full of darkness. This light shines in all of our hearts and it dispels the darkness in our own lives. We may take this light and share it and always remember that the darkness can never overcome it. May all the twinkling lights that we see about us remind us that Christmas is the celebration of the light that has come into the world.