Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is a night when we think about lights - especially ones that help us see in the midst of darkness - that cause hope to emerge within us even while things aren't going so well - that birth within us a sense of "Wow!" because of their beauty being able to break through the darkness all around. I guess what I'm trying to say is: Christmas Eve helps me ponder those times in life when light punctures through the darkness of life and impresses upon us the power there is in light - reminds us that even a little light can do battle with darkness.
One of the images of night lights that comes into my mind are those one can see when flying at night. I find them especially impressive both when they can be seen from a distance from the plane many feet above the earth and when the plane prepares to land and circles a community. Night lights of a city, when seen from above, make every city appear to be a beautiful – clean - crimeless – welcoming place. It doesn’t matter what the reality of the community is, its night lights make it an inviting thing of beauty.
Another image of night lights that fills me with warm feelings are the night lights of this season itself – the lights on trees inside buildings and homes or outside them adorning the trees or hanging from the rooftops. They impart a sense of calmness and peacefulness to my spirit and they heal me, if even for only a moment, of all the strife and anxiety in my life and the world. Over the years Dorothy and I have enjoyed taking drives into the neighborhoods of the communities in which we have lived. It’s a tradition of the season for us. Viewing them on the tv or internet just doesn't do these night lights justice.
When we owned a cottage on Indian Lake we had a night light plugged into the wall outlet in our bathroom. While it didn’t provide a whole lot of light, what it did provide was enough to make the cottage feel warmer, more secure, more comfortable. And remarkably, the darker it got during the night, the more light that little night light seemed to offer.
Night lights produce hope in me – a sense of peace – a reminder that there is something more powerful than all the darkness present in our world.
“The Christmas story begins in darkness. There was the darkness of oppression, for God’s people were a conquered people. They were a beaten and a defeated people. There was the darkness of persecution. Indeed, it was a despised universal taxation that brought the participants in the story together on that fateful night. There was the darkness of disillusionment. There was an ever-increasing number who felt that violence, not faith, was the most effective path. Yes, on that first Christmas, the mood was one of despair and resignation.” (1)
Things aren't that much different in our own day, now are they? Darkness is a part of the world we live in. Wars, rumors of wars, disease, hunger, unemployment, death, child abuse, racism, sexism, threatening weather conditions – these all are a part of our modern world. There’s not a person among us who has not been touched by the darkness of life. We will not attend Christmas Eve services because we are naïve about the darkness. We won't go because we're trying to deny that darkness exists. Despite what some of our popular religious friends sometimes try to persuade us and the rest of the world to believe, the scriptures do not suggest to us that everything is alright around us because God is with us. Rather, the scriptures openly confess that there is real pain in this world – that darkness is real and present. (2)
But, the scriptures also reveal that darkness isn’t all there is – that that’s not the whole story - that there is light at the end of the tunnel – that there is hope.
The good news of Christmas, especially powerfully proclaimed and experienced during Christmas Eve services, is that in the midst of the darkest of days, light comes. Darkness cannot overcome/snuff out this light. This light is an eternal flame, not just some temporary flicker. There’s no question that we live in a day when it feels as if the light is being snuffed out. As we continue to hear the mounting death toll in wars all around the world, the suffering that results from natural disasters, the violence of bullying fueled by words of scripture taken out of context by people who choose to hate and exclude rather than love and include, the violence in the streets and boardrooms of our own community because of race/greed/drugs/unemployment/sex/rivalries/fanaticism/politics/abuse/etc., missing children, the plight of the homeless, we need to hear the words of the Christmas story and know in our hearts and in our minds that the light still shines and there is hope.
Light is always stronger than darkness. I don't offer that observation as simply a hopeful faith statement. If there’s even a little bit of light in a very dark room, we know that light is present. We attend Christmas Eve candlelight services because we want to physically and visually be reminded of that truth which the experience of lighting candles provides. Light always intrudes upon darkness.
Christmas Eve reminds us that Jesus Christ is the light of the world and his coming then and down through the ages into the world and into the lives of individuals rekindles hope. It’s what we celebrate in a unique way on Christmas Eve each year. And each year we pray that it will take hold a little more in our lives – in our communities of faith – in our communities – and in our world.
Christmas Eve is a night like none other – a night when darkness is understood in a new way – a night when light coming into it is filled with meaning. Christmas Eve is a night when we reaffirm our belief that light is more powerful than darkness – that love is more powerful than hate – that peace is more powerful than war – that reconciliation is possible – that God can be known in a baby – in you and me – and through us others can see the light and have hope reborn in them.
The greatest need in our mixed up and confused world this day is to let people know that there is hope – that life is worth living no matter what the circumstances are around us. We are the people of light and we must share that light in a dark and dreary land so that hope will shine through the darkness. Let us make that our resolve this Christmas Eve.
Merry Christmas and God bless you one and all!
Brett Blair and staff, “A Great Light,” www.esermons.com.
Ibid.
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