The Light
It was last Thursday—December 21. At 10:28 AM Central Standard Time. The winter solstice. That is code for the shortest day of the year. Welcome to the bleak winter. But every day gets it is lighter longer.
Someone at the Y asked me on Friday: “So what are you going to do with the extra 20 seconds of daylight today?” (Apparently he has calculated the exact time.) My two thoughts were:
I am here to get in shape not to get into conversation.
It is still going to be dark a lot.
I am not as nice that early as I am the rest of the day.
Today is Christmas Day—December 25. A much bigger and better observance. The Christ has come. True God from eternity became true man on earth (Jn 1:1). He came to be one of us and to dwell among us (Jn 1:14).
It is during this stretch of the calendar that two things are in short supply—life and light. There are no leaves on the trees. It seems as if there are only 10 minutes in between sunrise and sunset with gray and gloom in between. With that contrast, the reminder from John and the reality of Jesus stand out even more.
And so we go once more to Bethlehem, that little town. But it was an important town. The Lord had picked it and promised it to be the birthplace of the Messiah (Mi 5:2). And God never goes back on what he guarantees.
And then it happened. A still night that became a significant night. There in the town of David, a Savior had been born (Lk 2:11). That was good news of great joy—for Mary and Joseph, for the shepherds, and for us.
The Gospel-writer John points out why: “In him [that is, Jesus] was life” (Jn 1:4)—from John’s day all the way back to eternity. There is more to life than hearts beating and lungs breathing (although that comes from God too [Jn 1:2.3]). In Jesus, and only in Jesus, is life (cf. Jn 10:10). From him comes life without end. Our sin cuts us off from God. That is death. Our Savior connects us to God. That is life. We have life right now. We have life forever. Think of how Jesus made that clear:
To Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
To Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11:25,26).
To disciples: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6).
John connects life and light. That is not a difficult concept to grasp because the two go hand-in-hand. Where there is life there is light. Where there is light there is life. Simply put, all life—from plants to people—needs light to survive. A lack of Jesus as the Light leads not just to seasonal depression, but eternal death. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men” (Jn 1:4). That certainly doesn’t mean that Jesus shined. The angel directed the shepherd not to look for a glow emanating from a newborn, but a baby wrapped in strips of cloth (Lk 2:12). And yet Jesus is “the light of the world” (Jn 8:12). As we follow him, he has removed the darkness of sin and destruction and replaced that with the light of salvation and deliverance.
As long as we have life and no matter how much light there is today, at Christmas we celebrate eternal life that is in Jesus and we see the everlasting Light who is Jesus (CW 65:1). Merry Christmas.
We read from John 1:4:
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The King
It is hard to miss. At least we don’t. It is right in the name of this day. The word “Christ” is in “Christmas.” That was part of the angel’s message to the men who were out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night (Lk 2:8): He proclaimed the holy birth this way: “A Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:11). The Christ was born of Mary (CW 65:2).
Whenever we recite that, we recall Jesus’ title—the Christ. It means “the Anointed One.” Jesus was appointed to be our prophet, priest, and king. The angel highlighted that last one—king—with the term “the Lord.”
Jesus is above everyone and over everything. King of kings and Lord of lords (Re 19:16). That is true right now and forever. That has been at the center of our Advent preparation for Christmas Day. Jesus is coming—as a baby in a manger of a stable and as a Judge on the clouds of heaven. We looked forward to this day and now to that day. For that reason we make it a regular request: “Your kingdom come” (Mt 6:10). He rules in our hearts with his Word. He will reign on his throne into all eternity.
John allows us to hear the loud refrain of the many singers in heaven. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (Re 11:15). The Baby in the feed box will be the Redeemer on a wooden cross. There on Good Friday he would defeat the devil who could not harm him. Three days later on Easter Sunday, he would demonstrate that death could not hold him. We have peace with God through Jesus (Lk 2:14; CW 65:2). All is right between us and him.
On the Last Day, Jesus’ power will be evident to all. “And he will reign for ever and ever” (Re 11:15). No wonder we end the Lord’s Prayer with “for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever” (CW p. 20).
That always brings to mind when I was in high school. Every year for the Christmas concert, the final song would be The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. My buddies and I joked that if we got lost, we just had to repeat, “And he will reign forever and ever.” That is a common sentence in that lengthy tune. But ultimately it did end. But not Christ’s kingdom. Merry Christmas.
We read from Revelation 11:15:
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
The Gift
My parents never made a big deal about when they placed the presents under the tree. It seemed as if they just appeared (of course, more for my siblings than for me—but that didn’t ever bother me).
The shepherds worshipped the baby Jesus and then they went, “glorifying and praising God for the things that they had heard and seen” (Lk 2:20). That was a very eventful night. But that appears to be the extent of the fanfare. There were no streams of visitors getting off of tour camels with someone sketching a portrait of them with the infant. (It had to be that way before selfies and snaps.)
All of this is much more than a great story for us, but a special gift to us. And just like when someone hands us a package covered with beautiful paper, we hold on to Jesus in faith. We are the ones “who received him … who believe in his name” (Jn 1:12). It is a huge blessing to know all that Jesus reveals about himself, the One who saves us from our sins (Mt 1:21).
And then this follows: “He gave the right to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). We are part of God’s family—a child. That is a term of endearment. God gladly declares: “You are mine.” He oversees our everyday needs as he offers an eternal inheritance in heaven (CW 65:3). We have the power through the Holy Spirit to claim that (1 Co 12:3).
And that is all from him—“born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will” (Jn 1:13). There was no biological cause of being a child of God—no certain bloodline, no fleshly urge, no person’s desire. Just like we didn’t choose our mommies and daddies, we didn’t pick our heavenly Father. He selected us. We are “born of God” (Jn 1:13). God the Father’s love is great as he gives the gift of family (1 Jn 3:1). No present this year surpasses that. Merry Christmas.
We read from John 1:12,13:
Yet to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Prayer
Tomorrow Christmas will be over. There will be cardboard boxes smashed in the recycle bin by the side of the house and evergreen trees stuck in the white snow at the edge of the street. Another holiday come and gone.
Or will it be done? Or has it past? Can Christmas continue on? I am not thinking about some vague Christmas spirit. Or even Christmas giving. I am talking about Christmas living.
There in the barn Jesus is born of Mary. And there in our soul we are born of God. Jesus is our life and our light, our King, who is ours by the gift of faith. The holy Child of Bethlehem makes us holy ones (CW 65:4). We are separate from sin and set apart from it. He has gotten rid of our guilt and has given us his holiness. We now live who we are—beloved children of God.
It would be strange to take a new toy at Christmas and break it. It would be odd to take a new shirt at Christmas and rip it. All on purpose. In a sense, that is John’s point. “No one who is born of God will continue to sin” (1 Jn 3:9). We don’t keep on doing what misses what God wants. Why? “Because God’s seed remains in him [that is, in us]” (1 Jn 3:9). We have a new life in Christ.
John goes on: “He cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God” (1 Jn 3:9). We could copy the cliché: “Like father like son.” A boy exhibits the parent’s character because he shares the parent’s nature. We are children of God. Or to state it another way: We live in the Light. We grow toward the light; we do not gravitate to the darkness. Who we are will show in what we do. Instead of making excuses about sin—why it is right for us, we will move away from sin—since it is wrong for us. We are aware of our own personal struggles.
And so when we fall, we pray: “Cast our sin” (CW 65:4). And the Lord “hurls all our iniquities into the depths of the sea” (Mi 7:19). They are nowhere to be found ever again. And then we plead: “Strengthen us” (CW 65:4). And our Lord Immanuel answers that by abiding with us. He is with us (Mt 1:23). Nothing will ever disconnect us from his love—not in the present and not in the future (Ro 8:37-39). Merry Christmas.
We read from 1 John 3:9:
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
December 25, 2017
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