Let There Be Light

I've been reflecting on this most wonderful time of the year very much recently.
The songs... The lights and decorations... The TV Specials... The weather... (I'm in Atlanta so that only means so much.)

I've also thought about the competing narratives we hear and see so often during this season of the year: The story of a young lady, soon to be married, who is visited by and angel and given life-changing news and the competing story of the latest pair of shoes or the hottest toy that will release in limited quantity and are must-haves this year. The story of a hurried journey taken by a pregnant woman and her betrothed, riding on a donkey, to a far place and the narrative of the latest model vehicle decorated with a giant bow sitting in the well-manicured driveway of an immaculate house on a quiet street in a beautiful neighborhood. The story of the birth of a child who would change the world and the story of lists and "toys" and ribbon and wrapping paper and trees and food and...

And, well, you get the point, I'm sure.

You and I both know very well that Christmas is more. Christmas, for me, is so much more than the latter of these competing narratives. And the scope of what Christmas means goes beyond the wonderful celebration we look ahead to with earnest anticipation. I hope over the next few days to share some conclusions I've come to as a result of my reflecting on these things.

Today, I want to share this thought: We were in darkness. He brought LIGHT.

The Bible says that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless empty, and dark. Not the most exciting place to be. There was no beauty there. No brilliant lights, nothing glorious; nothing even hinting at it. Just a shapeless, dark void.

But God was there. 

This is significant. There before him lay something that was completely undesirable. 
But, God knew what he was doing.

God entered into the massless, shapeless terrible darkness. And in the middle of this horrific, gross darkness He spoke. His very word caused the cosmos to tremble and shake and respond to his command: "Let there be light." And there was light.

This is Christmas.

He shows us in the first two verses of the entire book what everything hinges on.

There was darkness. He brought light.

The story is replete throughout scripture. God enters into dark places to connect to his people. Then brings light into the darkest and most hopeless situations to reveal Himself and His glory to his people. 

This is Christmas. This is why I celebrate. Because of the assurance that Light is come and darkness is no more. and because of the hope that Light will come, and darkness will forever be no more. 

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“And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and it’s lamp is the Lamb... Amen. Come Lord Jesus!”

The Substance Behind the Shadows

Over the last two weeks my family and I have been preparing for and celebrating the Christmas season like most families likely are. We pulled boxes down from the attic and began "decking the halls." We put a wreath on the door and erected and decorated the Christmas tree. The fireplace saw its first fire and we prepared the stockings which will hang on it.

This Christmas, however, is different. It will be our daughters first Christmas! She's 8 months old so she won't remember very much this year, but my wife and I will make memory after memory after memory. We've already begun taking dozens of pictures and they will soon be eclipsed by the hundreds which will follow. The joys and delights of the season have always been a joy to me and the memories I have of Christmas past are precious to me. I now have the privilege of creating and cultivating traditions and memories for my daughter and I've been giving it a lot of thought. What do I want her to think about Christmas. About Christ? About gifts and trees and traditions and family and celebration and food and a dozen other "Christmas things?"

The fruit of my contemplation will undoubtedly produce good things for our family's future. One such thing is an intentional concentration on Advent. I don't recall ever focusing on "Advent" as a child, but (my wife and) I decided to make it a part of our family tradition. I found a little book called Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent by John Piper and began on December 1st reading and meditating with my family and filling our home with Hope. Today's reading was especially stirring. Here is a snippet:

"Here’s an Advent illustration for kids (and for those of us who used to be kids and remember what it was like). Suppose you and your mom get separated in the grocery store, and you start to get scared and panic and don’t know which way to go, and you run to the end of an aisle, and just before you start to cry, you see a shadow on the floor at the end of the aisle that looks just like your mom. It makes you really happy and you feel hope. But which is better? T he happiness of seeing the shadow, or having your mom step around the corner and seeing that it’s really her? That’s the way it is when Jesus comes to be our High Priest. That’s what Christmas is. Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing."

As I consider the Christmas season and as I consider my role as a husband and a dad I am overwhelmed by the position I find myself in. I am, in a sense, only a shadow. My wife and daughter look to me to be strong and courageous, gentle and comforting, wise and true. I am provider and protector and priest of my home, but my ultimate aim is that they would look past me. That they would see the substance behind the shadow. That in my loving my wife and raising my daughter, they would see the love of Christ and the care of a greater, stronger more wise and compassionate father. And not only see it, but become overwhelmed with the joy of what seeing means: that they would run to and embrace the real and great God who makes the wonder of Christmas what it is.

So are you looking at the shadows or the substance behind them? I challenge you to look past the "ordinary things" and the shadows and see the "real thing."