Those Christmas Lights, Keep Shining On
I wonder when you put your Christmas decorations up? Normally I keep mine in the box until December but this year I’ve felt like a bit of a scrooge, because it seems like most people in my neighbourhood had theirs up from early November! We recently moved house and at the beginning of last month we drove down one street where every other house was decked out in all its Christmas finery -beautiful, bold, brightly lit Christmas trees standing proudly in the window, with lights flashing on and off all day!
And while I think it’s true that Christmas gets earlier every year, I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. I’ve never known it to be quite so socially acceptable for the Christmas cheer to be bursting out of the front room window in the form of sparkly tinsel and light up Santa’s before December has come around! But to be honest it didn’t take me long to realise that for most of us, actually Christmas is the season of peace and joy that we’ve been desperately longing for since this whole pandemic started.
These prematurely decorated houses were a visual reminder of our desire for light and hope and joy. Every time I walked past one of them or saw another friend put the tree up and share cosy pictures on social media, I was confronted again by our need for goodness in a year that seems to have dealt us nothing but bad news, boredom and empty promises. 2020 feels like it’s been a wasted year…full of darkness. Perhaps we’ve learned to be thankful for the small things, but we can’t shake the feeling of flatness that’s come with all this strained hope for something good. And so, Christmas has given us a reason for joy. It’s given us an excuse to celebrate and opened up something good in a year of bad news.
But what if Christmas could offer us more than bright lights and momentary peace? What if that feeling of joy that we get when we plug the lights in and hang the tinsel could be enjoyed in every moment of every day to come? What if it wasn’t just a tree with lights…but a pointer to a greater light that has come, that can actually take on and transform the darkness of life?
As a Christian I believe all of this is possible, as I remember at Christmas the long-awaited birth of Jesus. The baby about whom it was said “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)
He is the light we’ve been longing for. He is the light shining into every dark moment of this life. And at His birth over 2000 years ago, the people who had waited for this day are told that finally “the light has shone into the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The birth of Jesus proclaims to us all that God sees our pain and sorrow. He sees the losses we’ve experienced. He sees the anxiety that plagues us because of the uncertainty of life. And he sees our hearts too, and all the wrong things we’ve done. And he doesn’t turn away from us and leave us, but He sends his very own Son to be the light shining into our darkness.
And not simply that, but the light that could take on the darkest of experiences- death itself and not only bring light to it, but transform it into life. You see, Christmas is such a celebration for us, not just because the baby Jesus was born that we might know God in our midst but because it points us forward to the day when this Jesus will make a way for allwho would come to trust Him to find life and light, even inthe midst death and darkness.
Christmas 2020 won’t be the Christmas we hoped for, but it will be a moment to enjoy goodness and peace. But imagine what it could mean for you to not only know temporary light, but the light of Christmas shining in your life for everyday of the years still to come. Giving you hope through every trial and triumph. It’s a gift on offer to us all – to know Jesus the giver of light- this Christmas, why not see and experience it for yourself and know the light that shines in the darknessevery day.
Hayley
Hayley lives in Cardiff with her husband and works with students at UCCF. She loves talking about the hope she has found in Jesus at events and online. She has just taken up running and also enjoys knitting and reading.