“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:2

Christmas 2010 is here and I invite you to take your thoughts on a field trip. Reach back. Go beyond last Christmas, beyond Christmas 10 years ago, past the Mattel and Fisher Price years of childhood. Travel through the watercolor Christmas cards, glittering tinsel, and snow flocked Christmas trees to another era. Allow your thoughts to imagine a scene that is not made of plastic nativity yard pieces or sleighs and jingle bells. Indulge your senses in the feel of fresh straw in your hand, taste the liquid of salty tears mingled with dust and sweat, smell the earthen dirt and animal waste that lingers in the air, feel the chilled night breeze on your face. See with the eyes of your soul a scene that is the greatest love story ever told. “For God so loved the world that He gave.” Go with me now to Bethlehem…

A young man knocks on a door desperately needing assistance. He is tired and worn from a long trip. His clothes are disheveled, his face dirty from the long dusty roads, and his eyes dart frantically from the door to his companion. The companion is a young teen girl barely a woman but obviously pregnant. She looks very uncomfortable and shifts her aching body several times trying to find relief. The young man raps hard on the door. He can hear voices and laughter from inside. The glow of warmly burning lamps seep from around the doorframe. Surely there would be a room, even just a tiny small niche for them to rest for the night. The trip had been long. Ninety miles of dirt road over an unforgiving terrain. He raps harder. Suddenly the door opens and the young man begs for a room. But there is no room. No one is willing to give up their bed for the weary travelers. “Go somewhere else.” “You should have made plans.” “Sorry, we have no vacancy.” These phrases echo inside the young man’s pounding head. His eyebrows droop with dismay. The twins “fear” and “failure” knock on his heart as hard as he had pounded on the door to that inn. Some husband he was. Couldn’t even find a room so his exhausted wife could rest. He should have planned better. Had to leave his job and hometown in a hurry for this mindless census. But it was just as well. The gossip and constant stares occasionally brought heat to his face and now and then left his young bride in tears. Sometimes though, his heart felt waves of doubt. What if there had been another man? What if the baby belonged to a neighbor, coworker, or worse yet what if it was the result of a violent encounter with a passerby? Someone using and abusing his sweetheart? The thoughts were enough to knock him to his knees. But then there had been the messenger. No way he could deny the divine visitation. So once more gathering up his courage and strength in a tow-sack of humility, the young man leads his love through the village to the home of a distant relative and softly knocks. A young girl not much more than a preteen herself, answers the door and he sees kindness in her eyes. She quickly brings her father to the door. News seemed to have travelled faster than their own feet because the young man sees a scowl on the man’s face as he eyes the very pregnant companion. This devout religious man could not dishonor his home by taking them in seeing how they had brought disgrace to the family name. But yet this was his own kin so scratching his scraggly gray beard, he thought for a solution. Ah yes! He could offer them a stable, it was at least a cover for the night and it was far enough away from his home to keep him well respected by the local folk. Disappointed yet grateful the young man thanks his cousin and walks his wife down a narrow lane to the outskirts of the village. A cave of sorts becomes a room and livestock become roommates as the tired couple comes to grip with the reality of the moment. Mild cramping has escalated into excruciating full blown torrents of pain. The young girl bites her lips refusing to scream but groans so deeply that he feels his heart quake. He looks at her so pitifully. Her tender face drenched with sweat and straw clings to her hair. The pigeons are startled by all the commotion and fly away. Sheep huddle in the corner of the cavern and a trio of donkeys continue to eat as a dying world goes to sleep that cold lonely night.

Then it happens! A baby is born – a Son is given! There He is… wet, wrinkled, wiggling and squalling to the top of His newborn lungs! “Could this really be the Son of God?” “Messiah, is that really you?” The young man and woman are speechless, breathless. The mother holds her baby against her heart. She feels his tiny heart beating and watches as he struggles to open his swollen little eyes. He blinks and then focuses on her face. They stare at each other – God and man. His little chin quivers from the cold and his mouth turns to search for nourishment. The young man watches and trembles then calls the baby by name “Jesus” and instinctively goes to his knees in awe. “Every knee shall bow.”

The Word became flesh to dwell among us. The Light of the World entered our world as an obscure flicker and grew to a blaze that could not and will not be extinguished. Many would try but never succeed. Over 2000 years have passed since that Light descended on a dark world. From the darkness of a young virgin’s womb emerged incredible, glorious, brilliant, spectacular, dazzling Light. Light that reveals the darkness of our own souls. Light that heals our broken hearts and broken bodies. Light that reflects God’s glory in lives immersed in Him. Light that will illumine the path before us when all we can see is the murkiness and fog in a world of confusion. Light that brings life to the hearts of men. Light that gives hope and Light that is the true Eternal Flame.

A consuming fire lights our way…

Revealing,

Healing,

Cleansing,

Reflecting,

Directing,

Drawing us into relationship with the One

Who said in Genesis,

“Let there be light, and there was.”

 

“Arise, shine, for your Light has come!” Isaiah 60:1