THE
LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS
Ever been to the Carlsbad caverns, in New
Mexico? If not, put it on your bucket
list. It's quite amazing. If you happen to get on a docent led tour,
you might be lucky enough to participate in the 'lights out' program. You stand in a group. The docent turns out all the lights in the
cavern. There you can get some insight
(strange word to use here) into what is meant by 'total darkness'. Suddenly you are plunged into total dark
upon darkness. Except for everyone's
body heat (a form of light) you get to experience total and complete darkness, absolute
darkness that engulfed all the amazing rock formations for eons - until humans
discovered them. And then! After 10 unsettling minutes or so, with
people holding hands or clutching a railing - a single match is lit. The darkness is overcome by the small light
of a single match! If one got stranded
in a cave, or deep inside a mine (like the Chilean miners in 2010) the first
thing one would seek for is 'light'.
Even the faintest light would be welcomed with cheers.
And yet, there is a type of darkness that a lot of
people prefer. Most people would be
uncomfortable with total physical darkness - and yet, strange as it
sounds, many choose to live in spiritual darkness. Sadly, most people probably live in spiritual
darkness all their lives. Not knowing
God, not knowing Jesus - and liking it that way. Not experiencing that 'quickening' of their
spirit, illumination from within that only God can provide. John 3:19 and 20 says, "This
is the verdict: Light has come into
the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be
exposed."
But then - Christmas! Isaiah 9:2 says, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those
living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." And
the true meaning of Christmas is this: 'light has come into the world'. This wonderful light shows us how our sins can be forgiven and how we can attain a new and wonderful ongoing relationship with God. So Christmas came to be associated with light
from the very beginning. Since the
actual date of Jesus' birth is not known (4-6 BC), Christmas came to be celebrated
on (or near) the winter solstice, December 21-25th, when darkness was at its
maximum. After that, every new day would
bring a few more minutes of light, carrying the world into spring.
What
about all the lights we hang on our trees, our decorations, our houses,
etc.? Why do we do this - on
CHRISTMAS? We don't have generally have
Easter lights, 4th of July lights, Thanksgiving day lights, Memorial day
lights, etc. But why on CHRISTMAS? Because Jesus himself was the light that came into the world,
dispelling spiritual darkness. Jesus
was the first Christmas light. John
9:5 says, "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John
1 says, "In him was life, and that
life was the light of all
mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overpower
it. The true light that gives light
to everyone was coming into the world.”
II Corinthians 4:6 says, “For God, who said, “Let light shine
out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light
of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”
The first
actual physical Christmas light was the Star of Bethlehem. The ‘wise-men’ (magi)
were guided by the light of this heavenly event. What was the star of Bethlehem? Some say a comet, or a supernova, or a
conjunction of planets, and some say it was an actual supernatural
display. Whatever it was, it lasted many
months - the time needed for the magi to complete their trek from "the
east" to Israel. As time went on,
the association of light with Christmas continued to grow and grow. People began to use special candles at Christmas
time. Early Christians were persecuted
for having worship gatherings, so a candle would be placed in the window to
identify a place where worship would take place - not only at Christmas, but
probably any time of year. Then along
came the Christmas tree, centuries later.
People began to put candles on their
trees. The tradition of using
small candles to light up the Christmas tree dates back to at least the middle
of the fifteenth century. And as time
went on, the practice spread from one country to another. And other ornaments were added, in endless
variety.
Then along came the electric Christmas light (complete
history can be found on Wikipedia). The first known electrically
illuminated Christmas tree (1882) was the creation of a Mister Edward H.
Johnson, an associate of inventor Thomas Edison. While Johnson was vice
president of the Edison Electric Light Company, he had Christmas tree light
bulbs made especially for himself. On
December 22, 1882, at Johnson’s home on Fifth Avenue in New York City, he
proudly displayed his Christmas tree, hand-wired with 80 red, white, and blue
electric incandescent light bulbs, about the size of golf balls. Thus Johnson has become widely regarded as
the ‘Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights’.
By 1900, businesses started stringing up Christmas lights behind their
window displays, and in their retail stores and offices. Christmas lights were usually too expensive
for the average household, until about 1930, when electric Christmas lights became
the common replacement for candles on Christmas trees.
Over a period of time, strings of
Christmas lights found their way into in places other than Christmas
trees. Strings of lights soon adorned
mantles and doorways inside homes, and were strung along the rafters, roof
lines, and porch railings of homes and businesses. In recent times, many city skyscrapers,
bridges, buses and trolleys, lampposts, public parks and even animals are
decorated with long strings of various colored lights. And some folk light up their houses with thousands
of lights, with flashing displays and accompanying music.
Now here's the real important thing about
Christmas lights – the golden nugget in this
discussion. Every
Christmas light, all of the millions and millions of them, radiate the light of
Christ himself into a spiritually dark world. Every Christmas light is a ‘little Jesus'. The secular world, the commercial world, and
people who aren't Christians, even people who belong to other religions, when
they display Christmas lights are unknowingly shining the light of Jesus into
the world. There's a sweet irony here -
that all the unbelievers out there who want to demote Christmas to 'happy
holidays', and ‘Santa Claus’, and seek to get rid of public nativity scenes,
still, when they display Christmas lights, are shining the light of Jesus out
into the world. Of course, they might
say that Christmas lights represent the 'spirit of Christmas', 'hope for peace
and harmony', 'Santa and his elves, reindeer and toys' - and so on. But no amount of ‘secular spin’ can negate
the true meaning of the Christmas light.
Without Jesus, there would be no Christmas lights. And then there are those Christian people who
refuse to celebrate Christmas, claiming it to be a 'pagan' holiday or some such
thing. They don't have a tree with
lights, or lights on their houses. They
are really playing into the agenda of those who reject Jesus, by
preventing the little lights of Christ from shining into the world. But gladly, many many people love to display
Christmas lights. And some continue to
keep their lights illuminated well into the New Year, often until January 6th,
which many Christian denominations celebrate as Epiphany, remembering
that God the Son appeared in human flesh as Jesus the Christ – illumination
that serves to bless all the coming days with the light of Christ.
Finally, if you’re a Christian, you too get to be a light, not only at Christmas, but all
year long. So let your light shine forth into a dark
world. Praise God.
