December 24, 2017 Chapters 17A and 18 The Light Has Come (Christmas Eve) Sharing Gifts (Sunday on or after Christmas Day)
Note: this post will cover two weeks. My next post will be January 8
Blessed Christmas Everyone:
This past Wednesday at The Longest Night Service that was held this year at Sellersburg United Methodist Church, Pastor David Neuen talked about the time as a kid when he celebrated his birthday. One year his grandmother baked him a cake and put candles on it. When he went to blow them out, they went out for a minute and then relit...This process repeated itself a couple of times before his grandmother explained that these were trick candles. Most of us have seen those candles. They can be a lot of fun on an unsuspecting recipient.
He went on in his message to make the point that Jesus is the inextinguishable light. Try as he might Herod could not put out the light. Try as he might Pilate could not put out the light. Try as they might the Emperors of Rome could not extinguish the light.
It would be nice to think that people have stopped trying, but they haven't. As McLaren points out anyone who works in darkness would be quite happy if the light of Christ were extinguished today. "From pickpockets to corrupt politicians, from human traffickers to exploitive business sharks, from terrorists plotting in hidden cells to racists spreading messages of hate, they don't welcome the light..." (page 79)
The light began small...a child in a stable. The light began powerless...a child in a stable. The light began innocent...a baby born to poor parents in a tiny, obscure village.
Today, however, the light is large. Today the light gives life to all who embrace him.
On Christmas we celebrate that light. McLaren also focuses his attention to exactly for whom that light has come. Foreigners came to see the light. Egyptians helped shelter the light. Why are we so quick to dismiss the foreigner, be that the foreigner by nationality or the foreigner of a different religion? Perhaps the magi and the Egyptian do represent that the light calls us beyond our safety net of country and creed to reach beyond to find aliveness wherever truth lives.
May God bless you and yours this Christmas Season.
On Christmas Eve we fill the table in the family room with candles then every person there from the youngest to the oldest lights a candle for someone living or dead who made Christmas special for them. It is always quite emotional because of course many of our loved ones are mentioned and some tears are shed. But once everyone has a turn we turn out the lights and marvel at the candle glow. It is a reminderr to each of us of the light of Christ entrusted to us to pass along not just at Christmas but everyday.
ReplyDeleteDinah, what a beautiful tradition! I imagine that even though numbers of candles may increase with each passing year the light of hope in the eternal happiness grows stronger for those who participate.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved the image of lighthouses because they provide that guiding light for safe refuge or safe passage, for wherever we are on the journey.
I love the Rosary and McLaren has provided 5 good references as inspiration for a Rosary on the Light of Christ. Our readings today added another reference: Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
Today we also remember The Holy Innocents. We talked about this in chapter eleven. I know it's hard to see the light in some of the dark news that surrounds us today. If we keep our focus on the light we understand the power of prayer and the need for ongoing hope for a better world.