Christmas in the Midst of Darkness
If you live here in the Northeast, you know today is a
pretty dark and dismal day. It’s raining with a terrible wind blowing. It feels
like the sun never rose this morning. It’s fitting weather for the one-week
anniversary of the killing of twenty children and six adults in Newtown,
Connecticut. As one commentator put it earlier
today, “It’s as if tears are falling from the sky.”
I find it almost ironic—and even a bit difficult—to think
that while so many families in Newtown are burying their children and loved
ones, the rest of us are preparing for Christmas. It feel as if there is a bit of a disconnect
that, while some are weeping from such a depth of pain, others are shopping,
baking, and holding Christmas parties. It’s
hard to think that such a tragic and horrendous event took place at
Christmastime. Yet, there is also
something consistent about it. After
all, Christmas is a reminder of how dark our world really is and why it is we
needed the Light to come.
The coming of Jesus is referred to as light breaking into
a dark world. The Apostle John wrote, “The light shines
in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it...The true light that
gives light to every man was coming into the world.” (John 1:5, 9 – NIV)
Jesus came specifically because our world is dark and needs change. Our world needs light. We need light. Jesus came to bring hope to those who could
see no way out their darkness; to those whose tears made them unable to see
anything beyond their pain; to those whose sin, as well as the sin others had
inflicted on them, had left them separated from God and with wounds too deep to
heal. Jesus came because our world has
been overrun by sin and thrust into darkness.
When writing about the long-term
affect that Jesus’ coming would have on our world, the author of the Christmas
Carol, “Joy to the World!” put it this way:
No
more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor
thorns infest the ground;
He
comes to make His blessings flow
Far as
the curse is found…
Through Jesus, the blessing, healing, and salvation
of God is now flowing into a world that has been under the curse of sin and
plunged into darkness. His light is
breaking into our darkness. One day,
there will be no more darkness, only light.
This is the hope that Christmas brings to those who are living in a very
dark world.
So, this Christmas let’s pray for those who find
themselves in the midst of darkness and pain, especially the families of
Newtown, Connecticut. And, let’s share the good news that the Light has come,
through the person of Jesus Christ.
Have a great day and merry Christmas!
Pastor Tim Harris
Comments
Post a Comment