Many lights, one Light

At this time of year it is common to see great arrays of Christmas lights festooning the outside of people's homes. I can't remember this being the case when I was a child. The occasional enterprising householder might put a string of coloured standard light bulbs on a tree in the garden, but that was about as far as it went.

Nowadays many homes spend fortunes on illuminations specially manufactured for this season of the year: lights that blink on and off; lights making Santa or star shapes. Sometimes they are intended to attract a wider audience than just family, neighbours or passers-by. They may be a spectacle that folk come from a distance to admire. Visitors will often be encouraged to give something to a good cause if they appreciate the display.

Personally I don't quite know what to make of it all. It could express joy or exuberance or just an urge to cheer up the long dark nights.

A recent article by Our Daily Bread writer Julie Ackerman Link helped me make better sense of this new phenomenon. She spoke of one such display in her neighbourhood, a spectacular one to which many neighbours contributed. She commented:

“The sound-and-light display is so elaborate that it requires a network of 64 computers to keep everything synchronized.

“When I think about these holiday lights, I am reminded of the Light that makes Christmas a holiday for many — a single Light so bright that it illuminates the whole world with truth, justice, and love. This Light — Jesus — is everything that the world is longing and looking for (Isaiah 9:2,6-7). And He has told His followers to display His light so that others will see and glorify God (Matthew 5:16).

“Imagine if Christians worked as hard at shining and synchronizing the light of God’s love as the families of that neighborhood work when they illuminate their street with Christmas lights.”

This makes sense to me. We should point others not to superficial pinpricks of light but to the great Light of truth, our Saviour Jesus. How badly people need a reliable truth source today! Lies and half-truths are found on every side and at all levels, from heads of state to local families. Even churches, that are supposed to be the foremost bodies to represent Jesus Christ, are not without their lying and devious leaders. Spiritual darkness seems to brood and to reign supreme in many corners, as though it were midwinter all year round.

Of course, when all is said and done, the sun is always shining even when we cannot see it. It takes faith to keep believing that the light is there even though all around seems to be darkness.

Jesus is the true light of the world. John 1:5 reminds us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” He, the living Word, was of a piece with the written word of God, the Bible. Psalm 119:105 gives credit to that word as light: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Quotes are from the ESV.) What a comfort and an assurance it is to walk in the light of Jesus Christ! “I am the light of the world,” He announces. “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Just a final sobering thought: the light is not there just to attract and intrigue us like fairy lights. It is truth and love, but it judges us too. John 3:19: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.”