I
confess, I love Christmas lights. And
even though my daughter has called me Clark Griswold, I will not confess to
going overboard with my annual Christmas light display. Why? Because
as I tell the children at church, “Every light stands for Jesus.” The more
Christmas lights the better because every light proclaims the coming of Jesus
who is the true light conquering the darkness of our world. Did I tell you that I love Christmas lights!
I
start preparing the lights right after Thanksgiving and it takes several days
to hang the balls in the trees, stake the deer on the ground, and strategically
place every Christmas tree, star, and snowflake. Then comes the most challenging part, at
least to me, running drop cords to all these lights without blowing every
electrical circuit in the house!
Why
do I spend so much time putting up all these lights? My motivation is seeing the awe and wonder on
the faces of my grandchildren and all the other children who visit the lights
each year. One year a little girl, with the muti-colored lights reflecting in her
eyes, could only say, “Wow! This is like
a fairy tale.” When I see the joy and
excitement that the lights bring to the children, it makes it all worthwhile.
We
schedule a night when we invite all the church kids to come to our house and
enjoy the lights. We have Christmas
cookies, hot chocolate, hot cider, and this year we decided to have a bonfire. We fine tuned all the lights, replacing blown
bulbs and fuses, placed the candles in the windows, the gifts under the tree,
and we set the date for December 15—but sadly, it rained.
So
we postponed the lights until the Sunday night before Christmas. As the weekend approached, however, rain was
again in the Sunday forecast so we moved it to Monday night—but alas, it rained
both days. So I told the kids we would
have a post-Christmas light display on the Sunday night after Christmas, but,
you guessed it—more rain.
It
was at this point that I had, shall we say, an epiphany! Why not have the lights the night of January
6, the day of Epiphany! Most people are
so tired after the Christmas rush that they forget about Epiphany, which is
also called Old Christmas. Eastern
Orthodox Christians actually celebrate Christ’s birth on this day while those
of us in the Western Church celebrate the coming of the Magi who followed a
star to find the baby Jesus. The
observance of Epiphany takes place with a Festival of Lights, so what would be
a better time to celebrate the lights that on this night!
Everybody
loves sweet little baby Jesus lying in the manger on a silent night surrounded
by animals, shepherds, and angels. But
not everyone stays with Jesus long enough to experience a true epiphany. This sweet little baby was the incarnate
Word, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the very presence of God on this
earth. He was the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world. The Gospel
writer John describes him as the true light who enlightens every person, and
gives us the right to become the very children of God! But not everyone sees the light, at least not
right away.
It
is one thing to celebrate the birth of Jesus; it is another thing to commit oneself
to follow him in life. Singing Silent
Night is the easy part. Taking up your
cross to follow him is the challenge.
Only when one has a true epiphany of the real meaning and power of the Gospel
does one really see the light.
I
realize that most folks have taken down all their Christmas decorations and
unplugged their lights, but not me—not yet.
I’m going to have one more great night to celebrate the lights. We will have hot chocolate and cookies and
all the children from the church can hopefully come and join us. The lights are still burning brightly, but
they are no longer Christmas lights—they are Epiphany lights. Every light stands for Jesus, the Light of
the World. Just pray that it doesn’t
rain!
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