“O God, You have proven your love for humanity by sending us Jesus Christ our Lord, and You have illuminated our human life by the radiance of His presence…”
The above prayer begins the dawning of the day. Myriad are the ways that God has proven His love toward us. That proof comes in the form of blessings. That proof comes in the form of gifts. That proof comes in the form of His very presence.
The metaphors of light and darkness are used by biblical writers to point to deeper truths. The darkness of the human heart and human condition in the world is illuminated by God’s activity and presence in the world. As Christians we tend to make two mistakes relative to this: we either deny God’s activity and presence, or we dogmatically assert that we always know God’s presence and activity. The problem with both of these approaches is that it is ultimately an expression of human pride.
The thing we can assert with certainty is the darkness of our own hearts. Sin and pride become the fertile soil for a rebellious, dark heart. Even though this is true, we dare not despair. God has given us hope!
This hope comes to us in the gift of Jesus Christ. Jesus brought light into a dark world. In his gospel portrait of Jesus, the apostle John records Jesus as saying:
“And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God” (John 3:19-21)
“Light” for John is the illuminating power of God’s presence that brings everything out in the open. Hiding sin and harboring evil in our hearts is devilish and destructive. Christian counselors tell us that closed family systems, churches, and other relationships create darkness that is destructive.
May each of us claim the liberating freedom of the illuminating presence of Jesus as the ultimate gift from God during this holiday season! The illumination of Christmas lights and decorations cannot hold a candle to what we see because of Jesus’ presence in our hearts!
In Christian love, Curtis
