The Light of Christmas
“I will give you as a
light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the
earth.” Isaiah 49:6
Try to imagine a
Christmas without lights? Jennings Osborne
probably can’t. It seems a few years
back, he lit his home in Little Rock, Arkansas, with 3 million of them. Count ‘em…3 and six 0’s. That’s 30,000 boxes of 100 and a glow that
could give you a Coppertone suntan. I’ll
bet every Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club in the state were racing fast and furious to
restock their shelves when Ol’ Jen paid a visit. For some people, a few reindeer, a plastic
Santa and a little manger scene just won’t cut it. His life’s motto is, “If you’re gonna do it,
do it big.” And big he does.
Problem is, Osborne’s
philosophy has often clashed with places where energy shortages have occurred
and where they have frowned upon such grandiose displays this Christmas. This new challenge has threatened to put a
little damper on the Yuletide festivities.
Christmas without lights? That’s
like Starbuck’s without coffee.
McDonald’s without Big Macs and Firestone without tires. But you get the point. It’s just not the same.
Roy Rivenburg, L.A.
Times columnist, gave some thoughtful (though not so helpful) suggestions that
can bring a glimmer of hope in a low-wattage winter.
-Require Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer to switch to an energy-efficient fluorescent nose bulb.
-Use California’s vast,
untapped reserve of hamster power.
Connect Christmas tree lights to the exercise wheels inside the hamster
cage.
- Glow-in-the-dark tree
ornaments.
-Synchronize all
twinkling lights so that when Northern California bulbs flash on, Southern
California lights flash off, thereby slashing peak electricity consumption.
Many years ago, there
was another light shortage. Worse than the kind
some places have had over the past few years…actually a place with no light
whatsoever. C.S. Lewis described it so
well: “It was always winter, but never Christmas.” What a bleak and depressing depiction that
is. In some places around the world, the
Christmas light is the one thing that makes the winter bearable. It’s the proverbial light in the middle of
the tunnel.
Israel was the place. Having faced years of
captivity from the Assyrian empire around 700 B.C. (and later the Babylonians),
a message came from Isaiah that would bring a radiant glimmer in the darkness
through his suffering servant prophecy.
In Isaiah 49:6, he foretold, “I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Jump ahead 700 years and you find Simeon in
the temple as he holds the baby Jesus in his hands and relates the fulfillment
of Isaiah’s words in Luke 2:25. He says,
“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;
for my seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all
peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your
people.” Ol’ Jen from Little Rock would
have to agree with Ol’ Simeon from Jerusalem…God had done it up big. It’s good news to everyone! We’ll never have a Light-shortage again.
Terry
Risser
Reflections:
1) Can you name a
time where your life seemed the darkest?
2) How did God
reveal His light to you?
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright 2014- Terry Risser
No comments:
Post a Comment