Christmas Eve, 2017
When I wrote this, I opened my computer software to type it
out. Its called Word. So here is a Word.
Its been a crazy year, that 2017. And reminiscing about it
can be left for next week. But as we sit in the darkness of Christmas Eve, I
look back on this year. Some of it good, some of it not so much. Some of it was
dark. Very dark. But there was always a light. Sometimes it was the sun, rising
up in the morning. Sometimes it was a mechanical light, glowing in the dark of
night, because we were kept up. Sometimes it was daytime, but a light showed up
anyway because that was what was needed.
I have written in the past on this Eve about the starry host
of angels proclaiming the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. But tonight, the focus
is on the source of the Light. John 1 talks about how the Word was with God,
became flesh, was life, and the life became the Light of men. The Light shined
in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Note the change to
present tense.
Christmas Eve has almost as much meaning to me as Christmas
Day. Christmas Eve is quiet, kinda solemn, and the preparation for the big day.
Very Peaceful. For those of us who celebrate Advent, it is the final day of that
period. It is a preparation period, and tonight is the last of it. There is
some Joy and celebration, but the best is yet to come. And we anticipate it
with great Hope. This year, Christmas Eve happens to fall on the Fourth Sunday
of Advent. Its theme is Love. If you were in the Greater Houston area over the
past few months, you experienced and/or gave love. I saw it; I experienced it.
It was reported on the news, but nothing like you felt if you were here.
Probably also in Florida, California, and other places. Love is like light. It pierces the bad,
damage, catastrophe, loss. But it does it in a way we don’t expect, can’t
always comprehend, and can’t do ourselves. That’s because love is a divine concept.
It was first shown to us by God the Father, who sent His Son here, and who
ultimately was killed on a tree, for nothing He did, but for ALL of what we
did. Regardless of what it was.
The Bible gives us some detail about the birth of Jesus. Alot
of it is common knowledge. No room in the inn. Stayed in a stable with the
animals, Born and placed in a manger in swaddling cloths, not a cute onesie.
But have you thought of this? What did Joseph think of all this. What did the
innkeeper think? How did they find the stable? Did it all work out. Yes. The
way Joseph thought? No. But God spoke to him through an angel to give him a heads
up. So there was some direction. A light. The shepherds saw a bunch of lights.
And a single star that lead them to the place where Jesus lay. And it was all
working out the way God intended. Not in our time, in His. Not by our means, by
His.
Jesus grew up to be a man. He experienced everything that we
have, except sin. We have experienced that. And if we were to stop and think
about it, we might come across the idea that perhaps there is another way to do
this. Whatever “this” is. Could it be that there is more to this life than what
we know, more than what we see? If Christmas is anything to those who believe,
it is an example of things happening that are not what we expect. If Christmas
is anything for those who don’t believe, perhaps it is a Word that pierces the
darkness, a Light that shines and clarifies. Provides some answers or some new
perspective.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!
