A Light in the Darkness

For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of the Christmas season. There are many wonderful memories of time out of school and spent with family, presents, meals, and shows such as “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. In all of these memories, one stands out more than others.
As a child, we attended Shaw Heights Baptist Church, located right across the highway from Shaw Air Force Base. They had the usual Christmas programs of caroling, pageants and parties. My favorite was the Christmas Eve candlelight service. I will be honest and admit that I don’t remember the sermons or Scripture readings. The only thing I really remember is that, after the sermon, the congregation would line the walls of the church, the lights of the church would be turned off, and a single flame would start in the back, and would be passed down each side of the church, until all candles were lit. As soon as all the candles were lit, the choir director would start singing “Silent Night” a capella, and within a few words, the congregation would join in. As the last verse started with “silent night, holy night, wondrous star, lend thy light”, the church would begin to file out, still singing. Usually my family was one of the last to file out, and I remember the voices growing more distant as they filed out into the night, and the sanctuary growing darker as the candle light was made fewer. As we made our way out, the choir director stayed in the front, still singing the last verse of the hymn. When we got into the church yard, we would blow out our candles, tell folks “Merry Christmas”, and go home to go to bed and get ready for Christmas morning!
For the longest time, this memory just served as a pleasant and warm reminder of childhood. Over the past few years, I have begun to understand the significance of that celebration. We live in a broken and fallen world, and it has been like this since the fall of Adam and Eve. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6.12 that this world is a dark world because of its fallen nature and inhabitants. Our lives are lived in a world that is clothed in darkness --- and that was the significance of the sanctuary being cloaked in darkness.
Jesus says in John 12.46 that He has come to be the light in the dark world – a light that pierces the darkness of sin and sinfulness, and a light that serves as a direction towards salvation. Without the light of Jesus Christ, the world would continue on in darkness. But, praise be to God, Jesus did come, and He has shed light onto the world. As Christians, as we respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we become lights in the world (Luke 11). This was the significance of the single flame that soon spread throughout the church, lighting the interior … Christ as the single flame, soon spreading through His children, bringing more and more light to the world.
The singular message of Christmas is the name given to the Son of God – Immanuel, “God With Us”. On that night, in the country town of Bethlehem, underneath the watchful eyes of His heavenly Father, his earthly father and mother, “God With Us” was born to mankind, in order to save mankind. He was born to bring light to a world clothed in darkness – salvation to his church. Truly, that was a blessed night … a holy night. As the sanctuary was clothed in darkness, and the light began to spread, we were reminded of the sacred truth of the season – that God had come to be with His people.
Thankfully, we have that same tradition here at White Oak, and what a wonderful reminder to us what the Christmas season is about. We do have the blessings of the season – gifts, meals, and family – but, most of all, we have Jesus Christ, the light in the midst of a dark world, “God With Us”. As we each prepare for this season, let our minds be primarily fixed on that truth of the Gospel, that the grace of God dwelt among us, and has proclaimed peace to God’s people.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor James

A Prayer for Advent

O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind;
Let me hear good tidings of great joy, and hearing,
believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose, my
eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat, to look with
them upon my Redeemer’s face, and in him
account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my
heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou has given me so much that heaven can
give no more.

—from The Valley of Vision