Let There Be Light

Packages are unwrapped and Santa has come, but for most, Christmas is not over. The tree is still lit, families are still gathering, and we continue to bask in the light of all that we love about Christmas. So I wanted to share this short message I wrote for a choir concert I participated in during December. These thoughts have been on my mind throughout the weeks of Advent. They are words that rose out of my heart and filled my soul when I paused on the purpose of all our celebrations.

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It is Christmas. And the world is a bustle. We carefully place ornaments on the tree, make our lists, and check them twice. We shop for the perfect gift, brave holiday traffic, and remind certain children that coal in their stocking is still a possibility.

Sometimes all this bustle begins to feel more like a hustle.

But these profound stanzas, written by an unknown poet in the 15th century, remind us why we honor Christmas.

Lo, in the silent night

A child to God is born

And all is brought again

That ere was lost or lorn.

Could but thy soul, O man,

Become a silent night!

God would be born in thee

And set all things aright.

With one miraculous, but largely unnoticed birth, a tiny babe in His mother’s arms came to set things right.

Christ, the great balm of Gilead, the Redeemer, the Hope of all the World, was born to restore all losses, all people separated from us — all. He would become our magnificent repairer of the breach, the High Priest of Good Things to Come, our Deliverer.

Consider the poet’s words… Can our souls become a silent night? Can we quiet the noise, the doubts, and the distractions long enough for him be born in us? Long enough to hear that familiar voice:

“My peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nether let it be afraid.”

This is Christmas. The babe of heaven moving down into our space, shutting out the darkness — moving right in front of it, eclipsing the night with His Light. It is this Savior-to-be we are celebrating, rushing around for, spending our days for…

and isn’t it something… that a wise Heavenly Father hid His greatest gift in the most humble of packages? In the hay of a crude manger, nestled against the warm cheeks of a virgin mother.

Today, Jesus remains hidden in so many things. He is hidden in the face of the beggar on the corner, in the bright and resilient eyes of the children. He is hidden in our hurt, in our grief, and in our failure.

We are all wanderers in this weary world. But to each of us He says, “Let there be light. I am with you. I have come. Your Emmanuel. Your Messiah. Your Savior. Your Everlasting Light.”

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