December 18, 2000
EDITORIAL:
Let us reflect the Light of the world
___Night by night, the candlelight grows brighter--piercing darkness and illuminating faces a little more fully with each passing evening.
___From the time our daughters were tiny, nightly devotionals around an Advent wreath have been a family highlight of the Christmas season. Although Advent isn't celebrated widely among Texas Baptists (we learned about it while worshipping in a dear church in Kentucky), we have come to love it as a time of spiritual reflection and preparation for Christmas. Besides, worship around an Advent wreath is perfect for any family that loves Bible stories, reading to children and singing carols.
___So, beginning the fourth Sunday before Christmas, we gather around the wreath late in the evening. Someone turns off the lights in the room, and another lights candles. First is a purple candle, for hope. Next comes another purple, representing peace. It is followed by a pink candle, for joy, and then another purple, for love. Week by week, our devotionals and prayers examine those transcendent themes of Christmas-- hope, peace, joy and love--that bind our hearts in love to the Child whose birth we prepare to celebrate.
___This year, for some reason, I've noticed the light. Not just any light, but the warm, golden light of our Advent candles. The light grows brighter week by week, of course, as we light another candle. But it glows brighter evening by evening, as each candle burns shorter, and the widening base offers more wax for burning. The tiny flicker of the first evening has ripened to a luminescent halo, which will develop into a radiant glow by Christmas eve, when we light the white Christ candle in solemn yet grateful anticipation of Christmas morning and our Savior's birth.
___Light endures as a splendid symbol for Christmas.
___It reminds us of the Star of Bethlehem, of course, which guided the wise men to the Infant Lord shortly after his birth (Matthew 2:1-12). For 2,000 years, Christians have remembered that star. We have made images of stars to remind us of Jesus and the glory, majesty and miracle that engulfed his birth.
___But even seven centuries before that great star of nativity shown down on Earth, faithful people looked for light. Beginning with the Prophet Isaiah, they dreamed of light as a symbol of the often-promised, long-expected Messiah. They unscrolled beautiful, hopeful words: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned" (Isaiah 9:2).
___More pointedly, the symbol of light identifies the Christ Child for who he was. Light illustrates what he came here to do. "In him was life, and that life was the light of men," the gospel writer explains (John 1:4). "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life," he himself declared (John 8:12).
___People today minimize the light of Jesus. We leave him in a manger, sweetly illumined by a halo. Yet that was only the beginning. Yes, he came as a baby, but he lived as God-in-the-Flesh-Man. He spoke, and his words beamed. He perfomed miracles, and his deeds shone. Ultimately, he became a divine torch, exalted on a cross, flaming for all to see. He descended to the grave, lighting the dark and dreary corners of death. He shone--and shines--so that we may see past the darkness of sin and estrangement from God. He is the Light that shows us the way home, back to the welcoming arms of our Heavenly Father.
___Night by night, I am drawn back to the beauty and splendor of those Advent candles. They are not the Light, but symbols of that Light. They cause me to see, to remember, to know what must be known.
___And I wonder as thoughts wander: How much are we who have seen and believed like those candles of anticipation and promise? One candle alone on the first night of Advent seems frail. As it burns, however, its light brightens. And as it burns with others, their light multiplies. Christians are not the Light, but we reflect that Light. Standing alone, in a moment, we may feel small and insignificant. But as we shine consistently for our Lord, the faithfulness of our testimony permeates the darkness around us. And as we stand with others, the candlepower of our collective witness beams the message of salvation into our communities, across the state, out around the world.
___This Christmas, remember that the Baby whose birth we celebrate is the Light of the world. May our lives brightly reflect that light for all people to see.
___Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!