The light shines in the darkness
This week we experience the longest day of the year, the winter solstice. Throughout history, people were very aware of this dark time and celebrated it’s passing. On December 21, the darkness will win briefly…only to be followed by Christmas and the coming of the Light of the World.
The darkness and fear descend
Since the earliest civilizations, the winter solstice has been marked. It is the longest night of the year and the most darkness we will experience. Most cultures celebrated this as a new beginning or at the very least a change in the agricultural season. Out of the cold, dark winter, spring will come again. While things may look dark, dormant and cold, the knowledge that the sun will return…and the abundance of the land will spring forth is cause for celebration.
In Christianity, the winter solstice happens just days before celebrating the birth of the savior. Just imagine the dark and dormant time into which Jesus was born. Rome ruled absolutely and harshly. The people of Israel waited with increasing impatience for a Savior. They were expecting a King to defeat the powers of Rome. The rules were so strict that Mary and Joseph traveled while she was very pregnant all the way to Bethlehem. (Luke 2: 1-7) Imagine Mary riding a donkey through the longest night of the year. Like most first-time mothers, she is surely apprehensive of the impending birth. She will not give birth in the comfort of her home but in an unfamiliar place where they have run out of rooms. The pains of childbirth will be endured in the humble place where animals are kept from the cold.
Do not be afraid
On that cold, dark night, a group of shepherds are the first to hear this command, “do not fear.” (Luke 2:8-20) It isn’t to the leaders and the important people that word of the Savior’s birth comes. No, it’s the lowly shepherds watching over their flocks. Imagine the angel appearing. While it is beautiful in Renaissance paintings, it was probably pretty frightening. We already know there was a strange star in the sky that night. Think of those shepherds huddled together when an angel shows up. It’s probably a very good thing the first words were “do not fear.”
An angel spoke those same words spoken to Mary on the night she became pregnant. (Luke 1:26-38) An angel appeared to her as well. Most of us cannot imagine having an angel visit us, but I’m sure if it happened, we would be afraid, too. Especially if that angel told us we would become pregnant when we were not yet married. On this longest night of the year, Mary is now about to give birth to the child. Does she remember the words of the angel from just nine months earlier? Is she strengthened by the words of the angel, “Don’t be afraid?”
The coming of the light
This promises to be a week of fear, awe and wonder. Yes, the darkness will close in around us and we will be frightened. But if we listen carefully, the angels sing and tell us, “Don’t be afraid.” And in the very next moments, the baby born in the manger will bring the world out of the darkness. Jesus will arrive as the savior and light of the world. No matter what kind of holidays we experience…happy, sad, rich, poor, sick, well and the list goes on, we can learn from this sudden change from darkness to light. The Bible reassures us that…”the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
Next week: Meeting God in the thin places
