Every so often, the History Channel
has a program on supposed ancient aliens. The
so-called “experts” believe that many of our ideas
of miracles were actually alien encounters. They
even go as far as to suggest that the virgin birth
was an alien intervention. The aliens artificially
inseminated Mary with alien sperm which explains
Jesus’ superhuman abilities. It wasn’t God, it was
alien DNA. . . . Alright, you can choose to believe
these experts if you want OR you can listen to
someone who investigated the story first hand and
gave us his account of the truth.
First, let’s back up a little. What’s the big deal
with a baby born 2000 years ago? Part of the answer
is found several hundreds of years even before
Jesus’ birth:
The people who were sitting in
darkness saw a great Light, and those who were
sitting in the land of the shadow of death, upon
them a Light has dawned (Isaiah 9:1–2).
Which brings us to a group of shepherds sitting in
the dark:
And there were shepherds living out in the fields
nearby, keeping watch over
their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared
to them, and the glory of the
Lord shone around them, and they were terrified
(Luke 2:8–9).
The shepherds are in the dark, being
perfectly content and calm and peaceful, until God
shows up. It is strange that when they’re in the
dark they’re alright, but when they get into God’s
light they’re terrified? Why? The longer we are in
the darkness, the more natural that darkness becomes
for us. The longer we are around darkness the more
comfortable we become with it. A bright light in our
face after we’ve been in darkness for a long time
can be very uncomfortable at first.
Imagine you’re sleeping. You’re in a
deep sleep in the middle of the night when all of a
sudden, your spouse turns on the bright overhead
light. What do you say to them? (Probably something
you cannot say in church.) One thing is for sure,
you yell, “Turn that light out!”
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Our world does the same thing. They
don’t like God’s light because they’ve become too
accustomed to the darkness. Our society says:“Get
that Bible out of here . . . we don’t need to go
that far.”“Get those 10 commandments off the
courthouse walls . . . we don’t like to see them.”
“Get that manger scene off public grounds. . . we
don’t want to be reminded.”
In the Bible they yelled to turn out
the light, but God still sent it. Today, even if
many flinch under God’s light, he still continues to
send it. He still wants to share it. He still wants
to touch your life with his light. What darkness
could Jesus shine a
little light on for you? He said of himself: I am
the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won’t
be stumbling through the darkness, because you will
have the light that leads to life (John 8:12).
Do we believe that? Light has always been a symbol
of Hope. Costal shores are filled with lighthouses.
They are fun to visit and to have your photo taken
in front of
with the family. In fact, they can seem a little
useless nowadays with every ship having GPS. Ever
since GPS, ships don’t have to worry about dangerous
sea shores anymore or where the harbor is. However,
there was a day before all
those instruments that the lighthouse came to mean
something wonderful to a lost ship.
I have been that lost ship. And when you’re lost,
light is always welcomed.
Jesus said, “I have come as a light to shine in this
dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me
will no longer remain in darkness” (John 12:46).
And in this we find the real meaning of
Christmas—embrace the light.
[Ron Otto, Lincoln Christian Church] |
