Light dispels darkness

Due to the holiday period, I am having to write this article well in advance of publication. In fact, it is just a few days before 21st December – the shortest day of the year. Shortest that is, in terms of daylight hours and short on strength of light too. In other words the light is lacking both in quantity and quality! From now on, until late June at least, the light we live by will be increasing; the daylight hours will get longer and the strength of light stronger.

Yet, as we stand at the threshold of a new year and we look at the world and even our own personal situations, are we anticipating a brightening future? Possibly not.

We may think that what is putting the dampener on our outlook are things such as conflicting economic strategies, nations in conflict, variance in world-views (both political and religious) and questions about the environment. For many of us, however, our uncertainties are nearer at hand: financial pressures, employment worries, health issues, personal relationships and responsibilities. Most of these things that bring shadows into our lives would be eased somewhat if we humans were able to act and react differently with one another but we simply don’t have the will, indeed the capability, to change fundamentally.

Christmas time should have reminded us that Jesus came into the world as the Light of the World, but as Jesus himself said: ‘People prefer darkness for fear that the light will expose their evil ways.’ And so the world stumbles on from crisis to crisis. What can you and I do?

We can come to Jesus with our own world and submit it to him who is the Light (with a capital ‘L’), confident that he can extinguish our dimness and put us on a lighted path, which leads onwards and upwards. The Christian message continues to be one of light and faith overcoming darkness and fear.

Someone has said, ‘Fear came knocking at the door and faith arose and opened it. There was no one there.’

What in heaven's name is Glory?

‘Angels from the realms of glory… now proclaim Messiah’s birth’, so goes the Christmas carol, one which we may hear or sing during the next few weeks. What does the word ‘glory’ actually mean?

When we say that something is glorious, we are wanting to speak of its magnificence, beauty, dignity and weightiness.

We read in the Bible that at pivotal moments God’s glory shows itself to his people in various forms - light, cloud and fire. This is referred to as the Glory of the Lord. When we hear the Christmas nativity story, we are reminded that, when the heavenly messenger spoke about the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, the Glory of the Lord shone around. The moment was majestic, one of magnificence and beauty. The message being conveyed was weighty and needed to be received with dignity.

Perhaps adults should bear this in mind as the back story when seeing children performing nativity plays. After all, those shepherds were described as being terrified, so awesome was the occasion. It was for this reason the angelic messenger said ‘Fear not’ and then went on to inform them about the arrival of Jesus and who he was – the long-awaited Messiah.

The great news, or glad tidings, was to be received with joy by those who welcomed it; Messiah had now come and was to be their saviour. The magnificence of the event only increased as other angelic messengers arrived and began to explain more by singing of God’s glory: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace to those on whom his favour rests.’

In general, we have grown up with the notion that at Christmastime ‘peace and goodwill (favour)’ is something we are to be sharing with one another, ‘Have a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year’. The emphasis of the original Christmas proclamation, however, is more to do with God presenting his goodwill and favour by bringing about peace between himself and his people. The idea of peace between God and us only makes sense when we realise the estrangement which, if we’re honest, we know exists within our hearts. Jesus is where God’s goodwill towards us and proffered peace are to be found.

A basis for confidence

Do you remember that scene in the film The Sound of Music? Maria is filled with doubts as she journeys towards the von Trapp home to take up her post as a nanny to the seven children. In order to psych herself up she muses, sings and dances to boost her confidence. There is the repeated lyric, ‘I have confidence in confidence alone’.

In recent years, some of our politicians have invested much in this psychological notion of confidence. Exude confidence, show confidence, speak of confidence and encourage confidence in others and confidence will produce tangible results. Before being drawn in, however, the sober-minded will wish to ask, ‘confidence in what?’ The temptation is to have, like Maria, confidence in confidence itself. Just like the words luck, chance, and fate etc., these words don’t describe anything of substance or reality. Confidence can be good to possess only when it is founded upon something reliable.

A similar thing occurs when we speak about faith. ‘If only I had more faith’ someone may moan as they anxiously seek a miracle. Listening to the teaching of Jesus, it might be concluded that he reinforces the idea that faith in and of itself has power to perform great things. For example, Jesus says that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, which is tiny, then we may say to a mountain, ‘Go jump in the lake’, and it will. I don’t believe that Jesus wants us to become landscapers on a grand scale. We need to ask the question ‘faith in what?’ or, better still, ‘faith in whom?’ Christianity does not propose having faith in faith but rather faith in a person, namely Jesus.

Faith, hope and yes, confidence, each loom large in Christian teaching. Invariably, however, they are each grounded on God as Father of his people, his word as given in the Bible and on Jesus that same word but now in human form.

Conclusion? Be wary of groundless words and those who wish to draw you into their own misplaced confidence. Instead, have faith (i.e. trust) in God, confidence in his word and then hope in his loving care, which is now and forever.