Today is the Winter Solstice and it is the darkest night of the year. It’s the day when the earth is farthest from the sun and brings the least amount of light. Some have argued that this is why Christmas was chosen as a December date and that may well be true. In so many ways, the next few days serve as a powerful reminder and picture of the human condition- that grief and unimaginable hope can inhabit the same space.
This year, the verse that has really anchored me this Christmas is John 1:5,
“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”
One of the things that the Gospel never denies is the existence and reality of darkness. Far from festivities that seek to drown it out in Egg Nog or Ugly Sweaters that would seek to cover us like fig leaves from our shame, the Gospel looks darkness square in the eyes. This darkness I’m convinced includes everything from the sin of our hearts, to the brokenness of fallen humanity, and the pain that has come as a consequence of that loss.
Honestly, the times leading up to this year’s Christmas have felt dark. Celebrating Christmas in a new space without the lingering of Tami’s memory in spaces around the house has been hard. We’re forging new memories and finding our way, but her loss seems particularly fresh. It’s hard to believe that this will be the third Christmas since she met Immanuel face to face. It has also been a reminder to me of the many friends whose losses are equally if not more dark. The loss of a loved one or child, a broken dream, struggles in marriage, or financial difficulties. All the while the darkness of the human condition becomes like a suffocating blanket feasting on the hope of joy and peace.
Perhaps this Christmas, one of the greatest things that we can do is not to run from or hide or numb the darkness, but to bring it to the feet of Jesus. The radical claim of the Gospel is that
Darkness HAS and WILL be overcome by the light.
Mingled in the tears of suffering a loss is a powerful elixir of grace and mercy. That the one who has come is Immanuel, God with us. Even the darkness. That darkness can never overwhelm the light. Even it it screams at the top of its lungs. Even it feels like the truest thing about this life. The light is still shining.
So how can that shape us this Christmas Season?
First, to my friends who feel like this Christmas is dark. Your pain matters! What you are experiencing was never God’s plan for humanity. The darkness and all of its claims that it now defines you are lies. The light has shone in the darkness and the darkness cannot overwhelm it. Darkness has been overcome. Death doesn’t have the final say, though darkness would seek to distance us from hope. You might say, what if this is a consequence for some sin I’ve committed? That’s why Immanuel came and if worthiness were the wages of perfect behavior, we’d all be without hope. This Christmas, may I offer something I’m learning in my own journey.
“Step in the way of good.”
Defiantly choose to believe that darkness will not last forever because Immanuel has come. Broken, tired, and hurting go to Jesus and ask for His light to shine. I’m finding that its there in the darkness that the light of His love often shines the brightest.
To my friends, for whom Christmas seems free of darkness. Your joy matters! Praise Jesus that His love and light are so tangible this Christmas! Where can you make space to remember those that are suffering? Not to fix or dismiss the pain, but to be present with them in the midst of it. The greatest way that we can live the miracle of Immanuel “God with us” is by being with the suffering, the marginalized, and the hurting. Allow the light of Christ to shine through you this holiday.
This Christmas, may we have the hope to trust that darkness doesn’t have the final say, That Immanuel, God with us, has come and is drawing us to know and love Him. So in hope, even in this darkest night, we pray from O Come, O Come Immanuel.
O come, O Bright and Morning Star and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night and turn our darkness into light.
Rejoice, Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to you, O Israel.
Merry Christmas! Ryan
You might say, what if this is a consequence for some sin I’ve committed? That’s why Immanuel came and if worthiness were the wages of perfect behavior, we’d all be without hope. This Christmas, may I offer something I’m learning in my own journey.
“Step in the way of good.”
Defiantly choose to believe that darkness will not last forever because Immanuel has come. Broken, tired, and hurting go to Jesus and ask for His light to shine. I’m finding that its there in the darkness that the light of His love often shines the brightest.
A perfect message for my heart. Sometimes it “feels “ (unreliable) that the consequences never will lessen. That this is my lot to carry until I go home. I can’t deny the mistake, but I can’t live under the burden of how it turned out either. I appreciate you so very much. I’m so glad you were and in many ways, still a part of my pastoral team.