Christmas Lights

“ And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” —2 Corinthians 5:15

Celebrating the birth of a Savior who gave himself up to death and judgment is a strange thing in a culture that co-opts Christmas for self-indulgence. Though Christians cherish the incarnation all year, Christmas is a unique way for us to display our other-centric worldview. We praise not ourselves, but God, and joyfully serve others, often at cost to ourselves.

When we ponder that the One who was laid in a manger was destined to bear our sins in His body on the cross, we begin to grasp what we, His followers, are to display in our own lives. In ways that are infinitesimal in comparison to the cross, we’re to give ourselves for the restoration and growth of others. One of Scripture’s main imperatives on how to do this is to speak, and also to sing the truth to one another. Tomorrow, we’ll gather for worship and we will do both. As God’s Word is unfolded and applied, the truth will be spoken. When we sing to one another during the worship service, the truth will be sung. And finally, when we stand outside, on the front steps of our building, we will sing the truth not only to each other, but to a world that desperately needs Christ.

Christmas lights are beautiful. But the most stunning of them all are God’s people, speaking and singing the truth about Jesus, the baby in the manger, who was born to suffer and to die for a world justly condemned. What a unique opportunity to be counter-cultural for Jesus. To display tomorrow in a very small way, what a life devoted not to ourselves, but to Him and others looks like.