God is Light

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” ESV 1 John 1:5

I am admittedly on a soap box at present. My protest is against the all too common greeting: Happy Holidays. I know that it is innocent enough. I know that it is meant to encompass Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s greetings. But I also know that nobody is going to wake up at my house Christmas morning and shout Happy Holidays! Nobody is going to count down to midnight the following week and scream Happy Holidays either.

Now, if you were to send me a card that said Happy Holidays, I would be appreciative of your thoughtfulness; I know how difficult it is to find a card with Merry Christmas embossed on the front these days. But you must admit that the Happy Holidays greeting seems to divert attention from the true meaning of the season which is the celebration of Christ’s birth.

I’ve been watching the Religion section of one of our regional newspapers the last couple of weeks. Do you know what the lead articles have been as we head into one of the most sacred and celebrated Christian holidays? I found articles about Buddhism, a family tragedy, the B’nai faith, toys for needy children and an inquisition about the intricate nuances of Mike Huckabee’s theology. Notice anything odd; anything missing? Christ. Christ is what’s missing here as we prepare to celebrate his birth. I submit to you that it is no accident that Christ has been missing in those pages. He’s missing because it’s not politically correct to speak forthrightly about Christianity these days.

It’s no accident either that The Golden Compass was released on the big screen on December 7; just in time for Christmas. The writer behind the tale is an accomplished author named Philip Pullman who certainly sounds as if he has an anti-Christian agenda. He is reported to have said in an Australian newspaper that “My books are about killing God.” That’s enough to keep me from watching it. Does the timing of the release seem coincidental to you?

And it is no accident that you have trouble finding cards with Merry Christmas embossed on the front. There just aren’t many manufacturers willing to print them. The very term Merry Christmas is politically incorrect because it has a reference to Christ.

So, what’s this got to do with our verse from 1John? Well, John had to deal with skeptics and those who would undermine Christian doctrine in his day too. He specifically had to deal with a group known as Gnostics who denied the resurrection among other things. Suffice it to say that agendas against Christianity are nothing new. In some sense, I suppose Christianity has never been politically correct.

Anyway, John points out very vividly and pointedly that God is not hidden. Regardless of our actions as a society that are sometimes meant to undermine, hide, ignore or divert attention from God, He is not hidden. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Humor me for a moment by briefly closing your eyes. What happened? Darkness pervaded didn’t it? When you willfully shut out the light, darkness pervaded didn’t it? I submit to you that the same is true in the spiritual sense. Ignore God or willfully shut Him out and darkness will pervade. Instead, open your spiritual eyes and glory in the fact that God is not hidden and that He invaded His creation in the form of a babe; as Christ.

Here’s a challenge for you this week: For the glory of God, greet someone with a hearty Merry Christmas!

-Ken Askew