The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
I live with my aunt in a big house. It is a VERY big house! Aunt Katherine lives in an “in-law” apartment in the back while I occupy the front of the house and the second floor with my living quarters and home office. The living arrangement works very well with one exception: When I am away, the house seems very dark and a bit scary for Aunt Katherine. It does not help that I have had to re-move old “knob and tube” electrical wiring, leaving some portions of the house without electric power.
As the electricians restore power to more and more of the house, it is not quite so dark. For example, we now have a front porch light for the first time in two years. Now, when someone rings the bell at night, we can at least see their face and other identifiable features. New automated lights in the yard are switched on by motion, so that when Aunt Katherine walks her dog, her path is well lighted. There is fear in darkness and security in light.
During the cold, snowy months of January and February,we move into the Epiphany season. It can be rather dark. But as the days now get longer and lighter once again, we are reassured. In celebrating the vision of a star guiding the Magi to the baby Jesus, we see in the coming of Christ a light in the darkness.
Are we still fearful in the corners of darkness? Do sin and the gloom-and-doom messages of today’s world seem too frightening? If so, we need only look to the star that glows above the stable. As the wise men found their way to Jesus, the Word made flesh, so too we
follow the light of Christ as people of hope and vision. Once you see the light, don’t hide it! The star burns brightly in you as you point others to Jesus!
Happy season of Epiphany!
Pastor Bill Barter
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