The Rector's Christmas Message
December 26, 2009 by Stephen Schneider
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.
These words from the prophet Isaiah break open the deepest truth of Christmas: that Christmas is an invasion of light.
This invasion first appeared in a forgotten corner of the empire, distant from places of privilege and power; and the first witnesses were a cluster of castaways—shepherds carrying on a thankless nighttime vigil—who set aside their fears and made a journey to see the light.
The shepherds discovered that they could only glimpse the light if they came close to a small infant nurtured by a youthful, peasant mother.
This child was the light bearer, the promised one, Emmanuel!
At Christmas we too are invited to get close to the light—so that the light of the Christ child can transform us and through us fill the places of darkness in our world with the light of God’s promise.
The world longs for this invasion of light--
Christmas is God’s reminder that light still shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.