From Your Pastor’s Heart

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. Isaiah 9:2
Amazingly, there are a number of little things that go unnoticed until you can see them with new eyes. Small things, insignificant things. They surround us and cast off a beauty all their own. Until very recently, I have missed so many of these, but thanks be to God, I have been afforded “new eyes” with which to see. Not that I couldn’t see before, but that I simply didn’t notice the wonder of such insignificance.
As we begin the season of Advent, we do so with the opportunity to notice the insignificance of some of God’s smallest blessings, things we most often don’t think about, things we take for granted. The reminders of God’s sovereignty and majesty are all around us. They declare the glory of the One True God who chooses to save his people from sin, death, and the power of the devil. All it takes to see these simplistic icons of grace is to look with new vision, theological vision, having an awareness of God’s presence.
During my first night home following surgery, I was lying back in my recliner trying to fall asleep, but there was a brilliant light shining that just would not let my attention go. It was a small light, insignificant, as I said earlier. It was the little green LED power indicator on my laptop charger lighting up the room. In this instance, I saw this little light in a completely new way. The fact that it was shining meant there was power available. Even as I was weakened after a lengthy surgical procedure, the power of God’s love was lighting up the room.
Lying in that recliner, I could feel something that I had taken for granted for a long, long time. I could feel each beat of my surgically repaired heart. It is much stronger than I remember it ever being. The continued rhythmic thump, thump, thump, played a new song over and over again in thankful praise to our heavenly Father who has the power to save his people.
In Advent, we once again have the opportunity to look with “theological eyes” and see the wonder of God’s mercy and grace made manifest for all believers. It comes to us in a most insignificant way, through most humble means; a baby born into the poverty of a fallen and broken world. A Savior
born into a world in need of saving.
Like that little LED that lit up my room, this Babe of Bethlehem casts a light into the world that commands attention. People who walk in the darkness of this world, seemingly blind to the insignificance of this one child, would one day be gathered into his brilliance simply by seeing him with new eyes. Witnessing his compassion, his teaching, and his love for all that God created, for it was all created through him.
As we complete one more liturgical year exploring the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus, and prepare to embark on the journey once more, I would invite you to take notice of the humble means through which God gets your attention reminding you of his ever-present love. These “icons of grace” as I have called them are all around us. I invite you to enter into a deeper, closer, more intimate relationship with our Lord and God. His is a beauty and wonder that draws us into the brilliance of the light that shines through even the darkest moments of our lives.
This Advent, take time to slow down, pray, and notice the presence of Christ walking alongside as he fills your life with the blessing of his power and love. See the icons of God’s grace with new eyes and enter into the wonder and mystery of the God who takes upon himself human flesh and dwells with his people. He came to save us. He continues to come to love us. His power and glory are made manifest even in the most insignificant ways. He is there for us to notice with every heartbeat and breath we take. To God be the glory forever and ever.