From voluminous and opulent silks to simple muslin fabric panels, curtains are useful for filtering the sunlight or hiding our pprivate lives from the world.
For most people the light is too bright to welcome directly into our homes; and we certainly don’t want our lives to be an open book to every passerby!
For a very long time that was the case for mankind, the light of God was too much to view directly. We wanted to hide from his holiness.
The Veil
So, like a curtained window, we saw veiled glimpses of God’s holiness through the law of Moses and within the visions of prophets. The love of God desired for this veil of separation, this inability of ours to bear His light and holiness, to be removed, but we had no idea of how that might be accomplished until Christ had come.
Opening the Curtains
Still, today, we like our filtered light, our covered view of daylight, and some even hide within the dark corners of life. The good news came on that first Christmas in a burst of angel song and with the great light of a bright star to declare a new day for us all. We are invited to rejoice in the day that the Lord has made, to awaken to life and light, all the past darkness forgotten and forgiven if only we will come to that Light.
Thought:
Pull back the curtain of your heart and let the light of Christ shine in.
Matthew 4:15-17
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”
Some see that light as harsh and painfully revealing… all the marks and wrinkles of sin open to view, without mercy. Those who sit in the sunny rays of God’s love, know otherwise. It is a kindly light, one that softens everything with a glow of mercy and grace. Perhaps we see the light of God through our own distorted lenses, magnifying the wrong parts of his message to us. The message of Christmas is to the hopeless and downtrodden of the world, it is a message to the ones weary with waiting, and those who believed they were rejected.
Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
Sing: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Charles Wesley(1707-1788), 1739
Hark! the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise;
Join the triumph of the skies;
With angelic host proclaim
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of the favored one.
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;
hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King”
Hail! the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King”
The Jesse tree ornament for today is the sun symbol. Let the Son shine into your heart.
