December 22, 2020

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. Matthew 2:10

We all have Christmas traditions, and one of my favorites is Christmas tree lights. Now some people don’t stop at decorating the tree, but have the whole yard lit up. My neighbor down the street even has coordinated music with the lights and cars line up to take a look. Believe it or not the person who first decorated a Christmas tree with lights is none other than Martin Luther. The story goes that, as he walked through a dark forest one winter’s night, he looked up at the sky to see twinkling stars shining through the branches of the fir trees. He saw the stars as lights from Heaven that were guiding him home, through the dark forest, just like the Star of Bethlehem led the Wise Men. Inspired, Martin Luther took a small tree from the forest home to his family, and decorated it with lights, to mimic what he had just experienced in the forest. This experience also inspired his next sermon, and saw him spread the idea to his community. It is believed that this is why people began putting lights on their Christmas trees.
Today is the darkest day of the year, but it sure gives me joy just like Luther and the wise men to see a light shining in the darkness. Of course it wasn’t just the light that made the wise men overjoyed. It was what that light led them to. The Savior of the world! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that all those traditions are not a distraction, but a reminder of why celebrate Christmas. A Savior has been born, Jesus, the Light of the world.

Matt Greven

Don’t miss out on the Christmas Eve service at 4:30pm!