Daily Devotion – December 21, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison

Isaiah 9:2-7
9:2 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.
9:3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.
9:4 For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
9:5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
9:6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
9:7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

This prophesy of Isaiah has been immortalized in song and story and is read often at Christmas services, so we know it well, even if we’ve never read anything else of Isaiah. Especially verses 2 and 6.

Toward the end of the year, when the sun is more absent in the northern hemisphere, we find ourselves reading these lines with great hope and anticipation, since seeing a great light in a time of darkness is a wonderful thing to anticipate. So in the north, where I have always lived, linking this “great light” with Christmas, its star, and the birth of the Christ Child, seems natural.

Have you ever noticed the wonder of children noticing Christmas lights for the first time, or even the first days of any year when the lights show up in the darkness? There’s a moment of “Oooh. Aaahhh.” Isn’t there? We grown-ups maybe take Christmas lights more for granted than the kids do. But even the very old folks, who live in the same apartment every day and don’t get out much anymore, when taken out for a ride to see the lights, they go right back into that child-like wonder and they say “Oooh. Aaahhh.” Don’t they?

Take a moment this Christmas week for an “Ooohhh. Aaahhh” of your own. Wonder for a moment about the miracle of light in the middle of darkness. Wonder about the greatness of God that Isaiah describes, and especially the greatness of such a God who comes as a child, a son given to us, who is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.  As Luther says, “Think upon the Prince of Peace.” Just for a few minutes in the midst of all the action.

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us light to shine into our darkness. Help us to notice it. To ponder it, to wonder about it. Help us to take the time to really see it.   Amen.