I’m drawing here from one of my favorite authors, Tim Keller, with his accent on the word “dawning” in his shorter than usual book, “Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth Of Christ.” I was first encouraged to read Keller by our youth pastor years ago while we served as MYF sponsors with him. Thank you Thomas, because Keller’s books revealed the astonishing basic scriptural truths to me undoubtedly providing the spiritual impetus for what I refer to now in my blog as “Retooled and Thriving.”
Hidden Christmas is a book I now reread each fall following Thanksgiving in preparation for Christmas. Truthfully, I never was a Christmas addict, though as I am quite steeped in church culture, it was a season pretty much like all the others that came and went over the years devoid of any personal passion from me. That was until I read Hidden Christmas a few years ago (I think this is now my third such annual encounter) after God started literally purging my “temple” as Josiah did the temple in the OT while re-discovering the scrolls and re-instituting temple worship. The process that swept thru my mind a few years ago may best be described as the reformatting of my hard drive, certainly not merely a re-booting.
Starting with the Isaiah 9:2, 5-7 passage, I quote “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned….” The New King James uses the word “shined” but I much prefer “dawned”, likely because very few people, except for truckers and dairymen, have witnessed more sunrises than I. Fact is for me, “dawned” connotes such a rich understanding of progressing from complete darkness to a full brilliancy of color in the sky and the freshness of a new day, from the glistening dew on the lush vibrant fields and forests to the swooping birds in flight. “Shining” does have potential too, but I find it more static, for “shined” can be either switched off or on. Whereas for me, “dawned” evidences a daily renewal of the redemptive process, not that the incarnation is a repeated event; let alone daily. Let it be known there was only one such event, ever! But yet, with us mere mortals, though we may need to shine as admonished in the Sunday School chorus from “hide it under a bushel, NO! I’m going to let it shine”, I prefer to focus on the incarnation event in that as “a light has dawned.”
And I do believe, “dawned” is the path many of us actually do discover Christ. My generation’s “accepting” Christ was more a “shined” event; we were “exposed” in a situation, whether camp, Bible School, youth retreat, crusade, revival, etc., where we suddenly found ourselves in the “time to make a decision spotlight”, whether it was orchestrated or not, perhaps by “pure”coincidence, or as we reflect later, a “mass movement”, it was now time and the thing to do. And so we did.
See why I much prefer “dawned”. Keller explains it as “it doesn’t say from the world a light has sprung, but upon the world a light has dawned. It has come from the outside. There is light outside of this world and Jesus has brought that light to save us; indeed, he is the Light (John 8:12).” And actually, now as we find ourselves in our mature years, we realize that we were actually “dawned” upon a number of times, speaking now solely of our spiritual growth cycles, throughout our life to date. Keller wisely ignores all this trivia, but goes dead center for the Christian religiosity cultural jugular artery or vein. He clearly makes the point, that unless you have first come to fully understand and appreciate the significance of the “incarnation”, you’ll not understand let alone appreciate, the fullness of God’s revelation of salvation afforded us by his resurrection, nor have any inkling of empowerment by the Holy Spirit.
So, what are we to do, with this fairy tale magical once upon a time event, that you and I have encountered annually since memory serves? First, perhaps we begin by believing the report about what has happened in history, that God really did become a human being, and thank Him for his reality in our lives. Secondly, in appreciation, simply ask Him for more faith in order to accomplish greater “works”, works best interpreted as “obedient actions” as we read in James 2:18.
Quoting Keller near the end of the first chapter, he writes “There has never been a gift offered that makes you swallow your pride to the depths that the gift of Jesus Christ requires us to do. Christmas means that we are so lost, so unable to save ourselves, that nothing less than the death of the Son of God himself could save us. That means you are not somebody who can pull yourself together and live a moral and good life. When Jesus died on the cross, darkness fell over the land. The Light of the world descended into darkness in order to bring us into God’s beautiful light (I Peter 2:9) The promises of Christmas cannot be discerned unless you first admit you can’t save yourself, or even know yourself, without the light of his unmerited grace in your life. This is the foundational truth from which we can proceed to learn the hidden truths of Christmas!”
Such hidden truths include “The Gospel is Good News, Not Good Advice”, “The Gospel Story Changes How We Read Other Stories,” “The Gospel Turns The Worlds Values Upside Down,” “God May Take His Time, But He Keeps His Word,” and “The Gospel Is Ultimate Rest.”
May we share the Gospel “dawning” as the truth has “dawned” upon us, whenever, wherever, however, in our lives thus far. Join the growing throng of Keller Annual Advent Readers (KAAR) seeking to be reminded of the Incarnation, its truths, and our subsequent obedient actions.
Merry Christmas!