Ask Pastor Mike Fabarez

Speaker 1

Well, it's December 1st, and no matter what the weather, there's always time for a warm chat with a friend. Today on Focal Point, Pastor Mike Febares invites you to pull up a chair and ruminate about stars, Christmas lights, and what they have to do with Jesus.

You know, it's great to see festive twinkling lights dotting the landscape around Christmas time. But have you ever wondered how we adopted this holiday tradition? Welcome to Focal Point. I'm your host, Dave Droue.

Today we're sitting down with Mike Febares to respond to a listener question about Christmas lights. Did you know that light plays a significant role throughout the scriptures? You're in for a real treat in our message today.

Right now, let's join Focal Point's executive director, Jay Worton, for this special edition of Ask Pastor Mike.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Dave. I am here with Pastor Mike and Pastor Mike. By now, I would expect that your neighborhood has a number of homes sporting Christmas lights. And a listener asks, why do we put up Christmas lights? Does it mean anything?

Speaker 3

Yeah, well, it doesn't for most people. I mean, they just like the festive look of it all. But of course, for Christians, I would hope thinking Christians at least are saying, I recognize the connection to the biblical representation of Christ as the light of the world, right? John 8:12, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, will have the light of life." That's how John started his gospel, right? That in him, in Christ, was the life, and that life was the light of men. And that light shines in darkness, and the darkness doesn't overcome it.

John the Baptist is said to come to bear witness of the light. He wasn't the light, but he came to bear witness of the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. I mean, these ideas, which really, I guess that's the key verse right there, verse 9 of John 1. This light was coming into the world. The incarnation was like Christ lighting the place up. It's like those verses back in Isaiah, the people who sit in darkness see a great light.

So the idea of light is such a great and grand metaphor throughout the Bible. It just makes sense that we celebrate the incarnation with lights. And that's one of the things I've taught my kids from the earliest years. Hey, we're putting up lights on the house, not just because everyone else does it. We put them up around the house, put them in the backyard, we put them up on our fence, we put them on our driveway. We do that because we are celebrating the coming of Christ when the light comes into the world, and we want to be receptive of that light.

Unfortunately, it goes on to say in John 1 that most people didn't receive him. So to me, it's just an apt metaphor. Of course, there's no biblical instruction that Christians have to put lights up to celebrate the Incarnation, but we do it. I think it's a good thing, and I think that's why thinking Christians probably do it, not just for the festivity of it, although that wouldn't be a bad thing anyway. Just like we might put on a nice sweater for a Christmas party to celebrate the coming of Christ, lights make things festive. But it's more than that because the Bible has given such emphasis on Christ being the light of the world. And when he came into the world, that incarnation lit up, if you will, the world so that we could see the light and step out of the darkness and admit our sin and embrace forgiveness in Christ.

Speaker 2

Where did the tradition start in terms of putting up lights or lighting lights during Christmas?

Speaker 3

Well, I don't know if I can answer that definitively, but certainly lights have always been a part of celebration. One of the things that we've talked about before, going back to the Hanukkah celebration or the dedication of the temple back there in 165 B.C., certainly lights were a part of. Josephus spoke of that in the first century, that celebration of deliverance by God from Antiochus, that Seleucid king who had really desecrated the temple. Judas Maccabeus had recaptured the Temple Mount, and they celebrated with lights. They put up lights, a lot like construction lights, to reconstruct the temple that had been damaged, relighting all the menorahs and getting everything going the way it was supposed to.

That celebration there in December was like a lot of things we see in other cultures during the winter, in the solstice period. Lights are a part of that hope and all of that. But for us as Christians, again, I think our focus needs to be on the fact that we light lights if we do, and we don't have to. However, it would be good for us to light those lights, recognizing, as Isaiah 60 says, that Christ would be that dawning light on the earth, and we celebrate his coming with lights.

Speaker 2

Pastor Mike, a lot of Christians would take the Christmas traditions that we have—things like Christmas trees, Christmas lights—and I'm going a little further afield here in terms of these traditions. They would eschew them all and say, "I don't want to have any part of this because it doesn't go back and reflect Christ."

How would you coach somebody in terms of the Christmas traditions like those things?

Speaker 3

Yeah, well, it does go back and exalt Christ. I mean, if I'm putting up a Christmas tree and putting lights on it, you know, without the people that are trying to misquote scripture and saying that's somehow expressly prohibited in the Bible, which of course it's not, I can do that. I could set up a piano and say, I'm setting this piano up in light of the greatness of Christ and bringing, you know, melody to life. I mean, you could do a lot of things that you can't condemn someone for just because you're saying, well, there are people that do it for the wrong reasons. A lot of sinful songs written on a piano. But I can sit down at the piano and I can play a song, and I can sing a song that's in honor of Christ, and you can't condemn me because of the association of pianos to bad things.

And so we light lights and you can go back to the druids and the fields and the forest and the trees and the astroth poles or whatever you want and say, well, if you have a tree and you celebrate, you know, something in the winter with a tree, you're clearly a pagan or engaging in pagan things. We need to with that nonsense. I mean, the bottom line is we are celebrating. Sure, there are aspects of our culture, just like there are in the way we dress, but there are celebrations for us as Christians, for the greatness of the center of our theology, which is Christ came to save us of our sins.

So if you want to live a life that is free from any guilt by association, it's like Paul's statement about avoiding, you know, association with sinners in the world. You have to leave the world. There's no way around that. I mean, I can't sit there and look at everything in my world, my life, and say, hey, you know, was a coffee table ever used for something sinful? Maybe I shouldn't have a coffee table in my life because I'm trying to get far away from anything that has any reference to sin. It's ridiculous.

Like Paul said about the food sacrificed to idols in First Corinthians. I mean, there is for us just one God, and we live for him and we celebrate him, and we do that with computers, we do that with coffee tables. We do that with pianos. We do that with lights, we do that with Christmas trees. And I mean, that's just the biblical position.

And I know we get letters every year at Focal Point, as every ministry I'm sure does, that doesn't eschew these things, as you put. But, you know, there's no biblical case to be made that we cannot celebrate the Lord's coming with a beautifully lit tree, or a ham or a turkey, or, you know, a celebration, a Christmas sweater, a Christmas carol. You know, my frustration with these topics, there's no biblical prohibition that would lead us to shun these things out of our life.

Speaker 2

We don't reject them because they've had a negative association in the past.

Speaker 3

Right? Yeah. I mean, how many things have not had a negative association at some point? Almost every single thing on the planet has had a negative association. I mean, I can go through the prisons and ask, what kind of shoes were you wearing when you committed your crimes? And then say, well, I guess I have to avoid all of those kinds of shoes. I mean, it's absurd.

And it gets me frustrated because at some point you got someone there feeling very pompous and arrogant, saying, well, I've learned an association here that's evil that you don't know about. I'm going to tell you about it and then I'm going to make you feel bad that you can't engage in whatever that is. That's just nonsense.

I mean, my conscience is clear and so are most people who come together to celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ with whatever it is that these people are saying, oh, you can't do that. It's absurd. I mean, these things are, as Paul said, about meat sacrificed to idols. They are nothing in and of themselves. There is no other God for us but God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we don't stumble over these things. And we shouldn't let other people, you know, impinge on our celebrations because they're trying to find some ancient Druid connection.

Speaker 2

Well, thank you, Pastor Mike. I trust that's a helpful conversation. And we're going to continue it by listening to a message you gave called Christmas Lights shining Brightly for Christ this Christmas.

Speaker 4

Kids and I were driving into our neighborhood. Kids in the backseat, as we entered the street that we live on, we all at once noticed the overachievers in our neighborhood. They're all putting up their Christmas lights and they go wild on my street.

Speaker 3

How about yours?

Speaker 4

I mean, it's just my three-year-old John. He speaks up and he says, "Hey dad, why do we put lights on our house? Anyway, what's that all about?"

I thought to myself, well, it's peer pressure, just wanting to give generously to the electric company. Lots of things popped into my head, but I thought, here's a teaching moment, an instructive moment.

I said, "I'm sure people put up lights for all kinds of reasons. Some think they look nice. Some, you know, probably do feel pressured."

Speaker 3

Into it or whatever.

Speaker 4

But I said, if we put our lights up this year, I said, we've got to make sure that we make a mental connection, because there is one in the Bible. And I thought it was apropos that John asked the question, because I immediately thought of the apostle John who uses the analogy of light. He makes the theological connection between biblical truth and light and Christ's coming in light all the time. And so we began to talk about what the Apostle John had to say about it all.

But I had a chance to warn him of a danger. And the danger is you can't do things around Christmas time particularly and not know why we're doing them. And I praise and thanks for asking. We should ask those questions. Why are we doing this? Because the danger really, as Isaiah told his people in Isaiah 29, is that we'll draw near to God with our words or our traditions, but our hearts and our minds might be far from him. And Jesus repeated that. Matthew 15, he said, that's a grave problem to have.

So if you have your Bibles, so that we don't miss the connection as to why we put up lights in honor of Christ's birth, I want you to turn to John chapter one. And just from the beginning, see how the apostle John wants us to recognize that if you're going to talk about the coming of Christ, there's no better analogy than the analogy of light, because that's what it was. Piercing into a dark place.

John, chapter one, verse number one. Familiar words in the prologue of John's Gospel and biography regarding Christ. He says, in the beginning was the Word. Now that's a weird phrase to use regarding the person of Christ, but that's exactly how the book of Hebrews starts. Is that Christ is this, this expression of the Father, this, this. This exact radiance of who God is. In essence, the picture that we can see of the Father here is God presenting himself. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And that, by the way, is the interesting part of what's happening here. God is expressing himself, the Father is now being seen in the Son. Look at the next phrase. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things were made. Without him, that is the word Christ, nothing was made that has been made. If it's been made, it was made by the Word, by Christ. That's pretty big position in him.

In Christ was life. Which, by the way, is the big, big comparison and contrast in the Bible. We got a problem. The wages of sin is death. We've got to fix that problem if we're ever going to have any hope of enjoying anything in eternity. So we've got to solve the problem of death. And so Christ comes in with the solution.

And if you want to kind of, kind of get this in our minds, clearly, we've got to understand that what John is trying to say in this next phrase here is that he was the light of men. He is trying to penetrate the problem with the solution. And this isn't just some prophet or good teacher. This is God himself.

And so let's put it down this way. Amid all the glitter of Christmas number one in your outline, let's make sure that we, just like John, are pointing to the light. Put that in quotations. Of course, we're referring here to the light of the world, Christ himself, the person who solves the problem. We're not just talking about a mere man or a prophet or a good teacher. When we, this Christmas season, do our trees or our houses or our parties or our presents, what we're celebrating is the entrance of God himself into space, time, reality. Here he comes, the incarnation. God puts on flesh.

Speaker 3

Philippians 2.

Speaker 4

He is in the form of God, but he takes on the appearance of a man. And if you want to talk about what we're celebrating this December, we're celebrating the arrival of the Creator to space time. That's what we're. That's what we're celebrating. We're talking about God himself. The person who formed us and made us was laid in a manger. That's what we're talking about. God takes on human form.

What for? To bring us life. To bring us life. What are you talking about? Why does God have to be born as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem? Because he needs to live through the phases of life: childhood, infancy, young adulthood, teenage life, adulthood. He's got to do all of that to fulfill all righteousness.

The problem I have is that I deserve to be cast away from the presence of God into outer darkness. Because I'm not perfect, I am not holy. I deserve to be cast out of a holy place. But we need to be perfect. Because I want to spend eternity in a place of God's blessing. How do I do that? I need life, see, because I reek of death. Because of the wages of sin is death.

How do I take death out of the picture? I need this thing called life, this person called Christ. The word of God, the expression of the Father. And just to put it in one big banner analogy that he's going to develop here.

Speaker 3

It's life.

Speaker 4

Light in a dark place. We have this Christmas season the opportunity to celebrate the birth of the creator of the universe, who is bringing, let's put it this way, the solution to the problem. That's what we're celebrating.

What problem? My loneliness, marital problems, my disputes with friends and relational issues? No, we're talking about the fact that when you die, you should be cast into outer darkness, away from the presence of God and the glory of his power and all the gifts that go with that.

But you have an opportunity not to if you can get the death problem taken away. Jesus Christ, God in human form, has come to solve your problem. That's light.

Speaker 3

That's a big deal.

Speaker 4

He solved our problems. We're children of God, and we are celebrating one blessing after another.

So bring out the big old gigantic bird, right? Bring out the mashed potatoes. Use real butter. Skip the margarine. Give a good present, Celebrate.

Why? Because, you know, hey, we're all children of God. Teach the world to sing harmony.

Speaker 1

No.

Speaker 4

Why? Because we, as believers and followers of Christ, the light of the world, have forgiveness. We're children of God, and we celebrate one blessing after another. We have a lot to celebrate this December. The world, though, is going.

Speaker 3

I don't know.

Speaker 4

Well, it's kind of nice. Oh, talk about religion. That's kind of not good. Our job is not just to celebrate Christmas and celebrate it to the full, the coming of the light. We are to point people to it. Not only to celebrate the joy and the reality and the truth of the light shining in darkness, and we've embraced it, but to get other people to recognize that's where it goes. It goes right over here. Go and check out the whole point of this celebration. That's what Christmas is about.

And I know, you know, it may sound trite and I sound corny even saying it, but those little buttons and little pins and bumper stickers, they're true. He is the reason for the season. And when you go to your office party or when you have your extended family and they don't all get this thing called Christianity and you have a chance there to talk about what Christmas is to you, open your mouth and point them to the light and say, this is all about the coming of God, creator of heaven and earth, to solve a problem I couldn't solve.

And you know what? Since I've embraced Christ, he has lavished on me one blessing after another. And I am now a child of God.

Speaker 3

And it's an amazing thing.

Speaker 4

And that's why we celebrate Christmas in our house. House. That needs to be a part of your vocabulary, either as you talk about it, or you send out Christmas cards, or you write a little greeting to people, or you bring cookies to your neighbor, or you have the tree and you talk to your kids about what this is all about. Whatever it is, point them to Christ.

Turn with me to First Thessalonians. First Thessalonians, chapter 5. Look at verse 5. 5, 5. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We don't belong to the night or to the darkness.

So then underline this phrase: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 words. Let us not be like others.

Speaker 2

Great.

Speaker 4

It's already hard to point people to the light. Now I got to be a freak and be different in the way I live. Okay, I'm not asking you to be purposefully geeky. I'm asking you, though, to live your lives and to do things that are distinctive, reflecting the values of the light, the Holy One, to be Christ-like. And Christ lived a different kind of life. He says, let us not be like others who are asleep. Verse 6. But let us be. Here are some words: alert and self-controlled. We've got our passions in check. We're living our lives carefully.

Verse 7. Those who are asleep, they sleep at night. Those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith, fidelity, faithfulness, trust, and love as a breastplate. Look at the defensive armor here, and the hope of salvation. It's like a helmet. You're going to walk into social settings this December, and you're going to have to gear up and get ready to live a distinctive kind of life. A Christ-like life, where your attitudes and actions are a little bit different than theirs because you are reflecting the light, Christ's, and you become a light in that dark place.

We're not trying to, like so many Christians today, get as close to worldliness as we can without crossing the line. We're trying to live in a dark world with a distinctive kind of life. Which, by the way, is more than just not doing things. Some of you thought of all things, "Okay, I guess I won't do all those things that they do at the office party." Here's what I'm saying: you do a lot of things that they don't do as well. Think about that, right?

Think how often Jesus is willing, and I love this phrase and I use it a lot, to go the extra mile, stay the extra hour, or spend the extra dollar. As I often say, Jesus was willing to do it because he was a servant of the Father and therefore a servant of those people. Which, by the way, is the same way the apostle Paul represents himself: I am a servant of God.

Speaker 1

A dou.

Speaker 4

Loss of God, a slave of God. And therefore I'm a servant of you. And think about you in those settings, whether with extended family or your co-workers or your friends or the neighborhood thing that's going on. When you're willing to go the extra mile, stay the extra hour, or spend the extra dollar, you reflect the generosity and the sacrificial nature of a servant. Do you think you'll be distinctive? Oh, yeah. You will be different. You will stand out. And that's exactly what Jesus said: let your light so shine before people that they can see your good deeds.

Because what's the goal? We want them to embrace the light and become children of God. We want them to see the distinction so that they might have their sins forgiven and be right with their Creator, so that they don't have to incur the wrath of God. They can receive one blessing after another. John 1:1. That's what we want to do. That's what we want to see. So therefore, my life, I got to be on my good behavior. I got to make sure I'm living a careful, controlled, alert, self-controlled, bridled life. A careful life, a thoughtful Christian life. I'm not like everybody else. I can't be like everybody.

But you know what? Not only the things I don't do, but there's a lot of things I do do, and I'm willing to do that they're not willing to do. And in so doing, I reflect the nature, character, and sacrifice of Christ. If you do that this Christmas, they'll notice. Because you know how people, in the midst of the pressure of all the holiday stuff, start getting really short with their temper, really short with their willingness to get involved, all of that. If we can be distinctive there, we'll be shining brightly before men.

I think in Southern California, it's interesting to watch. And I love it because they're such tall trees. But I love the fact that some people, occasionally, wrap their Christmas lights around those big, tall palm trees. Sometimes you'll see just maybe on a bank, an embankment, or in somebody's yard, and you've got a lot of darkness behind it. And there are a lot of trees. But then there's that one palm tree that's got all those lights all the way up to the top. You see how distinct that tree is. You'd never see it at night; it would blend in, it would be nothing. But it's just encased, it's enwrapped in light.

That's exactly what God is calling us to do. Because the days are evil. They're dark. And God needs people like you and me to stand up this December and point people to the reason for this whole thing called Christmas. And to say that we, as representatives of Christ, want you to wake up and embrace Him. And that's our job. If you do that, your life is going to stand out like that palm tree, like lights in a dark place. Can you just say, "I'm called to be that?" Because really, in our spiritual landscape, not many people have their lights out. But it's time for us as Christians to let our light shine, both in actions and in words.

So let's make a difference for Christ this December. Pray with me, please. God, help us, please, to be the kinds of people that you've called us to be: ambassadors for Christ. As 2nd Corinthians 5 says, representing you in a dark world. Let us be good representatives of the truth. Let our light shine not only with our words but with our deeds as well. Let us prove by our behavior that Christ has gotten a hold of our lives and changed us.

God, we thank you for this opportunity. Let us make the most of it. And may in January, as the decorations all come down and the lights all come down, we be able to testify that our lights have not come down and we're continuing to shine. And the fruit of shining in this dark culture, in this dark world, has made a difference for many people. God, do that. Let us bear much fruit in this dark place. In Jesus' name, we pray.

Speaker 3

Amen.

Speaker 1

You're listening to Focal Point with Pastor Mike Febarez and a portion of his message called Shining Brightly for Christ this December. To hear the full version, go to focalpointradio.org and while you're there, you can find links to our free Focal Point podcast and mobile apps. Keep up with our messages while you're out running errands, cooking, or traveling.

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Speaker 4

It's easy.

Speaker 1

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Dave Drewie here, inviting you back after the weekend when Mike Febares continues his message about Elizabeth on Monday's Focal Point. Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.