Moyers, Mike. The Lord is My Light, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57135 [retrieved December 7, 2025]. Original source: Mike Moyers, https://www.mikemoyersfineart.com/.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2:11-14
This short passage from the letter to Titus is one of the readings set for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning in the Revised Common Lectionary. It is a concentrated nugget of theology in the midst of the narrative we read year by year and some of us will know well.
In the coming days, many people will become increasingly subsumed by all that goes with the traditions of Christmas where we are. We have our family routines overlaid on what our churches do whilst dodging the pressures of all that is going on commercially in the shops and on-line. As gradually we retreat into our domestic comfort zones whether we are welcoming visitors of being visitors many people will heavy a sigh of relief and give thanks for the peace of the day itself.
Reflecting on what is written in this passage I am drawn to the concept of the ‘grace to say no.’ Salvation is bigger than being caught in a routine that draws us in like some sort of vortex of habit; salvation is saying ‘no, it does not have to be like this’. God is saying that we can break away and get ready for something different and more significant than even the most special moments of a family Christmas.
This is not to say that the Christmas routines for many people are not special and to be cherished, but it is saying that however special they may be, we must not lose sight of the brighter light of Jesus himself, shining in the darkness of a world that we may think is brighter than it is.
Make the best of all your Christmas preparations and excitements and I look forward to the privilege of sharing with you on the day itself this year. Look up and away from the immediate attractions to the distant and brighter light remembering that it is the point of everything we do in all our traditions.
A Prayer
Lord God, eternal One and source of the brightest light. We praise you and pray that you will shine in our lives and hearts as we prepare for Christmas. Amen.