Volume 31

When I was a kid, most people decorated their trees with strands of brightly-coloured incandescent lights. Each bulb was five or ten watts, like a night light. But compared to what’s available today, they were expensive, consumed a lot of power, and generated way too much heat — the same as a 750-watt space heater! They often scorched anything they came into contact with and set houses ablaze. At least if a bulb burned out, it had absolutely no effect on the rest of the strand.

But today’s mini-lights are similar to a flashlight bulb. They’re only 2.5 volts but they run perfectly in a 120-volt electrical outlet. How? Most packages give you 48 bulbs and 48 times 2.5 volts equals 120 volts, exactly what you need to run on ordinary house current. Companies throw in two extra bulbs to make an even 50 and adding them to the strand only dims the other lights slightly.

But unlike the the old-fashioned sets — which were wired in a parallel pattern — mini-lights are wired in sequence. That means if a bulb is removed, the circuit is broken and the entire strand goes dark. To make sure all the lights don’t stop working whenever a single bulb burns out, each mini-light has a shunt wire that runs between the two posts. When the filament burns out, the shunt activates and keeps current running through the bulb, which lets the others stay lit.

Even if you have a strand of 100 or 150 lights it’s really just two or three 50-bulb strands wired in parallel. So if you remove a light, its 50-bulb strand stops working but the other strands stay lit. Not surprisingly, the biggest problem is loose bulbs. Thankfully, there aretesters that locate them just by pointing at every light on the strand.

When all are twinkling brightly, today’s decorations are energy efficient, safe and wondrously beautiful. What a fitting illustration of the relationship God wants us to have with those around us. In this analogy, the Christmas tree is the world. The lights are the people of God. “You are the light of the world... glowing in the night for all to see... Don’t hide your light... let your good deeds shine out for all to see,so everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matt. 4:14-16)

He, of course, is the Source of our power. Apart from him, our lives are dark and colourless and do nothing to bring love and illumination to this dismal world. Notice that, even when we do let our good deeds shine, it’s to glorify him, not ourselves. And rightly so. He’s the one who brings our lives meaning and significance by changing us from the inside. When we serve others, it should be out of gratitude for the love and forgiveness Jesus showed when he took the hit for our sins on the cross.

The tricky part is living in harmony with others. Christians who refuse to grow are like those outmoded lights of yesteryear. They’re high maintenance and sometimes even dangerous, generating more heat than light to the point where sometimes entire homes are destroyed. They live for themselves, parallel but apart from others. Sadly, when they burn out, it affects nobody.

What our Father wants instead is a family of believers who project the Light together. That begins by

recognising that, by ourselves, we’re insignificant. It’s only when we join with others in love, work and worship that we can function at full power on the Current — the Holy Spirit — that God sends coursing through his House.

But that’s risky, because we’re wired by God to live and love in sequence. In each church family, we need each other, and we’re not complete when anyone is missing. As Paul might say, “All of you together are Christ’s [Christmas tree] and each of you is a separate and necessary part of it.” (1 Cor. 12:27) Yes, each of us will burn out and need renewal, but the love that links us together will act as a shunt to keep the Power flowing until God restores the Light within us.

To see if you’re coming loose, point the Word of God at your heart. Let it test your connection. Stay put. Stay strong. Stay bright. If enough of us do, it’ll put faith and Christmas in a whole new light.

By Rick Gamble. Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. To subscribe to this free weekly article, send a note to Rick at sgamble@bfree.on.ca