God Moved Into the Neighborhood

"I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making His home with men and women! They're His people, He's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone."  Rev. 21: 3 -5ish
     I love the way Eugene Peterson, the person responsible for The Message version of the Word, puts it: "God has moved into the neighborhood".  Clarke's Commentary puts it this way, " The tabernacle of God is with men - God, in the most especial manner, dwells among His followers, diffusing His LIGHT and life everywhere."  

     At Christmastime, if you live anywhere near Greensboro, NC, you may have driven down Friendly Avenue to shop.  And if it's nighttime, a neighborhood called Sunset Hills has probably caught your eye.  Quickly your childhood imagination kicked in and you just HAD to drive through this magical neighborhood.  
     It's like candyland - this vast neighborhood of the classic older homes with huge oak trees has created a moment, a tradition, a memory for all who are blessed to see it.  This neighborhood has come together - which is rare in itself anymore - to make lighted Christmas balls and hang them high in the trees bare of leaves now.  They create a spectacular atmosphere of unity, old fashioned Christmas, taking time to slowly take it all in.  It's such a sight to behold, magical!
     The folks who started this wonderful tradition, John and Anne Smith, were inspired by their daughter home from college for Christmas.  The daughter had seen one of these lighted Christmas balls in Raleigh and knew that her fun-loving family would enjoy making them and launching them into their tall trees (they use a homemade potato gun to get the lights up into the tall trees!).  That was many years ago, it took a few years for their idea to catch on but now the neighborhood has an annual workshop where they all come together the Sunday after Thanksgiving to make and set up the wonderland.  
     Traffic is a nightmare during the holidays, but when you mosey through this neighborhood, cars lined up ear to tail, you don't mind a bit.  Because you want to drive super slow, with your car lights turned off please, to soak it all in.  You try to take pictures but once you see the printed picture, you realize it doesn't do justice to magicalosity (yep, made that up) of what you just experienced.  It's truly one of those things you have to see to understand.
     Since the neighborhood gets so much traffic, 25-50 cars an hours they say, some folks wanted to "cash in" on the attention the neighborhood was receiving.  It's told that some neighbors wanted to begin charging the public to drive through. That idea never got traction, thankfully because how tacky is that!?!  However, the idea that did get traction and has taken off like a rocket is the collection of canned goods to help local food banks stay stocked up during the winter.  Last year alone over 4,000 pounds of food was donated to Second Harvest!  Amazing!
     Like God is the light of my faith, these lighted Christmas balls generate a feeling of nostalgia.  That is not to say that my God is old-fashioned, not by any means.  He is as fresh, pertinent and vibrant today as He was for the Old Testament folks.  What I mean by His light generating nostalgia is that it takes you back to your roots.  Back to basic humanity treating each other with respect and dignity.  Back to a time when you were a kid and you didn't know that someday you'd have to worry about bills, leaking roofs, raising teenagers, caring for aging loved ones, etc., etc., etc.  The light of this neighborhood is not unlike the light of my Jesus.  He, just like the neighborhood, doesn't have big signs advertising how great He is.  There are no television spots during Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel.  He sits just to your side, a bright shining light, just waiting for you to notice Him, to see His brilliance so amazing that you just HAVE to go see what it is.  
     And when you do make that decision to go to Him, trust me, you don't want to drive fast, you want to make every moment with Him special, you want to soak Him all in.  For He is magical.  He came into the neighborhood, the neighborhood of this earth, in a lowly stable. Born to parents who were just willing participants in God's plan but were really unsure of what was going on.  He dwelt among us, and if you've accepted His light, He dwells in you.  We are His tabernacle now.  And as the vessel of the living, loving, bright-shining Son of God, we have to carry out His ministry.  We have to light up inside ourselves and shine forth His glory in our lives.  We have to be that magnet that draws people to Himself.  
     So turn on your lights - make them bright and shiny and high up for all to see.  YOU are, I AM, a lighted Christmas ball on display not just during the holidays but everyday.  We are lights of His holiness inside us, shining for all the world to see His Glory!


If you live in NC and want to see the actual neighborhood, you will find it just off Wendover near Friendly Shopping Center.  Watch this video to learn how it got started and how you can make your own.  It. Is. So. Cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkf2DmF_-3w&feature=player_embedded