ODJ: hiding the flame

June 1, 2013 

READ: John 3:19-21 

You light a lamp forme. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness (Psalm 18:28).

The London 2012 Olympic Cauldron was magnificent. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the spectacular sculpture was built out of 204 copper petals representing the number of competing countries. Despite its beauty, the cauldron elicited scorn from some visitors of the Games who couldn’t view it.

Heatherwick explained that he wanted to achieve the intimacy of the 1948 Games with the cauldron set within the stadium to one side near the spectators. He knew that only ticket holders to the opening ceremonies or athletics events in the Olympic Stadium could view it in person. But he also knew that spectators in the Olympic Park could see it on various video screens, and fans around the world could witness it via TV and the Internet.

I’m a bit surprised that the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) approved Heatherwick’s plan. It was definitely an innovative approach, but the cauldron couldn’t be easily seen by many people in London.

Fortunately, by God’s grace and mercy, no person, law or object can hide or dictate the light of Christ—“God’s light came into the world” (John 3:19). “I am the light of the world,” Jesus proclaimed. “If you follow Me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (8:12).

Unconfined to a cauldron, the light of Jesus reveals God to the nations (Luke 2:32; John 3:21) and gives us the ability to see His face, His truth, His heart (Luke 1:79). “For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6, emphasis added).

Thank you, God, for making “the light by which we see” free and accessible to all (Psalm 36:9).—Roxanne Robbins