The Sunday Sermonette – Matches in the Dark.

“Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening—the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness, there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet…. She crept along, trembling with cold and hunger—a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!”

Thus begins Hans Christian Andersen’s touching tale about a poor child from the slums who sells matches to help feed her family, only to be cruelly treated by them. As the night drags on and no one buys her matches, she begins lighting them to warm herself. As she does, she sees visions of comforting, loving places, people, and things. “She drew one out and lit it…how it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light.”

In that wonderful light, she sees a table spread with a snow-white tablecloth. It is resplendent with china, silver, crystal, and a platter, home to a roasted goose, “steaming with a stuffing of apples and dried plums.” Suddenly, her match goes out, freezing darkness surrounds her again. She lights another. In its flickering light, she sees a magnificent Christmas tree, its fragrant green branches covered with hundreds of candles. She stretches out her hands towards the candle’s lights, as they rise upward to Heaven, becoming stars. Then the match went out, and the stars fell to earth.

Quickly taking another match from her pocket, she scratched it against a cold, stone wall. To her dazzling wonder, in the luster of the match light, stood her grandmother at Heaven’s gate, “so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love.” Her grandmother was the only person who had ever loved her. “Grandmother!” cried the little one. “Oh, take me with you! You go away when the match burns out.” Wanting to see her grandmother again, she lit the entire bundle of matches, “for she wanted to be quite sure of keeping her grandmother near her.”

“And the matches gave such a brilliant light that it was brighter than at noon-day: never formerly had the grandmother been so beautiful and so tall. She took the little maiden, on her arm, and both flew in brightness and in joy so high, so very high, and then above was neither cold, nor hunger, nor anxiety—they were with God.”

Mr. Andersen ends his story thusly: “But in a corner, at the cold hour of dawn, sat the poor girl, with rosy cheeks and with a smiling mouth, leaning against the wall—frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. Stiff and stark sat the child there with her matches, of which one bundle had been burnt. ‘She wanted to warm herself,’ people said. No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen; no one even dreamed of the splendor in which, with her grandmother, she had entered on the joys of a new year.”

Drawing on the image of simple matches and the joy they conjure, Mr. Anderson wove a touching tale of a poor little girl who discovers love, peace, and comfort in their dancing flames. Their light was the light that eventually called her from earth’s darkness to her home—her Heavenly home. We, too, have “matches” like that, because we are told in the Good Book that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

Light often symbolizes love, truth, and guidance. Just as physical light helps us see clearly, Jesus—our light in a dark world—brings clarity and truth to our lives. Following Jesus means choosing His light, embracing His teachings, and living in righteousness and love, which leads us toward our Heavenly home.

Have you ever felt lost in life’s doubts? Jesus offers a simple, reassuring solution—follow Him. Walking in His light brings peace and certainty, guiding you toward hope, joy, and eternal life.

Ponder this and go forth.