Light and Darkness

The Sunday morning message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, February 6, 2022.  The Bible verses used are John 1:1-18.

            When Wanda and I lived in Wessington Springs, for most of our time there we lived in a basement apartment.  This basement apartment had no windows.  None.  There was a window in the hallway, but none in the actual apartment.  So, when you turned out the lights, it was dark.  Completely and totally dark.

            So, of course, we had night lights, so when we needed to get up in the night we could see where we were going.  And that worked fine, except.  Except that once in a while, there would be a storm, and the power would go out.  And so, of course, we had no night lights.  When that happened, you were grateful for any kind of light.  Flashlights, candles, anything.  Any kind of light, so you could see your way out of the darkness.

            And you know, it’s amazing how much difference one little flashlight, or one little candle, can make when you’re in total darkness.  One second you cannot see anything, the next you can see everything.  Not brightly, of course, but you can see it.  You see it well enough that you don’t trip over it or step on it.  One light, even a small light, makes a tremendous difference when you’re in total darkness.

            If one small light can make that much difference, think about how much difference a big light can make.  That big light is Jesus.  The light of the world.  The light of all mankind, as John says.  The true light, that gives light to everyone.

            Jesus came to the world at a time when it needed light.  It was a world of darkness.  The nation of Israel was no longer really a nation.  It was subject to the rule of Rome.  And Rome made sure everyone knew it.  Roman soldiers walked the streets, and they had very few restrictions on what they could do.  If they felt like taking something, they took it.  If they felt like beating someone up, they beat them up.  If you got one of them upset, you got thrown in prison without a trial.  And even if you managed to avoid all that, you still had to pay very high taxes to Rome.  Rome was in control, and they never let anyone forget it.

            And even among the people of Israel, there was no unity or even consensus.  There were four different groups, each trying to claim leadership of the people.  The ones we hear about are the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  But there were two other groups, the Essenes and the Zealots.  And each one of them claimed to be the “true” voice of God, and the true representatives of the people of Israel.  And the fighting among those groups made it even easier for Rome to assert control.

            And the thing is that, while each of these groups claimed to speak for God, God Himself had not been heard from for some time.  The last of the prophetic books of the Old Testament, Malachi, was written somewhere around Four Hundred Fifty B. C.  And since then, there had been no prophets who had received the word of God for Israel.  There were some who claimed to be prophets, of course–there’s never a shortage of false prophets around.  And again, the various religious groups all claimed to be speaking for God.  But there had not been a true prophet for the people of Israel for centuries.  They were truly in darkness–a spiritual darkness, and a political darkness.

            That’s the world Jesus came into.  And he was the light!  He was the light that shines in the darkness!  And the darkness has not and cannot overcome it!  What an awesome thing!

            And yet.  Listen to what John says.  “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

            When you think about it, those have to be some of the saddest words in the Bible.  “The world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

            Why not?  We’ve heard the answers before.  He was not what they expected the Savior to be.  He upset the social structure and the power structure of the society.  And so forth and so on.

            But think about this.  A society that was living in darkness had a chance to live in light.  And they rejected the light.  They decided they would rather live in darkness than live in light, simply because it was not the kind of light they wanted.

            It’s like Wanda and me being in that basement apartment with the power out, and someone comes over and offers us a light, and we turn it down.  We say, no, we don’t want that.  We want a fluorescent light.  We want an LED bulb.  We don’t want that candle.  We don’t want that incandescent bulb.  If we cannot have the kind of light we want, we’ll just sit here in the dark.  That sounds crazy, right?  But that, in effect, is what the people of Israel did.  They stayed in the dark, because Jesus, the light of the world, was not the kind of light they thought he should be.

            Not all of them, of course.  John goes on to say that “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  And that’s an incredible thing.  It’s an incredible honor, to be a child of God.  

            But it was not always an easy thing.  The people who chose to stay in darkness did not like those who chose the light.  The early Christians were persecuted.  They were criticized and mocked.  If they were too outspoken about their faith, if they took their duty to go and make disciples seriously, they could be jailed or even killed.  The darkness cannot prevail against the light, but it will do its best to try to dim the light and keep it from shining.

            So.  Fast-forward to today.  Some would say the world is getting darker.  Survey after survey shows that fewer and fewer people accept Jesus as the Savior.  And among those who say they do accept Jesus, many say He is not the only way to heaven, that there are lots of other people or prophets that you can accept as your Savior.  Others say that it really does not matter what you believe, as long as you’re nice to people.  Others say they believe in Jesus as the Savior, but do not allow that belief to make any impact on their lives.  Many people are turning away from the light and turning to darkness.

            And some would say our world is turning darker in other ways.  Simply quoting certain Bible passages can get you suspended from social media.  Pastors have been threatened with jail for holding religious services in a way the government did not approve of.  We are dealing with COVID and other diseases.  Our society seems more polarized than ever before.  Even the United Methodist church worldwide is polarized and may very well break up.  

            The world may be turning darker.  And yet, the light is still shining.  The light of Jesus is still shining, and the darkness cannot overcome it.  

            But the darkness is trying.  It will keep trying.  If the darkness cannot overcome the light, it will do it’s best to make it as dim as possible.

            And that’s where you and I come in.  You know, when we lived in that basement apartment, there’s a little trick that we would use when the power went out.  When we lit a candle, we would put it by a mirror.  And the mirror would reflect the light of the candle, and make it brighter than it was when it was just on its own.

That’s what you and I need to do.  As followers of Jesus Christ, as the “children of God”, as John puts it, it is our job to reflect the light.  We cannot be the light–only Jesus Christ can be the light.  But we can reflect the light of Christ.  We can make that light brighter that it would be otherwise.

How do we do that?  You already know the answer.  By living lives that reflect the light of Christ shining in us.  By living lives that show love of God and love of others.  By living lives that serve God.  By living lives that honor God and give glory to God.  And by telling others about the salvation and eternal life that’s available to everyone through faith in Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

God the Father sent Jesus Christ into the world.  He was and is the light that shines in the darkness.  So, everyone has to make a choice.  Live in the light, or live in the darkness.  Those are the only options.  Living in the twilight, living in the dusk, is not one of the options.  We either live in the light, or we live in the darkness.  Period.

It’s sad to think that people are choosing to live in darkness.  So let’s do everything we can to bring them into the light.  Let’s reflect the light of Jesus Christ.  Let’s let people see the light of Christ shining in us.  Let’s be those mirrors, making the light of Christ shine brighter and brighter in this world.