Pastor Joe Fuiten, Christmas
Season, November 30, 2003 #1
12
When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to
John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (NIV)
Have you ever walked in darkness? One night I came into my office by way of the reception area. At that time, the light switch was just outside my office so I had to walk the length of the offices in the dark. I was walking rapidly since I knew about where my office door was. Just as I started to reach for the handle I smashed into the door which stood open. I got a great gash in my head and a lesson about walking in darkness. Now I walk with my fingertips touching to avoid the door that gets me before I get it. Like Paul, I can say, (Gal 6:17) “…let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”
The arrival of Jesus was the dawning of the great light that Isaiah had predicted. In Matthew’s Gospel, he begins the ministry story of Jesus by describing him as “a great light.” Matthew’s Jewish audience would have immediately thought of the pillar of fire that led them through the wilderness, “…by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,…” It would also have reminded them of David who said, “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” (Psalm 27:1) and of Moses who heard God speak from the burning bush. (Exodus 3:2). Even the use of the expression “I AM” adds to his claim of deity in this passage. These are not the words of a mere prophet, as the Muslims want Jesus to be, but the words of the Second Person of the Trinity.
The Apostle John opens his Gospel with a compelling description (John 1:3-5) “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (NIV)
This is the
Christmas season, the season of lights.
I love to walk into stores, as I have for a couple of weeks now, and
hear them playing songs telling the Gospel story. It gives me hope that if this secular society
can sing of Jesus for a month, they can sing of him for a year. I am choosing to preach along the themes of
light for this season because I have a great hope. My hope is that the great light, Jesus, will
shine brightly throughout
The
world that Jesus came to as a preacher was a lot like our world in our times. The first century AD and the 21st
century share many similarities that I have discussed at other times. Here, let me just highlight a couple of
similarities of Galilee with
One of the
names given to the area where Jesus lived as an adult was “
For all its cosmopolitan nature, the Bible describes the people who lived there as “living in darkness.” Isaiah had said, (60:2) “darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.” When Paul came along he described the world in a very dark way, almost the same way we could describe our world. See if his description of the first century isn’t the same as the 21st century:
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-- who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.[1] (NIV)
This was the world that Jesus entered and it is the world you have entered. Jesus entered it as a great light. We enter it to reflect his light into the dark places. Sometimes people get overwhelmed by the darkness. They wonder what the world is coming to. Well for one thing, it is coming to a conclusion! Sometimes people become amazed at the darkness of their own soul. They know that they are not doing right. People know. That’s why they fight so hard to deny it. They are fighting their own hearts and consciences.
Years ago I
was exploring one of the lava tubes in
It illustrates a human quality. There is a time when darkness is fun and kind of exciting. That’s the nature of sin. It wouldn’t be a temptation if it didn’t have some allure. There comes a point in every person’s life when they are confronted with the darkness in their own soul. The darkness is not fun anymore and they want to find the light.
Someone has
said it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. I read John 8:12 as my second text because it
gives direction for our lives. “When Jesus spoke again to
the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will
never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
The answer to the darkness in our soul is to follow Jesus. What does it mean to follow Jesus? It means to be where he is. It means to choose to invite him into your life. Welcome his forgiveness. Receive him and all that comes with him. It means getting up every morning and beginning the day by listening to his voice. He will begin to check you on some things and push you on others.
If we will follow Jesus he will give to us the “light of life.” A little later in John’s Gospel Jesus said, (John 12:25-26) “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
Thank God, the light of Jesus Christ is not affected by cold. It works just as well in the caves of human experience. It works in the heat, when we are experiencing the fire of life. Nothing can quench it.
Rom 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NIV)
In our world today, people are experiencing the weariness of
darkness. There is only so much of it
that you can take before you begin to cry out for light. The special programs of the Christmas season
are all about light and joy. In fact,
many people don’t have either one. If
you spend all your time in the church you forget what it was like. Some of you have been there recently enough
that you remember too well. You have made it into the light. Do you still have friends and family that are
struggling in the darkness? Invite them
to church. Invite them to a special
program. Tell them the special program
will be a good introduction to the church so they know that they are welcome
here. The people of
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