Living in Light

 

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.  He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.  Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you.  Such sins have no place among God’s people.  Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you.  Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.  You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God.  For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.  Don’t participate in the things these people do.  For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord.  So live as people of light!  For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.  Ephesians 5:1-9

Yesterday’s theme “Living in Darkness” made me eager to get to today’s “Living in Light”.  While there are all sorts of shades and degrees of both light and darkness, the character of a person’s life is dominated by one and plagued by the other.  Let me give you an extreme example. 

Dr Billy Graham’s life was lived not only in the light of TV cameras and the public eye, but also the light of Christ.  Adolph Hitler lived in the tormented and twisted darkness.  Light drives darkness away in the same way that darkness can hide the light.

Another “extreme” is assigning light or darkness to the motives of what people choose to do.  It is called judging, and a careful investigation of the meaning of that word, Biblically-speaking, reveals it applies to what’s in the heart of another human being.  And that is God’s purview, not man’s.

In the news currently is the issue of abortion.  Hearing from both sides of this bitter public debate, ongoing for more than half a century, only the naïveté of a child, or an evil agenda could say the issue is clear.  On the one hand, hearing from those who favor allowing abortion at any moment, the ideal of freedom over one’s choices appears preferable, than allowing 9 judges to legislate her choices, when they’ve never even met the woman, nor heard of her circumstances.  On the other hand, a choice to terminate a pregnancy is a choice to kill.  And there are laws against that, with which not many sane persons would disagree.  There are shadows of light and darness, no matter which way we see the dilemma.  And so, we are plagued by either light or darkness in our choices.

To live in the light, as Paul encourages, is not as simple as not telling a joke with coarse filthy language, or being foolish.  The chair I’m sitting on doesn’t do that, but it cannot be called Christian or Godly, simply because it doesn’t tell obscene jokes.  Neither can we be called “Christian” because one attends church.  Living in the light is allowing both heart and hand (allegiance and actions) to be governed by He who has created us.

In short, it is a matter of what we do with that freedom granted us.  Not the freedom of the U.S. Constitution, but the freedom with which Christ opened eternal life to all who will believe.  The true act of living in the light of Christ is the choice of surrendering that freedom in favor of serving He who died for us.

For You Today

Considering the upcoming celebration of our nation’s birth on July 4^th, what determines your highest allegiance…personal freedom, or light?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

For other posts on this topic:  Small Package - Big Message and Subway Sermon

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Living in Darkness

 

Monday, June 27, 2022

Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning.  This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.  Yet it is also new.  Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it.  For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.  If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.  Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.  But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness.  Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.  1 John 2:7-11

As John the Apostle leaned against Jesus in the upper room the night before the Lord was crucified, he could probably sense the beating of Jesus’ heart.  As Jesus broke the bread that heart may have pounded a little more. The specter of a splintered and sin-stained cross, cast dark shadows on this Shabbat meal, normally a sacred celebration of rest and freedom.  This night, the meal saddened the carpenter’s joy.  That sadness in joy is how God’s kind of love puts one’s cares, wishes, preferences, and hopes off to the side, and on-hold, in favor of the needs of others.  Jesus knew the only sacrifice adequate to overcome our sins was running through his human veins.  The cup was deep and dry, and drinking all of it meant becoming sin for us.  This He was willing to do, but the knowledge of necessity did not make it easier to bear.  He wanted to pass the cup.  But the need, our forgiveness, was too great, and he wouldn’t leave us helpless.

In the decades that followed, John understood and recalled that moment often.  As he ate the bread and drank the cup, remembering the sacrifice of Christ, John would have connected this love-gift as being the heart of what God wants for all of his children – not just to remember in a ritual, but pass on in relationship.  This is why John wrote…to remind all of us that hating is living in darkness, but giving ourselves for the good of others is sharing the light of dawn in a dark place.

The tribe in which I find myself these days (so-called United Methodists) has been stumbling around in the dark for some time.  In attempting to find a way forward, opposing viewpoints of where the light is to be found has created a shadowy uncertainty, where God’s children see their church siblings as being illegitimate pretenders in the Kingdom.  Accusations of hate flow from either side, and the heart of Christ is pounding once again.

I possess little in the way of offering personal wisdom for organizational salvation for either side of the conflict.  However, I recognize enough of the image John gave us of living in darkness, to know our only possibility of shaking loose of this lethal dislike and distrusting shadow covering the land is repentance, turning once again to following Jesus, letting go of what seems important in this world, and doing the best for the other.

After all, wasn’t that the new/old commandment?

For You Today

In any tribe, work, play, family, church, or government, there are those who make it tough to hang around.  I believe that describes 100% of us.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

For other posts on this topic:  Old Friends and Where LOVE and TRUTH Meet

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Looking to the LIGHT

 

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?  Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?  (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:35-39

Apostle Paul was convinced beyond the shadows of circumstance, that light was not gone, but was just getting started.  In the physical realm, the presence of shadows is only possible if there is light.  When light shines on something, a shadow must be on the other side.  This tells us we must look to the light if we are not to stumble in the darkness of the shadows. 

This analogy holds-up in the transfer from physical to metaphysical.  God is light, the essence of goodness and truth.  If we look away from God, we will be facing the darkness.  Paul declared that no force on earth, or in the heavens, can ever truly separate us from God, not demons, fears, nor even death.  But we can choose to look away from God, and the result is living in darkness. 

In the aftermath of two years’ grappling with COVID-19, and now OMICRON, and the associated darkening realities of life in the not-so-roaring 20’s, with resources reducing in an anemic economy resembling storm clouds, face coverings hiding smiles (if there are any), and social distancing pushing us further away from social fellowship, it is more difficult than ever to imagine there IS light to which we can look.  

Just as Darth Vader (the representative of evil in Star Wars) beckoned his estranged son, Luke Skywalker (representing naïve humankind) to follow him to the dark side, the dark times of 2022 would have us cave-in to our lower nature, becoming children of the shadows. 

These are dark times, indeed.  But Scripture constantly urges us to keep our focus on the light of God’s truth, because living in darkness is so much below what God has planned for us.  And that plan is for His love to have us walk in truth and light, the source of all hope, filled with glorious, inexpressible joy.[1]

For You Today

Christ declared that He is the light that came to dispel the darkness.  He taught us it would be an inside-job, a light that dwells within you, so you can reflect His glory.  So…look to the light, Christian.  No matter the circumstances, criticisms, or changes that come…turn-away from the shadows and look to the light of He who will lead you home to glory.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and other images:  Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

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[1] See 1 Peter 1:8

Moving Shadows

[1]

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is.  You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” Interlude

We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.  We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.  And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?  My only hope is in you.  Rescue me from my rebellion.  Do not let fools mock me.          I am silent before you; I won’t say a word, for my punishment is from you.  But please stop striking me!  I am exhausted by the blows from your hand.  When you discipline us for our sins, you consume like a moth what is precious to us.  Each of us is but a breath. Interlude

Hear my prayer, O Lord!  Listen to my cries for help!  Don’t ignore my tears.  For I am your guest—a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me.  Leave me alone so I can smile again before I am gone and exist no more.  Psalm 39:4-13(NLT)

The lectionary list of Scriptures for each day provides an Old Testament, Psalm, and New Testament reading.  Today the selections are Job 32, which is steeped in the middle of Job’s misery.  Then Psalm 39, David’s overwhelming grief in the middle of consequences following his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and his murderous attempt to cover up his sin.  And, finally, Luke 16, the rich man who ignored the poor man and wound up in Hell.  To quote old Homer Rothrock:  There ain’t much romance in any of it!

At the end of David’s prayer he asks God for a little break in this tsunami of guilt washing over his life.  Just give me a little down-time away from reality; let me play a little video game, or shoot a few hoops, practice shoot at the range, find a new girlfriend or some kind of diversion so I can forget my woes, smile a little, have a nice meal and go to bed.  Lord, just one happy day before you take my shadow off this planet!

At the beginning of this selection David asks for a reminder of the brevity of life; by the end of the passage he just wants to be left alone to forget all about it.  We humans, created by the hand of God, are truly complex and not at all consistent in the middle of grief.  But we do follow in our forbearer’s footsteps.  Later David’s son, Solomon would write the one word that describes his father’s deep sorrow – vanity[2].  And for good measure he would emphasize its impact on humanity:  all is vanity.

So, what good comes out of this happy little reflection?  Plenty…if we will hear it…unlike King David, who just wanted a little nappy.  The good news here is the answer for which David longed, a reminder of how brief and empty life will be when all we chase is the wind, with all its’ frantic and frivolous activity of self-absorption towards which we humans are bent.  God interrupts our video game with a power outage, or breaks our basketball hoop just before we make that incredible shot, or He dashes the next disastrous relationship before it gets going, just to keep us grounded.

Why is pain so necessary?  Why did God design life with shadows?  Why does everything seem so empty at times, when God speaks so powerfully about how wonderful it is to serve Him?  Why does He do that?  And the reality comes echoing back even before we finish getting those words out:  God didn’t do that; we did!

And then, like David, like Job, like Dives in Hell, we just want a break from thinking about it; just bring me a little drop of cool water to drip on my parched tongue, a nap, a little diversion from the truth.  That’s what we want; God rarely cooperates!

The Pastor Relations Committee from the two churches I currently serve met with me before the first Sunday we had together in 2012.  The agenda for the meeting included their sharing with me what they hoped to experience in worship, part of which was to not have sugar-coated preaching.  The gist of that hope is:  you cannot understand or rightfully-appreciate the Good News, until you rightly understand the Bad News.

I have so appreciated that thought; it frees the preacher to proclaim the height, depth, and breadth of sin, with all its’ consequences … and then announce the good news, that the love, joy, and salvation of God are bigger than anything sin offers.  David, Job, and Dives, the rich man who wound up in Hell all found out in the hardest of ways that we need to be rescued from our rebellion.  There is a better way than just choosing our own way; our only hope is in Christ Jesus.

For You Today

The next time your life seems like just a moving shadow, remember that when light hits the room shadows have to hide.  Better to live in the light, than to be a moving shadow!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] Read Ecclesiastes

Light Has No Shadow

[i]

Friday, July 29, 2016

There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.  Proverbs 16:25^(NLT) 

If I have heard it once, I’ve heard it countless times, a theology of who God is, based on some wishy-washy figment of somebody’s imagination.  It goes something like this:  The God I know would never send people to Hell, or Jesus never said anything about smoking marijuana being wrong, or, yada, yada, yada….

Then comes the brilliant analysis which reveals WHY the person feels that way; they are trying to construct a god to fit what they think, so they don’t have to live like Scripture’s true God demands.

It’s that simple!

We want what we want, and we don’t want anyone to interfere with how we live. 

And we tend to convince ourselves we’re right.  Every time a Bible verse contradicts the way we want to live, we are willing to listen to any explanation of that verse which gets us off the hook and lets us do what we want.  And the enemy is quite willing to produce a friend or acquaintance who will suggest that explanation from his vast Biblical knowledge gained in a week at VBS 30 years ago.

Fact:  Biblical ignorance, no matter how eloquently stated, and no matter how culturally acceptable, is still ignorance.

Another fact:  For those who would try to say something about who God is, it would behoove them to actually study Scripture objectively, with ethical integrity. 

This is necessary for two reasons:

1.     It saves you from saying a whole lot of stupid things.

2.     You will meet God when you search for him with your whole heart[ii] and your heart will be changed. 

And you will know the truth about God, and it won’t be from a friend who only thinks he’s right, but in fact is heading down the path of destruction.  You’ll be hearing it ring true within, as the Holy Spirit speaks words of strength and encouragement to your soul.

Jesus told his disciples this very thing:

The Spirit alone gives eternal life.  Human effort accomplishes nothing.  And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  John 6:63^(NLT)

For You Today

There’s a lot of stuff being kicked around about life and what’s right and wrong.  Make sure your source is dependable; eternal life is not a trifle kind of thing.

In the nature of God there is no shadow, no darkness at all. 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

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NOTES

[i] Title Image: By Internet Archive Book Images [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] Jeremiah 29:13

Condemned in the Shadows

[1]   

Thursday, April 30, 2015

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.  Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins….Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things.  Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body.  For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.  Colossians 2:13, 18-19 (NLT)

Paul told the church body gathered at Colossae that the forgiveness of God is extended to whoever places his/her faith in Jesus; it is free because of God’s mercy and grace.  That “transaction” releases us from the ultimate penalty of sin – eternal death, which is final separation from God. 

And then Paul reminds them to not be intimidated by those who want to take them back to their “pre-Christ days” – rules, ceremonies, schedules and rituals.  He said those things are only shadows of the reality which is in our future. 

This is joy unspeakable, and full of glory!  Condemned in the shadows, we are freed by the future!  Set free, we are free indeed!

But let us be quick to point out that Paul never said that since we are free we can now do anything we want.

No…far from it!  Notice the last part of Paul’s instructions about those who are connected to the head of the church – Christ:

For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.    Colossians 2:19 (NLT)

A body that decides to do whatever it wants would be unable to sustain.  Legs that decide to be noses, or fingers that want to be kidneys, will not function to make the body healthy.  God wants to nourish and strengthen the body of Christ, but we must embrace that nourishment as we were meant to live.

And so that requires different than just rules, permission-giving leaders and ceremonies; it requires the body to be integrated, congruent – held together in the kind of koinonia or relationship that allows and supports each member to thrive.

In his letter to the Ephesian church Paul explained it this way:

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.  As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.  Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)

Rules and laws are never for the peaceful person of integrity; they’re intended to keep the lawless ones in check.  Law is intended to keep the rioters off the streets. 

The older I get the more convinced I am that the royal law of love cannot be litigated.  God needs Christian lawyers, certainly, but you cannot bring a conscience to justice with externals; it’s an inside job! 

God gave each of us created beings free will.  And because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance[2] God also refuses to violate that free will by making us conform our will to His; that is entirely an act of volition, a voluntary response to the loving acts of God in Jesus Christ on the cross. 

The logic follows that you can use the free will you were born with any way you….will.

If you want to exercise that will to please the Creator (as you were hard-wired to do), you surrender it back to Him, and let God use you to be a blessing. 

In The Lion King, Mufasa, the daddy lion-king, pointed to the way the animals eat each other and eventually return to the ground as food for the next generation.  He told his son, Simba, the cub who would be the heir:  it’s the circle of life.

With respect to Disney…Mufasa got it wrong; that is the circle of death - the circle of life is when the humans love other humans and by it they honor God.

For You Today

Mufasa got one thing right; he warned Simba to stay far away from the place of shadows. 

So right! 

Stay away from the condemning darkness; live in God’s light; it’s how God holds the body of Christ together and nourishes us.  That will see us home safely.

Think about that out on your rocky road today; and have a great day!

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[1] Title image:  By Chitrapa at English Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons

[2] Romans 11:29