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

Waiting In a Small Place

[1]

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.  So many enemies against one man—all of them trying to kill me.  To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence.  They plan to topple me from my high position.  They delight in telling lies about me.  They praise me to my face but curse me in their hearts.                                              Interlude

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.  My victory and honor come from God alone.  He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.  O my people, trust in him at all times.  Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.                                           Interlude

Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be.  If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air.  Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing.  And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.  God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times:  Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.  Surely you repay all people according to what they have done.  Psalm 62:1-12

King David knew himself well.  You don’t spend days and nights alone tending sheep and not thinking about the small places inside you upon which you’ve learned to depend.  Preachers are particularly subject to this, spending hours nose-deep in Scripture and thought about what to say next Sunday.  I wait quietly in small places.

David may have sounded a bit paranoid about all the people plotting against him; truth be told, he wasn’t paranoid – he just understood the nature of humans.  David understood his own shortcomings, reasons why he shouldn’t be king.  David knew his sinfulness and feared his shortcomings.

When alone, particularly early in the morning as this moment can attest, I think of the life I’ve lived, and those small places that I return to…

          ·      stubborn, not submitted to Christ’s changing power

          ·      willful, hardly obedient, except if it can be seen by others

          ·      selfish, less than generous, except if it can be seen by others

          ·      fearful, not depending on the Rock of Jesus’ saving power

          ·      wavering, looking for a way out that I can see instead of faith-walking

          ·      wobbly-kneed, untrue, and crabby…hardly a tower of graciousness. 

Before I begin a day I must always cover this ground in my prayers.  Like David, I know myself too well to imagine I’ll be just fine without God’s constant hand leading, and His Spirit forming me from the inside-out.

For You Today

So, now you’ve watched me reveal my soft underbelly, my weak spots.  What are you going to do about being honest with God about yours?

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

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©