The I Am Series - The Light of the World - John 8:12, 9:1-6
We’re continuing to meet online, as this is what we can do. Hopefully soon, the pandemic will lift and we’ll be able to meet again in person.
And maybe, just maybe, for all the sadness we’re going through now, for all the isolation we’re experiencing, for the depression some of us are fighting because we’re cut off from being with each other, maybe, when we do get back together, we’ll have learned something.
We’ll have learned something about the importance of being together, of being able to gather as the church of Jesus.
And it’s my hope and prayer, and the focus of some of my mental energy, how we can make things better, include more people and have a greater impact together as we grow in Christ and as we serve the Lord.
Today we’re on the 3rd message on the I AM statements of Jesus.
Pastor Arleen began with Jesus who is the I AM. That was one of the glaringly clear times that Jesus personally claimed to be God.
But as clear as that is, as Pastor Arleen explained, if we have blinders on, we won’t see it. Many look at this passage and won’t be able to understand.
That’s because we need light to see. We need illumination to see. We need light, that means we need Jesus to be able to understand, because Jesus is, as we are learning today, the light. The light of the world.
In our first reading, Jesus says: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12
Jesus is the light who cast lights on the truth and exposes the lie
He says this immediately following an amazing encounter with the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11.
In that instance, a blood-thirsty crowd has brought a woman (and NOT the man) to Jesus, wanting to stone her to death.
They did this seemingly to get his judgment on what should happen to her, but really they are trying to trip him up with a matter of the law.
If he says she shouldn’t be stoned, then He would expose Himself as someone who did not respect the law, as a Rabbi who then couldn’t be trusted as a teacher.
If he says she should be stoned, that would cost Jesus His reputation with the people as a gentle and caring soul who leaned heavily toward mercy.
Jesus bends down and writes something, something we’re not sure what it was, in the sand.
He then gets up and tells the crowd to stone her, but he says it this way: he who is without sin, cast the first stone. One by one, from the eldest to the youngest, they dropped their stones and walk away.
Jesus asks the woman, who seconds ago had fully been expecting to die a horrible death, where her accusers were. She says they’re gone. Jesus says: “neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more”.
It’s a stunning scene, really. Full of drama and full of...darkness, when you think about it.
It’s a murderous mob wanting to kill a lady, with great hypocrisy and disregard of the law of God, because the man, who was an equal partner in the adultery, was nowhere to be seen.
Dude got off scot free. It’s like it’s the sin of the men in the mob judging the sin of the woman. Sin judging sin. That never ends well.
The mob was wanting to use the letter of the law of God...to specifically violate the spirit of the law. That’s a good way to mock the law of God. Again, never ends well.
The spirit of the law is: love God and love your neighbour. That’s Jesus' summary of the entire law of God in the OT. Put on Screen: That’s not even new. Jesus is quoting from the Old Testament (Deut 6:5), and (Leviticus 19:17-18)
It’s a scene full of darkness. And into that scene, which could have ended truly horribly, Jesus brings light. And that light is the light of God.
That light exposes the sin and hypocrisy of the mob. That light treats the law of God with respect.
That light reveals the heart of God, which is a heart of grace: favour and kindness that is unmerited.
That light calls us higher. Jesus didn’t say: “O good. Nobody wants to kill you anymore. Go your way”. No. Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more”.
That’s what Jesus, the light of the world, does in this account. And so the very next sentence in John chapter 8 is: 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." John 8:12
Jesus the light that reveals and brings glory to God.
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. John 9:1-6
Again, people are looking to Jesus for judgment. It seems like people in general have this expectation of God that He is just mad and ready to dish out verdicts.
That’s such a common way that people have thought of God; but nothing could be further from the truth of the heart of the Father.
God will judge, of course, in the end. He has to because He is just and true and the only one capable and competent to make such judgments as determine a person’s destiny.
So the life we live and the faith we practice really, really matters.
In the meantime, there’s a whole lot of living in Christ that God wants us to experience. There’s a whole lot of loving that God wants to do to us and through us to those around us, way before that final curtain call.
‘So Rabbi, teacher...who’s to blame here for this man born blind. It’s gotta be his parents or if not them, it's gotta be him”. Sounds...religious. Such churchy. Sounds judgy. Must be a good question, right?
Nope. ‘Your whole focus here is wrong’, Jesus says. ‘It’s no one’s fault. This man’s frailty is not about anyone’s fault. It’s about God’s work that’s gonna...you watch now...gonna be displayed in his life’. Then Jesus mixes some spit with mud on the ground and put in on the man’s eyes.
7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
Jesus is the light who reveals what the human heart cannot see without God.
That God is good. That God is gracious and loving. That God cares about human suffering and affliction.
That God has power to heal and exercise that power to heal for the well-being of those He heals AND for His own glory. According to his will.
When you know Jesus, you know Him because He has moved in your life; He has given you faith to believe and trust;
He has led you to sorrow for your sin and to a genuine desire to repent and turn from your sin. But he has led you gently, he has been patient with you.
When you think of it, this is actually quite powerful. The bad happened in this guys life, so that what? So that he could be blamed for it? So that others could be blamed for it?
No, the bad that happened in his life was transformed for the glory of God. This is a powerful principle of being a disciple of Jesus.
We do not need to, in fact we dare not view the hardships in our life as any form of curse. It may be that others have tried to curse us.
It may be that the consequences of the actions of others in our lives have wounded us.
It may be that the consequences of our own actions, our own sin, have wounded us and have wounded others.
It’s said that we all have a villain in our lives, and we are all the villain, the bad guy, in someone else’s life.
But those things are not what hardship is about. Hardship is ultimately, can ultimately lead to the glory of God.
No, I don’t misunderstand me. I know that humans do and have done for all history some truly horrible things.
Just check the front page of any newspaper literally any day for the last 200 years, since they have had newspapers, and you will find a record of a horrible thing that a person or a government or a nation has done to another person or nation.
The Scripture says and it’s very true that literally “all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose“.
This means that our redeeming God is able to, and in fact is currently actively redeeming all of the broken pieces in your life. Every shard, every wound, he is redeeming.
He intends to bring good out of every bad situation. Just think back a few minutes to the story of this woman’s life, one short moment really in her life, that was going to lead to her death.
It was going to lead to her death because it was a sin she committed, and technically, the letter of the law did say that she and the man who committed the sin with her, should’ve been stoned. That’s in the OT.
We know that woman only in that tiny snapshot from her life. Most likely the lowest point of her life. When you think of it, who among us wants to be known for the lowest moment in our life.
But like that woman, because of the grace of God that she received at the hand of Jesus, her life continued.
We do not know if she became a follower of Jesus, a disciple of Jesus. As one who received so much from God, it wouldn’t be a shocker if she ended up as one who followed the Lord. Pause
So Jesus is the light of the world. The light of life. That part is not too hard to grasp. He is after all The I AM. That means He is God, God in the flesh. God is all good, all the time. Light is good, so we make the connection.
But let me say something else. You...you...are the light of the world. (turn to other camera, or film separately) What now? (others saying same)
Speaking to us, speaking to His disciples, Jesus says “You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:14
If you’ve received the light, you are lit up. If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you are lit.
You are the light of the world. The life of a disciple is a life lived not in the darkness, not in shame.
It is lived in the light. We are called to live in the light, we are called to live in Jesus. If we were “called” only, that would not be very uplifting.
That might be slightly terrifying. The truth is we are empowered by the Holy Spirit of God to live as we are called to live in the light.
For me, and maybe for you, that means that I have to shift my thinking. I have to change the way I see myself. None of us are anywhere near perfect.
The best Christian has areas of sin in their lives that they need to confess before God.
But all of us who name the name of Jesus Christ in sincerity, and who truly choose to live for Him, we are, despite our faults and our flaws a plenty, we are lit up. We are the light of the world...
Because we have in us the light of life, Jesus Christ.
Right after saying this, that we are the light of the world, Jesus says “people don’t light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
No, they put it out in the open so it gives light to everyone in the house.
So yeah, nobody does that. Why? It would be...pointless. Jesus wants us to live out in the open.
And He gives us grace to overcome those areas of darkness in our lives that would try to keep us under a bowl, so to speak. He gives more and more grace. He gives and He gives, and He gives more and more of Himself.
So you and I can become in our day to day lives what we are on the inside. We are forgiven and free on the inside.
We can be forgiving and free on the outside. We are cleansed as we confess our inner faults. We can be a clean and life giving presence on the outside, being a forgiving people, a kind and loving people.
We are inwardly being renewed day by day on the inside, we can be a renewing presence on the outside.
We are, through faith in Jesus, reconciled to God, completely, on the inside. We can be and ARE then given the ministry of reconciliation outside of us to others.
Jesus has lit the way to God through his life and death and resurrection. He calls us to live out in the open and give light to everyone in our lives.
Jesus is your light, as you trust Him and believe in his suffering for you on the cross and His resurrection. So what will you do? How will you live as a follower of the Light Who is so close to you, inside you by the Holy Spirit, that he calls you the light of the world.
This is a call to joy. And yet many of us are right now really very sad. We’re cut off, for now. We’re limited in who we can see, for now. We are isolated and unable to publically BE that light...but only just for now.
A time will come, sooner rather than later I believe, when our light that is currently kind of, due to the pandemic, under a bowl...the time will come when you and I and the person beside you or the person you are most longer to reconnect with in the church...
The time will come when we will once again be out in the open. And our light WILL shine. The Light of Jesus Christ WILL shine in and through us.
And here’s the thing. Perhaps HOW MUCH the light of Jesus will shine through us, giving light to everyone else...perhaps that depends on what we do right now in isolation.
May we do those things that build up our faith. May we worship the Lord...yes here on Sundays online and yes on Wednesday nights when we gather to pray and yes at the Fireside Bible Chat on Thursday mornings. These things are all available to anyone and everyone who wishes to participate.
But beyond that may we spend time in God’s word. Listening for and listening to His voice. May we pray for each other.
We can pray for each other. Make a list of every person you know...in your family, at church, on the street, in your neighbourhood, including our government leaders, whether or not you like them.
Make a list, like I do, and divide that list as it grows so that each day you are interceding for others for like 10 minutes at least.
That’s a great way to draw near to the heart of God, because you know...God REALLY loves all those people and you unite your heart to His when you pray blessing on those folks.
And ask God, starting today, ask God: “Jesus, prepare me, prepare my heart, prepare my mind and my body and every part of me. Prepare me Lord Jesus to be a light that shines for you, a light that points the way to you. Prepare me to be a rich blessing to others.
Cleanse me, clean me. Purify me through the blood of the Lamb, the blood of the eternal covenant, so that I will live all of my remaining years, in Your Light. In Jesus name. Amen.
The sermon video is here: https://youtu.be/_Eh6D8NiK_0
