Let Your Light Reflect Christ Series

August 15, 2021

Hope Lutheran Church

Rev. Mary Erickson

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Let Your Life Reflect Christ

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nestled in the mountains a little to the west of Oslo, Norway lies the city of Rjukan. The city is surrounded by very tall mountains on either side. That’s okay in the summer, but as you and I know, when you live in northern climates, the sun rides lower in the sky during the fall and winter.

For about six months out of the year, the 3000 inhabitants of Rjukan live in a bowl of darkness. During winter, the steep mountains cut off all direct sunlight from the city in the valley below. From October through March, they live in a well of shadows. The sunlight never warms their skin, it never shines on their faces. They can only see it high above them on the mountaintops. It’s a long time to go without standing in the light.

So in 2013 they constructed giant mirrors on top of the mountain. The mirrors are driven by a computer to adjust their angle so they align with the sun as it moves along its daily course.

And so from Noon to 2:00 p.m. the mirrors reflect the sun’s rays squarely onto the central plaza of Rjukan.

Now the residents of Rjukan can bask in the sunlight every single day. Having the opportunity to dwell in the direct light helps to fend off the gloom that often overshadows winter.

Well, that’s all fine and dandy if you live in Rjukan, Norway. But if you happen to live in Trømso, Norway, 400 kilometers above the Arctic Circle, ain’t no mirror big enough or high enough to bring sunlight to your town. Trømso residents must endure the long “Polar Night.” From November through January, the sun never rises above the horizon. The best they can muster is a few hours of extended dusk.

But the people in Trømso don’t seem overly affected by the lack of light. They’ve developed an internal mindset to the long, dark winter. In other words, they don’t let the darkness inhibit them. They don’t negatively dwell and obsess on the darkness. Instead, they make it a point to get outside even when it’s dark. They appreciate the opportunity to be cozy inside. They don’t just survive winter; they live through it.

In a place where there is an absence of light, the residents there have learned to align themselves towards health and life. They can’t align mirrors to the sun, and so they’ve realigned their relationship to the dark.

Alignment: In our passage this morning from Ephesians, Paul encourages us to realign our lives. Paul’s message urges us to align our thoughts and actions in the light of Christ. “Be imitators of God,” he says.

• We live our lives as Christ would live

• We respond to others as Christ would respond

• We love as Christ would love

• We follow Christ’s example

And in that way, we can reflect Christ’s agape love into the world. Our lives are in alignment with the good and gracious will of God.

Paul mentions a bevy of negative actions and emotions in this passage. He urges us to do our utmost to avoid them. Their feelings are so powerful and fierce, it’s very easy to become fixated on them. And they are legion! Paul lists them:

• Bitterness

• Wrath

• Anger

• Wrangling

• Slander

• Malice

We can be tempted to set up camp with them. But when we engage in these feelings and dwell on them, their influence can overshadow us and leave us in the dark. They wear a pathway into our thinking.

• Darkness begets darkness

• Anger leads to more anger

• A small fib leads to a giant whopper

• Bitterness leads to more bitterness

Just like mulling on the darkness during the winter creates a downward spiral in our mood, these negative alignments lead to even more negative patterns. Paul words it very bluntly: do not make room for the devil.

Christian author C. S. Lewis wrote a creative novel entitled The Screwtape Letters. The book records a series of letters written by an elder demon named Wormwood. He’s writing to his young nephew, Screwtape. Wormwood gives Screwtape advice on how to lead his human charge towards the Devil. Wormwood refers to God as The Enemy.

Screwtape tells Wormwood that the best way to move his human charge away from God is the gradual approach. One small negative action leads to another. Here’s what he writes in one letter:

“But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing ... Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”