ANYONE GOT A LIGHT?
Sunday Morning, May 15, 2005
Rev. Todd G. Leupold
INTRODUCTION:
Light Bulb jokes
Why joke so much about light bulbs? Why are these jokes so common and why do we keep laughing at them? Let me suggest it is because laughter helps to dissipate the deep, natural fear of the dark and unknown that is such a strong part of our nature.
What’s wrong with the dark? It’s so . . . well . . . dark. Everything is mystery and unknown. There’s no telling what danger lurks there that we can’t see . . . The dark represents ignorance (not knowing what is really there, what is shadow and what is substance), danger, isolation, confusion (we are lost), vulnerability, and if we stay there long enough even a gradual loss of personal identity and impending hopelessness with nowhere to go to escape!
Personal Story: Walking down path at Del. Water Gap during dark evening storm.
The only way to get out of or avoid the dark is to find a source of light. Where is yours? How reliable is it? How easy is it to find? Once you do, how bright is it? How long and wide is its’ beam?
PRAYER
Transition:
I. You Have A Candle: Is it lit?
John 1:1-9; 3:19-21
John 12:35-36
Illustration: Ornate (unlit) & Plain Candle (lit)”.
Matthew 6:22-23
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
II. Your Light Has A Purpose: To Shine For God’s Glory!
* It is no coincidence that God’s first recorded words were “Let there be light . . . and it was good.”
John 12:20-21
Matthew 5:14-16
Illustration: Nite-light with & without a shade or large lit candle.
Just imagine if BBC really took this to heart and life application. (To paraphrase Robert Lewis) Imagine if we all so hungered to be a church that incarnated the gospel so well and so effectively that all of Lahaina and the surrounding area – rather than scoffing or ridiculing our proclamations, or worse, ignoring us altogether – would, instead, because of our good works in His Name, literally feet compelled to give glory to the God they saw working through us and heard about from us?! Now, that, is dreaming a dream!!!
Our faith visibly lived out is the proof that our world desperately needs before it will ever seriously consider our truth – God’s truth.
Please listen carefully as I re-read these essential last words in amplified fashion:
“Jesus is encouraging us: Let your light . . . that eternal and powerful light which His Spirit has ignited in each and every one of us who has been born again, that light that has transformed our lives, our abilities and resources . . . so shine . . . not just flicker or even light up, but shine – emanate forth and cast out . . . before men . . . not in secret or the shadows, not just when it is safe, when you are in church or among other Christians – but before all, those around us, our families, friends, colleagues, neighbors, city, Island . . . that they may see your good works . . . not simply put up with or endure our holier-than-thou attitude, righteous indignation, judgmental spirits, or arrogance – but our good works (as fruit of the Spirit) . . . and glorify your Father in heaven . . . because of that undeniable, self-less goodness, because of those humble, sacrificial works of love, our community, rather than ignoring, ridiculing, or reacting in unnecessary anger, would instead do something absolutely amazing – glorify God!!!
Power Point: Will YOU shine His Light before the wandering denizens of this dark, confused and torn world?
III. Your Light Has Power.
Have you ever noticed how the darker the darkness is, the lighter the light becomes?
So is God’s intervention into our lives when we trust and call out to Him. And so are we to be into the life of others around us.
Acts 26:12-18 (Paul’s encounter - refer & succinctly re-tell)
Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
To better understand just what kind of power is available for and through us, consider for a minute what we now know about lasers. Lasers are no longer just a part of our imagination or cool special effects in the Sci Fi shows. Today, we use lasers to operate our electronics, guide our production facilities, blast away those nasty kidney stones, make the blind see, cut diamonds, engrave our names, see in the dark, explore space, as a powerful weapon and even – according to a news report this past week – create remote-controlled flies! But what, really, is a laser beam? It is nothing more than a focused light and yet look what we can do with it!
What about a focused life? What if each of us were to live our lives intentionally focusing the light that God has offered us and began using it for His purposes? Wow!!!
So why don’t we? What’s wrong? The problem, as Ron Hutchcraft says, is that too many of us have diffused the impact of our light and lives with the many others things we choose to involve ourselves in. We are oh so busy, but we have no focused purpose and seem to accomplish oh so little of deep, lasting power and importance. I could bask in the bright light of Maui’s sun for years and it will never correct my vision or break up my gallstones. It is a diffused light. Power is in focused energy – energies (light) that are intensely focused and not those that are spread over many areas!
Power Point: Will YOU shine His Light before the wandering denizens of this dark, confused and torn world?
IV. Your Light Should Perpetuate & Propagate.
Perpetuate: To stay on, continue, be unceasing.
Ever have a fire go out on you and then try to re-light the same, charred wood? It’s not easy is it?! So it is when we allow God’s light within us to grow dim or even go out!
How can that happen? Sin. Change/loss of focus and purpose. Quitting when the going gets tough. Running to the darkness and the opportunity you think it gives you to hide.
Ephesians 5:8-15
Illustration: The Dark Room
A man I am counseling vividly described to me what it was like to be an alcoholic or addict of anything. He said: “Go into a room, close the door and shut off the lights. Stay in there long enough, explore enough of the dark and before you know it you’ll forget where the light switch is and then not even be able to find it to turn the lights back on again. You are trapped in the dark. Eventually just accept it and stop even looking for the light switch anymore.”
Too often that is what happens to us in our spiritual lives. We convince ourselves it does not matter if we occasionally dabble with sin. As long as we do our “thing” for God each Sunday and maybe even Wed., it’s not really going to hurt us too much how we think or behave the rest of the week.
* Propagate: To increase, multiply, reproduce.
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Illustration: Magic Birthday Candles – one to another
* Thomas Jefferson: “A candle loses nothing when it lights another candle.”
Power Point: Will YOU shine His Light before the wandering denizens of this dark, confused and torn world?
Commitment Challenge:
Take Your Candle & Go Light Your World.
1. Demonstrate Compassion for the lost, confused and torn.
Lk. 19:41;Mt. 9:36-
2. Pray for, go to and invite your friends & family into His arms.
Jn. 1:40-41
3. Realize that Hell is real. People are really condemned to go there eternally.
Live like you really care! Lk. 16:22-24; Rev. 20:14-15
4. Give yourself (your time, opportunities, worry, resources, pride,
abilities, creativity, pride & security) as a living sacrifice unto
the Lord. Ro. 12:1
5. Develop existing relationships & build new ones. Then speak
our witness. Romans 11:14-15
6. Recognize that few people in the history of the world have ever done anything
that will last
for eternity - YOU, through His Spirit, have that opportunity at
every moment. SEIZE IT!
7. Have no fear. The witness is your responsibility, but the result is
God’s! Joshua 1:9
COMMITMENT SONG: “Go Light Your World” Or “Gospel Light” (jazzy version)
- Invitation to make commitment by lighting their candles and holding them aloft.
