Brilliance on Display
Intro: 2 guys were carpenters, and 1 always was teasing the other, not repudiated to be very smart. One night he shined his flashlight up to the 2nd story of a house and said, ‘would you mind climbing up this light beam and get my hammer for me?’ The nitwit said, ‘hah, how dumb do think I am?’ ‘I’m sorry,’ he replied. ‘You’d better be, I know you too well…you’d let me get halfway up and then turn the light off!’ [Jerry Shirley, SC]
-Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. “Why,” he exclaimed, “when I went a-courtin’ I never carried one of them things, I always went in the dark.” “Yes,” the hired man said wryly,” and look at what you got!” Some people change their ways when they see the light, others only when they feel the heat [Jeffery Anselmi, SC].
-Today, as you may have guessed, we will be talking about light. A few months ago we talked about when Jesus boldly stated, “I AM the light of the world.” In today’s text, Jesus used the same terminology for His followers.
-Matthew 5:14-16 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
-The main thought I’d like to talk about today is this:
Prop: Because our lives are on display, we must let God’s light shine through us.
TS: Let’s look at some basic truths about light and see how it applies to us.
I. You’ve Got Light
-If you are a follower of Jesus, you have light, and as Jesus said, you are the light of the world. You are not the source of light – Jesus is. However, His light is in you and He wants it to shine out from you.
-What can we observe about light?
Light is Visible
Light is Compelling- draws people
Light makes a difference in its surroundings.
Light reduces darkness
Light reveals dangers
Light illumines the path and helps us see
Light is required for growth (plants, people)
Light gives warmth
-Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
-Some of you can remember your dark days before you met Jesus and started a relationship with Him. Your life was not going in the right direction. Perhaps you were into some really bad things – way over your head in sin and darkness. But then along came Jesus – the Light of the world – and things changed. Your darkness became light. The darkness in your heart and mind gave way to the brightness of God’s love for you. Now you are light. You have the light of Jesus in you. What a world of difference! I still love to hear and see how people’s lives are changed by the love and forgiveness of God! It never gets old because it is a new miraculous, exciting work brought about by the Creator of Light.
-So that’s you! You are light. That’s your story – or at least it can be.
-TS: Let’s look at another side of it for a moment.
II. The World Needs Light
-Darkness hides the true nature of a thing. Light reveals how things really are. Some people like to hide in the dark. Some love the dark for the secrecy it allows them. They can get away with their deeds undetected. Some love the dark because it gives them a place to hide the shame from their past.
-Jesus talked about light in the book of John.
John 3:19-21 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
-This world can be a very dark place. If light represents hope, a lot of people are living in darkness. If light represents joy, a lot of people can’t see the light of day. If light represents what is good and right, then many people have a very dreary existence. If light represents hearing and understanding that Jesus loves them and has a future for them, many people are stumbling blindly through life.
-This world needs lots of light. And guess where they are going to get it? That’s right – from you and from me. Wherever you go, there should be light. Think about this: You may be the only light the people around you see. Don’t wait for someone else to be light to the people in your life. Let it start with you. You are light to your family. You are light to your neighbors. You are light to your coworkers. You are light to your friends.
-TS: That is why this final point is so important.
III. Let Your Light Shine!
-Our lives are on display, and that is the way it is supposed to be. Some of us resist that idea and tell people not to look at us as examples because we might mess up. Sounds humble, but it’s not what God wants from you. He wants you to be on display to others so they can see what He is like. They already know you are not perfect. They just aren’t sure whether you think so or not. Just be real. Let your light shine and stay humble. When you mess up, admit it and move on. Ask God to give you the strength to become a consistent reflection of His light.
-Three times in verse 16 Jesus uses the possessive word “your.” Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Sometimes it is about you. Never just you, but God’s plan includes you.
-Now God has given us all we need to let our light shine. However, we do not always use it for the intended purpose.
-The story is told of a lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline and who received his new supply of oil once a month to keep the light burning. Not being far from shore, he had frequent guests. One night a woman from the village begged some oil to keep her family warm. Another time a father asked for some to use in his lamp. Another needed some to lubricate a wheel. Since all the requests seemed legitimate, the lighthouse keeper tried to please everyone and granted them all.
Toward the end of the month he noticed that the supply of oil was very low. Soon, it was gone, and the beacon light went out. That night several ships were wrecked and lives were lost.
When the authorities investigated, the man was very repentant. To his excuses and pleading their reply was: "You were given the oil for one purpose -- to keep that light burning!" [borrowed from Jeffery Anselmi, SC]
-What are you doing with the “light” resources God has given to you? Don’t trade all your “light” resources off for greater personal comfort or security. What resources am I talking about? Time: Use your time to shine light on others. Opportunity: Don’t let busyness and empty pursuits rob you of opportunities to share light with someone else. Material Blessing: Living requires a certain amount, but don’t burn it all up on what is temporary. Use some of it to help those in need, to further the gospel, and to make a lasting difference. Use it to keep your light burning.
-Light is radiated through our example, or our good works. People want to see a sermon before they listen to one.
-As newsman Clarence W. Hall followed American troops through Okinawa in 1945, he and his jeep driver came upon a small town that stood out as a beautiful example of a Christian community. He wrote, "We had seen other Okinawan villages... down at the heels and despairing; by contrast, this one shone like a diamond in a dung heap. Everywhere we were greeted by smiles and dignified bows. Proudly the old men showed us their spotless homes, their terraced fields... their storehouses and granaries, their prized sugar mill."
Hall said that he saw no jails and no drunkenness, and that divorce was unknown in this village. He was told that an American missionary had come there some 30 years earlier. While he was in the village, he had led two elderly townspeople to Christ and left them with a Japanese Bible. These new believers studied the Scriptures and started leading their fellow villagers to Jesus. Hall’s jeep driver said he was amazed at the difference between this village and the others around it. He remarked, "So this is what comes out of only a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to live like Jesus." [borrowed from Jeffery Anselmi, SC] What does it take to make a lasting difference? Just someone who is obedient to God and willing to take His light to others.
-Years ago the communist government in China commissioned an author to write a biography of Hudson Taylor with the purpose of distorting the facts and presenting him in a bad light. They wanted to discredit the name of this consecrated missionary of the gospel. As the author was doing his research, he was increasingly impressed by Taylor’s saintly character and godly life, and he found it extremely difficult to carry out his assigned task with a clear conscience. Eventually, at the risk of losing his life, he laid aside his pen, renounced his atheism, and received Jesus as his personal Savior. [Darrell Stetler, SC]
-Let your light shine before people so they will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Conclusion: I’d like to close with a story about a lighthouse. [Play video clip, Life Saving Station from Sermonspice.com]
-Lord, don’t let us forget what you have called us to do. We must let Your light shine through us to others. Our own needs and desires and levels of social or physical comfort must never consume the oil you’ve given us to let our lights shine in front of other people who need to see a picture of who You are and what you can do in a heart that used to be dark.
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[Alternative to video clip] Many years ago there was a little village on a rocky seacoast, where storms often battered and seas were ever treacherous. Many ships were driven onto the rocks by the storms, and the lives of many sailors were lost because of the raging seas.
One day the people decided among themselves that they should establish a lighthouse and life saving station on a little peninsula on the coast, to warn ships away from the rocks and to save the lives of those who were cast into the icy waters. They approached the government and began to secure the necessary funds for their project. Soon they set forth and built a tower, and set a beacon in it; they organized a lookout system; and they bought boats and learned how to man them; and soon they were in business. The business of saving lives!
Soon the effects of what they were doing became known far and wide. Fewer ships went on the rocks; and when such a tragedy did occur, and the alarm was sounded, the people risked their own lives to rescue those who had been cast into the raging, icy waters. Within a few short years, people came from great distance to study their lighthouse, and to use it as a model.
One day someone suggested that, since they all spent so much time at the lighthouse that they should gather there occasionally and enjoy good fellowship. And soon they began to get together (at first infrequently, and then more often) at the lighthouse. In fact, many people began to build their homes near the lighthouse. Then when the lookout sounded the alarm, they were there, ready to go out.
Next, it was decided that if they were going to spend so much time there, they must make the place more comfortable. So arrangements were made to heat the lighthouse. The gray walls were painted a brilliant white. Some of the walls were paneled; rugs were put on the floors to disguise the bare concrete; a fine kitchen was installed with a handsome stove; and generally speaking the lighthouse became a nice place to spend your time waiting for the alarm to be sounded. Everything about the lighthouse was made comfortable and nice. The lighthouse soon became the center of life in the little town that grew up around it.
One night a fierce storm blew in, as storms had blown in for years. Many ships were tossed on the jagged rocks, and the men at the lighthouse spent long hours picking sailors from the bitter cold icy waters and taking them to the lighthouse, where they were fed and provided with dry clothing. This had happened many times over the years, but this time, after the storm subsided and the sailors had all left the lighthouse, there were some men who were angry. It seems the storm had made them leave the comfort of the lighthouse, and go out into the wet, dangerous seas; and they got cold; very cold. The sailors, when they were delivered to the lighthouse, soiled the carpets. The kitchen was a mess, not to mention the stove. After a brief meeting it was first decided that sailors, when they were brought to the lighthouse, should be taken to the basement, not to the nice upper areas.
Some time later, another storm blew in; and about one half of the men went out in the boats, and again picked sailors from the frigid waters. This time the ship, which had broken apart on the rocks, was from another nation; and the men who manned her spoke another language, and even worse were of a different color. After this storm, a few more men joined those who refused to enter the sea. They decided that men like these did not belong in the lighthouse at all; some said they felt that the lighthouses’ job was not supposed to be saving sailors from other lands, because they were so much different. There were those, too, who objected to leaving the comfort of the lighthouse to go out into the storm. These men petitioned the government and they also agreed. So, finally, it was decided that the beacon would be kept lit, but the rescue work would be discontinued.
A small group disagreed, however, and went down the coast, a short distance, and started a new lighthouse. This small group decided that they should establish the biggest life saving station on the little peninsula, and so they did. Every day they warned ships and sometimes attempted to save lives from the icy water. Fame of the new lighthouse grew and the lighthouse back up the bay eventually turned out its beacon. Some people say the beacon can still be seen today in you and I. Oh yes, they also say the small group running the new lighthouse were those once rescued from the raging seas.
We as people all have a choice to make with regards to our rescue work. We can choose to allow our lives to become comfortable and we can find ourselves very content. And often times we may find that we have turned out our beacon of hope for one another. Or perhaps, I hope and pray that we find ourselves lighting and saving the path of others both in our words and deeds.
[Ernest W. Corty, SC]
