Title: Keeping Faith When the Glow is Gone
Text: II Corinthians 4:1-6 (Mark 9:2-9)
Thesis: God wants us to rise and shine rather than succumb to the darkness.
Introduction:
It has been a busy week for Colorado state high school wrestling fans as 2a through 5a division wrestlers have vied for individual and team state championships. I am not an avid fan but I have taken some interest and have scanned the news stores in the Post and online. I admire any young man who puts his skills on the mat… win or lose. Competing as the best against the best is a great honor and privilege.
However, the article in the Post this week about Joe Klune gave me another lens through which to reflect on the state wrestling tournament. The article was titled Globeville Gave Way to World of Wrestling. Perhaps some of you who grew up in the Globeville community knew Joe Klune?
Joe is in the Class of 1999 University of Northern Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame as an All American Wrestler in 1947 in the 167 weight class. Listen to what the UNC web site says about Joe Klune:
“Joe Klune was a two-sport athlete for the Bears in the mid-1940s. As a wrestler, he earned three Rocky Mountain Conference championships (1942, 1946, 1947) and earned All-American honors by finishing fourth (University Division) at 167 pounds in 1946. As a football player, Klune was a two-time all-conference selection. After graduating from UNC, Klune enjoyed a successful career as a teacher/coach in the Denver Public Schools for over 30 years. Still a supporter of his alma mater, Klune continues to be a member of the UNC Blue & Gold Club, as well as a contributor to the Wrestling Scholarship Endowment Fund. Inducted in 1999.” (http://uncbears.cstv.com/trads/ncol-hall-of-fame.html)
Joe Klune will be 85 years old on April 2. In the Post article he reflected on being at the tournament at the Pepsi Center this week and connecting with his old wrestling cronies saying, “I loved coaching wrestling, but we don’t talk much about the old days. We just watch the tournament.” (denverpost.com/sports/ci_11719015)
One day the young men who triumphed on the wrestling mat at the Pepsi Center this week… will be men who hopefully go on to live good and decent lives, love their wives and raise their families, make a contribution to society, and show up to watch the young men wrestle when they are 85 years old.
But what happens after the glory is gone, is always a lingering question… what will the young men do when the glory is gone?
In Exodus 34 there is a story about how Moses spent forty days and nights on the mountain with God while compiling the Ten Commandments on stone tablets. When Moses came down from the mountain he was not aware that “his face glowed because he had spoken with the Lord face to face.” The bible says that when Aaron and the people “saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.” After that, whenever he spoke to the people, Moses wore a veil on his face.
I have never seen radiance like that on anyone’s face. However, one thing is certain. Moses’ face did not radiate the glory of God forever. So what happens when the glow is gone?
Faith was a no-brainer for Peter, James, and John. They had been invited by Jesus to accompany him to a mountain top where they were privy to an historical event we call The Transfiguration. While on the mountain top with Jesus they observed a change in Jesus’ appearance… I think Mark describes it as a “dazzling white, far greater than any earthly process could ever make it.”
While gazing upon the dazzling white face of Jesus there on the mountain the disciples were deeply moved, but what happened when they came down from the mountain and the glow was gone?
We understand the concept that glory tends to fad with time, particularly when we think that with the passing of time we simply move further and further away from the spotlight and our moments of glory become distant memories.
However, in the life of the Christian, what if the glory does not of necessity fade away with time? What if the glory may remain bright with the passing of time?
Bonnie and I have a fireplace in our home. It is not an efficient way to heat our home so it is primarily of aesthetic value… we love the crackling of the fire, and the smell of wood burning. And we like the warmth that radiates out into the room. But the further you sit from the fire… the cooler the air. If you wish to remain in the warmth of the glow you have to stay close to the fireplace.
Perhaps the problem with Christianity is not that the glory fades but that with the passing of time, we may gradually move away from the fire.
Transition: The bible says that when a person believes in Christ a veil is removed so the follower of Christ sees and even reflects the glory of Christ.
And all of us who have had the veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more. II Corinthians 3:18
Those who continue to reflect the glory are:
I. Those who reflect Christ’s glory are faithful followers of Jesus Christ who have been touched by the mercy of God.
And so, since God in his mercy has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up. II Corinthians 4:1
Their lives have been changed by Christ and they understand that God had given them the privilege of living out their faith in word and deed before others.
They are like Joe Klune who emerged from playing in the stockyards and railroad yards and sand pits and survived crossing Logan Street to become a high school and university wrestler, and high school coach… mentoring many young men in the sport over the years. The glow is not just the glow of competition but also of investing one’s life in the lives of others.
Once touched by the grace of God we are changed in the moment but that change is lived out in a lifetime of service to God and others.
However, there are those who try to capitalize on the glow and use the glow for personal gain. Paul would call them hucksters.
II. Hucksters who use the Word of God for personal gain do not reflect the glory of Christ.
We reject shameful and underhanded methods. We do not try to trick anyone, and we do not distort the Word of God. We tell the truth before God and all who are honest know that. II Corinthians 4:2
These are folks, who under the guise of reflecting the glory of Christ to others, use the Word of God and capitalize on the Word of God and the Christian message for personal gain.
I am reading a book by Scot McKnight called The Blue Parakeet. Early on in his book he makes reference to Rorschach ink blot tests. It is one method of psychological evaluation. Interestingly enough the ink blots are absolutely neutral… they are just ink blots. When a person looks at an ink blot and says what he sees in the ink blot, the ink blot then reflects something about the person, based on what he or she sees. When three people look at the same ink blot and one sees a butterfly, another sees a thigh master, and the third sees a bloodied brain, the psychiatrist can make some kind of assessment about what is going on in the mind based on what a person sees.
The point I wish to make is this: What a person brings to the ink blot determines what the ink blot looks like to that person. In the same way, what a person brings to the bible determines what that person sees and hears in God’s Word.
1. If a person brings a theology of health and wealth to the bible, that person sees the bible as a book about good health and prosperity.
2. If a person brings a theology of blessing to the bible, that person sees the bible as a book of blessings.
3. If a person brings a theology of legalism to the bible, that person sees the bible as a law book.
4. If a person brings a theology of freedom in Christ to the bible, that person sees the bible as a book of license.
5. If a person brings a theology of the end times to the bible, that person see the bible as a prophecy book.
There are those who use the bible to further their own interests and line their own pockets. They don’t really care about the whole truth… they only care about the truth that works for them. Those who truly reflect the glory of Christ do not distort or twist or manipulate or use the Word of God in any way that draws attention to themselves or distracts from the glory of Christ.
Despite the fact that hucksters distort the light of Christ, true followers of Christ do reflect the glory of Christ… yet, some people cannot see that glory. The glory of God is not a faded reality but a veiled reality. They are:
III. The people who cannot see the glory of God are people who are unable to believe in Christ.
If the Good News we preach is veiled to anyone, it is a sign that they are perishing. Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don’t understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. II Corinthians 4:3-4
There may be any number of reasons why some people cannot or will not see the “light of God’s Good News that is shining on them.”
We certainly live in culture that Satan can easily exploit to blind a person from seeing Christ. For example:
1. Radical extremes of all faiths have a negative effect on our efforts to be lights in a dark world.
In a letter to the editor posted in the Rocky Mountain News yesterday responding the columnist David Harsanyi’s February 18th column, the respondent assailed religion as being very much a public matter in that “churches aggressively push their ‘divine’ rules into U.S. law and reap billions of public dollars for their tax-exempt enterprises.”
He went on to cite Harsanyi’s failure to mention that California’s Mormon-funded Proposition 8 and the influence of Focus on the Family as evidence that religion is very much in the public arena. But the clinker was a reference to an atheist slogan posted on a London bus that read, “Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.” A less than subtle reminder of the Islamic fundamentalists 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York. (Martin Voelker, Religion and atheism not private affair, The Editorial Page, The Denver Post, P. 34A, February 21, 2009)
Perhaps it is in part the influence of an increasingly violent culture as evidenced by Columbine, but when angry young men from fundamentalist backgrounds take guns to church to wreak revenge or hear voices from God telling them to take a gun to work and kill all the unbelievers… it is difficult for unbelievers to separate the legitimate from the lunatic fringes.
2. Second, failure in moral character by Christian leaders has a negative effect on our desire to be lights in a dark world.
Bad examples are easily cited and give cause for an unbelieving culture to paint all Christians with a broad brush of moral and ethical hypocrisy.
If it is relatively easy for us to observe the negative influences on the work of Christ in the world… imagine how easy it is for those who are already in doubt to be blinded from the truth. Add to that, the fact that the bible clearly concedes that one of the things Satan does best is blind the minds of unbelievers so that they are unable to see or understand the truth about Christ, even though the truth is shining right on their faces.
But I think that among the many reasons unbelievers cannot see the may light of Christ may rest closer to home.
3. Our failure to see unbelievers and be light to those unbelievers has a negative impact on our ability to be lights in a dark world.
Let me explain what I mean by our failure to see unbelievers and our ability to be the light and life of Christ to them.
I wonder if many Christians may suffer from either myopia or hyperopia.
• Myopia is near sightedness. When you are near-sighted you can see objects nearby clearly, but objects far away are blurry.
• Hyperopia is far sightedness. When you are far-sighted you can see object far away clearly, but object nearby are blurry.
Some of us can see people far away very clearly but those nearby are less distinct. Far sighted Christians have a great heart for foreign missions. Some of us can see people nearby but those who are far away are less distinct. Near sighted Christians have a great heart for their community.
The Mayo Clinic web site says that both myopia and hyperopia are easily corrected by contacts, glasses, or surgery. When our spiritual vision is corrected we can see with clarity and have a heart for people nearby and people far away.
We tend to shine our light on the people we can see… the far sighted person shines his light on the distant person. The near sighted person shines his light on the persons nearby. The person with corrected vision sees and has a heart for both.
I believe Satan exploits our near-sightedness and our far-sightedness to keep people who are in the dark spiritually away from the light of God’s love in Christ. We make his work easy when we fail to have our vision corrected so we can shine the light of Christ on those nearby and those far away.
God says, “Let there be light in the darkness!”
IV. Christians who reflect the glory of Christ are beacons in the darkness who make Christ known.
We don’t go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Jesus Christ, the Lord. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 4:5-6
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world – like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
God’s response to the activity and effort of Satan to blind the minds of unbelievers is for the genuine light of Christ to shine so brightly that it overcomes the darkness into which it shines and reveals the darkness for what it is.
Last week Bonnie and I drove home from Chicago. We were traveling late at night on I-80 and then I-76 as we reached the homestretch. I like driving I-76 more than I like driving I-80, mainly because there is less traffic and at night and I can run all the lights.
Bonnie’s Ford Escape is equipped with fog lights. I love fog lights. When the fog lights are on, the roadway, the parking, and the ditches immediately in front of us are brightly lit. The fog lights penetrate the darkness and you are not surprised by the sudden presence of a deer, a raccoon, or an abandoned car on the shoulder.
And I can even use my high beams for long stretches… I love kicking the lights up on high so I can see forever. The headlights pierce the distant darkness. It isn’t just that I can see in the darkness but it is also important that whatever and whoever is out there in the darkness can see the light.
That is the importance of a beacon in the darkness. Whether a lighthouse is penetrating the darkness to show the way to a passing ship or the powerful floodlight from an airport to light the way for a plane or the signal fire on a ridge for a lost hiker… the purpose of the beacon is to benefit the one who is in the darkness.
If the light is brighter than the darkness, people can see it and are drawn to it.
We will make Christ known to the extent that we are beacons of light penetrating the darkness of our culture and the hearts and minds of unbelievers… nearby and far away.
Conclusion:
In the context of our references to the glory of God that was reflected on the faces of Moses and Christ, and the scriptural urging that we be lights in a dark world, where do we get the glow when the glow seems to be fading or even non-existent? How can we be “mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord?” II Corinthians 3:18
Let me cite two examples to illustrate the solution:
1. Imagine that you have a fireplace and the fire is dying down a bit. You will likely take the fire poker and stir the fire and add more wood to rekindle the fire. And in a short time the blaze will warm the whole area once again.
2. Imagine the same fireplace and that you stir the fire and add more wood to rekindle the fire. Then imagine that you inadvertently leave the poker in the fire. After a while you notice the poker and you see that the end of the poker that rests in the embers is red hot, so you reach to pull the poker from the fire and you notice that despite the fact that the end is red hot, the end that you hold is only warm. The glow is present on the part of the poker that is closest to the fire. The glow fades on the parts of the poker furthest from the fire.
Perhaps we need to stir the fires of our faith. Perhaps we need to revisit the grace of God in our lives and the work that God began and wishes to continue in our lives? Perhaps we need to stir the fire and get back into a rhythm of bible reading, reflection, and personal prayer times? Perhaps we need to get back into the rhythm of regular attendance at worship? Perhaps we need to ask God to correct our vision so that we can see and feel for people both nearby and far away? Perhaps we need to get involved in ministry so we are not only spiritual consumers but spiritual contributors? Perhaps we need to learn the lesson of the poker and get ourselves back into the flame of God’s presence to rekindle the glow of our faith so we can be beacons of light in a dark world?
