I BELIEVE THE FIRST THING ANYONE DOES WHEN ENTERING A DARKENED ROOM IS TO FEEL ALONG THE WALL INSIDE THE DOOR FOR THE LIGHT SWITCH TO TURN ON THE LIGHTS. OTHER THAN TO SLEEP, I HONESTLY DON’T THINK MOST PEOPLE WOULD SAY THEY ENJOY DARKNESS. DARKNESS CAN SEEM ENVELOPING, SUFFOCATING AND EVEN FRIGHTENING.
RIGHTFULLY SO, AS THE BIBLE USES THE THEME OF DARKNESS FIGURATIVELY TO REPRESENT AND SYMBOLIZE THOSE THINGS THAT REPRESENT EMPTINESS, EVIL, MORAL DEPRAVITY, WICKEDNESS, PUNISHMENT, AFFLICTIONS, SIN AND DEATH. NO WONDER THERE ISN’T THE GREATEST LIKING TO THINGS ASSOCIATED WITH DARKNESS BECAUSE, IN ESSENCE, IT IS ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE NOT ONLY THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF GOD, BUT ALSO THE OPPOSITE OF WHO WE ARE TO BE: PEOPLE OF LIGHT.
THE BIBLE IS VERY CLEAR ON WHAT WE ARE TO DO ABOUT THE DARKNESS. THE MOST OBVIOUS IS TO REJECT IT AND TO AVOID IT ALL COSTS…THAT IS, WE SHOULD NOT ALLOW DARKNESS TO BE A PART OF OUR LIVES AS EPHESIANS 5:8-9 TELLS US, “FOR ONCE YOU WERE FULL OF DARKNESS, BUT NOW YOU HAVE LIGHT FROM THE LORD. SO LIVE AS PEOPLE OF LIGHT! FOR THIS LIGHT WITHIN YOU PRODUCES ONLY WHAT IS GOOD AND RIGHT AND TRUE.”
THE BIBLE ALSO TELLS US THAT IN ORDER TO AVOID THE DARKNESS, WE ARE TO FOLLOW CHRIST INITIMATELY AND OBEDIENTLY AS JESUS STATED IN JOHN 8:12, “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. IF YOU FOLLOW ME, YOU WON’T HAVE TO WALK IN DARKNESS, BECAUSE YOU WILL HAVE THE LIGHT THAT LEADS TO LIFE.”
LAST, BUT DEFINITELY, NOT THE LEAST, IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR US TO DISPEL, OVERCOME, AND DEFEAT THE DARKNESS. VERSES 14 AND 16 IN OUR SCRIPTURE PASSAGE SAYS, “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD...LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE OTHERS.” WHAT MATTHEW IS SAYING IS THAT WE MUST CLEARLY, WITHOUT QUESTION, BE MAKING A DIFFERENCE AND MAKING A DISTINCT IMPACT IN OUR WORLD TO DISPEL THE VARIOUS FORMS OF DARKNESS. WE MUST WORK TO CHANGE OUR WORLD BY OVERCOMING ALL FORMS OF DARKNESS, BY USING THE LIGHT JESUS GIVES US TO MAKE THE WORLD A GOOD, MORAL, AND JUST PLACE.
IN ORDER TO SHINE, WE MUST DO OUR PART TO ENSURE OUR CHRISTIAN WITNESS IS WELL PLANNED, STUDIED, STRATEGIC, INTENTIONAL AND VISIBLE. WE PUT OURSELVES OUT THERE! WE DO NOT WITHDRAW, HIDE, OR AVOID OUR RESPONSIBILITIES! “LIKE A LAMP PUT ON A STAND” WE STAND OUT BY MAKING A DIFFERENCE, BEING DISTINCTIVELY DIFFERENT, EFFECTIVE BY GIVING LIGHT TO EVERYONE TO DIRECT THEIR ATTENTION TO JESUS. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS NO CONFUSION AND NO DOUBT THAT YOU MODEL, REPRESENT AND REFLECT JESUS CHRIST IN YOUR LIFE.
AS CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR, THERE CAN BE ABSOLUTELY NO MISTAKING THE EFFECT THAT HAVING THE “LIGHT” OF JESUS CHRIST IN THEIR LIFE CAN HAVE UPON THE DARKNESS OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS. WHEN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST SHINES IN AND THROUGH YOU, HIS LIGHT CAN BOLDLY AND UNABASHEDLY “MAKES ITSELF KNOWN” ALL AROUND YOU. THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IN YOU WILL ANNOUNCE ITS PRESENCE BY VIGOROUSLY DISPELLING THE DARKNESS.
I HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT IT IS GOD’S DESIRE TO FILL YOU WITH HIS LIGHT. GOD WANTS YOU TO SHINE AS A BRILLIANT TESTIMONY OF HIS PRESENCE AND POWER IN YOUR LIFE, SO THAT THE DARKNESS IN THE LIVES OF THOSE AROUND YOU WILL BE DISPLACED BY THE LIGHT OF GOD’S GLORY.
THE QUESTION THEREFORE REMAINS: ARE YOU BEING VERY DISTINCT WITH ILLUMINATING YOUR WORLD? ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? DO YOU STAND OUT? ARE YOU PRODUCING RESULTS AND HAVING AN AFFECT ON THE WORLD BY WHAT YOU DO AND HOW YOU LIVE? DO YOU DRAW OTHER’S ATTENTION TO GOD?
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE LIVE THIS WAY CONTINUALLY, ON A DAILY BASIS BECAUSE YOUR LIGHT MAY BE THE ONLY SOURCE OF ILLUMINATION SOME PEOPLE ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE. IN OTHER WORDS, “IF WE BLOW IT…THEY DON’T RECEIVE IT”…AND WHAT A MISERABLE, FORSAKEN LOSS THAT IS FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED.
A QUOTE ATTRIBUTED TO EDMUND BURKE SO PROFOUNDLY TELL US THAT, “ALL THAT IS NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS THAT GOOD MEN DO NOTHING.” THEREFORE, THE RESPONSIBILITY LIES UPON ALL OF US WHO ARE CALLED TO ILLUMINE THE WORLD WITH THE MESSAGE AND HOPE FOUND ONLY IN JESUS CHRIST.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ILLUMINATED BECOME ILLUMINATORS AND NOT SIMPLY KEEP TO THEMSELVES THE LIGHT THEY HAVE RECEIVED. AS I’VE STATED BEFORE, “THE GOSPEL IS NOT TO BE HOARDED, BUT SHOULD BE HERALDED TO ALL.” PHILIPPIANS 2:15, PAUL REMINDED US, “…YOU ARE TO LIVE CLEAN, INNOCENT LIVES AS CHILDREN OF GOD IN A DARK WORLD FULL OF CROOKED AND PERVERSE PEOPLE. LET YOUR LIVES SHINE BRIGHTLY BEFORE THEM.”
PAUL, AGAIN, IN ACTS 13:47, USED THE PROPHET ISAIAH’S WORDS FROM ISAIAH 49:6, “THIS IS WHAT THE LORD TOLD US TO DO, SAYING: 'I HAVE MADE YOU A LIGHT FOR THE NATIONS; YOU WILL SHOW PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD THE WAY TO BE SAVED.' "
THIS IS THE POINT: LIGHT DISPELS DARKNESS. THEREFORE, IF THE COMPLAINT IS “THERE IS TOO MUCH DARKNESS,” THEN WE MUST ASK A SECOND QUESTION: “WHERE’S THE LIGHT TO DISPEL IT?” IF DARKNESS SEEMS TO BE OVERTAKING THE WORLD, WE STILL HAVE TO ASK AGAIN, “WHERE IS THE LIGHT?” THE ANSWER IS: “IT IS IN US! WE ARE THE LIGHT!”
SO, IF WE ASKED “WHERE IS THE LIGHT” AND WE KNOW THE LIGHT IS IN US, THEN THE THIRD AND MOST POWERFUL QUESTION NEEDS TO BE ASKED: “WHY AREN’T WE SHINING BRIGHTER…OR MOST IMPORTANTLY; “WHAT’S HAPPENED TO THE LIGHT?” IF IT SEEMS THAT THE WORLD IS GETTING WORSE AND SEEMS TO BE IN MORAL AND ETHICAL SHAMBLES, WE NEED TO REALIZE THAT IT IS OUR DUTY TO ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS AND DISPEL IT WITH THE LIGHT OF JESUS CHRIST.
EPHESIANS 5:8-10, “FOR ONCE YOU WERE FULL OF DARKNESS, BUT NOW YOU HAVE LIGHT FROM THE LORD. SO LIVE AS PEOPLE OF LIGHT! FOR THIS LIGHT WITHIN YOU PRODUCES ONLY WHAT IS GOOD AND RIGHT AND TRUE. CAREFULLY DETERMINE WHAT PLEASES THE LORD. TAKE NO PART IN THE WORTHLESS DEEDS OF EVIL AND DARKNESS; INSTEAD, EXPOSE THEM”.
IT IS CRITICAL THAT EACH OF US, AS CHRISTIANS, MAINTAIN OUR SOURCE OF LIGHT TO ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS AROUND US. THIS IS WHY VERSE 15 SAYS, “NO ONE LIGHTS A LAMP AND THEN PUTS IT UNDER A BASKET.” THE IMAGERY HERE IS NOT WITH HIDING THE LIGHT AFTER IT HAS BEEN LIT, BUT EXTINGUISHING THE LIGHT COMPLETELY. ONCE YOU GET THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IN YOU, GUARD IT! WE DON’T LET THE PRESSURES, INTIMIDATION AND PERSECUTIONS OF THE WORLD CAUSE US TO SNUFF THE LIGHT OUT.
WE ALLOW THE LIGHT OF JESUS CHRIST TO BEAM BRIGHTLY FROM US TO ILLUMINE THE WORLD TO: PURITY AS OPPOSED TO FILTH…. TRUTH AS OPPOSED TO ERROR…. KNOWLEDGE AS OPPOSED TO IGNORANCE, AND TO SHOW THE DIVINE PRESENCE OF GOD AS OPPOSED TO HIS ABSENCE AND ABANDONMENT.
AS THE ILLUSTRATION SAID IN OUR SCRIPTURE PASSAGE TODAY IN VERSE 15, WE TAKE OUR LIGHT AND “PUT IT ON ITS STAND TO GIVE LIGHT TO EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE.” WE LIVE A DISTINCTIVE CHRISTIAN LIFE THAT SPREADS THE LIGHT OF CHRIST TO EVERYONE WE COME INTO CONTACT WITH ON A DAILY BASIS.
WE NEED TO SHINE OUR LIGHT AS JESUS SHINED HIS LIGHT. THERE WAS NO IGNORING THE WAY JESUS SHINED HIS LIGHT UPON THIS EARTH. NO MATTER WHAT PRESENTED ITSELF AND NO MATTER WHAT DEGREE OF DARKNESS WAS ENCOUNTERED IT WAS DISPELLED AND SOUNDLY DEFEATED BY THE LIGHT OF CHRIST.
EVERYWHERE JESUS WENT AND EVERYTHING JESUS DID, WE SEE GOD’S TRUTH BEING BOLDLY PROCLAIMED, PEOPLE GETTING HEALED, HYPOCRISY GETTING EXPOSED, AND SINNERS FINDING FORGIVENESS AND LIVES BEING CHANGED. THE WORLD HAS NEVER, EVER BEEN THE SAME SINCE THE FATHER INTRODUCED HIS LIGHT THROUGH HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST.
IT IS MY PRAYER THAT WE WILL NOT “BLAME THE DARKNESS” FOR THE SIN AND EVIL IN THE WORLD TODAY. AFTER ALL, THE DARKNESS IS ONLY DOING WHAT DARKNESS DOES. MAY WE CONTINUE TO LIVE IN THE SCRIPTURES, MAINTAIN A HEALTHY PRAYER LIFE, AND CONTINUE TO SHARE CHRIST WITH OTHERS SO THAT OUR LIGHT WILL NEVER GROW DIM OR BECOME EXTINGUISHED IN OUR LIVES.
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO SAY IT: WHEN GOD’S LIGHT IS ALLOWED TO SHINE UNHINDERED THROUGH YOUR LIFE, THE DARKNESS AROUND YOU WILL BE DISPELLED, GOD THE FATHER WILL BE GLORIFIED AND THE LOST WILL FIND SALVATION IN JESUS CHRIST. GO FORTH TODAY, SHINING AS THE LIGHT OF CHRIST!
