January 15, 2026
Rev. Mary Erickson
New Hope-Little Elk Creek Lutheran Churches
Ephesians 5:8-14; Psalm 23; John 9:1-41
Walk as Children of the Light
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
There seems to be mixed feelings about Daylight Savings Time. Some people think we should do away with it. Not me, I’m a big fan of it! For me, the downside of changing one hour in the fall and spring is by far outweighed by delaying the hour of sunrise in June and that bonus hour of evening daylight to enjoy for activities during the summer.
The short days of winter are something we must endure living here in Wisconsin. Prolonged darkness can really affect your mood in a negative way. But my mid-January we can tell that the days are already beginning to lengthen. I think it makes all of us feel better.
Light plays a significant role in the Bible. In the first chapter of the Bible, in Genesis, the very first words from the mouth of God are, “Let there be light.” Light is the first of God’s creations.
And then in the very last chapter of the Bible, in Revelation, we’re told that in heaven there is no more night. There’s no need for a lamp or for the sun because God will be our light.
From the beginning of the Bible to its end, light plays a significant role. There can be no light without God.
In our reading today from Ephesians, Paul says, “Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.” He instructs us to walk as children of light.
In our electrified world, light is ever present. When I wake up in the middle of the night and walk through my house, there are little light sources all over the place: the clock on our microwave, power buttons on our stereo, beaming through the cracks of our curtains from the corner light pole. It’s hard to find an environment that’s totally dark.
In Eau Claire, where my husband and I live, it’s difficult to observe the night sky. There’s just too much light from the city to see anything other than the brightest stars. The northern lights? Forget it!
Indeed, it’s hard to find an environment that’s truly dark. But prior to electrification, it wasn’t like that. There was much more darkness. People used lamps and candles for illumination. And in biblical times, lamps were nothing like our modern hurricane lamp. They were a small clay dish, much like a small ash tray. They put oil in the well and laid a wick in the trough. Then they lit the wick. It was a small flame. This is what it was like in Paul’s day.
We have much more readily available light nowadays, but we can still relate to all Paul is saying about the difference between light and darkness. He talks about people who want to do things secretly, so that nobody will see. That’s why we use light for security reasons. Our neighbors have a motion sensor light in their back yard. Occasionally it turns on, and when it does I look to see what’s there. I never see anything, it’s probably just some small critter, but it’s unnerving to see that light come on. What’s out there?
We value light, and we’re drawn to it. When the electricity goes out and we light a candle, our eyes are drawn to that small light source. And we feel better once it’s lit. Sitting in darkness is unnerving.
David wrote such in his beloved Psalm 23. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of deep darkness, I shall fear no evil.” Some translations word it more poetically: it’s the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
It’s believed that David was referring to the Wadi Qelt. It’s a deep gorge running from Jerusalem to Jericho. The walls of the gorge run very steep, so steep that the gorge is enveloped in shadows even at noon. Additionally, the wadi is quite narrow and so there are plenty of hiding places for robbers or fierce animals. It was a dangerous passage.
But David says, even though I walk through this place of deep darkness, I will fear no evil. Notice that he keeps on walking. He continues going forward. He doesn’t retreat, he doesn’t take cover and hide. He keeps moving forward. And what allows him to do so, what enables him to overcome his fear is his faith in God. God is his light in the darkness. And with God, he walks in the light. He walks as a child of the light.
We certainly experience dark times. We face them in each of our individual lives, and we can also face them as a family group or a community, or even as a nation. The family of Nancy Gifford is certainly walking through a very dark time right now. And as a nation, I think we all feel the divisive political tension splitting us apart. It’s dark times.
Our gospel reading tells of a situation where Jesus encounters a man born blind. The disciples are engrossed by pondering what kind of sin lay behind his affliction. Jesus doesn’t address the whys of the man’s blindness. Rather, he redirects them. It’s not about what people have done, but the important thing to recognize is what God was about to do. This moment wasn’t to be framed by condemnation; it was about salvation.
As is written in John chapter three, “for God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.” God did not condemn this blind man to darkness. But Jesus encountered him that day to bring light upon him.
We are called, friends, to be children of the light. We are called to walk through this world’s darkness illumined by our faith in Christ. He is the divine light of God which has come to us. He came to dwell with us so that we may know the light no darkness can overcome. In him we see that there is something greater than the evil forces at work in and around us.
We are called to be light, bearers of Christ’s light, revealers of his love. We’re called to fill this world’s despair and darkness with the light of his brilliant, everlasting grace and peace.
The Scottish poet Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a poem about the lamplighter. Stevenson lived in a time before electricity, when streets were lit at night by gas lamps. Each evening the lamplighter would carry a small torch to light the lamps along the street. Stevenson tells the poem in the voice of a child. You get the feeling he was recalling his own youth:
My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;
It’s time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.
Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,
And my papa’s a banker and as rich as he can be;
But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I’m to do,
Oh Leerie, I’ll go round at night and light the lamps with you!
Friends, we walk in Christ’s light, the light no darkness can overcome. And let us be lamplighters! For the world is a very dark place. Walk as children of the light.
