Theme: Let His light shine in your heart
Life teaches us many lessons and we can learn a lot even from the childhood games we used to play. In Blind Man’s Bluff, for those who do not remember or have never played this game before, one child is blindfolded and then he or she has to look for and touch another person. To add to the fun, as the blindfolded child tries to feel his or her way groping and stumbling over obstacles already in the way, new obstacles are put in his or her way. This game really paints a very good picture of the way many people go through life - blindfolded, groping in the darkness, stumbling and tripping over many obstacles in their way. Only this time there is nothing funny about it as it harmfully affects us both here and in eternity. This is because, as descendants of Adam, we are separated from God who is the only source of life and His life is the light of men. God’s love and grace made provision to meet this need and this is the theme that runs throughout the Scriptures and is even revealed in the name of God. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He revealed His name to be Yahweh, meaning I Am Who I Am. His name, however, was only fully revealed by Jesus Christ when He described Himself with the words “I am the bread of life. I am the door. I am the good shepherd; I am the way, the truth and the life, I am the resurrection and the life; I am the light of the world.” Jesus Christ is the light of the world. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Christ came to bring light into a dark world and His light is the light of the world. He came that we might have life and to let His light shine in our hearts.
The world, unfortunately, loves and prefers the darkness to the light. When the light of Christ confronted the world, the world very clearly said that they would rather have darkness. They hated the light and fled from it. The light of Christ is rejected by the world because as it dispels the darkness it reveals evil and shows the right way to deal with it. In the dark evil can appear to be something else but in the light it can be clearly discerned. The world therefore preferred to live without the light because they didn’t want the light to expose the evil things they were doing. They wanted to continue doing what they wanted to do.
God’s kingdom is the kingdom of light. His servants know whom they are serving and what they are doing. On the other hand, since Satan’s kingdom is a kingdom of darkness, most of those in his kingdom do not know the true identity of the one whom they are serving, or the true nature of what they are doing. And to make sure it stays that way the kingdom of darkness operates in such a way that those who can bring in light are kept out. It does this by doing things in secret. If what they were doing was really helpful then it should not be hidden or only made available to a select few but to everyone. The kingdom of darkness also tries to hide the nature of its activities by portraying a light that is clearly not the light of Christ. Many Christians have unknowingly joined the kingdom of darkness believing that the light being referred to was the light of Christ. A Christian who believes that he or she has come into the light of Christ by joining any group can only mean that he or she has been walking in darkness. If this is true then God is a liar because His word declares that He has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness. But if this is not true then what that group is practicing is a lie and we know who the father of lies is. Another lie of the kingdom of darkness is to make its members believe they are helping the cause of Christ when in reality this is not the case. We can only help the cause of Christ when we belong to Him and good works without Christ does not amount to anything. The light of Christ always reveals the truth and glorifies God. It reveals that we cannot count on our good works to save us - only Christ can save us. But when Christ saves us He also transforms us and the evidence of that transformation is seen as the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the needs of the homeless met and the street children taken care of. Our good works only have value with Christ for without Him we can not do anything of value for Him.
The light of Christ reveals the truth about us and makes it possible for us to understand the truth about God. Only the light of Christ can reveal how sinful we are and the fact that we have rejected Christ. Unfortunately many people do not even realise their situation because they are in darkness. How can they when they have rejected the light of Christ? When the light of Christ shines in our hearts we are able to understand that every human being is born into a dark world a sinner. We are able to see ourselves in the light of God, able to see how sinful we are and how urgently we need to be saved. The light of Christ does not only reveal our sin and need for salvation but also God’s provision. And as we avail ourselves of God’s provision and experience His forgiveness, He gives us the longing to also let others know of God’s forgiveness and love. Our witness for Christ is like turning on the light in a dark room. Christ by his death and resurrection has disarmed and overcome the powers of darkness and brought the darkness to an end. He is the light this dark world needs and this light should shine in our hearts at all times as we do the will of God by living the life of Christ and bringing others to Him.
The light of Christ enables us to walk in the truth and live a life that is different from that of the world - a life that is blameless and pure. It is living in such a way that our behaviour is above criticism. It is a life that an evil world can not fail to notice as "People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do.” As Christians we are to reflect the light of Christ as every Sunday school child knows. I’m sure many of us still remember that Sunday school song with the words: This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine; Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” Or we may prefer another song with the words ‘Brighten the corner where you live.’ We as Christians are to let His light shine in our hearts.
Nature illustrates many spiritual truths. The moon rock, brought to earth after the moon landing, is dull and unattractive in itself. It has no brilliance or radiance of its own. Yet it is the most highly reflective material that man has yet discovered. The reason is simply that the Creator designed it for one supreme purpose, to reflect the radiance of the sun. But if some other body, for example the earth, comes between the moon and the sun, the result is manifested in the moon. It loses its light. Just as the sun is the source of light and the moon reflects light from the sun to the earth so Jesus is our source of light and we are to reflect that light to others. When we allow something else to come between us and Christ we lose His light. Every time we deny Christ we allow something else to come between Him and us. Submitting to any initiation rite after Christian Baptism is to doubt the supremacy of Christ and in effect deny Christ. Christian Baptism initiates one into the mystical Body of Christ. As a Sacrament we believe that through this rite God’s work of transformation is operative in the individual making one into a child of God. Submitting to other initiation rites to usher the initiate into a new realm of spirituality is to deny Christ and to reject the truth of the gospel. As Christians we can still deny Christ after acknowledging Him as Lord as Peter did. He denied Jesus 3 times after His arrest, but the full implication of his words were only evident three days later at the empty tomb. The angel giving the women a message recorded in Mark 16:7 said “But go, tell His disciples - and Peter – that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” Peter was no longer reckoned as being one of the disciples. Peter who belonged to the inner circle of Christ’s disciples had by his own words forfeited his standing as a disciple of Jesus. After Peter had denied his Lord, Christ graciously opened the way for him to regain his standing as a disciple after His resurrection. In John 21:15-17 we read the ff. “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love You.’ He said to him ‘feed my lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love You.’ He said to him ‘tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘do you love me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘feed my sheep.’” The way Jesus dealt with Peter establishes a pattern for all who need to be released from the snare of bad confessions. By asking Peter three times whether he loved Him, Jesus gave him the opportunity to revoke his previous denials. For each time that he had made a wrong confession, he now made the right confession and on this basis was reinstated as a disciple. All of us who have made wrong confessions and need to be released from them can follow the example of Peter. First we need to acknowledge that we have made wrong confessions and repent of them. Secondly we must revoke them, that is we must unsay, or cancel, whatever we said that was wrong. Thirdly, we must replace our previous wrong confessions with the right one. Let us today if we have made wrong confessions take the necessary steps to release ourselves from this snare.
There are two types of people in the world today - those who accept the light of Christ and those who choose to remain in darkness. Darkness prevents us from seeing things clearly and hides the reality from us. It also hides the dangers that threaten our well-being and even our life. Light enables us to see clearly where we are going, see what we are doing and have a fuller awareness of all that surrounds us. As Christians we are to let His light shine in our hearts as Christ’s witnesses. A young Christian girl had just got her first job after finishing school. She realised at her first day at work that she was completely unprepared for the things she heard and saw. The language shocked her, and the lifestyles sickened her. In great despair she went home and told her Christian parents that she was not going back. She just could not put up with that kind of sin. In the middle of her complaining her father asked, "Where do you place lights?" She shrugged the question off. What could that have to do with her problem? She continued to tell them about the horrible things she had to endue, and again her father interrupted, "Where do you place lights?" "Dad, what do you mean? You know that you place lights where it is dark." "Exactly" said her father. As a Christian you are a light and lights are placed in dark places. You must go to work tomorrow but be careful to let your light shine before those godless men and women so that they may see your good work and glorify your Father in heaven." It is only when we feel at home in the light of Christ that we can face the many challenging temptations, which come to us in the ordinary experiences of life. Let us get closer to the light of Christ to fully reflect His light as the further we get away from the source of light, the dimmer will be our reflection. We need to work diligently to stay near to Him, the source of light, by spending time in prayer, studying the Bible, and taking part in Church programmes. We have the choice to accept Jesus Christ, the light of the world and become light or to reject the light and remain in darkness. Those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ will remain in His light forever. But those who reject Him will be condemned to remain in darkness forever when Christ returns. Let His light shine in your heart today as you confess Him as your Lord and Saviour. Amen!
