Being the
Light of the World
by Rev. Paul
J. Bern
We've all
heard or seen the expression “let your little light shine”. This
is a truism that dates all the way back to the time of Christ, and it
is documented in all the Gospels in one way or another. The apostle
Paul also mentioned it in his letter to the church at Ephesus, more
commonly known as the book of Ephesians. However, I am posting this
commentary because I am becoming increasingly aware that much of the
world has turned to darkness, because the light of justice, truth,
empathy and compassion is being snuffed out all over the world. The
ultimate Light, that of Jesus Christ the Son of God, never goes out.
The apostle John, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote about it in his
story, known simply as the Gospel of John: “In Him was life, and
that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but
the darkness has not understood it.” (John chapter 1, verses 4-5,
NIV) Two thousand years later,
things are much the same as this. The reason some evil people stay
that way is because they prefer the darkness to the light. They
percieve the Light of Christ, but they despise it because evil people
are dark-natured. They naturally gravitate towards things like
murder, kidnapping or hostage-taking, sexual or other physical
assault, and all kinds of thefts. They cannot be trusted under any
circumstances. They are dangerous and they are prevalent. Such people
should be avoided at all costs.
The
apostle Paul also wrote on the topic of the Light of Christ, and I
quote: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light
in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light
consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what
pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of
darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention
what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the
light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.
This is why it is said: 'Wake up, oh sleeper, rise from the dead, and
Christ will shine on you.'” (Ephesians chapter 5, verses 8-14, NIV)
When any person becomes a
believer in and follower of Jesus Christ, they become an entirely new
person. Without Christ, one is in darkness because they rely only on
their five senses, which can decieve us. But with the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit, our senses are taken to a higher level with the
addition of a Spiritual sense known as discernment. A discerning
spirit within any given individual is not easily taught because it
takes a lifetime to acquire one. You've heard or read that the best
things in life are those that take the longest time. Discernment is
one of those things, a subject that I myself have yet to master. But
I continue to learn from the Lord daily.
The
“fruit of the light”, Paul wrote, consists of all goodness,
righteousness, and truth. This lines up with what I wrote back at the
beginning of this post and vice versa. Paul then wrote, “Have
nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose
them.” I can think of one
person who has been in the news off and on for
the last year or two who has made it his mission in life to do
exactly that. Of course, I'm talking about Mr. Edward Snowden, the
former NSA contractor and government whistleblower who blew the lid
off of the NSA's and FBI's massive secret collection of people's
mobile phone data. Secret spying of American citizens is prohibited
by law. As such this domestic espionage can be defined as deeds of
darkness, and Mr. Snowden, who is a modern-day hero as far as this
preacher is concerned, has gone out of his way to expose them just as
the apostle Paul said and wrote. Those who take videos of police
brutality against citizens are another modern-day example of
following this precept of Paul's. But then Paul wrote, “But
everything exposed by the light becomes visible......This is why it
is said: 'Wake up, oh sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will
shine on you'.” What light was
Paul referring to here? The Light that is the person of Jesus Christ,
of course! It is said that the only thing the Roman soldiers who were
guarding Jesus' tomb saw when Jesus rose from the dead was a blinding
light. When the dead in Christ arise with the rapture of the Church,
we too will be instantly transformed into Spiritual beings of light.
This is likely to happen in our lifetimes. Now there is something to
look forward to!
Last
but certainly not least, let's examine what Jesus himself had to say
about walking in and being a part of the light we are discussing. I
quote from the Gospel of Matthew: “You are the light of
the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let
your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew chapter 5, verses 14-16,
NIV) If we are in fact “the
light of the world” in the sight of Christ, shouldn't we be acting
like it? And if we are the light of the world in Jesus' sight, how
much more will we be for the Father? Whether we get a good or
positive reaction from others that we try to do this for or not is
besides the point. Because ultimately, we're not doing this for them,
nor for ourselves, but for God, because He is watching us. A city at
night cannot be hidden. Let's not hide the light that exists inside
each of us (whether we realized that up until now or not is besides
the point). Those who refuse to let His light shine, or who won't let
it in at all, dishonor God, themselves, and even their family and
friends. Since we are all God's unique and distinct creations, let's
honor God by expressing our thankfulness and gratitude towards Him
for creating us and for keeping us alive all these years. After all,
what else can we do?
No comments:
Post a Comment