People of the Light

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (St. John 8:12)

          In a few weeks I have to make a visit I’ve been dreading for months. Okay, years.

          Recently I was scolded and then exhorted – have I been a bad boy this year, and this is my Christmas gift? – to visit the dentist. While I take care of my teeth at home, I’ve been neglecting going to the dentist; and you know what happens: one month turns into another month of not making an appointment with the professional. My avoidance mushrooms, and my teeth suffer for it.

          The dentist, you know, has this brilliant light he shines all around your mouth. He has this magnifying glass with which he examines every nook and cranny of your teeth, which are lighted up like a football stadium.

          That light scares me, because it shows him – and me – the bare truth about my dental health. I’d rather avoid it altogether, but avoidance just makes it worse.

          One of the most-enjoyable aspects of this time of year is driving around, or even walking in town(!), and soaking in the Christmas lights. Personally, I always seek out the neighborhoods that traditionally have themes and unite to put on an impressive display. In a sense, the lights puncture the engulfing darkness of December, when the sun goes down at 5, and bring us an extra little lift.

          But I wonder if you and I don’t focus too much on the physical lights – together with the other trappings of the season – so we won’t have to deal with the true Light from heaven?

          This morning, continuing our Advent focus on Jesus and specifically on who he said he was, we’re going to examine his description of himself as the Light of the world. We’re especially going to explore what it means that he is the Light of the world, and why it matters that he is the Light of the world.

          First, though, a warning: to encounter Jesus as he truly is, the searching Light from heaven, will reveal some truths about life and about yourself you might have been avoiding.

But following his Light, as believers have learned, leads to real blessedness.

It is common of St. John to employ common, and seemingly basic, terms in extremely profound ways. So you and I first must ask, “What does Jesus mean when he says he is the Light of the world?”

In one sense, Jesus’ being the Light of the world means he provides physical illumination to the created order. Now, this is not the sum total of Jesus’ meaning – but if light comes from the Creator, and Christ is the true Light, then it makes sense that the sun shining outside ultimately proceeds from Christ, the Instrument of creation. This is an inspiring thought: every time you look at a lamp or walk outside during the day, you can meditate on Christ, the Source of all light.

Jesus’ description of himself as Light also means he gives intellectual understanding to every person (in varying degrees, of course) in this world. In chapter 1 – in the famous Prologue to St. John’s Gospel – the apostle writes that Jesus is the true light who lights every man in the world. Most able humans with properly functioning brains also have some moral sense; how else would pagans have laws against murder? To be certain, this intellectual and moral illumination does NOT mean that every human understands who Jesus is and believes on him as Savior. Surely not! It simply means that every ounce of thinking ability you have, and every ounce of capacity anyone has to make moral decisions, comes from Christ. (How foolish, then, for so-called “atheist intellectuals” to use their Christ-given intellects to argue against Christ himself!)

The heart of Jesus’ self-description as the Light of the world, however, is that to know him is truly to understand who you are, what life is all about, and how he alone provides mercy, meaning and hope for you. Note the context in which Jesus says he is the Light of the world: he has just been tested by some scribes and Pharisees regarding a woman caught in adultery, and he has shown them God’s will on the matter of her condemnation. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day, who thought they had everything figured out and all their educational and theological ducks in a row, threw a guilty woman in Jesus’ midst and quoted the Mosaic Law to him regarding her punishment. According to Old Testament law, she was to be executed for polluting God’s holy community. Yet the scribes and Pharisees were trying to corner Jesus and to make him either disparage the law or condemn her, which would have undermined his standing with the people (they surmised).

Jesus, though, brought his searching Light to them. He revealed himself as the only One fit to judge this woman by impugning their self-righteousness. He made them look into their own hearts and see the cavities, the decay, caused by their pride and Godlessness. Jesus meanwhile didn’t excuse the woman’s adultery; he said he did not condemn her (and his was the only judgment that mattered!) but called on her to live a repentant life from that point forward. He challenged both the Jewish leaders and the woman with their sin and scandalized the leaders with the Gospel of grace, which they apparently had forgotten from the Levitical sacrifices.

In an instant, the Light from heaven revealed the condition of every human heart (bent on sinning against God), the scandal of the Gospel (that even adulterers caught in the act could be forgiven by the Lord) and the necessity of walking not by the flesh or by the dictates of culture but by the Word of Truth.

Jesus as the Light from heaven revealed what really mattered in life. He turned his hearers’ worlds upside down when he shined his truth in their hearts and manifested their sin and his grace.

Coming to the Light can be awfully unsettling – but ultimately transforming.

So what does it mean to follow Jesus and have the light of life?

In Greek, the word “following” is a participle: it implies a continual walking where Christ leads by taking his Word to heart and seeking him through prayer. And rest assured, you and I always are following someone or something, whether it’s Jesus or our fleshly desire to make our names great or to seek pleasure upon pleasure. Each of you is a follower.

If you follow Jesus, you will walk steadily and assuredly. As a friend of mine, Rev. Dan Hazen, once observed, the “I am” statements of Jesus demonstrate how he is superior to Moses in every way. Here Jesus is asserting his superiority to the pillar of fire that led the Israelites in the wilderness as they journeyed to the Promised Land under Moses. As they followed the Lord in that pillar of fire, God’s people were on sure footing. Today, though, you and I have a greater Light shining for us: the very truth of God in Christ, both in us and around us. Christ guides us rightly on everything from heart attitudes (you are cast out envy, for example) to words (speak the truth in love) to actions (submit to those in authority over you). As you and I first accept his truth regarding our sinful condition and our need for Jesus, we further are enabled to walk confidently through life – even in the times of turmoil.

But the fact is that humans apart from the redeeming work of Christ are children of the devil, not children of God: therefore you and I love the darkness rather than the light until the Lord changes our hearts. And if you love the darkness – everything opposed to Christ the King – you will stumble around in death until your death.

To be sure, not every unbeliever seems to live a stumbling life. Some unbelievers, such as the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day (who were convinced nothing was wrong with them), have stable jobs and obedient children and lovely homes. Their stumbling might not come until the hour of their judgment, at which time the Lord tells them to depart from him, for he never knew them.

In the midst of life, though, non-Christians are in death – no matter how enlightened they claim to be. Most of the pagans I know bounce around like pinballs in life, and even if their work is stable, their hearts are unraveled. They dwell in the darkness of death, and their unsteady lives and shattered spirits are evidence of their gloom.

It makes all the difference whom you follow.

It is easy enough to gush about the lights this time of year and to label this the “season of lights.” Truth be told, you and I tend to those lights because they aren’t as searching as the Light from heaven.

We have a tendency, you and I in the church do, to speak of how blessed that woman caught in adultery was when Christ spoke the word of grace of her. Well we should. If she took Jesus to heart, she was blessed indeed.

I can’t help but wonder, though, if any of the scribes and Pharisees emerged as blessed men that day. We’re not told the “rest of the story” about either party. But if they listened to Jesus after he brought their condition and his Gospel to light, they would have been blessed eternally for it.

The Light shone brilliantly – disturbingly, at first, but joyously also – that morning in the Mount of Olives. He did so out of love.

Thank the Lord He still does.