Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Light Up Your World


LIGHT UP YOUR WORLD
Matthew 5:13-17 
Introduction: During our childhood in India, my brother and I spent most of elementary school years at my grandmother’s house in a village. In that village electricity was only afforded by wealthy people. There was no electricity in their house. One of my chores was to clean the glass of a kerosene lantern, trim the wick, fill it with kerosene and light it by dusk each day. Once I lit the lantern and placed it on a high stool, though it was small the whole house used to be filled with light. In that light now, we could carry out our other activities for the night.
            When you live in darkness, you not only have no ray of light, you don’t even know where your home is or where you are going. That is the way it is for the majority in the world. People would be happy if their dark nights are lit up with light. But there is another darkness that is much thicker, and more pervasive, who can turn that darkness into light?
            A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday School presentation. His mother was in the front row to prompt him. She gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. Her son’s memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the cue, "I am the light of the world." The child beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, "My mother is the light of the world!" Jesus is the "Light of the world," but He certainly uses Christian mothers and fathers and children to let His light shine in this dark world.
            Last week we looked into one of the most powerful metaphors that Jesus used to describe the purpose and the scope of his disciples when he said, “You are the Salt of the Earth.” Today we will look at another powerful metaphor, that is, “You are the Light of the World.” We will learn what it means to be the light in a world, which seems to love darkness and have an aversion for light. “Light Up Your World.” Matthew 5:13-17

I. UNDERSTANDING DARKNESS
            When I talk about darkness, I am not talking about the darkness we experience every night as a result of the absence of physical light. I am talking about a powerful kingdom of darkness where Satan and his evil forces reign and rule. It is a pervasive spiritual darkness that remains the hearts of unsaved people until it is expelled by the light of the Gospel. As it has been the case with all of us before we accepted the gift of salvation. Consider the following scriptures:
            Genesis 6:5, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? This was the accurate description of the human heart after the fall. It has only become more corrupt in our times.
            In the N.T Paul while writing to the Romans describes how people behave when their hearts and minds are darkened by the evil one. Romans 1:21-32, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” He goes on to explain the acts of darkness.
            Vs 28-31 “They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” That is the bad news, but the good news is true light is shining in the darkness.
II.  TRUE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS
            John 1:3-10. “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
            The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” Thank God, that true light Jesus Christ, came into our hearts dispelling the darkness. The apostle Paul calls this, “A kingdom transfer.” Colossians 1:13-14, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
            For me this transfer took place when I was seventeen, in 1982. I am sure many of you can recall your time of that transfer. What does this mean for us today? It means that once we were in the Kingdom of darkness, chained and ruled by a cruel and merciless master, but Jesus has delivered us from the clutches of our enemy, and gave us a new identity in His kingdom of light.
III. YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
            Matthew 5:14-16, “You’re the light of the world! A city can’t be hidden if it’s on top of a hill. People don’t light a lamp and put it under a becket; they put it on a lampstand. Then it gives light to everybody in the house. That’s how you must shine your light in front of people! They will see the wonderful things you do, and they’ll give glory to your father in heaven.” (TKNT)     When Jesus made these statements, he was referring to a prophecy about Israel. Isaiah 42:6, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,”
            For all intended purposes the nation of Israel was to be a covenant for the people and a light for the nations. History tells us how they have failed in their mission. But God was going to fulfill it. Isaiah 49:6, we read, “He says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
            In this passage the servant is referred to Jesus Christ. Jesus himself fulfilled the mission of the Lord’s servant to be “a light for the Gentiles,” Now he was commanding his disciples to be the light to the nations. In order to explain how practically it works Jesus uses two metaphors. First, “A city on a Hill”: Many of the cities of Judea were placed on the summits or sides of mountains and could be seen from afar. Perhaps Jesus pointed to such a city and told his disciples that they were placed like a city on a hill. All their actions were observed by the world.           Similarly, if we claim ourselves to be Christians, then everything we do or don’t do is scrutinized by the world. By our actions we can either bring glory to God or disgrace to his name. Let’s be mindful that our actions speak louder than our words. In a highly polarized, secularized and politically charged world, the actions of God’s children or lack thereof matter. Therefore, let us act wisely, maturely, graciously and responsibly.
            Second, “Lamp on a stand”:  In Jesus’ day people used small clay lamps that burned olive oil drawn up by a wick, and that lamp would be put on a lampstand to give light to the whole house. Similarly, Jesus wanted his disciples not to hide selfishly the light they received from Him for themselves only, instead they were to let their light shine in public so that people living in darkness may come to know the true light, which gives them life, life in abundance. Then he went on to say how they could practically let their light shine in the darkness.
IV. LIGHT UP YOUR WORLD.
            Vs 16, “That’s how you must shine your light in front of people! They will see the wonderful things you do, and they’ll give glory to your father in heaven.” Shining our light in front of people doesn’t mean to preach at them saying how wrong and sinful everyone is. It doesn’t mean to protest or even lead a rebellion to dethrone a corrupt government.
            Jesus the true light of the world is our prime example when it comes to letting our light shine in front of people. We are not the true light but only the reflectors of the true light. As the reflectors how are we to reflect the light of Christ practically in this dark world? The following illustration of a lighthouse better explains the importance of Christians in a dark world. “There is a mere strip of sand called Castle Island near the eastern end of the Bahamas.
            As tiny and isolated as it is, Castle Island became prominent because of the lighthouse. One day, a young man was sailing in the area. He anchored his sailboat off of the lighthouse and swam to shore to exercise his legs on the beach. The lighthouse keeper, Cedric Hanna, was surprised and delighted to have company; he invited the young man to join him for some fresh-caught lobster and a tour of the lighthouse. The young man climbed the winding staircase to the lantern room at the top of the stairs; and, he was astonished at the size of the light that signaled safe passage through the maze of large fish, rocks and bars! The light was a tiny kerosene flame - barely bright enough to read by - yet, with the aid of mirrors and reflectors, it was visible twenty-five (25) miles out to sea.
            What if our light is a very dim one? What if our good works are few and small? Just like in the story our little light is magnified in the immense mirror of Almighty God’s Love! The story of Castle Island reminds each and every one of us that even the most insignificant action or deed on our part - such as giving up our place in the grocery store check-out line to a mother with a fretful baby. Or a short two-line note in a neighbor’s mailbox - or, helping the elderly neighbor with mowing the lawn or with a grocery trip to the store, or dropping a meal to a family that is hurting, even such faint candles as these, can be multiplied by Almighty God to shine like beacons in a dark world! Are you hiding the light or letting to shine to the world?
            At her work Wilma was chatting with a person with an anxiety disorder, this person told her “my Church had a picnic last week.” Did you go? Wilma asked. His answer; “I would never go to something like that.” For heaven’s sake those of us who are called to be the light of the world, let us be on the lookout for people on the peripheries of our lives.
            Let’s do everything possible to welcome, invite, and include those who for whatever reason feel like they don’t belong. Someone said, “Life is like an Ocean.” People out there are navigating the hard currents of life. Their lives are tossed by the waves and storms. Who can guide them safely to the shore? Only Jesus the true lighthouse through us mere reflectors. My prayer is that we Christians will let our little lamps shine through practical ways. So, that many will come to know the true light of the world! Let’s go, and light up our world. Amen!