Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 8:12
Not so long ago, a cousin of mine was caught in an elevator
during a power outage. He told me about the sickening jolt when
things stopped and they were thrown into pitch -- blackness. Then the
seven people started shouting for buttons to be pushed, calling for the
emergency phone, and jostling to make sure they didn't touch anyone or
get touched.
Then, one of the passengers remembered the tiny
flashlight he carried on his keychain.
With the flick of a
switch, a small amber light filled the elevator car. Just as a little
child relaxes when a nightlight is turned on in his bedroom, so too,
these adults, helped by the most insignificant of lights, began to calm
down. For 45 minutes they laughed at their fate, shared stories and a
little history about themselves. That is the power of light in the
physical world.
No, most people don't like to be in the dark --
most people -- but not all.
In 1789, when the Bastille, the
castle-like prison in Paris, was about to be destroyed, a long-term
inmate was brought out. He had lived in his gloomy cell for a good many
years. Sadly, instead of welcoming his liberty, the man begged to be
taken back into his hole. Unaccustomed to the sunlight, he had only one
desire: to die in the murky dungeon which had held him captive for so
long.
No, not everybody wants to be in the light.
Sadly,
in our time, too many, like that man in the Bastille, have decided it's
easier to live their lives in the darkness. Too many are living as if
Jesus, the Light, had never come. Too many have had their spiritual eyes
grow so accustomed to the darkness they think the black all around them
is the way things are supposed to be.
Murderers, molesters and
malefactors are given minimal punishment because courts believe their
crimes are the product of a sad environment and not a sinful heart.
Schools teach that everybody is basically nice and noble, never mean,
malicious or malevolent. Circumstance and situation, not sin and Satan,
are the cause of all the calamities and catastrophes that occupy every
newspaper headline that are reported on every radio and television news
program.
A little boy once heard his Sunday school teacher say,
"Jesus is the Light of the world."
The boy took the teacher's
remark quite literally. After class he said to her, "If Jesus really is
the Light of the world, I wish He'd come hang out in my alley. It's
awful dark where I live."
Do you, dear listeners, wish that Jesus
would come and hang out in your alley, your street, your home? Do you
wish Jesus would illuminate the dark recesses of your country, your
county, your community, your city? Are you tired of having darkness in
your living room and in your life?
Then rejoice! Jesus wants to
be in all those places too. By the Holy Spirit's power, He can be in all
those places, and in one place more. He can be God's Light in your
heart, bringing forgiveness, salvation, everlasting life, and peace.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant I may do all I can to bring people from
darkness into the light of the Lord and Savior. At the same time, grant
that I may never wander back into the darkness. In the Savior's Name I
ask it. Amen.
Pastor Ken
Klaus Lutheran Hour Ministries All rights reserved;
not to be duplicated without permission.
