Live in the Light
Today at church the sermon was about learning to live in the light. We’ve been in a series about the Way of the Rabbi and how we can follow Jesus, our Rabbi in our everyday life. The verse today’s message was focused on was “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
What does walking in the light mean to me and you? James tells us that Jesus is “the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:17b. Jesus doesn’t change – he gives it to us straight, he isn’t like man, he is in the light and there is no darkness in him. He has no “shifting shadows” like man does, where we will say something and then we back out of it saying that’s not what we meant, or we were just kidding, etc. Jesus is what he is, he doesn’t wear a mask and hide and pretend to be something he isn’t; like we do sometimes.
In the sermon today, we were taught that living in the light isn’t just not telling lies, (insincere smiles, unfelt words, and plastic living — wearing a mask) it isn’t just telling the truth or owning our “stuff”, but it also means not hiding. We can hide and pretend to be something we’re not so people will like us and that’s darkness, that’s hiding. The more we hide the more it becomes a way of life for us; something natural that we do without thinking, we are learning how to lie, learning how to live in the darkness. It happens so gradually we really don’t realize how good we are at it and how much a part of us it has become. If we are not living in the light we are not having true fellowship or a relationship with anyone. The person our friends are in relationship with isn’t us; they are in relationship with the false self that we’ve been showing them.
It was communion weekend at church and we were invited to come to the table. We were asked to think about what the Rabbi is showing us as darkness in our lives. What are we not facing, hiding from or hiding behind, what are we not being truthful about? The prayer ministers were at the front of the church and we could go and confess to them during the communion time.
After the sermon, two people moved the cross from the side of the platform to the center of the floor in front to be accessible for anyone to come forward. The room got darker and two very bright lights lit up the cross. The cross was light. We could go forward to Jesus and be in the light if we needed to deal with some things we were hiding from. Jesus doesn’t shine the light on us; rather, He invites us into it. He does this not to embarrass or shame us but rather to heal, forgive, restore and cleanse us.
I love to watch and pray for people from the balcony, it provides the best “big picture” viewpoint. From the balcony I could see the brightness of the cross and there were many people who had gone forward to the cross. What struck me instantly was the light that was shining on the cross was really bright and it created a circle on the carpet around the cross and after the circle it was dark. The people that had gone forward had all stopped on the edge of the light and kneeled. It was so symbolic to me of how hard it is for people to be fully in the light. They approached the light and stopped as soon as they got there. It was too bright to just step into all at once. Healing is a process, most of the time it doesn’t just happen. From the balcony I stood there and prayed and I wasn’t even sure how to pray other than for Jesus to do his work with his children. His children that he loves so very much and wants to heal, forgive, deliver, restore and cleanse. I prayed for Jesus to bring them more fully into the light to call them closer to him and into the brightness of his light. I prayed they stay in the light and live in the light; to know that light isn’t something to fear because it reveals; but rather something to embrace because it brings life.