"Walk Toward The Light"
December 12, 2004

The New Testament Lesson: John 3: 16 - 21

Arranging our actions to suit God’s intention helps us to be open to God’s presence

I.  Light can be painful if we aren’t used to it.
   A. It is difficult to turn on the light if our eyes aren’t adjusted to it.
        1. This is a difficult time of year for Dog walking.
            a. Not because of the cold (I can dress for that!)
            b. It’s because of the dark.
            c. I have to get up when it’s pitch dark and turn on the light.
        2. literally painful to look into the light when eyes aren’t adjusted to it.
            a. You’ve all come out of the movie theater into the sunlight.
            b. It can take minutes to become full adjusted.
   B. The same is true for our spiritual vision.
        1. That is even more true when we talk about spiritual vision.
        2. Living without a knowing God in like being in the dark.
            a. Our actions get accustomed to the dark.
            b. We do things that seem normal and right.
            c. We believe that we can do wrong without anyone knowing.
        3. As we go along, we build a reservoir of dirty secrets.
            a. hidden deeply inside of us where we think none can see.
            b. Even we rarely look into this dark place inside.
        4. Every thing remains hunky-dory, until we step into the light.
   C. The result is shying away from the light and preferring the darkness.
        1. We don’t want those dark places to be illuminated.
        2. We are comfortable with the habits of the dark.
        3. We’d really prefer not to get a clear look at all we’ve done.
   D. Sooner or later, the light will shine, however.
        1. God has promised that the day of light is coming!
        2. The Prophet said, “the People who walked in darkness, on them has the light shined!”
            a. That can be either good news or bad.
            b. If we are aware of stumbling in the dark, we are glad for the light.
            c. If we wish to remain hidden, light becomes our enemy.
        3. For most of us, there’s some of both inside.
            a. In some ways, we’d really like the truth to be revealed in our world.
            b. But there are places in our lives that…well…you know!
        2. The Prophet said, “the People who walked in darkness, on them has the light shined!”
            a. That can be either good news or bad.
            b. If we are aware of stumbling in the dark, we are glad for the light.
            c. If we wish to remain hidden, light becomes our enemy.
        3. For most of us, there’s some of both inside.
            a. In some ways, we’d really like the truth to be revealed in our world.
            b. But there are places in our lives that…well…you know!

II.  The only answer is to get into the light and let it change us!
   A. When I get up, there’s only one thing to do: turn on the light.
        1. I’ve gotten sophisticated.
            a. First I turn on the shower light and give myself a chance.
            b. Then I turn on the mirror lights that shine in my eyes.
            c. It’s still painful, but it spreads out the pain!
        2. Eventually, the light must go on.
   B. If we want to witness God in action, we got to turn on the light.
        1. By that, I mean we have to let God’s light shine on us!
        2. We have to become willing to look at ourselves in the light.
        3. God’s light will certainly reveal some things we don’t want to see.
        4. There are a things that we already know, but we try to ignore!
            a. these are behaviors and habits that are less than healthy.
            b. They are times when we’ve lost our temper, fibbed, etc.
            c. Some of these are uncomfortable, but we can deal with them.
        5. There are other things that are buried in our past.
            a. When we were younger we did…
            b. Again, we seldom think about them, but they embarrass us.
            c. The embarrassment comes because we’ve never dealt with them!
            d. Light will cause us to remember them and call us to come to terms.
        6. There are also some things of which we are unaware.
            a. It might take a while for God to get to some of these.
            b. There’s some much else with which God must deal first.
            c. But once the surface stuff is cleaned out, God will dig deeper.

III.  Seeing What God is doing requires us to live in the light.
   A. Doing things we know to be wrong causes us to hide from God and miss God’s coming.
        1. anyone ever been called to the office?
            a. You might be thinking of a time in school.
            b. perhaps your more recent experience comes from work.
            c. I’ve been called to Jill’s “office” a time or two.
        2. There is an automatic dread that sets in.
            a. We know that we’ve done things wrong.
            b. We’re just not sure what they discovered!
        3. Sin causes the same reaction in our lives.
            a. it makes us want to shy away from God, even through we’re confident of God’s forgiveness!
            b. The only way to get rid of that feeling is to be clean of the causes!
   B. The Bible says the Pure in Heart will see God!
        1. When we let God’s Spirit clean us, we long to be in God’s presence.
        2. We are eager to be with God and hear the love and joy.
        3. We seek such times rather than trying to hide.
   C. But we must yield our lives to the ordering God’s spirit.
        1. In this act, our lives to correspond to what God expects.
        2. We are changed by the power of the living God.
        3. Fear becomes a thing of the past because we no longer have anything to hide!

The awe and reverence of Christmas is what God wants us to have, Not the fear of having our wrongs discovered.  God intends for us to enjoy and wonder at the miracle and feel the anticipation of joyous things to come as God’s light shines into the world.  The birth of Jesus is like the trailer for a movie tells us of the great things to expect.  Better yet, it hints at the wonders we can scarcely believe!  When our lives are put right, we can enjoy the coming of that light without any reluctance for what might be revealed in us.

And as you go from this place, may you walk in the way of Christ Jesus and May God always find you faithful!