Sermon for January 22, 2023
The Lord is
my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
Have you ever wondered just what salvation means? What
are we saved from? Our sins, right? But yet we all keep sinning, getting mired
in darkness. How is it then, that we are saved? And sometimes, as a Christian
who isn’t new to the faith, you almost forget the basic joy of being born
again. It’s the third Sunday of Epiphany and epiphany just means a sudden
moment of revelation or insight. It’s also tied in that definition to the Magi,
or the wise men coming to Jesus. It’s the time that “The people walking in
darkness/ have seen a great light;/ on those living in the land of deep
darkness/ a light has dawned.” We are the ones on whom that light has dawned, it
is our salvation. So I think we need to
take a look at just what that means, how we sinners can be saved from our own
evil and not walk in darkness, nor need we let it infringe on our existence as
we so often do. We need to be reminded of that great light every day,
especially in the season of Epiphany, the drab of January’s winter weather and
darkness, the way people can be so negative and depressed, the glum news cycle,
the sin that burdens us. So that’s what I’m proposing for this sermon: a
reminder of what we are saved from, and a reminder of that great light so that
we don’t walk in darkness.
Recently I’ve been struck by people setting parameters on
Christianity: you can’t be a Christian if you believe in …. You can insert
anything here. Same sex marriage, abortion, the second amendment, divorce… the endless
list of things that happen and are clear evidence that we are, indeed, sinful.
Mostly I’ve encountered this in the media with its veiled accusations more than
directly from others. But I have also encountered it directly from people I
know. The idea that people can set up requirements for being a Christian seems
to me to defeat the whole purpose, which is, in fact, salvation from our sins,
and we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I think it’s
perfectly fair to have ideas about what Christians should and shouldn’t do. In
fact, I think it’s laid out for us in the Bible, but if I think that someone
can’t be a Christian because they have sinned, there is really no point in
Christianity at all. So we need to beware of even thinking of setting such parameters
because that, itself, lets darkness creep in, possibly even making us feel like
we aren’t quite up to snuff, not quite Christian or that we are somehow better
because we don’t do those things (even as we get exclusive in a way we shouldn’t).
As believers we have seen that great light and we don’t need to be confused by
the shadows that we unwittingly let creep in.
From I Corinthians: 10 I appeal to
you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no
divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and
thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from
Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What
I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow
Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
And in verse 18: 18 For the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God. But
to us who are being saved it is the power of God. That’s a pretty bright
light. Believe it. It’s the power of God.
Maybe our desire to set parameters around Christianity is
that we want to feel exclusive. We like shadows too much. We create our own
divisions based on denominations, attitudes, cultural backgrounds, and our own
shortcomings, but the great light that we have seen, and are still seeing because
we are being saved, has come to us
like He did Peter and Andrew and has told us, 19 “Come,
follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
Christianity is far from exclusive. It casts out the darkness which we are
walking in, not by exclusion, but by the inclusiveness of forgiveness of
harboring that darkness within ourselves, that way we have of making every day
a gloomy, cold January day. That’s been banished by our belief that we are, in
fact, forgiven. And anyone can be forgiven, especially those who are “living in
darkness.” All of us.
The first verses from the gospel of John leave no doubt
that the great light in the darkness that we, the people walking in darkness,
have seen is Jesus: “1 In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In
him was life, and that life was the
light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not overcome[a] it.” So as people of the light,
our best bait as fishers of men is to show that light. You can’t do that if you
are trying to look at other things which might be suggesting there are things
that the great light, Jesus, cannot banish. Remember that the darkness has not
overcome the light, nor will it.
In our day to day living we need to keep the doldrums,
the darkness, at bay. That works for each of us a little differently. I like to
run long distances and just gradually get to the point that I think about little
else but my footfalls, my breathing, and the heavy sound of my heartbeat that
drowns out even the sound of cars until they’re right upon me. The act of
running for me makes me forget anything so that stress goes away and I start
thinking my glass is half full instead of half empty. While it’s difficult, it
still makes me feel good. It’s how I meditate. My favorite Psalm, when I’m
running up a hill is Psalm 121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the
hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to
be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy
keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by
day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall
preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for
evermore.
When I’m keeping that Psalm in my mind on some of these
hills around here, I make it up them easily. That great light makes my footsteps
light.
I read
an article in TIME magazine that said (and I already knew this) that practicing
gratitude, being thankful for things and people, even when you might not feel
that much gratitude begins to make your mind change and you actually become
grateful. In other words, we need to keep our thinking positive because the
darkness can’t overcome the light.
Another thing that keeps me positive is being around
other people and just talking with them. Being around friends, being active,
all these things keep my attitude more positive. I think, as Christians, we all
know the things that keep our thoughts positive and help us focus on the light,
not the darkness. It’s important to do those things, and maybe do them even
more when they are a little more difficult. Like now when we all want to hole
up and avoid the dreary weather. That a good half of our congregation is in the
south right now is a sign of the fact that they have seen that great light and
they need to keep themselves positive. There is a sense of positivity among us,
even in the darkest of times and we need to encourage one another to keep
focusing, not on the things that hinder, but on the light in the midst of that
darkness.
We all know that there is great darkness right here. We
have been watching the news about murder right here in our own county. We see
the divisions in Congress and the government and what that all could mean if
they don’t get their act together. We have plenty of prayer requests for those
who might be dealing with some of the darkness that we still know is here. That
doesn’t mean we haven’t seen the great light, that we can’t still look at that
light.
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
If Jesus
is making us fishers of men, if he lives within us, then we need to focus our
energies on him, the great light that we know he is. That doesn’t mean we don’t
get help if we need it. That doesn’t mean we don’t face the realities of our
world. We do what we are called to do. We roll up our shirt sleeves and do whatever
it is that he’s calling us to do. This morning it is to be right here talking
about the light we’ve seen, listening to a sermon (or preaching one), praying
for one another, our country, our government, our world, reading the
scriptures, having a cup of coffee and talking with each other.
The truth
is that that great light has always been with us, but we were so busy walking
in the darkness that we didn’t see it. The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah,
well before the birth of Jesus, the incarnation of the living God, when God
became one of us. Because, like John says, In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then later
in his first epistle, chapter 1:4-9
4 And
these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which
we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, (epiphany, like
the cartoon lightbulb going on in your head) and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
King
David knew this too. In today’s Psalm he says:
Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, Lord;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
spouting malicious accusations.
It doesn’t
matter how consumed you have felt by the darkness, there is no sin, no darkness
that He can’t overcome. John 1 verse 5 says: “5 And the
light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” I like the
King James in this case because I like the word “comprehend” in the sense of
understanding: the darkness can’t even understand the light. It just disappears
in His presence. And John again in his first epistle chapter 1, verse 7: “7 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[b] sin.” By becoming a man, God fully
understands us even as we can’t fully understand him. And if you want to think
about big sins, David knew how to commit them, yet he constantly went to God in
prayer, confident that he would be heard and saved not only from his sin, but
from entire armies waging war on his kingdom. Lest you doubt, look at how he
closes today’s Psalm: 13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
I’m
going to conclude today by putting some of these scriptures together again to
point out what our salvation is: The people walking in darkness (us)
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned. That… 5 light
shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome[a] it./The darkness comprehended it not. That’s
our epiphany, and now we need to walk in the light as he is in the light so
that like the first disciples (because if we are walking in the light as he is
in the light…we are also his disciples) we can cast off our divisions and bickering
among ourselves to be made by Jesus into fishers of men. We don’t need to
wallow in darkness because we have
seen a great light, now we need to share it out of confidence just like David
said in the Psalm:
Be strong and take heart and wait for the lord. Amen.
