Light in the Darkness

Eric Lemonholm

April 3, 2011

Lent 4A

1 Samuel 16:1–13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8–14;
John 9:1–41

 

Light and darkness.

Vision and blindness.

We seem to have an innate fear of the dark.

In the dark, our vision is limited.

Familiar places and things are shrouded in mystery.

Even this church building can be spooky when you walk through it
at night, with the lights off.

Is it the fear of the unknown?

Is it the human race’s memory of predators stalking in the night?

Think of scary movies – the scariest scenes always seem to happen
at night.

 

Darkness.

There are times in our lives when we are in the dark, and we pray
for the light to shine.

The
cave heard a voice calling to it: “Come up into the light… come and see
the sunshine.  The cave replied: “I don’t know what you mean; there
isn’t anything here but darkness.” Finally the cave ventured forth and was
surprised to see light all around. Looking up to the sun, the cave said:
“Come with me and see my darkness.” The sun agreed and entered the
cave….”Now show me your darkness.” But there was no darkness.[ii]

When the light shines in the darkness, the darkness disappears.

Jesus restored the sight of the man born blind.

It was not his fault, or his parents’ fault, that he was born
blind.

But he was.

He could not see with his eyes.

These things happen.

We are all differently-abled.

We have different gifts.

Different strengths and limitations.

 

In any case, Jesus came to the blind man, and did not even ask
permission.

He just spat on the ground, made some mud, put it on the man’s
eyes, and told him to wash it off in the pool of Siloam, which means “Sent.”

The blind man obeyed, and he was given the gift of sight.

Jesus’ miracle was a promise and a call.

Jesus, the light of the world, restored the sight of the blind
man.

Jesus changed his life forever.

But this miracle also made the man’s life difficult.

He came into conflict with the religious teachers, who still saw
him as a sinner or a child of sinners.

Even though they saw with their eyes, they were blind to the
truth.

When Jesus heard about it, he returned to the man born blind, and
revealed himself to him as the Messiah.

Jesus called the man to believe in him, follow him, and worship
him.

 

Sometimes, those who claim to see clearly are truly blind.

Mike Yaconelli tells the story of a recent convert to Jesus who
was approached by a friend.

“So you have
been converted to Christ?”

“Yes.”

“Then you must
know a great deal about Him. Tell me, what country was he born in?”

“I don’t
know”

“What was his
age when he died?”

“I don’t
know”

“How many
sermons did he preach?”

“I don’t
know”

“You certainly
know very little for a man who claims to be converted to Christ.”

“You are right.
I am ashamed at how little I know about him. But this much I know: Three years
ago I was a drunkard. I was in debt. My family was falling to pieces; they
dreaded the sight of me. But now I have given up drink. We are out of debt.
Ours is a happy home. My children eagerly await my return home each evening.
All this Christ has done for me. This much I know of Christ!”[iii]

This man may not know many facts about Jesus, but he sees Jesus
clearly and knows Jesus personally.

 

Did you know that, like the blind man, you have a place in God’s
story?

You have been, or you will be baptized, anointed by the Holy
Spirit, marked with the cross of Christ on your forehead.

Baptism is a promise and a call.

A promise that we are children of God.

A promise that we are forgiven.

A promise that we have the gift of eternal life.

A promise that God’s Holy Spirit dwells in you.

As Luther wrote in the Small
Catechism, Baptism is “a grace-filled water of life and a bath of the new
birth in the Holy Spirit.”

Your baptism is also a call by God.

A call to drown daily “the old person in us, with all sins and
evil desires.” (SC)

A call to daily walk “in newness of life.”

A call to walk with God, to walk in the light of God’s Word.

A call to follow Jesus.

A call to give yourself away, to live for others.

A call to live out your baptism every day.

A call to forgive others as you have been forgiven by God.

A call to see the world through new eyes.

 

You are called by God.

You have been anointed by the Holy Spirit.

You have been marked as a child of God.

You are not your own, you are Christ’s.

Jesus is calling you now.

Answer his call. Follow him today and every day.  Live as the anointed one who you are, child of
God.

Live as children of the light.

 

Do we realize what a high calling this is?

I don’t know if we do.

Sometimes I think we take our calling as children of God’s light
for granted.

Being children of the light does not mean that there is no
darkness in our lives.

We still struggle.

We still hurt.

We still have trouble seeing clearly sometimes.

We still wander off into the darkness.

 

[At this point, I shared about
two men who had recently committed suicide, in part because of long term
unemployment.]

 

Being children of the light does not mean that there is no
darkness.

It means that we can share our darkness.

Our struggles and hurts – we can help each other bear them.

If my heart is dark, you can shine a little light into my life.

If my lamp grows dim, you can share your oil.

We can remind one another that it may be midnight now, but the
dawn’s light is coming.

When we are walking through a death-dark valley, we are not alone.

Our Good Shepherd walks with us and leads us home to the green
pastures and still waters that restore our souls.

 

God sees you even in your darkest
hour.

God sees your heart.  God
knows you better than you know yourself.

And yet, God loves you.

God forgives you, and God gives you the gift of kingdom life for
Jesus’ sake.

The light of Christ shines into the dark cave of your soul, and
the darkness retreats and is gone.

 

Live out your baptismal calling each day.

There is no higher calling in the whole world.

We have a calling together.

A call to bear witness to the light, to the most powerful force in
the universe – the power of God’s love.

You have been called.

You have been marked with the cross of Christ.

You have been sent into the world as children of the light.

 

Go, fight the good fight.

Keep the faith.

Live as children of light.

Do not lose heart.

Because you are not alone.

You have each other around you.

You have the Holy Spirit alive within you.

You have the light of Christ to light your way.

“Sleeper, awake!

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

Amen.