Don't Let Satan Blow Out Your Light

Don’t Let Satan Blow Out Your Light

Romans 6:15-23

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to each and every one of you in the name of our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am Steve Garrabrant, and I am blessed to serve as Vicar here at Gloria Dei and the Head of School at Lutheran South Academy.

What a beautiful opening to our sermon…seeing and hearing our Day One kiddos sing, “This Little Light of Mine!” So, this week, as we continue our sermon series on “Let Your Light Shine,” we are looking at “Don’t Let Satan Blow Your Light Out.”

In order to properly discuss not letting Satan blow our light out, we need to first take a look at the Light.

We read in Genesis:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

God calls the Light “good.”

And, we read in the Gospel of John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

And, while God calls the Light “good,” and while this good Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it, sadly not everyone thinks the Light is good. Actually, there are some who are opposed to the Light that they would prefer to walk in darkness. They hate the Light. They try to destroy the Light.

You see, Christians worldwide experience widespread persecution as oppositionists to the good Light—the Light of Jesus—the Light in the Christian’s soul—choose to walk in the darkness. The persecution of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ is as old as Christianity itself—but, there seems to be more and more evident hostility toward those who align themselves with Jesus and the Truth of his Word. And, not only is it increasingly evident, there has become such an ease to carry out this persecution.

Internationally speaking, there are over 60 countries where Christianity is outright banned…where Believers of Jesus are beaten, beheaded, tortured, isolated, raped, imprisoned, enslaved, and put to death for engaging in unauthorized religious activity.

Here in America, while our persecution may be on display on a smaller scale, the reality is that daily we experience attacks on our freedom of worship and references to anything related to the name of Jesus.

Friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we should not be surprised why not everyone thinks the Light is good.

The Gospel of John shows us this dark reality when Jesus returns to Judea when his friend Lazarus has died. Jesus gets word that Lazarus is deathly sick. And while Jesus loves Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, Jesus delays going to him:

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” (John 11:5-8)

So, Jesus wants to make the journey to Lazarus—and we know why—He delayed to allow Lazarus to die and return to him to raise him from the dead so that the disciples would believe in the resurrection—believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.

But the disciples are worried. They said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” (John 11:9-10)

There were those who were so hardened in their hearts against Jesus, because the Light was not in them. They walked in the darkness…they hated the Light…they hated Jesus.

No, we should not be surprised why not everyone thinks the Light is good.

You see, Romans 6 tells us that we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. I invite you to follow along in your Bible—page XX if you are using the Bible on the back of the pew in front of you:

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:15-23)

You see, just like those that hated Jesus even in the raising of Lazarus to life because their hearts were hardened, when we are slaves to sin, we are consumed by the darkness. Satan has blown out the light.

Our light cannot shine if we are slaves to sin. When we are slaves to sin and cater to our sinful desires, Satan can literally blow out our light if we refuse to be a slave to righteousness.

When we are slaves to sin, this slavery leads to death. Romans 6:23 says it best, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Our slavery to sin is a path of darkness. It is in opposition to the Truth and Life in Christ. It is destructive. It is damning.

But there is a different way…being a slave to righteousness.

While we may think that any kind of “slavery” is bad, being a slave to righteousness gives us Life.

You see, salvation is being released from the slavery and bondage of sin. Once we experience this freedom in Christ, we wouldn’t want to go back into the bondage of darkness, but rather we would want to remain in the Light of Christ. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God. (Romans 6:22)

Being a slave of God—a slave to righteousness—is a Life in the Light.

God calls us out of the darkness and into the Light through his Word—the Gospel.

God calls us out of the darkness and clothes us in his righteousness through the Word and water of Baptism.

Early: When we witness baptisms in our service, there is a candle that is lit because the person who is being baptized has a new Life in the Light and is now a Light to a fallen world.

Late: This morning, we witnessed this with the baptism of Charlie. There was a candle lit because Charlie now has Life in the Light and is now a Light to a fallen world.

So, I have a question for you: “When God calls us out of the darkness and into the Light, how do we keep Satan from blowing out our Light?”

I am going to answer that question for you by looking at fire. Since the Light we so often are talking about—the Light of a lamp…the Light of Christ…the Light of the Holy Spirit with a flame at Pentecost…we often think of a fire…a flame…just like the flame of the candle when we celebrated a Baptism.

This summer Rachel, our sons, and I were blessed to spend a couple of weeks in Michigan visiting and reconnecting with our family and loved ones. Campfires in Michigan are a delightful experience in the summer because of the cool nights.

There are five steps to keeping a campfire burning:

1. Choose the right fuel.

2. Add stones to the fire.

3. Protect your fire from the elements.

4. Keep stoking your fire.

5. Fire needs oxygen.

I think it’s pretty easy to connect these 5 steps of keeping a campfire going with what a means to have a Life in Christ…to be a Believer in the Faith.

Choose the right fuel. For a campfire…plastic burns but it can be poisonous. Wet wood doesn’t do you much good but put off a lot of smoke. You need a fuel that will burn. The world often saturates itself with poisons and toxic situations, a lot of smoke and mirrors—but nothing that burns bright and true.

We as Christians know that our fuel is having Life in Christ. Our fuel is to be a slave to righteousness. Our fuel is being declared righteous before God because of what Jesus did for us. Whereas being a slave to sin is like a fire of plastic and poison and toxicity, being fueled in Christ is Life-- For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is our true fuel…eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Add stones to the fire. When you put stones in a campfire, it burns hotter and longer because the stones hold the heat. For us as Christians, It’s no different than having a life in Christ. When referencing Jesus, the Gospel of Matthew quotes Psalm 118: 22-23:

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

This is the LORD's doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

Jesus is the cornerstone. He is the foundation on which our lives are built. Just as in Baptism, we are made new—a new creation in Christ—with Jesus as the cornerstone—the stone that burns bright and hot and long keeps our flame of faith going bright.

Protect the fire from the elements. Rain, wind, and cold can all damage your campfire. These elements will always be around, so you must be prepared for them. For us as Christians, we, too, must be aware of the elements that can damage our Light—our flame of faith. Temptation, sin, and the Devil can bring damage to our Light. We must guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus as face the attacks of Satan and of our own sinful desires.

Keep stoking your fire. Taking care of a campfire so that it lasts a long time requires…actually demands attention. You must keep arranging the coals and wood to get the most out of your fire and make it last. For us as Christians, we, too, must keep stoking our fire…our flame of faith…our Light. We stoke our Light with the Word of God—by studying His Word and growing in His Word. We stoke our Light by remembering our Baptism and remembering that we have been made a new creation in Christ. We stoke our Light by fueling our fire of faith with the bread and Body and wine and Blood of Holy Communion.

A fire needs oxygen. It is critical for a campfire to breathe—to have the right fuel of wood and coals with oxygen. And just as a person will blow on a campfire to get it going or keep it going when trying to reignite the embers, for us as Christians, the Spirit of God—the Holy Spirit--continues to breathe Life into us….continues to breathe fuel into our flame of faith. Whereas Satan wants to blow our Light out, the Holy Spirit blows Life into us and keeps our Light alive.

My friends, my prayer for you is do not let Satan blow out your Light! Be a slave to righteousness! Have Christ be your cornerstone! Protect your Light from a life of sin and the attacks of the Devil. Keep your Light burning bright by being in God’s Word, by remembering your Baptism, by participating in receiving the Lord’s Supper. Allow the Holy Spirit to keep your Light alive. Amen.

And, may the peace that surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, the Light of the world. Amen.