I AM: The Light of the World

I AM: The Light of the World

John 8:12

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship on this amazing day that the Lord has made. I will be in the office tomorrow morning, then Renee, Evan, and I will be heading out of town on Tuesday for a trip that has been planned for months and already paid for. This will be our last Spring Break with Evan since he will be graduating and heading off to A&M Galveston… and will probably do his own thing next year. It won’t be long till I join the rest of the adults in the world that say, “Spring What?”

You will be in good hands next week, Priscilla will be preaching, and continuing week 5 of the series as you look at Jesus statement that he is the gate, the door.

But today, we are in week 4 of our series looking at the “I Am” passages in the Gospel of John. In these passages, Jesus not only declares and shares his character: The Bread of Life, Light of the World, Living Water, the Way the Truth and the Life, he also is declaring, unmistakably that he is Yahweh in the flesh. God present with them… and us.

Sermon Slide

Today we are looking at John 8 so turn with me to this passage. Jesus has just begun teaching at the steps of the Temple, as many Rabbi’s do, when the Pharisees and Scribes brought a woman to him who was caught in the act of adultery. You know, I thought it took 2 to tango… so where is the man caught in the act of adultery… but I digress.

Her penalty for such an act was up to and including being stoned to death. So here are these men, these church leaders, standing around her with stones waiting for Jesus to say something about her sin.

But, Jesus doesn’t respond to them, he just reaches down to doodle in the dirt. What he doodled has been the topic of many theological conversations…. Did he write their names down, maybe the sins they committed, who knows… what we know is that after Jesus played in the dust for a few minutes the men dropped their stones and walked away. After he assured her that her sins were forgiven and encouraged her to sin no more, she left and he went back to teaching with this statement.

Turn with me to John 8:12

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

<Prayer>

This seems like a cool thing for Jesus to say doesn’t it. John has all kinds of comparisons like “Light and Darkness” all through his Gospel. But there’s more than meets the modern reader’s eye.

As you study the passage, you discover that Jesus is teaching on the teaching steps at the Temple during the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, known as Sukkot. It commemorated the time when the people of Israel left Egypt and traveled through the promised land. They lived in tents or booths, following a cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was, and still is a festive celebration remembering the Exodus.

A part of that commemoration was the lighting of four huge candelabras in the Temple Courtyard. It was to remind the people of God’s power as a light the led them through the wilderness. Are you starting to see my point?

One author put it this way:

Imagine the drama of Jesus stepping forward in that setting to call out in a loud voice, “I am the light of the world! Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” It was as if he said, “God’s presence was a pillar of fire for Moses and our ancestors. Now the presence is here in person! I Am! Yahweh is here to be the light of life! These candles will go out by morning, but I am light that lasts and can never be diminished. I am God’s light dispelling the darkness! Come, follow me, and you will walk in the light forever!”

Jesus using the imagery of light was unmistakable. Each Advent we read the passage from Isaiah, written some 700 years before Jesus. Isaiah looked forward to the coming of the Messiah when he wrote these words:

Isaiah 9:2

The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

a light has dawned.

That passage goes on to verse 6:

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

With Jesus claiming to be the light of the world, he invoked images of being the Messiah that was promised and the ever-lasting God that had been with them from the beginning. There is no mistaking his claim. In his original language, as he spoke to the people in Ancient Aramaic, a derivative of the ancient Hebrew, his message was clear. “Yahweh is the light of the world, in your presence now, today, in me.” Jesus is the light that chases away the darkness in our lives. That’s a profound statement in and of itself, but put into the culture of the people, it is even more profound.

But, Jesus doesn’t stop there. If you flip over to Matthew 5, you will see that Jesus does something extraordinary. In his great teaching that we call the Sermon on the Mount, he identifies us with the same language that he identified himself.

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Jesus is the light bringer… he shines light in dark places… but because he is in you and you are in him, you too are a light bringer!

The other night, I was outside on a beautiful clear night. The moon was full and bright. As I stood outside, the moon was so bright that it cast a shadow. You could literally read by the moon light. But it isn’t really the moon’s light that was casting a shadow. The moon was reflecting the light of the sun. We couldn’t see the sun, but we could see the moon, and the light that it received from the sun.

You and I are not the sun, or the Son… you and I are the moon, we are the reflectors of the Son, bringing the light of Christ into the dark places.

As you think about that… as you consider that you are an image bearer of Jesus… that you bear the light of Christ to the world, think about this.

Sermon Slide

In every culture, light is a positive force. Darkness is where the scary things happen. That’s where bad things happen, but light, one small flame of light chases away the darkness. You can not turn on the darkness, you can only turn on the light.

Your purpose and mine is to be a visible light for the world. A reflection of the light of Christ.

Think about the little song we learned as a child:

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Not gonna let Satan, ‘Puff’ it out

I’m gonna let it shine…

Hide it under a bushel, NO

I’m gonna let it shine…

let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

We must let the light of Christ shine through us for all to see.

A light draws attention. That’s why, in the Army, we would use filters to cover the light and special maps that were visible with the filtered light. You and I do not need to filter the light, we need to let that light shine that it will draw people to it… but we have to remember, we aren’t drawing people to ourselves, we are drawing people to Jesus, the Light of the World. Remember what we read in

Matthew 5:16

“let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”

It isn’t for our glory, it is for the Glory of God!

We are to be a light that calls attention to God!

I want to end with a story told by Tony Campolo, you can find it in Alan Hirsch’s book Re-Jesus or in some of Josh MacDowel’s writings.

Tony Campolo tells the story of a drunk who was miraculously converted at a Bowery mission in New York: Joe was known throughout the Bowery as the worst kind of wino, a hopeless derelict of a man, living on borrowed time. But following his conversion, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person that anyone associated with the mission had ever known. He spent his days and nights hanging out at the hall, not balking at even the lowliest job. He mopped up vomit and urine and cleaned up drunks whatever their condition. He considered nothing too demeaning for him.

One evening, when the director of the mission was delivering his evening evangelistic message to the usual crowd of still and sullen men, their heads hung in penitence and exhaustion, there was one man who looked up, came down the aisle to the altar, and knelt to pray, crying out for God to help him to change. The repentant drunk kept shouting, “O God, make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!” The director of the mission leaned over and said to the man, “Son, I think it would be better if you prayed, ‘Make me like Jesus.’” The man looked up at the director with a quizzical expression on his face and asked, “Is he like Joe?” (From ReJesus, by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost, p. 79)

Jesus is the Light of the World. But he told us we are too… We are to reflect the light of Jesus. So, I ask, what kind of light are you reflecting to the world around you?

Let us pray.